Page 17 of Angel Lost (Fates Academy #3)

Chapter Seventeen: Lorelei

An alarm blares and I roll over, hitting out for my clock. Except…my clock isn’t there. Neither is my dorm. I push upright with a groan and flick my hand at the curtains, opening them, allowing the dull glow of dawn to creep into my new room. My room is just that: mine. No sharing. Like the rest of the place it somehow exudes well-being, luxury even. Unless you count the hardwired communication system that wakes everyone at 5 a.m.

Blackout curtains and a weighted blanket, a walk-in en suite shower, and a yoga mat tucked in the corner. There’s not much storage space, but that just means I fit right in—owning jack shit works with minimalism.

It’s a funny mixture of natural and ultra high-tech. It took me forever to work out there actually was a desk—it folds into the wall. Because of course it does. Who’d want that clutter messing with them? I roll my eyes and poke a toe out of the crisp cotton sheets. There’s no shelf, no books, just a library on the school laptop I was issued. Naeve would be so disappointed. But on the plus side, I do have a small balcony with a few potted plants to look after. I shuffle across the cool hardwood floor and open the doors, letting in a eucalyptus-scented draft before crawling back under my blanket.

I palm my smuggled phone out from under my pillow and stare at it. The screen glows, and I scroll aimlessly through my photos, my last messages. Having no signal is shit. I assumed if I could just get my phone onto campus, I’d be good. But no, apparently the school rules on no phones are strict. And enforced. The laptop only has intranet too. I checked. The boys are going to strangle me for going silent .

My door rattles.

“Morning,” a female voice calls, far too peppy for this time of day. “I know you’re new, so this is your friendly reminder—it’s time to pump up that energy and take a swim!”

My stomach drops. Slowly, I haul my bathing suit on and then the school’s pale gray robe. Maybe if I take my time she’ll just go away.

She rattles the handle.

No such luck.

I open the door to a pissed-looking blonde, a little younger than me. She plasters a smile on her alabaster face.

“Let’s get this day started.” She offers a serene smile. “I’m Aether Reye. You must be Aether Lorelei. I’ve heard all about you.” She links her arm through mine and briskly propels me out of the building into the cool dawn.

We come to a halt on a wooden jetty at the edge of the lake. Clothing lies in neat piles at the edge, and in the first light I can just make out bobbing heads in the water. Reye drops my arm and strips her robe over her head, revealing a very modest swimsuit. Without glancing at me she dives into the water, barely making a splash. She pops up again yards away, and starts swimming toward the center of the lake.

Slowly, hesitantly, I strip off my robe. Sitting on the cool wood of the pier, I dangle my legs over the edge. The water splashes up, shockingly cold, and my mind blanks.

Cold water on my skin, creeping up my body. Water in my mouth, my eyes, my nose. Breathing it in. Frank.

“Hey! Newbie!” someone calls. “Get in before we’re all given detention.”

A chorus of grumbling echoes back to me.

“I…can’t.”

“You can’t swim?”

“I can, but… ”

A whip of magic lashes out, wrapping around my ankle and pulling me face-first into the water.

The cold hits like a punch, sending shock waves through every nerve. It’s instant—panic, raw and familiar, dragging me into the past, to Frank. Bubbles rush by in every direction, disorientating, and I flail, thrashing my arms and legs. Which way is up? I need air.

Every second stretches out. My throat tightens, chest burning, heart pounding in my ears. Not again. Not this time. Focus, Lorelei. Keep control.

Somehow, through the fog of panic, the rational part of my brain claws its way forward. I force my limbs to still and my eyes to open against the sting of the water. Murky shadows swirl around me. There. Light.

Kicking desperately, I force my body through the water. Muscles burning, I finally break the surface, gasping, coughing, dragging in sweet, sweet air. Every breath is ragged, raw, but I did it. I won.

Fuck Frank, fuck the Angel King. And fuck whoever dragged me in before I was ready.

“I was looking out for everyone, avoiding a detention,” Reye says, regarding me coolly over the rim of her cup.

I slam my hand down on the long wooden table. “Everyone but me,” I snap. “I have serious trauma around water, and you just shoved me in.”

She tuts, and the students around us shift uneasily in their chairs. “You’re alive, aren’t you? Besides, how was I supposed to know? You had plenty of time to mention it on the walk to the shore.”

I slosh the lukewarm excuse for coffee in my cup, seething. “Why would I share that with a stranger?”

Reye pauses mid-bite, then places her toast back on her plate. “You don’t seem too shy about announcing it now.” She raises an eyebrow. “Only a few of us knew before. Now the entire school does.” She clicks her tongue. “If you must know, it’s very unbecoming.”

With that, she stands and carries her dishes to the kitchen. My neck burns. All eyes are on me. Not only am I the newbie, but I’m already causing a scene. Perfect.

I finish the rest of my meal in silence.

In fact, the rest of the day is pretty silent. By the time I hole up in my room I’m obsessing over it. People talked to me when they had to, but beyond that, no one went out of their way to welcome me. In a big academy, I’d expect it. Here? In this tiny specialist school, it feels deliberate. I picked an argument with the wrong girl.

