Page 30 of Rejected Darkness

“It’s okay, Councilwoman Talia.” I’m proud of how strong my voice sounds when in reality I’m terrified. I don’t want her putting herself at risk on my behalf. I know what my father is capable of. He would have her head just for talking back to him. Even if I was wary of her when I first arrived and who her allegiance would be to, this moment here gains my trust and belief in her being a good person.

“I suggest you stay out of family business,” my father demands. I can see him shaking with rage and know that I’m going to be missing classes for the next few days while I heal from whatever injuries he is about to inflict upon me.

“No,” she retorts. “You said yourself, Seraphim Arabella is no longer your daughter, which means this is not family business. You cannot have it both ways. I suggest you leave and we will take your opinions into consideration.” She doesn’t back down when he takes a step closer to her. Instead, her back straightens further than it already was as her wings come out and flutter around her before settling against her back.

I watch as the two of them stare each other down before my father finally relents. I have no idea how the Councilwoman managed to win that one but I am more than thankful for it. Hell, I’d be even happier if she banned him from campus but I have to take the wins when I can get them and right now this is a huge one. I may dislike my classes for the most part, but I definitely don’t want to be hiding in my room for a couple of days, either.

“This isn’t over, Arabella. You won’t always have the Councilwoman here to defend you. We will be finishing this conversation and you will remember your place,” my father snarls, as he turns and storms out of the room. Both of us watch as the wooden door slams shut behind him, the sound echoingaround the room in silence. When I know for sure he isn’t about to return, I let my body relax and collapse to the floor. No one but Warrick has ever seen him like that with me, and more importantly, no one has ever stood up for me and I have no idea how to handle this now.

“Are you okay, Arabella?” Talia asks as she squats down to look at me. Through the tears filling my eyes, I can see her wings are hidden away once more and her face is full of concern. “I need you to answer me,” she prompts once more as she pushes some strands of hair out of my face to get a better look at my cheek. I know it’s already bruising and I’ll most likely have a black eye by the end of the day.

“I’m okay,” I murmur. “You shouldn’t have done that. I would have been okay.”

“No student under my care is going to be assaulted like that in front of me if I have something to say about it. Your father is a nasty piece of work and I’m sorry you’ve had to put up with that.” She pulls me into a hug and that’s when the tears I was trying to hold back begin to fall and my sobs fill the room. “I’m excusing you from classes tomorrow. I want you to go back to your room to rest and relax for the rest of the day and tomorrow.”

“No, it’s okay. I can handle classes tomorrow.” The last thing I want is special treatment because of this. I can handle the stares other students will give me. In a day the bruise will be gone anyway.

“That may be, but still I insist. He will not be allowed back on this campus, I’ll make sure to speak to security about it. I hope you know the things he said are wrong. I know you didn’t destroy your room. We are still trying to figure out who was behind that, and I’ll let you know when we do. As per your classes, you are doing exceedingly well considering the report I was given about you. I’m starting to think the report I was given wasn’t exactlytrue. You are a smart, bright, young woman.” Talia helps me stand and move to sit in a chair near the fireplace in the room before she goes to a small fridge I hadn’t seen before on the other side of the room and pulls out an ice pack. “If you’re worried about what your father will try to do to me, I can promise you it will mean nothing. He has no evidence to stand upon. That whole conversation was recorded, and if he wants to call me before the council, I have no issues showing them the evidence. I no longer answer to the Seraphim Council as it is.”

“It was recorded?” I ask, surprised. Out of everything, that’s the one thing that stands out to me the most. For once there is proof of the vileness of my father.

“Yes. I had a feeling the conversation was going to be tense since he showed up without an invitation or warning. I have no idea how he got the information that he did. We don’t send updates to parents after a student's first week. Usually, it’s once a month or less during the student's stay here.” She hands me the ice pack and walks to the door. “Take your time to relax. You can hang out for as long as you need before returning to the dorms. I’m going to go speak with security about your father.”

“Thank you, Councilwoman Talia.”

“You’re welcome, Arabella, and please just call me Talia when it’s just us girls,” she smiles and exits the room, leaving me to sit here with my thoughts. I wonder if this is what it would be like to have someone who cares about you enough to defend you. My mother sure never has.

