Page 9 of Angel Lost

I tug on my aether, combine my air with it, but I can’t stop the fall. Can’t stop the burn…I try to speak, to trigger the safety, tell the simulation to stop, but my tongue won’t work. The vivid jungle greens rushing up to meet me fade, and my vision blurs.

The blue of the practice room floor blinks into existence, and I smash into it. Pain spreads across my face and down my neck.

Groaning, I roll over onto my back with a wince. For a moment I lie, staring up at the textured tile ceiling until it stops moving. Nothing broken, I think. My leg though…Heaving upright, I peer at the already-blistering burn. Nasty. My gym pants are melted into my skin. Almost a part of me now.

The door bursts open. Kai. With all that purple hair, those delicate features…he’d be pretty if he smiled…My head spins.

“You took the safety off? You were running scenarios with the safetyoff? Final-year students do that in their last month. What is wrong with you, Lorelei Bal?”

Shutting my eyes, I concentrate on breathing, his angry voice fading into the background. The pain will pass. All pain passes. I grunt, stretching out again on the floor, my head dropping the last few inches with a clunk.

Cool, starched cotton kisses my skin. The bright, clean scent of chamomile tickles my nose, and I open my eyes. Bright white strip lighting…The hospital. I’m in the infirmary. Again. My memories float back together, piecemeal. Farrell and Chano attacking me. The fire, the fall. My burning flesh. Wait, that’s wrong. It wasn’t Farrell. It wasn’t Chano. Of course not. I was running a scenario. Kai goaded me and I loaded something…hard. Something that looked into my psyche and created a personalized fear-based scenario. What asshole created that program? Their mother clearly never loved them enough.

“You could have died, Lorelei. You chose a level nine with no safety,” Kai says gruffly.

I blink, twisting my head to bring his long limbs into view. Slumped on a hideous hard plastic chair, his yellow-flecked eyes are accusing. Hispurple hair is swept into an untidy man bun, the undercut making his aquiline features stand out, the delicate points to his ears on show. How does he manage to look so attractive when he’s so rumpled? He’s clearly been sleeping in the chair.

Sleeping? Shit.

“How long have I been out?” I croak.

Kai rolls his eyes but gently props me up, handing me a glass of water. I take a sip. Lukewarm. I spit it out, spraying him.

“You could just have said you weren’t thirsty,” he says, surveying his shirt. “You’ve been out nearly twelve hours. You had me worried—uh…the docs worried.” He runs a blessedly cool hand across my brow. “You could have died.”

“You said that already.” I trail my fingers under the covers, hesitantly skimming the crepe bandage covering my leg. “I wouldn’t have. Died, I mean. I had it.”

He snorts. “You didn’t. But…you’re stubborn.” He holds up a hand as I open my mouth to protest. “I like stubborn, but it’ll get you killed if you allow other people to goad you into acting.”

“You goaded me.”

He shrugs, a smirk playing at the corner of his mouth. “Call it the fae way. Didn’t let you die though, did I? Terminated the scenario.”

“Thanks, I think.”

“You can’t control what other people do, Lorelei. You can only control how you react.”

I stare hard at the white of the bedsheet. He is un-fucking-believable. He heckled me into selecting a different scenario. He did that. He pushed my buttons. Deliberately. I pinch the bridge of my nose and yelp. Hell, I’m one big bruise.

“I can’t decide if you’re trying to be Yoda or just a pain in my ass, Kai.”

He grins. “I’m helping. After what Jess told me…”

“Yourhelpnearly gotme killed.”

He sighs, raking a hand through his hair, displacing some of it from the bun. “How about I help you to a beer? You look like you could do with one.”

“Again, thanks. Also, I’m sure the doc wouldn’t approve.”

Kai stands, awkwardly fussing with my pillow. He deftly plumps it up, moving around to straighten my sheets with surprising efficiency. “So, what’s all this about, Lorelei? You’ve been training with Jess. Don’t get me wrong, that kid needs friends, but…”

I draw my brows down, shoulders hunching to somewhere near my ears. “It’s about getting better.”

Kai hums agreement in the back of his throat. “Survival is everything.”

“I have to prove I don’t need protecting.”

His hands stop fussing and he cocks his head, waiting.

---