Page 20 of Angel Lost (Fates Academy #3)

Chapter Twenty: Chano

The moment mi amor sets one sassy boot on my turf, I know.

Even without the portal screaming a warning, I’d feel her. The sharp spark of her presence—too bright, too bold—sets my instincts howling. Not safe. Not here.

A growl rumbles in my chest. My demon bucking against my skin, raging at the risk, at our failure to keep our Aeternum protected. My horns itch to break free. I shove the fury down. No time. No slipups. Not when mi tios are circling like vultures.

Lorelei waltzes in, all heat and recklessness. Grabbing her, I crush her against me, and inhale the proof that she’s real. Safe. For now.

“You came,” I whisper into her silky hair.

She stares up at me. “Of course!” Her brow furrows and I smooth it with a finger. “You needed me, you needed us…didn’t you?”

I bury my face in her hair, breathing her in like she’s the only thing keeping me tethered. My beautiful, stubborn, infuriating Aeternum. My curse, and my salvation.

“But you and Lottie hate each other,” I mutter against her skin.

She tuts like I’m being dramatic. “We don’t get along, Chano, but I don’t hate her. And she’s your sister.” Then, softer, like a blade sliding between my ribs—“And I love you.”

I pull back, hands firm on her arms, eyes locked on hers. “Sure about that?”

“Of course. ”

I hesitate. “You don’t say it, not recently.”

Her palm smacks my chest. “You banished me.” A huff. “Anyway, our allegiance all came.”

I swing us both to face the others. I knew they were there. Three sets of feet. Kai. Zephyr. And…

My gaze lands on the freckly redhead. I blink. “Who the fuck is this?”

The girl tugs at her hair. “It’s me, Farrell,” she mutters, a blush creeping up her neck.

Hellfire.

I seize her—him—by the arm and haul him away from my men. “Are you out of your damn mind?” My voice drops to a snarl. “They’ll kill you, and I might not be able to stop them.”

Farrell just gives me this tight, knowing smile. He gets it. He knew exactly how thin the ice was before he stepped onto it.

I exhale hard. “Thanks,” I mutter.

A crash behind me—loud, sharp. I whirl, tail lashing, wings flaring wide.

Smoke. Mierda . My view blurs, shrouded in thick, curling gray plumes. Then Farrell—the cabron in a dress—flicks a finger, and the smoke peels away.

My chest goes tight.

Tio Mateo. Mid-cast. Aimed straight at Lorelei. Her hair is fried at the edges, little wisps of smoke curling up. He missed. Shit. He won’t miss twice.

Why isn’t she shielding?

Her fingers twitch, but nothing. No barrier. No shimmer of protection. Instead, the air around her warps, bending like heat off asphalt. Then—hellfire. She starts to vanish. Not all at once. Too slow. Her feet flicker, then her ankles. Like she’s sinking into something I can’t see.

What in Hades’s name is this?

Whatever she’s trying to do, it’s not fast enough.

Tio Mateo’s magic slams into her shoulder .

Lorelei’s eyes go wide. She staggers, sucking in a sharp breath, then suddenly, she’s back. No more flickering, no more heat haze. Just there, exposed.

Shit .

“Mateo, stand down!” I roar, already moving, already barreling for the bastard.

His eyes gleam—cold, mean. His hands rise again, readying.

I crash into Mateo, driving him back. But another bolt is already flying.

My head snaps up, gaze tracking the blast.

Zephyr and Kai are there, locking Lorelei between them, their shield flaring to life just in time. The magic slams into it and…it holds. Relief punches through me—fast, fleeting. Then my fists are back on Mateo, cracking against his jaw. Once. Again. Again.

He’s lucky. So fucking lucky. I’ve been on edge since—

Lottie.

I shove off him, breath heaving. Around us, the Maveriks form a tight, uneasy circle, caging me in with my uncle and my allegiance.

