Page 108 of Angel Lost

The Council leader clears his throat. “No party. You’ll wear the cuffs and go to supejail for the night. You portal out in the morning.”

The demons erupt into laughter; deep belly roars that shake the ground. Tears stream down Flirty’s face. Beside me, Chano groans into his hand.

“Oh, this’ll be fun,” Kai mutters.

Mysterious leans in close to the Council leader’s face and just…breathes on him. A slow exhale, like he’s savoring the moment. Then he bares his teeth. “Make me.”

Chano sighs, stepping forward. I grab his arm, because this is very much a them problem, but he pats my hand and keeps walking.

“I’ll take responsibility for them,” he tells the Council. “Seal the Academy’s portal and come back in the morning. Even if you could imprison them, they wouldn’t stay there. Remember why the full demons got locked in another dimension to begin with? No lockup will keep them…locked up.”

The Council stares at him, silent. Then, chaos. Instant, glorious panic. Council members mutter and flail, clearly they had not, in fact, remembered. Some edge toward the portal.

Isla’s grabbed by a blue robe, but she digs her heels into the soft ground. “My dog ran off. I’m not leaving without him.”

“No, if she’s not with them then the human goes back now—”

“My dog! We haven’t been apart since he was a pup.”

The shifters growl. Something in Isla’s expression tugs at me—grief, fierce and desperate. I know that feeling too well. At least her mutt might still be alive.

I tip my head back, sighing. “She’s not going back without the dog. She stays with me.”

Raff and Alairik immediately flank her. Raff plucks her whistle from her pocket and pats her head like she’s a particularly loud puppy. Then he turns and growls—full-on growls—at the Council.

The leader exhales sharply. “Fine. Everyone at the portal tomorrow. Nine a.m. Repatriation.”

“Ibelongedin this dimension until you changed the rules, asshole,” Grumpy snaps.

The angels bristle, feathers ruffling in that hideous, papery way. The demons bristle right back—tails whipping, wings flaring.

Chano rubs his face. “Why did I take responsibility for you boneheads?” Then, as if resigned to his fate, he sighs. “Right. Who wants cake?”

Everyone turns to him.

I mouth, What?

Chano shrugs. “It works when you’re irrationally pissed.”

“I amneverirrational.”

Isla opens her mouth, closes it, then finally forces out, “I-I’d like some cake. And water. I need water.”

Grumpy pivots away from the angels. “Then we’re having cake.”

Chapter Thirty-eight:Lorelei

Isla wolfs down her cake, gaze darting everywhere. I thought the smell of food might tempt her mutt out of hiding. But no, no Tiny. The second I’ve finished my last sip of hot chocolate, Isla demands I show her the spot I last saw him. I don’t have the heart to say no, to tell her how badly I need to rest. Or that he already had a taste for hellion by that point. She’s so cut up I even sneak us into the academic offices for a hunt around. But the only thing we find is Davina. She floats past, somehow having managed to have her floaty trousers and pristine academy robes washed and dried in the time it’s taken us to get cake.

I keep my head down, marching Isla on. Just as we make the turn, her voice floats back to me.

“Continue to wield magic like that and you’re on track to graduate this year, Aether Lorelei.”

I pump the air with a fist, trying not to squeak. Not ladylike. Must be genteel. Must be demure.

“You are very powerful,” Isla says beside me in awe.

“Uh, thanks. I’m still learning.”

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