Page 44 of Rejected Darkness

This really is the weirdest day ever.

Chapter 25

Arabella

The last thing I thought I would be doing today is sitting on some rocks lakeside with the councilwoman in charge of all the angels here at RISE Academy. Especially, using this as my detention time for punching that bitch Dina in the nose. Detentions back in Aeris always included helping out around school, and then it would have also meant a physical punishment by my father for embarrassing the family name. Never in my wildest dreams would I expect detention to be here.

Talia hadn't even scolded me for my actions, just brushed them off blaming it on stress, and called it a day. She is definitely completely different from what I had expected for someone to be part of the ruling council for the school. I already knew that when she stood up to my father, kicking him out and banning him from school grounds. Now, her actions today just made her even cooler in my book. Her relaxed personality helps me to find a balance within myself. The second I stepped foot into her office this afternoon and she didn't yell at me for my actions, I felt relief run through my body, besides confusion. Never had I felt that with any sort of teacher before. Back in Aeris, I was always too scared that my father had all of them in his pocket and if I tried to confide in them they would report straight back to himand it would only cause me more harm in the end. Not with Talia though. She just excudes calm and safe, and right now I think I need that more than I realized.

"Care to tell me what's on your mind?" Talia asks softly, finally breaking the silence we had been sitting in for the past thirty minutes we were out here.

I had been wrapped up in my thoughts since we got out here as I watched the water. Small ripples form on the surface every so often when the wind blows lightly before it settles once more and the calm comes through. I am thankful that Talia has given me the time to settle my thoughts and think about things before breaking the silence. I know eventually I will need to talk but she must have sensed that I needed some time before pushing me.

"A lot," I sigh, shaking my head. "It's been a rough few days."

"What do you want to talk about first? This, here," she points to our surroundings. "It's your time to tell me what's bothering you and what you need. As your leader, it's my job to help you as best as I can. I want you to be able to go home. You need to show me that you have learned all that we can teach you here for that to happen."

"I guess we can start with my room?" I ask, breaking my view of the lake to turn to look at her. She nods her agreement but waits to comment until I begin. "Is there any clue who broke in? Either time?"

"Sorry, Arabella," she said, shaking her head, as her voice was full of remorse. "We haven't determined who broke in. The first time was never reported, though I was told you had filed a report by Rhys. I'm still looking into what happened there and why it is missing. As for the second break-in, no suspects have been found. The cameras weren't working in the hall and no evidence had been found left behind that didn't belong to one of you or your roommates."

"Is there a way we can check other cameras or even the visitor log? I feel like something must have caught something," I plead desperately. I hate knowing there are no leads. I don't want to keep living looking over my shoulder waiting for someone to try to attack me or something.

"We've done that. Nothing seems out of place. I hate saying this, but whoever has been breaking in is someone inside the Angel dorm. I never thought any of the angels or fallen angels," she gives me a pointed look, "would be capable of doing something like this. I never would have suspected that any student here at this academy would stoop to that level. Sure, we have petty differences and fights but this is another level."

"Is it safe for me to stay here?" The question slips out before I can think about it. For the most part, I have felt safe here at the school. The first break-in I could have just pushed to the side as someone trying to scare me into leaving. The second break-in though is where my fear slowly started. That's the first time I've admitted my fear out loud though.

"You are safe here, Arabella," she states calmly, placing her hand softly on my shoulder to give it a comforting squeeze. "I know you are still rooming with Phoenix and Rhys and between the two of them, no one should mess with you or be able to find you if you don't tell them where you are staying. As far as anyone else is aware, you were placed into an empty room on the fifth floor with Isis and Harper."

"That's the second thing I wanted to talk to you about," I cut her off. "Do I really need to continue to room with Rhys and Phoenix?"

"It's where you are safest. No one will mess with Rhys and no one would expect to find you room with the Fallen, especially male Fallen. Why? Is there an issue?" she jumps slightly to turn and look at me. I can see the concern in her eyes as she searches my face for some sort of answer.

"Well...," I pause, trying to think of the best way to say this. I don't want her to think that I'm ungrateful because that isn't the issue, but I also don't know how she would feel finding out that one of those roommates is my mate.

"Just say it, Arabella," she chuckles, not a hint of worry in her tone.

"Well, isn't it weird to have a female rooming with two males?" If I start with the easy questions, I can build up to my real concerns about rooming with the boys.

"Weird? Sure, but wouldn't you agree that everything about this academy is weird? We are the first and only school that allows, no, requires the races to mingle amongst each other. If we can require that, then why would it be weird to have males and females room together?" She turns the question back on me after providing a little more clarity.

"I suppose it's not that weird when you think about how different the academy already is from the rest of the world," I shrug. I don't like the answer but I can tell her mind is made up on that one.

"Want to know something that few others know?" she bumps her shoulder against mine in a way to get me to lighten up some when she notices my face falls with my acceptance.

"Sure," I nod, while I think about the next way to approach this.

"You aren't the only female on campus to be rooming with some boys. You know that having multiple mates isn't rare right? Many times students will get sent here because one mate rejects them. Some students will have their other mates follow them here, and other students will find their other mates while in attendance." I wipe my head to the side to look at her in surprise. I always thought that having multiple mates was rare. The way Talia is talking makes it sound like it happens every day. "Yeah, no need to be so surprised," she laughs when she sees meturn to look at her. "I know in Aeris they make you all believe having multiple mates is rare. That's because, during the mating ceremony, they only announce the strongest bond that is shown to Seraphim Malach. Those of us who have let's say broken the mold, know the truth."

"So having multiple mates isn't based on magic?" That's what Warrick had told me when we talked. He said it was rare and helps when you have powerful magic. I wonder if that's something he found in a book or if he knows someone who has multiple mates.

"It can be at times. The more powerful the supernatural, the more mates they will have, but that isn't always true. The Divine decides how many mates a person needs, or how many people their soul will resonate with. Once you complete the bonding, it allows you to merge your magic, or borrow magic from a mate in times of need. It also helps stabilize your magic, especially for supernaturals who are extremely powerful."

Talia wasn't kidding when she said that we weren't told the truth while in Aeris. I was worried when I was shown a second mate bond with Warrick. Although he explained to me that he didn't speak up about our bond. It was to protect me like he said but now I see how he protected me completely. My father definitely would have lost his marbles if it came out that I was even more different and something that they didn't accept.

I have another question about mates that I want to ask her but I’m scared she is going to figure out why I’m asking her it and I don’t think I’m ready to admit that truth to the councilwoman who is in charge of me while I’m at this school. She’s already proven to me that she won’t report me to my father, but that doesn’t mean she won’t say something to the Seraphim Concil about it, and I’m not ready to risk that. So instead of asking the question I want to I’m going to ask theone I’ve been curious about and never got around to researching myself.

“So… I was wondering,” I pause, trailing off as I turn to look Talia. “Why does the fountain in the gardens behind the school turn different colors? And what does the color pink mean?”

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