Page 35 of Court of Twisted Angels

"The map…" He runs a hand through his black hair, loosening strands from his neat tie. "It said where all the gemstones are."

"Good!" I throw my hands up. "Then why wouldn't you want me to know that?"

"Because I needed that information."

"So you decided to steal my only advantages?" Heat rises in my chest. "Rather than tell me?"

He stiffens. "It's not like you told me about the map."

I grit my teeth. "I didn't have to. I found it. I choose who reads it. I didn't expect you to be a thief." My voice breaks. "My mother is dying, Azrael. I need those wings. I need that reward."

He takes another step closer, and this time I don't retreat. "And I need you alive, little bird."

His words hit me like a physical blow. The tenderness in his voice clashes with his actions, feeding the betrayal burning in my chest.

"Need me alive?" I laugh, harsh and bitter. "You're my instructor, Azrael. Nothing more."

"No." His wings spread wider, nearly spanning my small room. "Kyrie, you know it's more than that."

I cough out a laugh, growing angrier. "Why would you take the map?" I glare up at him. "Just tell me that."

He lets out a soft sigh and then says the last thing I'm expecting. "I'm not really a trainer."

My brows furrow. "What?"

"I come from a noble bloodline, one that has been cursed." His wings shift and that's when I notice for the first time there's gray on them. "My family is cursed to deteriorate. We are all dying and those gemstones - the one you found and the ones on the map - are the only way to stop it."

So he took it to save himself. He took it because he cared more about saving his life than mine and instead of trusting me to get them out, he wanted to be sure he knew where they were.

Magic surges through my conduit band, responding to my fury. "So all those training sessions, teaching me to channel magic—what was that? Just making sure I'd survive long enough to help you find it?"

"At first." He reaches for me again, but blue sparks leap between us. "But then?—"

"Then what?" I advance on him, forcing him back a step. "You realized the pathetic human might actually be useful?"

"I realized I couldn't watch you die!" His voice booms through the room, rattling the window. "I took the map because I knew you'd get through the trial, but I needed to find a way to get the gemstones. I can help save you but there's only one thing that will keep me alive."

"And I could have gotten it for you!" The magic explodes from my band, shattering the orbs and plunging us into darkness. "Now, I might die and you might not get the stones. Or did you find a way to get them that doesn't involve using me?"

He shifts, not looking at me and it only angers me further. I want to understand - because the map could have benefitted us both. But in the end, there is nothing to understand. He wanted the information more than he wanted me to have it.

And I was no different. I hid the map from him, just in case. And when he found it, he stole it away.

I guess that goes to show just little trust we really had in each other.

"My mother needs that medicine," I seethe. "My family is counting on me. But you wouldn't understand that, would you? Noble-born Azrael, playing with human lives for his own gain."

His wings rustle in the darkness. When he speaks, his voice is raw. "My father is bedridden. My siblings have died. Every day, the curse eats away at us. I understand more than you know."

"Then give me back my advantages." I step closer, close enough to feel the heat radiating from him.

He looks at me, almost so sad that it breaks my own heart. "I can't," he whispers. "I gave the gemstone to my healers. And the map would be no use to you now. You have a trial in hours." He shakes his head. "I did not do this to hurt you, I swear. I just didn't see any other way?—"

"You had no right!" My fists connect with his chest, each impact punctuated by the crackle of magic from my conduit band. "I trusted you! All those hours teaching me to harness magic, to survive - was any of it real?"

I know he hears what I'm really asking - everything between us, was it real? Was the kiss, the night in my bed, the way we finally opened up to each other, was it real?

Because right now, I feel like I was played for a fool.

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