Page 118 of Angel Lost

I shoot him a smile. “Maybe he can help my little obsession. I want muscles and a dong! One I can feel.”

Chano frowns down at me. “You’re not coming, chica. I can’t lose you as well as Lottie. You’re going to wait on Maverik turf.” He turns as if the conversation is over, and I hear Kai whistle quietly.

I step up, directly behind Chano, poking the tip of my dagger into his back. “Am I really?”

Chano halts, fire rages across his skin, and his horns pop out the top of his head. I nudge the blade forward through his blazer, through his shirt until it nicks the skin. “Yourtiosunder control yet, Chano?”

He shakes his head slowly.

I sheathe my blade, pushing it into my waistband. “That’s settled then. We stick together.”

Chapter Forty-two: Zephyr

I float, staring at the sky. The knowledge of the stars calls to me. The ethereal glow pulls me among them, elevates me. My soul soars. The infinity pool sparkles far below. The silver surface ripples across the dark depths of truth, of futures yet to be.

Today is the day. I drop one tiny luminescent bead of the professor’s tincture under my tongue, spread my hands, and send my senses out. The energy pools and ripples, straining in all directions toward all possible futures until…

I crash into my body with an uncomfortable speed, still not used to shifting among the stars. Not used to how the visions take me away from the everyday. That stardust tincture though. I crane my head back, imagining again the spark against my tongue, the way it lights me up, shining a brightness into every corner of my soul. One day I’ll have enough money to buy a swimming pool of that stuff and then drown myself in it. Happily.

I shove Farrell’s dorm room door open and stalk in. I’m still pissy with him. With them all. But I’m lonely. My anger has died down enough that I’m going to let him apologize. Maybe if the asshole grovels enough, I might even forgive him. I toss my hair over my shoulder. Not fully. Not until I’m unbound. But Fates, I miss him. I miss all of them. Even the fae.

I follow the sound of voices toward Farrell’s bedroom. Kai’s annoying whine, Chano’s deep barking tones, and Lorelei’s sparkling laugh. Without thinking, I open his door and peek my head around it. My heart thunders.

They’re all here. All in the bed. Chano, Farrell, Lorelei, and Kai. And she’s naked. Lorelei is naked. She half sits, clutching the sheet to her chest, hair mussed, eyes blissed out.

“Get out,” Kai snarls. “Go back to the angels.”

My knees buckle and I stumble in the doorway.

Lorelei kisses each of them in turn, a delicate little peck on the mouth, then she gathers the sheet around her and moves toward me. Her brow furrows. “You betrayed me, Zephyr, the boys told me.” She looks inconsolably sad. “How could you?”

I open my mouth, gaping. “And you believed them?” I demand. “Them over me?”

She chews her lip and reaches out, patting the side of my face. I lean into her hand. “They are my mates, Zephyr. Of course I believe them.”

She brushes past me to the bathroom, the door shutting as the words sink in.They are her mates.Them, not me. Those assholes are turning my Lorelei against me. My mind races. There has to be a way around this. We’re allegiance. There has to be a way.

I step into the bedroom, shutting the door. “Why the lie?”

Kai stands from the bed, stark naked, and weaves toward me in that slightly unhinged manner he has. I edge sideways, away from him, keeping my back to the wall.

“You should have left when she did, Zephyr,” he says.

Chano stands too. At least he’s still got boxers on. “She was the only thing protecting you from us.” He growls.

I freeze.

Farrell finishes buttoning his shirt and finally looks at me. “Now we get to kill you.”

Kai tuts, his index finger tapping the side of his head. “Uh-uh. Think, boys. Maim, not kill. She’ll feel his death.” A switchblade appears in his hand. Where the fuck did that come from? He’s naked.

I shake my head.Concentrate. Kai is between me and the door. And they’re all coming at me. This isn’t some sick joke. My wings erupt, and I sprint for the window. My fingertips just brush the sill as Chano sweeps my legs out from under me. We land heavily, limbs tangled. Farrell and Kai are immediately on my back. With a slash, one of my wings is severed from my body. Agony engulfs me. The second follows, less smoothly. I feel every single sawing motion. Screaming, I twist around in time to see Farrell rip the last remnants from my back, feathers and sinew flying in the air. Even as my blood oozes into the wooden floor, my abilities abandon me.

I lie, heaving, head swimming. Footsteps move away. The bedroom door slams, then the dorm door. They leave me alone in my own blood. Lorelei with them.

Lorelei.

I have to get her away. I have to keep her safe.

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