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CHAPTER TWELVE

CASSIEL

I shadow Isolde as she makes her way back to her room, keeping a discreet distance. The other students part before her like waves breaking against a ship’s prow, their fear a tangible thing that fills the corridor with its scent.

My wings itch beneath my skin, wanting to manifest fully, to stretch and shield her from the whispers and stares.

But I keep them contained, watching as she walks with a confidence she didn’t have when she arrived here.

Blood still stains her training clothes, splattered across her chest like a macabre medal of honour, but it suits her. Bathed in blood.

She doesn’t need my protection. Not from these lesser creatures who scatter at her approach.

But what kind of man would I be to her if I left her to make this walk alone?

A new drama would have unfolded by the time she exits again.

That is how it is here. Violence, aggression, arousal, it’s all part of life at SilverGate.

When she’s safely in her room, I slip away to find a quiet corner of the academy where I can think. The Bell Tower provides the solitude I need, its height offering perspective on the sprawling campus below.

Flying up to the top of the roof, I unfurl my wings fully, letting them stretch to their full span.

What we’re planning to do tonight is extremely dangerous.

Removing Blackridge’s runes and transferring them to William is risky at best. Fatal at worst. I just hope it doesn’t come to that.

I ponder Blackridge’s motivations for a moment and then sigh.

This is precisely what he is expecting us to do. He is always ten steps ahead.

I shiver, the wind whipping through my feathers as the realisation settles like ice in my veins.

Blackridge has been manipulating us from the start.

The runes, the monitoring, even his nonchalant reaction to Benz’s first and second deaths.

It’s all part of some grand design I can’t fully comprehend.

The academy sprawls beneath me, ancient and secretive. From this height, I can see students moving between buildings, unaware of the forces converging around them. Unaware that they’re sharing classes with a creature who could rewrite reality with a thought.

I close my eyes, thinking of Isolde covered in blood, her eyes flashing silver as she stood over Benz’s drained corpse. The raw power coming from her had been intoxicating, calling to something primal that I’ve only felt since I fell.

My wings flex involuntarily, remembering the sensation of her fingers stroking through my feathers. No angel would ever allow such an intimate touch. Yet I’d surrendered to it completely while my cock was buried deep inside her, craving her caress like salvation.

“Brooding again?” CJ’s voice cuts through my thoughts. He stands at the edge of the tower roof, somehow having scaled up without my noticing. His markings shimmer faintly beneath his skin in the fading light.

“Planning,” I correct him, folding my wings slightly. “Tonight could go very wrong.”

CJ moves closer, his gaze sweeping over the academy grounds. “I know. But we don’t have a choice.”

“Blackridge planned this.”

CJ pauses, eyes narrowed as he does when he is thinking. “I figured. He is too far ahead of us. Doesn’t mean we aren’t going to do it. Better to have them out of Issy, and as much as I hate to say it, we could do with William being less transparent.”

“I want to argue with that, but I can’t seem to find a plausible response.”

CJ snickers. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

“William’s obsession with her is troubling,” I say, watching a group of students scatter below us as a professor walks by. “He sees her as his salvation, not as a person.”

CJ shrugs. “And we don’t? Let’s not pretend we’re any better, Cassiel. We all want something from her.”

“That’s different,” I argue, though the words sound hollow. Maybe he’s right.

“Is it? You want to learn, to feel, to discover, and you want to experience it all with her . I want, well, that’s my business. William wants life again. We’re all using her in our own ways.”

The truth of his words stings. I flex my wings, feeling the wind catch beneath the feathers. “But we care about her. Genuinely.”

“So does William, in his own twisted way.” CJ studies me with those penetrating eyes. “The difference is, we’re alive enough to show it properly.”

“Until tonight,” I remind him. “If this works, he’ll be just as alive as we are.”

CJ’s jaw tightens. “And if it fails, we could lose her.”

We stand in silence for a moment, the significance hanging between us like a storm cloud. Below, the academy continues its evening routines, oblivious to the ritual we’re planning.

“What if we’re wrong about all of this?” I ask quietly.

CJ’s eyes darken as he considers my question. “We’re not wrong. The runes are hurting her, monitoring her, controlling her. We get them out, or we watch her become Blackridge’s experiment forever.”

“I know that,” I say, my wings rustling with agitation. “I meant, what if we’re wrong about what she is? What if the Sanguimonarch thing is just another manipulation? Another way to control her?”

CJ’s laugh is bitter. “You’ve felt her power, Cassiel. That’s no manipulation.”

I can’t argue with that. The memory of her feeding from me, the electric connection when my blood flowed into her veins, was beyond anything I’d experienced in my celestial existence.

“We need to consider what happens after tonight,” I say. “If William becomes corporeal again...”

“The balance shifts,” CJ finishes for me.

“Exactly. The Butcher of SilverGate, alive again after a century. His obsession with her unchecked by the limitations of being a ghost.”

CJ’s expression darkens. “I’m prepared for that possibility.”

Something in his tone makes me study him more carefully. “You will protect her from him, even if she doesn’t want you to.”

“Of course. If anyone, including you, hurts her in any way, I will annihilate them.”

“Are you ever going to reveal what lies beneath the vampire?”

“Something you have probably heard of, maybe even seen from up there. Here? They don’t have my kind here.”

Frowning, I tilt my head. “So, where are you from?”

He smirks. “Not here.”

If I expected any other response, I would be a fool.

“That’s not cryptic at all,” I mutter, stretching my wings before folding them against my back. “Just tell me this. Are you on our side? Truly?”

“I’m on Isolde’s side. That’s all that matters.”

“Fair enough. We should prepare for tonight.”

CJ nods, already turning to leave. He steps to the edge of the roof and drops down.

I lean over and watch as he lands gracefully and strides off.

I remain perched on the ledge, watching over SilverGate.

Tonight, everything changes. For better or worse, we’re about to alter the balance of power in ways none of us can fully predict.

And Blackridge will be watching every moment.