Page 105 of Wings of Betrayal

“I thought they locked that one up in the cells?” I ask.

“So did I,” he says, and I know we’re both thinking the same thing.

There’s a lost one loose in the castle.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Kyle grips my hand firmly and leads me back up the stone staircase. I stick close to his side as we hurry down the corridor. Although we just battled gods know how many lost ones, the thought of running into another one still frightens me, especially in the state I’m currently in.

I stumble a little, but Kyle holds me up.

“You good?” he asks.

My body is definitely depleted from all the healing, but I’m just thankful I could help. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. What should we do?”

We haven’t passed by any angels since being up here, not even one, and my mind is running away on me, conjuring up various explanations as to why. Has the lost one gone on a rampage through the castle and slaughtered them all? If so, then we’ll be dealing with a heck of a lot more than just one lost one.

“We need to know how many there are, or if it’s just the one,” Kyle says. “And whether it’s the same one they were taking to the cells or not.”

I glance at him. “You think it escaped?”

He shrugs as we round the next corner, and then we spot it, hovering in midair at the end of the corridor, facing away from us.

Kyle yanks my hand, and we both stop walking. He gently guides me back against the wall where we’re somewhat hidden behind a stone pillar jutting out into the corridor.

“What do we do?” I whisper.

“I don’t know.”

In the battle, I did something to those five lost ones surrounding me. I almost controlled them. Impossible, though. My mother didn’t mention that. She only mentioned I could control portals.

“There’s something you should know,” I tell him, and he peeks around the corner before facing me. “During the battle, five lost ones surrounded me. And I somehow controlled them.”

His brows draw together as he stares at me. “What do you mean, controlled them?”

“Remember what I told you? That my mother said I can open and close portals? Well, I think maybe I can control the lost ones, too. I don’t know how, and I know it sounds crazy, but I did.”

The lost one screeches, and I cover my ears at the awful sound.

“I think I can do it again.”

Kyle runs a hand through his hair. “Fuck. Are you sure you’re up for it?”

I definitely wasn’t as depleted in energy when I controlled them during the battle as I am now, but it’s worth a shot. “I think so. And if not, you can just kill it, right?”

He rubs his chin and peeks out around the pillar again. “I’d rather just kill the fucking thing now.”

I snort, then cover my mouth, hoping it didn’t hear me. Kyle gives me a nod, and I prepare myself, taking in a few deep breaths before I step out into the middle of the corridor.

The lost one immediately spots me and screeches again as it floats toward me. Standing tall, I dig deep for that same unfamiliar feeling and raise my hands while I attempt to control it the same way I did during the battle.

An invisible energy builds inside me, and I draw on it before releasing it out toward the lost one. It slows down and then just hovers there, staring at me with blank, milky eyes.

“It’s working,” Kyle says in amazement from behind me. “What now?”

The sharp scrape of metal tells me he’s drawn his sword, and I do my best to hold on to the control as he moves in to kill it. But then three guards round the corner at the opposite end of the corridor, boxing the lost one between us all.

“Wait! We need that one!” one of them says.

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