Page 126 of Angel Lost

From behind me, a bolt of lightning crashes past my ear, another between my legs. Thank fuck for shit aim…

My right wing explodes in a burst of pain. So much for their poor aim. Feathers fly into the air. Blood. I can’t think, can’t breathe. The pain burns, twists. An angel leans in, her face inches from mine, conveying serenity and pleasure. Davina. She lifts one hand and blasts another lightning bolt into my side. As the pain takes over, obliterating everything else, I watch her smile, and the bitch waves.

We’re spiraling. Down and down. I flap frantically, but our weight drags us, plummeting, toward the lake. Above me, the sky roils with magic. The dean’s angels send spears of fire after us. I weave the aether as we fall, tucking their evil magic away into pockets, blocking it from reaching us. Below, the dark surface of the water winks. Hell, it’s close. Panic tightensmy chest. I squeeze my eyes shut. Thank the goddesses Kai is already unconscious.

A roar shakes the air, and I open my eyes. Above the gleaming angels, a giant form emerges, huge dark wings obliterating the sky. A stream of fire rakes the angels, setting feathers ablaze, blasting them out of the sky. I catch sight of dark metallic scales and slitted eyes blazing with fury.

Farrell’s dragon.

The beast lunges, ripping the dean from the air. His jaws snap shut, crushing a wing, while his tail lashes another angel downward in a plume of fire and smoke. Feathers rain like falling stars. The dean drops from his grasp, falling toward us, her face a mask of rage.

Suddenly my feet hit cold, cold water, and we plunge deep into the lake. The lighter hues of the surface rapidly vanish as the speed of the fall takes us deep. The cold shock blasts my chest, my lungs screaming to take a breath. Beside us, another body plunges in. Fingers outstretched, Davina sinks toward us. Her talons grip me, wrenching Kai from my grasp. She blasts magic into him, giant bubbles of air escaping her mouth with the effort. He twitches, once, twice, then his body stills, drifting away from her toward the bottom. She watches…a grim pleasure on her face.

Oh Hecate, no. Suppressing my desperate need for air, I palm Naeve’s knife.Just a few more seconds.I infuse the blade with my aether, then slam it into her chest, hilt deep, and she screams. The last of her air escapes, bubbling toward the surface as a thin trail of red pulses out, mingling with the water…dissipating. Her limp body drifts down to join Kai’s.

Slimy weed tangles around my ankles as, finally, my feet hit the bottom. Forcing my eyes open, I reach for his slippery, cold skin. Purple hair mingles with the weeds. Kai twitches. I kick for the surface, pulling us both up toward the light. Flashes ripple across the surface of the water and I burst out, heaving in a long breath of blessed air.

I flail, one arm hooked under Kai, with the other trying desperately to keep us afloat. My one good wing is waterlogged and dragging usbackward, back under. Water splashes in my face, in my eyes, my mouth. Spluttering, I spit out lake water, tilting my head back, keeping my mouth above the surface, fighting to keep Kai’s head up.

Head wrenched back, I see him. Farrell’s massive form eclipses the magic-lit sky. With a roar of fire he lights up the final angel. White feathers, still burning, scatter on the wind as the dragon tucks his wings and dives.

Giant talons outstretched, he races toward us. I thrash, my heavy limbs fighting to stay on the surface. Claws like bands of iron scoop me out of the water, Kai still dangling in my grip, the metallic scales surprisingly warm against my skin.

Safe.

Chapter Forty-six: Lorelei

I sit up, coughing, and brush gritty sand out my face. At my back, Farrell’s giant dragon roars. His tail lashes, kicking up waves at the edge of the lake. Zephyr crouches, his hands skimming over me, anxiety written in his pinched expression. I push his hands away, directing them toward Kai.

“I’m fine.” Kinda. My wing…“Check Kai, please.”

I stand shakily, resting my hand on Farrell’s giant scales. The smoothness under my palm is oddly calming. The rebel soldier steps to my side, Nyx still balanced on his shoulder. He jerks his chin at the students huddled only a hundred yards away on the beach. “They’re all that’s left. The angels are dead.”

I blink. All of them? I lick my lips, the enormity of the situation sinking in. The students know we have a dragon shifter. They know we killed the angels. Davina. All of these students know.

“Do not under any circumstances change back now,” I hiss, hand forming a fist, thumping Farrell’s side for emphasis.

Zephyr pushes to his feet and walks slowly toward the dragon’s face. “You’d reveal yourself here. Now. But not for me?” His voice is shaking.

“Drop it, Zephyr,” Farrell says in the gravelly voice of his dragon. “You survived the rip.”

Zephyr flinches like he’s been slapped. “You didn’t know I would.”

The dragon stills. His tail stops lashing, his wings tuck, and the only movement is the blinking of his slitted eyes. “I command you to drop this, Zephyr Engill.” Even I feel the ripple in the air, the compulsion.

I chew my lip, staring from Zephyr to Farrell and back. He can’t just—

The dragon turns its giant head to me. “Do we kill them, Lorelei? The students?”

My eyes fly to the students. Kids I worked alongside. My eyes are blurry, slightly unfocused and so, I see it…the lack of it. The lack of red lines. The tangle of the slave bond is gone.

“They were forced, Farrell, compelled.”

Zephyr shoots me a grateful look.

I squeeze his arm, trying to convey what I really think about Farrell and his compulsions.This is not the time, Zephyr, but soon. I promise.

I run my hand over the hilt of my dagger, and it comes away sticky with Davina’s blood. “Farrell, you need to get out of here. Find Reye and get out of here before someone works out who you are. I’ll deal with the students. Do not harm Kai’s sister.”

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