Page 5 of Wings of Valor (Silver City University #4)

I roll over in bed, stretching out the kinks of sleep.

The delicious scent of pastry drifts through the air, making my eyes pop open as I recall Mom promised to let me try one of her new recipes today.

I dress quickly, hoping to catch my parents being cute in the kitchen—like when Mom hums while Dad watches her bake, just before it turns into a flour fight.

Their love is so pure, it’s no wonder that’s the kind I want for myself.

Once I make it to the top of the stairs, I breathe in and nearly drool. “Mom, that smells delicious!” I call out—but when I enter the kitchen, I realize something is very, very wrong.

Mom and Dad are bloody and tied up, each held by demons with angel blades pressed to their throats.

“No.”

From the back door, Archangel Auriel steps through with a smile on his face. “You’re taking too long, my little seraph. Perhaps you require a bit of encouragement, hmm?” He turns to the demon holding Mom and nods. Before I can even react, the demon slits her throat, and I scream.

I jolt upright in bed and rush to the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet before emptying the contents of my stomach—dry heaving when there’s nothing left.

Resting my forehead against my arm, I hover over the rim. A nightmare. That’s all. It’s not real.

Three sharp taps come from the front door, followed by the sound of someone turning the knob, trying to get in.

My heart races, pounding like a drum behind my ribs.

Auriel wouldn’t come here, would he? Even if he did, I can’t see him knocking.

That asshole would just blip into my room without permission before doing something as civilized as knocking.

No. I can’t go there. It’s probably just Dina, checking on me after I convinced her to take the night off to wallow in solitude.

I rinse the acrid taste of vomit from my mouth and warily head to the door. On the other side, I find all three of my guys looking ready to fight. What the hell? My gaze travels past them to the mound of pillows and blankets on the floor. I freeze. “Did you guys—”

Zeke barrels past me, opens my closet, and checks the bathroom and the locked balcony door.

Raphael takes my hand in his. “We heard you scream. Is everything alright?”

I offer him a sad smile. “I’m fine. It was just a bad dream.”

“Oh, thank fuck,” Zeke says, pulling me in close. I take it all in—his worry, his joy that I’m unharmed. The way he’s putting it all out there, no longer hiding behind a mask of indifference. What did I ever do to deserve these men?

“You had us worried, firefly.” Theo places a soft kiss against my lips while I’m still trapped in Zeke’s embrace. No one bats an eye at the shared affection.

“I’m sorry,” I say when he pulls back.

“You have nothing to be sorry for.” Theo taps the end of my nose affectionately. “Why don’t you go shower, then we’ll head to the cave for a quick meeting. Castiel got you a pass from Uriel’s class today. None of us think you should be around him without one of us with you.”

“He did? Wow. It’s probably best if I just drop his class altogether. It’s not like he’ll let me pass the final exam.” I unwillingly pull myself from Zeke’s embrace. “You three should go get cleaned up. I’ll meet you by the front doors in half an hour.”

Raphael looks like he wants to protest, but I shake my head. “I’ll be fine.”

It takes another round of insisting before they finally leave. Part of me wishes they could stay, but I’m not good to anyone right now. My mind is toxic right now, and the last thing I want is to have my negative thoughts seep into them.

Wanting to be quick, I don’t bother washing my hair.

With the way my thoughts are churning, what my hair looks like is the last thing on my mind.

While I scrub myself raw, I try contacting my parents again with no success.

It’s like something is blocking us from communicating.

I just have to hope it’s only distance and that Azrael’s tool will help.

By the time I’m dressed, I’ve tried twice more to reach my parents and am in an even worse mood than before.

A notification flashes across my slate, and I dive for it, hope rising. Maybe my parents found a way to get a message to me.

I sigh when I realize it’s only Dina, letting me know she’s got some family shit to deal with and won’t be able to join us at the cave.

I wonder what her dad would think about the shit we’ve uncovered. Would he even care what the Fallen might end up facing? Or is he only concerned with his image? I doubt he’d mind that I’m now more than just the weird friend with strange wings.

Tucking my slate away, I grab my bag and begin the trek down to the main floor. The moment I step onto the last set of stairs, a shiver races down my spine.

