Page 5 of Angel Lost (Fates Academy #3)

Chapter Five: Lorelei

My arms ache. The corridors are endless and full of asshole students pushing their way to their own rooms. Why was I so determined to do this in one trip? I knew Val was on the other side of the building. I hitch my only rucksack higher on my shoulder and flex my fingers around the plastic bag digging into my hand. Val’s voice chatters in the background. I gave up listening to her grousing a few corridors ago. Instead, my attention is captured by the posse of professors striding toward us. That’s the third group we’ve passed.

“Val?”

She pauses, dropping the bags she’s carrying.

“What’s with all the supervision?” I jerk my chin at the profs. They stop to interfere in an argument between an angel and a harpy. As quickly as it started, it ends, the harpy storming away. She throws a window open and launches herself out. Dramatic, much? We’re only on the first floor. She’ll be lucky if her wings open before she hits the ground. The professors fuss over the other student like she’s minor royalty.

“Yeah, lots of new staff,” Val mutters. She toes the plastic bags, glaring at the professors. “They’re all angels. He’s got a lot to answer for.”

Val nods at one of the posters plastered across the notice board. The face of the Angel King peers down at us.

Join the army as early as your fourth year—ask your guidance tutor today!

On the next poster the king is in full military uniform .

The best decision you will ever make—Officer Training.

Those are new.

“What’s that about?” I bend to heave up my rucksack again. “What’s he want an army for? What’s he going after—the human dimension?” I snort a laugh. Like they have anything we’d want. Pollution and constant war? No thanks.

With a huff Val grabs up her bags. “The hellions? Everyone’s pretty rattled. Venez has gotten off lightly compared to the other states.”

“I thought Venez had it bad.”

Val goggles at me. “Entire towns were wiped out in Moyatura and Sylvaria, Lorelei.”

“Were they?

“Are you joking?” Val swings a bag at me, whacking me in the chest. “People died.”

I stagger back a step. “I…uh…After the boys sent me away, I may have wallowed a bit.” I scrunch my nose up. It’s not like I did absolutely nothing. “I trained and got drunk a couple times with the fae. But I didn’t watch the news.”

Val shoulders her way into her room, sidesteps a couple of guitars, trips over a microphone stand, and finally drops my stuff in a heap on an unmade bed. “Welcome home!”

I drop my bags and flop onto the mattress. It’s comfy enough. And it doesn’t smell of talcum powder.

“Lorelei?”

“Hm?”

“No news, at all?”

“It’s depressing.”

Val yanks me upright by my wrist. “You need to catch up. It’s been amazing.”

I blink.

“Way better than any soap. Reality TV on steroids! ”

Val drags me to the nearest TV. It’s like she’s come back this term more cruel fae than harpy. Although…Jess isn’t that cruel, Kai either. Mostly.

We step into the third-year common room and I flinch. It’s like a unicorn on speed vomited on the walls. The bright lights and luminous colors can’t hide the fact that, in the back corner, Chano, Farrell, and Zephyr have their heads together. I hesitate. What would Naeve do? She’d make up with them, smooth things over…

The back of Chano’s blazer sports splatters of blood, more decorating the collar of his shirt. Shit. The hada were quick with the blood bags. I press my lips together, pushing down the giggle. Val tugs me toward a vibrant pink sofa. Depressing TV it is. Give Chano some time to calm down. She yanks the remote from an unsuspecting student’s hand.

The girl bares her teeth. “Give it back, half-breed!”

My hackles rise. “What did you just say?”

“Give…” Her voice wavers, glancing toward my fingers as they twitch at my side. “Give…it—”

“Not that bit,” I warn, my aether flames flickering across my skin. “What did you call her?”

“Uh, never mind.”

“Just you remember who my friend is, angel-face,” Val crows as the girl turns and bolts for the door.

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’s nephew .

“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.

Kai shrugs so casually the last of Chano’s control snaps. He emerges into his full demon form, towering over us, horns ripping out of his skull and wings fanning aggressively behind him. My gut clenches, but Kai simply bares his teeth.

“Better you ask pretty boy over there, than ask me.” He gestures at Zephyr. “I have nothing to do with the Angel King. Or angels .”

Instantly Zephyr emanates a raw, jagged energy. I feel it through my hands and down our allegiance bond. I’ve never felt him so angry. He turns infinitesimally slowly on Kai. His eyes are wild, his aura uncontrolled as it batters into everyone. One feather at a time, his wings prick into being. A brilliant, eye-searing white.

Before I can think, I step between them. I swallow my panic down, pushing my flames back. I have to stop this becoming all-out war. Zephyr doesn’t fight. I’ve never seen him like this. I place a hand on each of their chests, holding my ground between them.

“That’s enough,” I say, my voice low. They hesitate, but gradually, the aggressive energy dips. Zephyr’s aura shrinks back until it’s merely a slight halo surrounding him. I can’t help a small smile.

Naeve would be proud.

“Lorelei Bal,” says a man with a silk-smooth voice.

I spin around. Five men and one woman, all dressed in the pale gray robes of the academy, bar the common room doorway. Professors. Angels .

