Page 14 of Angel Lost

I palm my hand across my face. “Shut up, Val.”

She cackles like a maniac and flips channels. The news is bleak and gets worse with every damn channel change. Each channel has the Angel King making a speech about everyone playing their part, along with the same clips of hellions destroying a house, attacking a pram, swarming a school. Grabbing the remote, I flick back and forth, studying it. The footage is identical. Absolutely identical. As if someone released a press package to all the channels.

I hit mute.

“Wait,” Val whines. “Look—it says breaking news! Let me watch this bit.”

The students lounging on the sofas nearby grumble their agreement. Dammit, I preferred when there was no one here and I could watch what I liked. I groan and fling the remote at Val’s face. She snarls, but snatches it out of the air, stabbing greedily at the buttons. She turns the volume up just as a crisp, angelic voice says urgently, “…Angel King declares, as a matter of national security, all aethers must be registered immediately.”

The chatter of the other students fades. All I can hear is the voice, on repeat, echoing in my head.

All aethers must be registered immediately. Immediately.

No. I have months to register. Months to work out what to do. This can’t be happening. Flames break out across my skin, higher and brighter than before, and this time I’m not in control.

The smooth TV reporter keeps talking, but my hearing fades in and out. “Aethers of all ages must now be registered. To assist in this, any angel is permitted to make a citizen’s arrest. I repeat, all aethers must be registered. Effective immediately. This is a matter of national security. More information will follow as we have it.”

My hand flies to my throat. I can’t breathe. There’s not enough oxygen. My chest strains, and my flames flare from purple to white. I glance wildly around. The boys have moved. I didn’t even see them do it. They surround me in a tight circle, backs to me, facing the room. Beyond them the fae linger, then the rest of the students. Every single set of eyes is on me. Like the whole damn world is watching.

“Alright, everyone can piss off. It’s not the circus,” Val barks.

“She’s our friend, we stay,” Jess snarls, then more quietly asks, “What’s wrong with her?”

Zephyr clasps my face in his hands, his smooth skin cool against mine. “Breathe with me, Lori. You got this. Breathe.”

I haul a ragged breath in, then exhale. The students’ excited chatter washes over me again, and I cover my ears with my hands. But it’s gone. The little control I had…I squeeze my eyes shut just as the sofa I’m sitting on bursts into flames.

Shit, shit, shit.

Val tries to snatch at my hand, pull me away. But my flames roar, and she shrinks back.

“Everyone out.”

Even like this I can hear Chano’s bellow. I peel one eye open, my chest easing as the students traipse out, casting curious glances at me over their shoulders. The fae don’t move. I feel their eyes on me, see the excited gestures toward the heavily smoking sofa, the flames licking higher, higher.

Kai steps between me and the rest of the fae. “Out. Now.”

It’s like he flipped a switch. They turn as a unit and file out. My gasping slows and cautiously I uncover my ears. I focus on Zephyr again, one hand on his chest, the other curled around his silk shirt, copying his breathing. In, out. Again, in and out. My flames lick at his skin, and he grimaces, but stays put.

Slowly, my fire dissipates. My throat loosens. Someone hits the sofa with a blast of water magic. I yelp, suddenly drenched. A hiss of steam shoots up to the blackened ceiling, and I follow the movement, staring up for a long moment, hair plastered to my forehead.

“You too,” Chano growls at Kai. “Out.”

“Not until she tells me what that was about,” Kai snaps, stepping briskly over Chano’s lashing tail. The shock on Chano’s face…My laugh turns into a cough as Kai halts in front of me. His eyes flick from the now silent TV to me and back.

Shit.

I can’t tell him the truth. I can’t. We might have come to an agreement, but he’s fae. He’s fae and the Angel King’snephew.

“So, aether, huh?”

I open my mouth to deny it, but no words come out. I focus on his eyes, the gold flecks almost consuming the iris, the concerned twist to his mouth. And I nod.

He nods back and briefly brushes my cheek with the back of his hand. With that one gesture, my chest opens up and I can breathe again. Except, around us, all hell breaks loose.

Chano and Farrell box Kai in, a wall of muscle. Angry muscle.

“You going to shop her now, king’s man? Make a citizen’s arrest?” Chano demands.

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