Two familiar Fallen angels stand between me and the front door. Big Forehead and Thin Eyebrows. Just what I fucking need to deal with right now. With the two of them, it might seem like they’ve got the advantage—but with all the pent-up anger boiling inside me, it’s their wellbeing I fear for.

Maybe they just want to talk. Doubtful, but still a possibility.

Big Forehead grins up at me, though it’s anything but friendly. “You’re a hard beastie to track down.”

“Maybe you’re just not a very good hunter,” I say, descending the last few steps.

“Watch your mouth, orphan,” Thin Eyebrows says with a sneer, halting me in my tracks.

Blood roars in my ears like thunder. “What the fuck did you just call me?”

The pair of them step forward as one, but it’s the bitch with overly plucked brows that answers.

“You heard me. Just like I heard your parents hated you so much they killed themselves instead of having to put up with you for another second.”

Rage builds so heavily inside me, I black out.

When I come to, I’m outside. Two of my guys have Big Forehead restrained—his pained wails piercing through my fog—while the other pulls me off Thin Eyebrows.

She doesn’t make a sound. Her face is a bloody mess, and what little eyebrows she had before are now gone.

Judging by the smell, I’m guessing I burned them off.

“My eyes! What the fuck did you do to my eyes?!” Big Forehead sobs, repeating himself over and over.

“Hey,” Raph says, running a hand up and down my arms. I flinch. “It’s just me. You hurt?”

I shake my head, anger gripping me too hard to speak. How fucking dare they? Of course that piece of shit Uriel would twist the story and tell his minions to use it against me as ammo. Why am I even fucking surprised? He’s a rat bastard with zero morals.

“Take the bitch and get the fuck out of here,” Theo warns Big Forehead, his usual soft voice completely gone.

Before he can scramble away, Zeke grabs him by the throat. “And if you so much as think about coming near Hayliel again, I swear to every being in this realm and the next that you won’t like the consequences. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes,” Big Forehead squeaks out before grabbing his friend’s unconscious body.

Hoisting the bloodied mess over his shoulder, he stumbles down the path to the main hall.

Whatever I did must’ve really messed up his eyesight, because the dude trips over everything—nearly dropping Thin Eyebrows more than once.

When they’re far enough away, three sets of eyes turn to me. “What happened?” Raph asks.

I struggle to breathe. It feels like the weight of ten demons sits on my chest, though I know it’s only anger. Looks like I didn’t take all my aggression out on those two.

I try several times to answer but can’t get the words out. Then the shakes kick in.

Fuck. I’m a mess.

“It’s alright. Let’s get you cleaned up first. Come with me.

” Raphael leads me to Somersault Falls, where I drop to my knees and rinse the blood from my hands.

Cold water washes away the physical signs of a struggle, but the emotional wounds remain raw and festering.

By the time I’m done, the knees of my uniform are wet and covered in sand, but I feel a little calmer. Enough to explain, at least.

“They called me an orphan and said my parents killed themselves to get away from me.” I fixate on the waterfall, unable to meet their gaze. Without looking at them, I sense their rising anger like a dark, warm cloud snuggling up to my own.

“Those motherfuckers. I’ll show them what death fucking feels like,” Zeke says. It’s like he can feel the bloodlust rising in my veins because in this moment, that’s exactly what I want. For them to know how much anguish I’m in. To feel how fucking hard I’m trying to keep myself from falling apart.

My mental connection with Theo flares, his anger matching mine, but in a far more refined way. “I want to harm them as much as the rest of you, but if any of us gets kicked out, our job of protecting Hayliel and saving this fucking city becomes all that much harder.”

How the hell does he stay so clear-headed all the time? It’s both endearing and, at this moment, slightly annoying. That’s likely the rage talking, though, because he’s not wrong. If any one of us gets expelled—or worse, imprisoned by the guild—we’re screwed.

Scattered along the bottom of my bag, I find a hair elastic and pile my hair into a messy bun on top of my head. “Let’s just go to the cave before I change my mind and spend the day in my room.”

The thought gets more appealing with every passing moment, so depending on how things go, I may wind up there anyway.