“You banished her, Chano,” Mateo wheezes from the floor.

I snarl and press my boot to his trachea. He freezes—smart. But not smart enough to keep his mouth shut.

“I thought she had something to do with Lottie’s disappearance,” he whines.

Wrong answer, puta.

“You have concerns, you come to me. You don’t act.” I grind my heel in. He splutters, writhing like a beached whale, fingers scrabbling at my boot. His movements slow. Then stop.

I wait. Let him feel it. Then, reluctantly, I lift my foot. He sucks in a ragged breath, his face purple.

“Lorelei is no longer banished. You hear me?” My voice is low, deadly. “She, and my allegiance are here to help.”

My thoughts sharpen, cut through the haze .

Tio Mateo wouldn’t…Would he? He dared attack my Aeternum. Could he also be the reason Lottie is gone?

My tail lashes. Around me, murmurs ripple through the Maveriks.

“She’s his Aeternum, after all.”

“I like Lorelei. The boss clearly banned her for her own protection. Mateo is playing a dangerous game.”

My shoulders drop, tension bleeding into something heavier.

Then—“But his allegiance? If Cuelebre shows up, I’m promising nothing.”

Beside me, Farrell, in his Fates skirt, swallows.

Mi tios’ influence is poison here.

One hand on Farrell’s tiny shoulder, the other locked around Lorelei’s waist, I stride into mi mami’s living room, my allegiance at my back. A few chosen men follow—Raff. Alairik. Deago and his dad. The ones I trust to handle this.

We bunch around the heavy, over-decorated table. Lorelei stays tucked against my side, right where she belongs.

I lay it out for them. Everything we know so far. Which is practically nothing.

Not. Good. Enough.

My demon seethes. My bones itch to shift, to let my full form tear through this useless, helpless moment. I keep it locked down—barely.

And it’s worse because Lottie chose to leave.

I smooth the crumpled note Lottie left and pass it to Lorelei, then on to the others.

Chano,

We found a way to be more. Real power—the kind that matters. We’re taking it. No one can stop us, so don’t try.

You always said the Maveriks were ours to lead. Ours. But we both know that’s changed. You have her, and she has aether. I see where this is going. But you don’t understand. Your Aeternum will never be enough. She’s not one of us.

This is for the gang. When we come back, we won’t just be Maveriks, we’ll be more.

Don’t bother tracking us. Phones, laptops—wiped.

Lottie

Stupid child. So desperate to make a difference, she and her friends didn’t stop to think about the chaos they’d leave behind. Always leaving me to clean up her messes. Until now, I was happy to. Hell, I encouraged her.

Mi mami busies herself, wheeling back and forth from the kitchen with coffee and sweet treats. She doesn’t need to hear this again—we’ve gone over it a dozen times.

She rolls over Lorelei’s toes on her way past. Mierda . Lori flinches but forces a smile, shaking it off and leaning over the table, eyes locked on the pathetic excuse for intel we have.

Raff exhales, shaking his head. “They covered their tracks well.” Then, quieter—“Kinda proud of them.”

I cut him a look, and he shrinks under it. “I mean…it’s bad for us, obviously.”

I huff a laugh despite myself. Of course they did. Lottie was convinced tech would be the way the Maveriks stayed on top.

Girl-Farrell’s phone alarm chimes, and he whips it out, fingers flying over the screen. A slow smile spreads across her—his—face.

“There’s a lead,” he says, voice high-pitched and wrong.

I narrow my eyes. “You asked. For me?”

Farrell shrugs, bumping my side. He barely reaches my stomach.

“I made you a girl, remember,” Kai says, grinning. “And that’s not very feminine. ”

Beside me, Raff and Alairik shift their weight, heads tilting. Their nostrils flare, reading the air, reading him . Farrell’s delicate brows pinch. He pouts. Farrell Cuelebre pouts.

Then, his pupils slit, golden iris flaring, dragon pressing through. Raff stiffens. Alairik steps back just enough to be ready.

