Page 123 of Wings of Betrayal

“Em,” she says, shaking his hand, and surprisingly, she blushes.

Is she not used to male attention? Her reaction seems odd. She pulls her burgundy waves up into a ponytail as Finlay gawks at her.

Quit it,I say.

He just looks at me.What? She’s beautiful.

“Think you can take me down?” Finlay asks her, gesturing to where others are sparring.

I roll my eyes and walk back over to Kyle.

“Is that a serious question?” Em asks from behind me.

Kyle slips an arm around my shoulder while Finlay and Em spar on the sandy training grounds. The sun becomes relentless, beating down upon us.

“Let’s do what we came here for,” Kyle says, taking my hand. “You need to make the most of this opportunity and hone your ability.”

He leads me to the cells, where we pass several guards, and then head deeper through the tunnels until we make it to the cell where the lost one is kept.

“Hey, can I talk to you about something?” I blurt, even though this may not be the place or time for what weighs on my mind.

The lost one spots us and screeches, and Kyle takes my wrist and tugs me back out into the tunnel where it can’t see us.

“What’s up?” he asks.

I bite my lip. Gods above, I hope he doesn’t take this the wrong way. “Why does Em have to come with us? We need angels we trust.”

He frowns. “I know you two haven’t had the best first impression of each other, but I trust her. And I hope you trust me enough to be okay with the decision to bring her.”

When I don’t respond, he adds, “She’s one of our strongest fighters. We need her.”

I let out a long breath. I don’t like it, but I do trust Kyle. I’m just going to have to deal with it. “Okay. And of course I trust you. I will make an effort.”

He smiles and brushes his fingers over my cheek. “Thank you. I know she feels bad for the way things have been between the two of you. She wants to reconcile.”

I arch a brow. “I’ll have to take your word for it.”

“Zarla!”

I look back as Lacinda and Demetros jog through the tunnel toward us.

I run to meet them and give them both a big hug. “I am so glad you’re here!”

“This place is incredible,” Lacinda says with a wave of her hand. “Hey, Kyle.”

“Hey. Nice to see you both again,” Kyle says.

“Come on. I’ll show you guys something.” I lead them back over to Kyle, and we follow him through the tunnel, where the lost one is being held in the cell behind thick iron bars.

Lacinda gasps.

“What the fuck? Why do you have one of those?” Demetros demands.

Kyle steps closer to the bars, and it screeches. We all cover our ears until it stops.

“After they attacked us, we captured one. Zarla is going to use it to practice her ability,” Kyle explains.

They both frown at me, and I awkwardly shuffle back a step.

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