Page 3 of Wings of Strife
The fight!
Memories of our night out crash into me. The house. The barn. Roderick. And two hordes of demons trying to capture all of us.
But we were winning. The guild showed up, and I was heading toward my friends. So why is everyone looking at me like we lost?
“What happened to the demons?” When no one responds, I keep going. “The last thing I remember is getting tackled to the ground. After that, it’s just … blank.”
Except it’s not all blank. I can still hear the taunting remarks of that scarred angel.Dead little angels don’t have power, do they?
The guys exchange a look, but it’s Zeke who finally responds.
“You were stabbed, hummingbird. Several times with an angel blade. We don’t understand how you survived, but we’re just glad you did.”
“What?” My gaze darts between all of them. “But that’s impossible.”
When no one says anything, I peer down at my bloody clothes. Beneath my shirt, which is lifted on the right side, there’s a thin line that shimmers faintly with gold and another near my rightshoulder, but it doesn’t make me feel any better. As if we needed more unanswered questions, and this time with an audience.
Zeke shifts in my periphery, and the blade he’s holding flashes in the light. It’s only a quick glimpse, but I can tell from the swirling red and black stone that this isn’t an ordinary blade. He carefully sheaths it in the strap on his belt before covering the hilt with his shirt.
The movement is odd. Secretive. Causing a flurry of questions to rise in my throat. The guild is here, a lieutenant directly behind him. Shouldn’t we be giving the blade to him?
As if sensing my questions, Zeke shakes his head almost imperceptibly. Fine. If he wants me to drop it for now, I will. But he’ll need to answer my questions later.
Behind him, the lieutenant steps closer, scrutinizing me. “For my report, I’ll need to know how you ended up here. What were the four of you doing off campus so early in the morning?”
Shit. Has the night truly been that long? The rising sun doesn’t lie, yet still it’s hard to believe. How the fuck did we end up here, bloody and beaten yet again by those vile creatures?
I yawn, eyes heavy as I scramble to find the words.
Zeke beats me to it, answering like he hasn’t spent all night on a high of adrenaline. “It appears we were on a wild goose chase.”
The lieutenant perks up. “Oh?”
“We’ve been trying to uncover information about Hayliel’s ancestors so we might understand her, uh, angelic oddities.”
“I have discolored wings,” I tell him weakly. I may be half dead of exhaustion, but at least I can follow along with what Zeke is leaving out of our story. Without knowing who to trust, it’s better to err on the side of caution instead of spilling our secrets out like bile. Something I was foolishly about to do.
Theo pulls me back until I’m resting against his chest while Raphael continues with an explanation. “Clearly we weren’t asking the right questions becauseBAM. Next thing we know,demons swarm around us and we definitely weren’t prepared for that.”
“She deals with enough bullshit from other students, so we kept our investigation a secret. Perhaps if we’d been more open and forthcoming, we wouldn’t be in this mess,” Theo adds, though his eyes never leave my face.
“I see,” the lieutenant says, and I wonder if he really does. Can he tell we’re hiding the truth from him? And if he can, what’s stopping him from bringing us in for further questioning?
Clearing his throat, Zeke looks almost apologetic as he says, “We apologize for the secrecy, Lieutenant Atlas, but given everything Hayliel has gone through already plus the odd demon behavior I’ve seen these past few weeks, we thought it best to keep things close to our chest. We hope you understand.”
“Of course, of course. And without prying too much, were you at least able to learn anything valuable about her ancestry before things took a turn?” His eyes drill into me until I feel compelled to answer.
I shake my head. “Unfortunately, no.”
“Ah. Too bad.” He says it with just enough inflection that I can’t tell if he’s genuine or just saying what he thinks I want to hear, but he continues without another thought. “As for the demons, I’ve noticed similarly odd behavior. Zeke, have you shared your worries with Lieutenant Azrael?”
“Some, but not all.” Zeke appears uncomfortable when he answers, and I wonder if he’s worried this might somehow fall down on his friend.
“Well, don’t worry about what happened here today. Focus on resting, and I’ll see if he and I can come up with anything that might explain these attacks.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant Atlas,” Zeke replies as Raphael’s slate vibrates.
He pulls it out, face grim while he reads. “We need to get back on campus.”