“Kai, you did this?” I ask.

Kai’s grin widens. He nods.

I sigh, dragging a hand down my face. “He’s…uh…a very pretty girl.”

“Do you want this lead or not?” Farrell presses.

I wipe the smirk off my face.

“It’s not much, Chano. Don’t get excited. A patrol sighted six adolescents, a mix of demons and wolves—”

“Let’s go.” I push up so fast the table rattles.

“Wait.” Farrell lifts a hand. “It was more than twenty-four hours ago. The patrol tracked them until they left our safe zone.”

“Then let’s go,” I growl. “We can follow where your rebels won’t.”

The room goes still. Girl-Farrell’s gaze jumps to my men, to mi mami . Kai opens his mouth in a wide O, then slaps his forehead.

Hellfire. I need to engage my damn brain.

“They won’t breathe a word.” I grab the redhead’s hand. Shit. Still Farrell. I drop it again. “Not a word, or it will be their last,” I snarl, daring anyone to argue.

Raff and Alairik nod and shift in their seats. Good actors, my boys. They already knew about Farrell’s rebellion. Of course they did.

Farrell, though? He thinks they’re hearing it for the first time. But how could I not tell my most trusted? This is going to hit the Maveriks hard. He’s my allegiance; his mess is my mess. We’re getting dragged in. And between Raff, Alairik, and I, we still can’t find a way to spin it to the rest of the gang .

And Farrell, the great strategist? Hasn’t even thought about what it means for me. For the gang. If I don’t weed out my tios soon, the second they catch wind of this, they’ll use it to oust me.

And Kai…Kai might be a problem. But Lottie first. Farrell’s arrogance can wait.

Minutes. That’s all it takes to reach the portal. Not one of my allegiance hesitates. No excuses, no second thoughts. They palm their knives and step into the rebel stronghold at my side.

It’s unnerving. This isn’t how we do things.

Maveriks don’t ask for outside help. Maveriks don’t need it.

Stepping out of the portal onto browning grass, I grab Lorelei’s arm, steadying her.

Steel pricks my chest and I freeze. Soldiers in khaki uniform, with sharp, sharp knives. Way too close.

Farrell steps forward in short, staccato strides. “Stand down.”

No one moves. No one except Kai. The stupid fae bastard giggles. He wraps a hand around the knife at his chest, dragging the blade deeper into his palm. Blood wells, drips. He squeezes harder, laughing, the sound bouncing off the valley’s rocky walls. The soldier guarding him steps back warily.

Dripping blood, Kai weaves between the rebels. What is wrong with him?

He runs bloody fingers through his purple hair, muttering in some bastardized mix of Latin and fae. The rebels bristle. If he puts Lorelei at risk, it’ll be the last thing he does. I draw her slightly behind me.

Kai lifts his hands, palms out, aiming straight at the redhead.

“Revelbaar!” he screeches, spinning in a wild circle around girl-Farrell .

I blink. Farrell’s shoulders broaden, his frame stretching taller. Freckled, chubby cheeks sharpen to hard angles, a scruff of beard shadowing his jaw. The long auburn hair shrinks back into his usual curls.

But his clothes— mierda .

Farrell’s back, sure. But he’s still stuffed into a Fates tartan skirt and a too-tight white blouse, the seams straining, hem riding scandalously high.

I snort. A rebel’s blade nicks my neck—a sharp warning. I choke down the laugh.

“I came from Maverik turf,” Farrell growls at his men. “I had to be disguised. You will stand down and accept Chano’s presence, for now.”

They hesitate. Wrong move.

He snarls, a puff of smoke curling from his nostrils, chased by a flicker of flame. The scent of scorched hair stings my nose. His men snap into formation like their asses are on fire. Smart.

Wiping the blood from my neck, I step to Farrell’s side, locking gazes with the rebel who cut me. I point at my eyes, then straight at him. His face drains of color. Correct response, puta .