I curl up on my bed, pillow propped at my back. Out my high-arched window the evening light glints on the surface of the lake, making it look calm, placid. Who’d be scared of that? I snort just as a figure walks back across the beach toward the dorm, steps measured, hands clasped in front. Reye. Goddess, she’s even prim on the beach. I watched Reye all day. She’s nothing special. She’s good in class, she’s not flashy or brash, and she doesn’t put other kids down. If anything, her mannerisms are old-fashioned. She’s not your classic queen bee bitch…and yet…the rest all treat her like the sun shines out of her ass.

It’s fine. I’m here to learn. I’m not looking for friends…I just didn’t expect to be cut off from the rest of the world. I press the screen of my phone just to see it light up.

My door bangs open, startling me. Reye. Rather than storm in, she lingers in the doorway, shoulder resting on the frame, her brow furrowed.

“Heard you had an Aeternum,” she says, her gaze fixed somewhere over my shoulder.

I nod. “An Aeternum and an allegiance group.” My eyes dip to the useless phone in my lap.

“You miss them?” Reye asks without judgment.

“Yeah,” I reply, tossing my phone on my bed .

“Why didn’t you stay with them?”

“No choice.” I shrug, glancing down at my toes, which peek out awkwardly from the ridiculous toe-less socks that came with the Gifted uniform.

“Oh.” Reye cocks her head like a little bird, then sits on my chair, legs crossed at the ankles, hands clasped in her lap.

“My aether trials were a disaster. Too weak to be kept, but too strong to let go.”

“At least you negotiated to spend time with them,” Reye tells me. “You might keep your allegiance bonds intact. Some students didn’t have the backbone for that, myself included. Still, I suppose no other loyalties makes for extra suitable wives.”

I stare at her, mouth open. She’s seriously okay with that?

“Oh, don’t look so shocked. It’s not like we’re the only women in history who’ll marry for the good of the realm. You’ll marry too. You might be lucky enough to keep your allegiance though.”

“Like you said, I have an Aeternum,” I force out. One the king suggested I might lose, depending on the man he marries me off to.

Reye fidgets slightly before catching herself and smoothing her robe instead. “Yes, well. Maybe it’ll be different for you.” Her expression softens. “You really want to contact him?”

I nod.

“There’s a hidden network the staff use. But you have to shield or the professors will know.”

“Shield?”

“Just hide it in the ley lines,” she says, reaching for my phone and quickly adding the network. “It’s mostly to stop the younger students calling home and wailing to get picked up before they’ve given Gifted a chance.”

I bristle. There’s no way I’m asking Miss Perfect how to manipulate ley lines. I’ll work it out. I take my phone back and slip it into the pocket of my robe .

“You think that’s what I’m doing? Asking someone to come pick me up? That’s presumptuous.”

Reye forces a strained smile. “It’s no skin off my nose if you leave. But if you run, the king will hunt you down. He’ll enjoy it too.” She stands abruptly. “Anyway, the dean sent me to let you know this evening is our drill.”

“Drill?” Dammit, I have to stop repeating everything she says like an idiot.

“Yes. I’d rather have watched you flap around in panic again. But apparently that wouldn’t be fair. Not demure or ladylike.” Reye scowls, and suddenly I wonder if the charm is a front. If she’s really someone very different underneath it. “There’s a drill once a week on a random day. It keeps us on our toes.”

“A fire drill?”

Reye rolls her eyes. “Because that’s what supernaturals are afraid of—”

A shrieking alarm cuts her off. The lights in my room flash neon blue, and through the open door I see students running. What the…? Time stands still. Down the corridor, only ten meters away, a giant rip is opening up, slowly expanding, enlarging. Leaping up, I edge into the corridor, towing Reye behind me, keeping one eye on the rip and the other on the only exit.

“Head for the inner sanctum,” Reye says in my ear.

We reach the stairwell before any hellions emerge and bolt through the courtyard toward the main building. The air bends impossibly and another rip opens, only feet away. A giant claw slashes through it, a hairsbreadth from my nose, the moving air wafting in my face. I dive for the ground and Reye lands beside me. We crawl on our bellies a few body lengths, heads down, avoiding the vicious slicing claw. When we’re finally far enough I scramble up, palms slick with sweat and mud, and sprint the last hundred yards to the sanctum, Reye’s footsteps pounding at my back.

Holy Hecate. I bend over, breathing hard, settling my racing heart. Standing, I lean a shoulder on the stained glass, gazing around. Are you shitting me? Students are milling around, aimlessly. A few are even surreptitiously tapping away on their phones. What is wrong with them? There’s a rip. Two, in fact. Who knows how long the sanctum will be safe…

“I told you, it’s a drill,” Reye hisses, furiously dusting herself off, glaring at me like I didn’t just save her.

“What?”

“Breech drill. Drill equals blue light. If it’s not a drill the light is red and the siren is different. You didn’t read the intake pack, did you?”

“It’s a simulation?” I ask in shock.

“Oh, come on. You’re not afraid of holograms too, surely?” She starts to move away, dismissing me.

“I-I…There was a breach in the summer.” I drop butt-first to the cool tile floor.

Reye turns back to me, hands to her mouth. “Lorelei, I’m sorry—”

“Chano, my Aeternum, he lost men. Nearly lost his sister too.”

Reye fidgets with the cuff of her robe. “Well…this…wasn’t real.” She crouches next to me. “Will you be okay?”

I snort a laugh, then another, until I’m laughing too hard. “If I can survive the real thing, I’m pretty sure I’ll manage.”

Reye stands, frowning. She clasps her hands, then turns on her heel and walks away.