Page 42 of Wings of Death

She raises her hands. “Kyle, it’s okay. We’ve come to help you.”

I frown at her words. Come to help him? Why?

The younger one smiles at him and steps to the side, raising her hands in my direction. I immediately raise mine in defence, but Kyle steps into her path, blocking her from me.

“Don’t even think about it,” he warns.

He’s protecting me. The younger one lowers her hands a little so she’s not aiming at Kyle, and her features soften as she looks at him. How do these angels know him? And then it hits me like a bolt of lightning. He’s from their Kingdom. He’s one of them.

“Kyle, please,” the younger one pleads. “You’re in danger. She is our enemy. She cannot be trusted.”

My gaze darts between the two females, and I slowly move closer to Kyle as the instinct to protect him kicks in. Despite my feelings about our enemy’s Kingdom, Kyle is mine to protect.And clearly he grew up here on Earth. He may be from Zarquon, but he isn’t one of them. He isn’t evil.

“No, I’m not. She isn’t a threat to me,” he states. “Who the hell are you?”

The younger one looks to the older one, and she shakes her head. There is some sort of exchange between them I don’t understand.

“Kyle, you need to trust us,” the older female says. “She is the enemy. If we don’t killher, she will killus.”

He looks over his shoulder at me and frowns, confusion twisted into his perfect features.

I move closer. “Kyle, it’s not true. I would never hurt you. Those angels are the enemy. One of their kind killed my mother.Theycan’t be trusted.”

The older female lowers her hands. “Let’s just all take a deep breath, shall we? No one needs to get hurt.”

By now I’m at Kyle’s side, relief washing over me since he appears to trust me. “Why are you here? I am Kyle’s guardian, and I demand an explanation.”

The younger one laughs, and my blood practically boils as I clench my fists.

“Kyle, you don’t remember me. That much is clear. My name is Em, and this is my mother, Klara. You’re an angel from the Kingdom of Zarquon. Our Kingdom. We have been on high alert for decades waiting for Silanthia to attack. That’s whereshe’sfrom,” she says with a nod in my direction. “We can’t trust them. She is lying to you.”

Something doesn’t add up here. Why do they think we are the danger? From what my father told me, they are the danger to us. The confirmation that Kyle is one of them sends my mind into overdrive.

Kyle’s eyes blaze with what I can only describe as anger. He grits his teeth as his entire body tenses. “I have lived here onEarth since I was a kid, feeling confused and afraid. I woke up in a field when I was thirteen years old with no idea who the hell I was or how I got there?—”

“Kyle,” Em interrupts, but he stops her.

“No. I have felt alone my entire life. As if I don’t fit in. And you show upnow, and threaten the only person—angel—who has given me any explanation. How dare you!” His voice booms through the property, echoing the pain and anger he is feeling, and rightly so.

I place my hand on Kyle’s shoulder, sending warmth through him to help calm his nerves. He glances at my hand, and his features soften a little. My gaze shifts to Em, who is glaring at me.

“I can see that you’re hurt, and I don’t blame you for feeling that way,” Em says, “but we didn’t know where you went. You disappeared. We could no longer sense you anywhere. We searched and searched. Your family never gave up looking for you.Inever gave up looking for you, even when they all said you were dead. They even reached out to King Harlum of Silanthia, and he refused to speak with them. I never gave up hope of finding you.

“And then tonight, out of nowhere, we sensed you, your power. We came down here immediately to see if it was true. If you were really here on Earth.”

I stare wide-eyed at Em as she explains everything to Kyle. What in the gods happened to him, and how did he get here? There are so many questions buzzing through my mind that it’s making me dizzy.

“Then why didn’t my family come?” he questions.

Klara’s expression softens. “They were afraid it might be a trap, so we offered to go.”

Kyle drops his hands at his sides as he stares out into nothing, connecting the pieces in his mind.

Em steps toward him, but I block her path. Kyle looks at me and gives me a tight-lipped smile that doesn’t touch his eyes.

“It’s okay.”

I move aside as Em wraps her arms around him. My entire body tenses as she touches him, my protective instincts kicking in. But he doesn’t return the hug, which somehow calms me down a little. But there’s something else happening inside me I don’t understand. Is itjealousy?

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