“They listen to you, even though you’re a grown man stuffed into a child-size skirt?” I ask, deliberately turning my back on the rebel.

Farrell’s smile is all teeth. “They’re trained soldiers. They do as their commander tells them.”

Zephyr drifts to our side, like the wind itself carried him here, and hands me a silk handkerchief. “Not entirely true,” he muses, like we’re discussing philosophy instead of power dynamics. “But there are official channels for them to express concerns. Farrell is fairer than his father. He listens. Mostly. His men respect that.”

I wipe the blood from my neck and shove the stained hanky back at him. His nose wrinkles. He plucks it delicately by a corner and tucks it into his pocket like it might taint his soul. “Sometimes, he even admits he was wrong.”

Lorelei snorts. “Never. ”

Farrell exhales sharply through his nose. No fire this time, but his golden pupils slit for half a second before he smooths his expression.

“Don’t believe it,” Kai singsongs, still flitting around like an unhinged hummingbird. He gets up close—too close—to each soldier, peering deep into their eyes before zipping to the next.

One of the rebels stiffens. “And the fae, sir?” His voice is clipped, but not steady. He’s rattled.

Kai swivels to face him, tilting his head just a little too far. “Must not kill,” he murmurs. “Killing would be bad. Wouldn’t it?” He smiles, wide and sharp, and the soldier looks like he regrets speaking.

We’re wasting time. The fucking fae is wasting time.

Farrell clears his throat. “The fae are being targeted by the Angel King. They might be allies going forward.”

Kai stops mid-step. The manic energy vanishes. He turns, slow and deliberate, studying Farrell like he’s just seeing him for the first time.

It was a risk, Farrell bringing him here. The Angel King’s nephew. Farrell must believe Kai is allegiance. Must have some faith in the madman.

Then, like flipping a switch, Kai grins and fist-bumps Farrell. Behind him, the rebels seem to breathe again, a few even stepping forward to mutter condolences.

Meanwhile, they still eye me warily. Typical.

Kai doesn’t know Farrell’s little rebellion is the reason the fae are being targeted. Doesn’t know they go out disguised as fae. Not yet. That little nugget is still to come out…

“Let’s go, idiotas .”

We reach the edge of rebel territory and cross over, leaving Farrell’s men behind. I take point. Farrell falls to the back without a word—watching, guarding, commanding. We’re not so different.

The wind picks up, tearing the first leaves of fall from the trees, swirling dust and brittle stems in our path. The kids covered their tracks well, but I’d recognize my sister’s scent anywhere. I swear to Hades, once I find her safe, that girl is going to wish she’d never run.

I inhale deeply, following the faintest thread of familiarity. Walk forward. Nothing. Double back. Nothing. Move left, then right, each step sharper, more frantic.

Her scent just vanishes. Here one second. Gone the next.

I scuff the leaves from the track, crouching low, bringing my face closer to the earth.

“I lost them.” The words taste wrong. I never lose trails. Never .

Did they use a scent blocker? Why here? Why not earlier? I turn in a tight circle, frustration burning through me, then nearly trip over Zephyr.

The angel drifts past, hands hovering over the tree trunks, fingertips brushing the forest floor like he’s plucking at unseen threads.

“What are you doing, puta ?”

He doesn’t answer. Just stands there, swaying slightly. A thin thread of drool spills from his slack lips, dripping down his chin.

“Is he high?” I snap.

Farrell scowls as I wave a hand in front of Zephyr’s unseeing eyes. “He’s found some new shit to abuse, hasn’t he?”

Zephyr blinks hard, like he’s shaking off a dream. Then he bends forward, hands braced on his knees, sucking in air like he’s run miles.

“Two adults met them here,” he rasps. “Two angels.”

My snarl rips through the trees as I grab his lapels, yanking him upright. “You better not be making this shit up. What else?”