Kai shoves me behind him, and I stumble, surprised.

“We are here to take you for registration. The dean alerted us to your status.”

Bastard.

Zephyr casts a wary glance at Kai before stepping to his side. Farrell and Chano quickly join them, putting themselves between me and the professors. The angels start chanting, high-pitched and utterly freaky. The noise disintegrates into a constant hum, and they begin to glow. Actually glow, like fireflies. Within seconds, their wings are out and the light from the other side of the room is so bright it hurts.

“Now, boys, you don’t want to break the law. Aethers must be registered.”

“I had until the new year!” I shout, ducking back behind Chano’s big frame when six pairs of eyes come to bear on me.

“Rules change.” The silky voice has a hard, cold edge. “Come now or we shall take you from them, little aether.”

The temperature drops a couple of degrees, and I sense more than see the angels fanning out across the far end of the room. These are ascended supes. We don’t stand a chance.

A plan. We need a plan.

Zephyr casts, throwing up a shield. We lean in, adding our power to it, building layer by layer of shimmering protection. Kai reaches out, tentatively adding his power to ours, and a tingle rushes up my arm. Thank the goddesses, our magic is compatible. We might hold them. The angels’ power pushes against the shield, cautiously at first, then with increasing force. A ramrod powering into us. Again and Again. The barrier trembles.

A searing arc streams from each of the professors. The shield splinters, cracking like glass.

“Help us, Angel Zephyr. Help us. ”

Zephyr casts a desperate glance in my direction before turning and stepping away from us, palms facing me. His lips move. I can’t pick out the words.

“Arrest her, Angel Zephyr,” one of the angels calls. “Heed your king.”

He glances sideways at them. A moment later, our shield springs back up. Zephyr gives a satisfied nod. His hands still, touching the shimmer of the barrier, feeding it from the outside. I shouldn’t have doubted him, not for a second. The others quickly add their magic again, replenishing the barrier.

“What are you doing, idiot?” Farrell hisses.

Zephyr clenches his jaw. “Barrier is stronger this way. And they won’t attack me…not a fellow angel. I think.”

The shield flexes under the professors’ bombardment and Zephyr’s shoulders shake with the effort. A trickle of sweat runs down the side of his face.

They’re ascended.

The female angel turns toward Zephyr, hands raised.

No. I won’t risk my allegiance. Not for this.

I take a tentative step forward, forcing my way through Zephyr’s shield a step at a time. It pulls at me, pricking my skin, urging me back.

“No, Lore!” Zephyr grinds out. “They won’t attack me. I think.”

Think isn’t good enough. I tear through the final layers of the shield. It’s just aether registration. I always had to go. I just thought I had more time.

The angels’ power pulses forward, eager, cold. Harshly white. And I flinch.

A blast hits Zephyr out of nowhere, taking him to the floor. He groans, rolling onto his back. I glare into the whiteness. That was unnecessary, I was giving myself up. Tendrils reach out, brushing my skin, sharp, cold.

Suddenly, a hand wraps around my wrist, jerking me to a stop. Purple hair falls across my face and Kai’s absolutely furious gaze locks on mine.

“I will deal with this,” he snarls .

With a yank on my shoulder, he spins me around, pushing me into Chano’s arms. Then, he storms forward, his arms spread out.

“Step down,” he commands. The professors’ light dims slightly as the six of them look at one another in confusion. “You will step down. I shall take the aether to my uncle.”

The brilliant whiteness flickers, then dies away completely. Rubbing my sleeve across my face, I blink away the lingering halo of light.

Shit.

My eyes sting as I smear sofa ash right into them. I sneeze, tears leaking from the corners of my eyes, and by the time I look up, the wings have gone. Six ordinary-looking professors stare back. A quiet muttering breaks out among them.

“The prince.”

“The mad prince.”

The lone female professor steps forward, a sneer on her otherwise beautiful face. “How do we know that’s true?”

Kai slips toward her quickly, with the silent deadliness of the fae. “You dare to question me? Angel—?” He pauses mere inches away.

She cringes. “Angel Nuri, Your Highness.”

Your Highness? My eyes bore into the back of Kai’s head and, as if he feels it, his shoulders hunch.

“I have taken aethers to be registered before, have I not?” His voice hardens into an unrecognizable snarl.

The female nods, glancing desperately at her compatriots. Not one of them meets her gaze.

Kai smiles viciously. “This particular aether is my source. I have scheduled to take her to be registered in a week. No one is to interfere. Certainly not any of you.”

I still in Chano’s arms. Don’t let him have picked up on that. Please don’t let him have picked up on it.

“Yes, P-p-prince Kai,” the professor stutters. “I mean, no. ”

Kai peers down his nose at her. “Dismissed.”

He clicks his heels together and salutes. Each and every professor mimics his gesture before scuttling backward toward the door. He watches them, emotionless, as they trip over their own feet in their desperation to get away without turning their backs to him.

Only after the door swings shut does he spin around, smirking. Kai cocks an eyebrow and winks.

A week. Fuck.