Page 45 of Angel Lost

He clasps his hands behind his back as he paces a slow circle around me, his presence crawling over my skin like oil. “And should your Aeternum or any of your allegiance attempt to interfere—with your training, your future?” His voice drops to a near whisper. “I will break all their bonds myself. One by one.”

I don’t move.

“They will forfeit their lives.”

The words slither into my bones, cold and absolute.

He stops just behind me, close enough that I feel the unnatural chill of him, as if he carries the void itself within his skin. “I trust there will be no misunderstandings?”

My throat tightens. I force my head into a stiff nod.

“Good.”

He steps away as if he’s already forgotten the conversation, lowering himself gracefully back into his chair, adjusting his cuffs with delicate precision. But I remain frozen, the weight of his threat pressing down like a hand to my throat.

Chapter Fifteen: Lorelei

I drag my ratty bag from the corner and throw everything I own on the bed. Do I need course books? No. The Gifted Academy’s subjects will be different. I stare at the heap of ragtag clothes. A few pairs of leggings, some jeans, and the odd top from lost and found that no one claimed. Fuck. I wish I could wear my Fates uniform. I chew my lip, walking backward toward my desk, and promptly trip over Val’s guitar stand.

My back hits the ground, opening up my wounds again. “Shit!” I let my head flop and stare up at the ceiling. I have to tell the guys.But how much do I tell them?I bought myself some time, came straight here, didn’t tell anyone. Glancing up, Val’s stupid black clock, hands shaped like guitar picks, ticks away the time. Time I don’t have before the boys realize I’m back.

A beep vibrates under my butt. My phone. Digging it out, the screen flashes—Chano. Yeah, nope. Not ready for that conversation. It buzzes again. And again.Farrell. Zephyr.

Stop. I need time to think.Kai. I clench the phone so hard the plastic cracks. Hell.

Kai. I chose to let Kai die. Then killed him, killed them all.

The dorm room door bangs open, and I sit bolt upright, my head cracking against the desk. “Ow.”

Val halts, half in, half out of our room, staring down at me.

“You’re back! That asshole didn’t keep you.” She jiggles her butt in a weird happy dance. “But what in all hells are you doing?”

I peer up at her, then down to the tangled mess of cables and microphones at my feet.

“Singing.”

“Sure, Mary Poppins,” she says, reaching down to help me sit up. She looks over at my bag. “Going somewhere?”

It all comes tumbling out. The trial. The Angel King inside my head. My panic. And Gifted Academy. The aether’s academy.

Val’s face is a thunderous scowl. “You’re running away.”

“I’m learning how to look after myself. How not to be the liability,” I correct her.

Val throws herself into her chair, reaches for a guitar, and begins restlessly moving her fingers across the strings. “This is about Naeve, isn’t it?”

“How can it be about Naeve?”

“You started to trust her, depend on her. Then you lost her, and those idiot boys pushed you away. None of you grieved properly. And now you’re back to being all independent.”

“Being independent isn’t a bad thing,” I mutter. “Anyway, it’s not that. Not at all.”

Mostly not.

Val pauses her strumming and raises one eyebrow.

“No, really. Sure, I still have trust issues, but losing Naeve made me realize I can’t do it again. Can’t lose them.” I sit down on my bed with aplop, shoving my half-packed bag aside. “I need them. And…and he threatened them if I don’t comply.”

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