Mira and Castiel are already in the cave when we arrive. I’m a little shocked not to find Azrael sitting with them, but it’s probably harder for him to get away than the rest of us. Besides, I want him at the guild looking into the items they took from my parents’ house.

He and Zeke took several blood samples from both angels and demons.

They also took a few chunks of mud and wet sand they found inside the house, too.

Azrael thinks he can track where they originated from.

It doesn’t guarantee we’ll find my parents, but maybe it’ll help me figure out where Auriel wanted the trade to happen, since the piece of shit didn’t even leave me with a fucking destination.

How am I supposed to give myself over when I don’t know where to go?

If Azrael finds out where my parents are being kept, I’ll go there myself and bring them back, or I’ll sell my soul for their freedom. Those are the only two options.

I just might have to keep the one I choose to myself.

“Miss Hayliel.” Castiel approaches, looking just as tired as I feel.

His hair, which is normally tied back, now frames his face.

Maybe he cared just as little as I did for looks this morning.

“I spoke with the principal about the possibility of dropping Wingology from your course load. He doesn’t understand the want for it, considering how close we are to finals.

For now, the best he could do is allow you to drop it as a major. ”

“It’s still better than nothing. If any other professor taught the class, I’d love to continue, but I don’t think there’s any benefit to it while Uriel runs it.

Besides, we both know he’s going to fail me at the slightest infraction.

Thank you for talking to him on my behalf.

” It’s not as if I can convince the school to come watch me fly on the island, and as long as I’m in the arena with Uriel, I won’t make any progress with the obstacle course.

Castiel nods. “I know it might feel like you’re running away or we’re giving up, but I promise that’s not the case.

This is a delicate matter, one I must handle a certain way if we want Uriel to get the punishment he deserves.

I’ve been assembling a case to bring to Principal Cael, but I just need a bit more time before I can present it. ”

Words fail me as I comprehend just what he’s saying. “I … Thank you, Castiel. Seriously. You’ve been a friend from the start, and that means more than I can say.”

Castiel blushes at my praise, and Zeke clears his throat.

“I’m all for Uriel getting his due, so if you need anything from us, just say the word.

Now, we only have a few days left before the deadline.

Since we’re all against Hayliel turning herself in and we clearly can’t decide on a plan of action, could we consider an ambush?

Perhaps we can capture whoever shows up at the meeting point—then the guild can do their thing and extract information for us. ”

I hate the idea, but I can tell the others don’t feel the same.

Raphael nods. “They could even lead us straight to his hideout.”

Theo at least looks pensive. “Maybe. But I think the risk would be too high. We’d still need to extricate her parents without sounding the alarm. Depending on whether they’re brought to the swap point or being kept somewhere else—and who or what is protecting them—that may prove difficult.”

“I won’t risk my parents to save myself,” I say defiantly. My life is not worth more than theirs. “Besides, we don’t even have a location to meet at, let alone ambush.”

Castiel strokes his stubble-lined chin. “What if I could get an audience with one of the other Archangels? Would anyone protest?”

“Uh,” Raphael says. “I don’t know about that. We could be jumping from one bad outcome to something worse.”

While I agree with him, I’m also desperate. “Do you trust them?”

The nod Castiel gives is more telling than he realizes. “One in particular, absolutely. Let’s just say he’s saved my ass a time or two in the past. He’d never agree to follow Auriel. Not in this.”

“He may not follow, but if he knew, would he stand by and do nothing?” Zeke asks, looking like he’d rather go with the ambush plan.

“The man I know would never agree to harming anyone, let alone innocents.”

“Then I say get an audience. I’m willing to try anything and everything at this point. Maybe that’s reckless, but it’s that or give myself over.”

“No!” Theo, Raph, and Zeke shout in unison.

“Then make the call, but do it fast. We’re running out of time.”

Castiel checks the time on his watch, then curses under his breath.

“I’ll contact him today. In the meantime, it may not hurt to have a backup plan—and maybe a backup to the backup plan.

” He apologizes and rushes out, leaving the rest of us to use the last ten minutes we have before class to discuss strategies.

But the more I overhear my friends hash out details of a possible ambush, the stronger my conviction grows. There’s only one way to guarantee my parents’ safety.

I need to turn myself in.

And it looks like I’m going to have to do it alone.