“N-nothing.” His eyes flick to my hands, still dazed. “Gray robes. No insignia.”

I clench my fists tighter.

“Fucking angels.”

“Hey!” Zephyr bristles, jerking out of my grip like I burned him.

Lorelei wedges between us, palms flat against both our chests. “So you can see the past, Zephyr? ”

He exhales sharply, straightening his lapels. “If an object chooses to show me, then sometimes.”

I narrow my eyes. “Clear as mud.”

“So that’s it?” Kai chirps. “Can we go now?”

My fists clench. It takes all my strength not to deck the sneaky fae bastard right then and there. That’s my sister. And she’s still lost.

Of course, he’s right. There’s nothing more to find. After hours at the spot Lottie and her stupid tweeny-bopper crew vanished, I finally give in.

In Farrell’s mansion, I pace the worn parquet floors of the drawing room, where hundreds of boots have left their mark before mine. The place was clearly built for wealth, power—control. And until recently, I guess it had all of that. But without the Virrey and his dirty money, the cracks are showing. The chandelier overhead is missing half its crystals, leaving dark gaps where light should scatter and dance across the walls. A side table stands bare, faint outlines in the dust marking where expensive trinkets used to sit.

“What now?” Lorelei asks. Of course she’d be the one to press.

I stop, pivoting to face her. “We keep looking.”

She doesn’t so much as flinch. “Should we go back to Maverik turf?”

“We’ve already turned it upside down. Plus, it’s dangerous. For both Farrell and you.”

Lorelei tuts, like she didn’t get shot in the shoulder by mi tio just hours ago. She shifts her weight, clearly unimpressed, then looks to Farrell. “Can the rebels help?”

He sinks into an ornate chair near the fireplace, the dragon carvings twisting up the arms and into the high, regal headrest. The upholstery is still rich, but the seams are starting to fray.

“We’re thin on the ground, Lorelei.” He presses his fingers together, expression tight. “With the Angel King’s patrols, demonic creatures, even just keeping our people fed…” His gaze flicks to me. “But I’ll make sure th e patrols report anything relevant. Maybe get them to share directly with Alairik?”

Lorelei drums her fingers against the side table, sending dust into the air. “Not good enough. You need to draft in more people.”

Farrell’s head whips to her, teeth clenched. “We can’t, Lorelei.” His voice is softer than I expected. “Too many supes in one place and the angels start asking questions.”

She opens her mouth to argue, but I grip her shoulder. “It’s bad, huh?”

Farrell exhales, meeting my eyes, relieved.

Scrubbing my face, I take him in. Really look at my allegiance. He’s tired. Bags under his eyes, sallow skin kind of tired. With the rip, with Lottie, I didn’t see it.

“Don’t change anything,” I tell him. “Patrols, numbers—keep it the same. Just get them to report to us. Those kids don’t want to be found. This was Lottie’s plan. If she’s alive, I swear to Hades, when we find her, I’m going to kill her myself.”

Lorelei allows herself a small smile, turning from Farrell. He almost reaches for her, then stops, lets his hand drop. Those two…Shadowboxing with the truth. Two magnets fighting the pull.

I’ll deal with their lovesick puppy bullshit later. If Lorelei lets me.

“We go back to the academy,” I decide. “We’ve got nothing. And they’re just kids—they won’t last long without money. They’ll slip up. We can’t let the Maveriks or the rebellion come undone over my stupid sister.”

The others protest, loud and instant.

“If we all get expelled and then she strolls in from a two-week beach break…” I scowl, unease curling in my gut.

Lorelei bites her lip. “You know that’s not what’s happening, Chano.”

“Yeah. But it was planned. They meant to meet the angels. Now, we wait. For them to show up or screw up.”

“Or for someone else to find them first…” Zephyr mu tters.

I swear to Hades, one of these days I won’t hold back from murdering that angel. Even the goddess-damned fae has grown on me faster than him.