Page 53 of Angel Lost

I finish the rest of my meal in silence.

In fact, the rest of the day is pretty silent. By the time I hole up in my room I’m obsessing over it. People talked to me when they had to, but beyond that, no one went out of their way to welcome me. In a big academy, I’d expect it. Here? In this tiny specialist school, it feels deliberate. I picked an argument with the wrong girl.

I curl up on my bed, pillow propped at my back. Out my high-arched window the evening light glints on the surface of the lake, making it look calm, placid. Who’d be scared of that? I snort just as a figure walks back across the beach toward the dorm, steps measured, hands clasped in front. Reye. Goddess, she’s even prim on the beach. I watched Reye all day. She’s nothing special. She’s good in class, she’s not flashy or brash, and she doesn’t put other kids down. If anything, her mannerisms are old-fashioned. She’s not your classic queen bee bitch…and yet…the rest all treat her like the sun shines out of her ass.

It’s fine. I’m here to learn. I’m not looking for friends…I just didn’t expect to be cut off from the rest of the world. I press the screen of my phone just to see it light up.

My door bangs open, startling me. Reye. Rather than storm in, she lingers in the doorway, shoulder resting on the frame, her brow furrowed.

“Heard you had an Aeternum,” she says, her gaze fixed somewhere over my shoulder.

I nod. “An Aeternum and an allegiance group.” My eyes dip to the useless phone in my lap.

“You miss them?” Reye asks without judgment.

“Yeah,” I reply, tossing my phone on my bed.

“Why didn’t you stay with them?”

“No choice.” I shrug, glancing down at my toes, which peek out awkwardly from the ridiculous toe-less socks that came with the Gifted uniform.

“Oh.” Reye cocks her head like a little bird, then sits on my chair, legs crossed at the ankles, hands clasped in her lap.

“My aether trials were a disaster. Too weak to be kept, but too strong to let go.”

“At least you negotiated to spend time with them,” Reye tells me. “You might keep your allegiance bonds intact. Some students didn’t have the backbone for that, myself included. Still, I suppose no other loyalties makes for extra suitable wives.”

I stare at her, mouth open. She’s seriously okay with that?

“Oh, don’t look so shocked. It’s not like we’re the only women in history who’ll marry for the good of the realm. You’ll marry too. You might be lucky enough to keep your allegiance though.”

“Like you said, I have an Aeternum,” I force out.One the king suggested I might lose, depending on the man he marries me off to.

Reye fidgets slightly before catching herself and smoothing her robe instead. “Yes, well. Maybe it’ll be different for you.” Her expression softens. “You really want to contact him?”

I nod.

“There’s a hidden network the staff use. But you have to shield or the professors will know.”

“Shield?”

“Just hide it in the ley lines,” she says, reaching for my phone and quickly adding the network. “It’s mostly to stop the younger students calling home and wailing to get picked up before they’ve given Gifted a chance.”

I bristle. There’s no way I’m asking Miss Perfect how to manipulate ley lines. I’ll work it out. I take my phone back and slip it into the pocket of my robe.

“You think that’s what I’m doing? Asking someone to come pick me up? That’s presumptuous.”

Reye forces a strained smile. “It’s no skin off my nose if you leave. But if you run, the king will hunt you down. He’ll enjoy it too.” She stands abruptly. “Anyway, the dean sent me to let you know this evening is our drill.”

“Drill?”Dammit, I have to stop repeating everything she says like an idiot.

“Yes. I’d rather have watched you flap around in panic again. But apparently that wouldn’t be fair. Not demure or ladylike.” Reye scowls, and suddenly I wonder if the charm is a front. If she’s really someone very different underneath it. “There’s a drill once a week on a random day. It keeps us on our toes.”

“A fire drill?”

Reye rolls her eyes. “Because that’s what supernaturals are afraid of—”

A shrieking alarm cuts her off. The lights in my room flash neon blue, and through the open door I see students running. What the…? Time stands still. Down the corridor, only ten meters away, a giant rip is opening up, slowly expanding, enlarging. Leaping up, I edge into the corridor, towing Reye behind me, keeping one eye on the rip and the other on the only exit.

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