Chapter 17

Phoenix

Ihope Arabella’s okay. When Marin comes to call you out of class, it usually means you fucked up in one way or another and are about to find out what sort of punishment lies before you. I tried to catch her attention before she exited the room, but she didn’t spare me a second glance. I wanted her to know it would be okay and I had her back, but I couldn’t. The last thirty minutes of class were torture as I counted down the minutes until I could get out of the room and go check on her. My knees bounced with my anticipation to the point Rhys kept giving me a pointed look, telling me to settle down. I couldn’t help it, though, I was worried.

The morning started on a great note. Arabella was smiling and seemed relaxed around me, which excited me. I wanted her to be my friend, and maybe something more. I was attracted to her. I know Angels and Fallen don’t mix, but I can’t stay away from her. I’m drawn to her in a way I have never felt before. If all she will give me is friendship right now, I’ll take it until she’s ready to hear how I actually feel about her. I had thought she wouldn’t speak to me all day, considering every class I have with her also includes my brother, but that wasn’t what happened. Sure, our conversations had been short, but she greeted me andmade small talk, despite the death glare Rhys tossed her way. Several times, he told me to stay away from her, but I just ignored him. For the first time in my life, I was doing something I wanted to do, not what he told me to do.

“What the fuck are you doing, Phoenix?” Rhys snarls as we go back to the dorms. “Why are you talking to the angel? Did you forget she’s an angel? They don’t mix with us and think we're the scum of the earth.”

“Arabella isn’t like that,” I argue. “She has been nothing but nice to me this whole week she has been here. You’re the one taking this feud between races further than it needs to be.”

“No, the angels did that themselves. I’m just following their rules. You need to stay away from her before she drags you down and gets you killed. Let’s go,” he demands as he picks up his pace.

Arguing with him, especially when he’s like this, gets us nowhere. He is too hard-headed for his own good and won’t listen to anyone except our parents and Lucifer. I wish he could just get out of the mold we’ve been thrust into and see that not everyone is the same. Arabella has been nothing but nice since her arrival despite Rhys being a complete ass to her. I have no idea how to get my brother on board with her not being the enemy but I’m determined to. I don’t want to lose my brother over this, but I also don’t think I can walk away from Arabella. There’s something about her that just calls to me and I need to know what it is.

When we reach the dorms, Rhys heads directly inside and up to our dorm. I choose to hang out in the common area, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Angel who has consumed my thoughts and make sure that she’s okay. Councilwoman Talia can be tough but I’ve also always found her to be fair despite her being a Seraphim. I don’t think she would target Arabella or call her to her office for something stupid.

Thirty minutes pass, and I finally catch sight of Arabella. I was almost about to give up hope and just go up to my room and start my homework. She keeps her head down as she enters and scans her ID. Her beautiful black hair hides her face, so I’m unable to see her expression, and she doesn’t even see me. Rising out of my seat, I go to approach her, but she breezes past me and heads up the stairs, not slowing down for a second.

Shit.It must have been worse than I thought if she is rushing back to her room and not paying attention to anything around her. I’m torn between following her to make sure she’s okay and just heading to my room to give her some space to deal with whatever is going on. Deciding to make sure she at least reaches her room alright, I follow her upstairs. Some would call this stalkerish behavior but I call it making sure my friend is okay even if she doesn’t know that I’m here.

Yeah, that’s what I can tell myself, so this doesn’t feel awfully weird. I’m just worried about my friend.

I keep a flight of stairs behind her so she doesn’t get suspicious and tell me off. I hadn’t seen her friends around, which was weird. Usually, the three of them are attached at the hip unless they have separate classes. Hopefully, one of them is waiting in the room so she isn’t alone.

“NO!” Arabella wails.

The sound echoes all the way down the hallway and reaches me on the stairs below her floor. Picking up my pace, I run up the last few stairs. When I reach the floor I see her at the end of the hallway on her knees, hitting the floor in front of the open door. Even from the other end of the hallway, I can see what upset her. Someone destroyed her whole dorm room, even the door is hanging off the hinges. It’s a disaster.

“No, no, please, not again,” Arabella wails, shaking and rocking her body back and forth. “Why can’t they just leave me alone.”

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