Page 47 of Blood & Betrayals

The rest of the meal goes by with lots of talk and laughter. Connor really is very charming and handsome. It’s a dangerous combination, and I know it, but an ease quickly develops between us. Too fast.

Connor takes my hand in his as we leave the restaurant. We start back toward campus, and the next part of our date, which he still refuses to tell me anything about. The air is laden with the comforting scents of food and coffee. The sounds of laughter, conversation, and music fill the late summer night. We walk through warm pools of light cast by streetlights, and the windows we pass glow with welcome.

“You know, I’ve never had a girlfriend before.” His statement cuts into the otherwise amicable stroll through Camelot.

I glance up at him. “That cannot be true.”

Connor looks at me, lifting an eyebrow. “Why not?”

“You’re the hot-as-fuck golden boy.”

He blushes again, another infernally endearing quality of his. “Well, I haven’t really been interested.” He smiles, looking ahead again. “In relationships, I mean.”

“Why?”

Connor shrugs. “Well, I’m busy. Not just with school but also with my brothers. It’s not easy being the oldest.” He’s not wrong. I’m sure his brothers are a handful, especially the terrible twins, and Rafe clearly has his own set of problems.

“So why now?”

Connor lifts my hand to his lips, kissing my knuckles. “Well, I saw this girl at this party, and all I could think wasHer. She is the reason I didn’t date before.”

I look down at the ground, that annoying smile pulling at my lips again.

“Alice gave me a tip for our date,” Connor says. “You know, for only having met like a week ago, you two are already like sisters.”

“What tip?”

He shrugs. “She said that your past is off-limits.”

I look away again, something like shame twisting in my stomach, but there is also a deep gratitude.

“She also said that she’d have fun finding out what my insides look like if I hurt you.”

I look up at him, happy to see a glimmer of humor in his eyes. “You like her? Alice?”

Connor nods. “Don’t get me wrong, she’s batshit, but I would love to call her a friend one day.” I squeeze his hand. It’s the only way I know how to thank him for understanding someone important to me and someone who has had trouble being understood in the past.

“You know, and I don’t particularly want to quote him, but the doom master always says that Avalon is a place to be different from who you were and decide who you want to be. And I just…” He pauses, his brow furrowing a little. “I don’t want you ever to feel uncomfortable around me.”

As we are about to cross through the boundary of the school, Connor stops and turns me toward him. “Are you ready for the surprise?” he asks with a grin.

I nod, a little apprehensive but even more concerned with how much I trust the angel already. I don’t trust anyone. Ever. What is it about this place?

Connor brushes a kiss over my forehead, and we start walking again. He takes my hand and squeezes it as we cross the boundary. “You’re not scared of heights, are you?” he asks, glancing at me with a broad, boyish smile filled with excitement.

“No,” I reply warily. “Why?”

Connor just smirks at me and leads me along the path and into the forest behind the dorms. It’s almost completely pitch black amongst the trees. “Con? Are you planning to murder me out here? Cause that would severely reduce your chances of a second date.”

Connor laughs, leading me deeper into the forest. After twenty minutes of walking, the trees thin out, and I can see the sky’s midnight blue with silver stars winking down at us. All of his brothers are waiting near a cliff at the edge of a clearing. An ominous black box sits between the twins. Rafe approaches us, unsmiling as usual.

“For your ears,” Rafe says, dropping a pair of small foam cylinders into my hand. He hands a set to Connor, and Connor pats him on the back in thanks.

I frown at Connor, but he just smiles at me as he puts the earplugs in his ears. I follow suit and wait. Connor backs away and stretches out his shoulders, and I can’t help but gasp as a pair of feathered wings burst from his back. I’ve seen angel wings before on campus, but these are… bigger and brighter.

“How…is your shirt still intact?” I ask, my brows furrowed. Rafe gestures for Connor to turn around, and I see that there are two slits in the back meant to accommodate his wings. I nodand step forward, eager to touch the beauty of those wings, but Connor turns back around, grinning at me.

Connor swoops me up into his arms, holding me bridal style. He winks at me before running toward the cliff edge and leaping off it. The scream catches in my throat. I cling to him tighter as we fall. Connor tucks his wings tight against his back, and we fall into the abyss. He keeps his eyes on my face the whole time, not a care in the world. Unexpectedly, he snaps his wings out, and with a powerful downward flap, we start to rise. He takes us higher, and we shoot past the cliff edge and his brothers. We fly until we’re hovering at the tree line, and Connor asks, “You okay?”

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