Page 63 of Wings of Death

“We wouldn’t want to see anything bad happen to our future queen, now would we, Yimel?”

“Absolutely not,” he says, his breath warm against my ear.

Demetros and Lacinda step around the corner and halt as they take in the situation before them.

Yimel and Rimel back up away from me.

“Take care, Zarla,” Rimel says, and they leave.

I let out a long breath as I relax a little, more relieved than ever to see my friends. Demetros eyes them as they leave, and then he and Lacinda sit down in the chairs opposite mine.

“What was that about?” he asks.

I bite my lip, unsure whether to tell them the truth. The last thing I want to do is lie to my friends, but I don’t want to drag them into the middle of this either.

Lacinda reaches out and squeezes my hand, her brow furrowed with worry. “Are you okay?”

I meet her concerned eyes and give her a tight-lipped smile.

And then Demetros spots the books. He moves the guardian book covering them and snatches up the book on dark magic I was reading, holding it up.

“Dark magic? Seriously, Zarla?”

I rub my face and take a deep breath.

“Zarla, this is serious. What are you reading this shit for?”

I pick at my nails as they both stare at me. “A lot has happened that you don’t know about.”

Lacinda raises her brows. “We’re listening.”

I hold a hand up. “Hang on a sec. If you’re both here, then who’s looking after your human?”

They glance at one another for a moment. “Lissian called us back and sent some seconds to watch him. She said you needed us.”

My throat suddenly tightens as tears blur my vision. I swallow hard, trying to keep them at bay. So much has happened in these last few weeks, it’s becoming harder to hold it together. The thought of being able to release some of what I have been holding on to is a welcome relief.

I take a deep breath, relaxing my shoulders. “You have no idea how much that means to me.”

“Okay, you’re scaring me. What happened?” she asks.

Trying to decide where to begin is difficult, but it all started with Kyle, so I decide to start there. “Did either of you ever see me playing with an angel when we were little, someone who wasn’t from here?”

They both shake their heads, their brows furrowed with confusion.

“It’s hard to explain because I have no memories of it, but?—”

“Hold on, you have no memories of it?” Lacinda shakes her head. “I don’t get it.”

“Someone removed my memories. But I’ll get to that part soon,” I say, and she nods. “Kyle was an angel from Zarquon who used to come here to see me. I don’t know why, but we would hang out together all the time when I was younger. Lissian knew of him, but I don’t believe anyone else did.

“Kyle witnessed a conversation between two angels, a male and a female, and the female was saying how she killed my mother, and that they couldn’t let me reach my potential.”

Demetros opens his mouth to speak, but Lacinda beats him to it.

“What?!” she squeals, and I have to shush her. “Sorry,” she says.

I relax my forearms on the desk. “It sounds like it was Hethenos, but we’re not so sure about the male.”

---