Page 45 of Wings of Death

He drops his arms to his sides, and walks back to sit on the couch next to me.

“I don’t know for certain, but I think she was a goddess.”

He rubs his hands over his eyes and then looks at me. “That sounds so?—”

“Insane?” I interrupt.

He laughs. “Well, yeah. But I guess nothing is all that insane now, is it?”

I place my hand on his knee. “It’ll get easier. But it’s a lot to take in.”

His gaze falls to my hand, and I quickly remove it.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I don’t mind.”

Gods above, there is something so familiar about him. I don’t understand the feeling, but it’s been there since I first laid eyes on him. This sense that I somehow know him. But it’s impossible.

“So we’re supposed to be enemies?” he finally asks, breaking the silence.

I bite the inside of my cheek and fiddle with a lock of my hair. “Ah, yes.”

His expression softens. “You said something earlier about an angel from my Kingdom killing your mother. Is that true?”

I swallow the lump in my throat. I’m well and truly used to thinking about my mother’s murder, but I haven’t really spoken to anyone about it. It still causes an ache in my heart that I don’t know will ever heal.

“That’s what my father told me. But…” My voice trails off as I think about whether to go into detail with Kyle. Should I tell him about the notes I’ve been receiving?

Kyle places his hand on mine, and I immediately relax.

“You can tell me,” he says, “if you want to, that is.”

I let go of my hair and focus on him. “Someone’s been leaving me clues about her. They said her murder was a lie.”

He raises his brows. “Wow. Do you know who it is?”

“No. I’ve had two notes left in my quarters now. But I found this secret hidden room, off my mother’s quarters. There was this chest in there filled with her journals, and I read through some of them. She was afraid. Like, really afraid. She thought her life was in danger.”

Kyle gives my hand a reassuring squeeze. “And she didn’t mention who she was afraid of?”

I shake my head. Saying out loud that it seems she was afraid of my father and Hethenos sounds crazy. I could be way off themark there, anyway. “There’s one more journal that I haven’t read through. It’s hidden in my quarters back in Silanthia.”

He releases my hand, and I immediately miss his touch. He puts another log on the fire, and as my gaze follows his movements, I can’t help but feel as if there is more to this guardian bond. It’s as if it’s etched into my soul that the two of us need one another. As if it’s fate.

Something occurs to me then. Although I feel as if I comforted Kyle through his loss, it was when my veil was up, so he wasn’t aware of my presence. “I’m sorry about your loss too, Kyle.”

His body tenses at my words, and he stops prodding the logs in the fire.

Shoot, perhaps I shouldn’t have mentioned it.

“You were there, weren’t you? At the hospital?” He turns to me, and his eyes catch the light, his unshed tears glistening.

I nod. “How did you know?”

He lets out a long breath and sits down on the couch, rubbing his fingers over his eyes. “I could sense it. It was like a shift in the air, and a sense of calm came over me. I feel it whenever you’re around. That’s how I know when you’re not. It’s almost as if the air gets cooler or something, like your presence warms it up somehow.”

I smile at his words. “She was important to you.”

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