“They took the book.” He slammed his fist against an overturned table. “Did you tell anyone?”
“Not a soul.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Positive.”
“What are you doing here?”
I stopped from picking up a shredded pillow. “What? Now I’m a suspect?”
He ran a hand down his face. “No, of course not. This is just not good. Whoever stole the keepsake book knew that it was important to me.” I watched as he kicked an upside-down table out of his way.
“I get that your loved one’s belongings were important to you, but why would they be important to anyone else?” I asked.
“It wouldn’t be important to anyone else. They took it because they are trying to figure me out.”
“I don’t understand,”
“You wouldn’t.” He threw a chair across the room, causing me to flinch. “I want that book back, but I can’t let anyone know how important it is to me.”
“We’ll get it back,” I promised.
He gave me a nod.
I bent down and started picking up the books laying on the floor, returning them to the shelf.
“You don’t have to help me clean.”
“You watched over me while I was at my worst. I think helping you clean your house is the least I could do.”
When he gave me a smile, I was shocked at where my line of thinking went. I wanted him to kiss me.
I was in the middle of craziness, and my hormones were running rampant.
“When do you think the book with the items was stolen?” I asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Because you were with me?”
He didn’t answer, and he didn’t have to.
We cleaned for an hour in complete silence. After I hauled another trash bag to the door, I told him about my dream. The only sign that he heard me was his body becoming rigid, and I could feel his anger through the binding that connected us.
It was late by the time we got his cabin back to normal. Then he walked me and Champ back to my dorm.
Outside the door, he asked, “Have you had the urge to let your wings out yet?”
I shook my head.
“Let’s see if we can fix that tomorrow. If you can learn how to control them, they won’t make random appearances.”
I laughed. “That would totally blow my demi cover, wouldn’t it? I’m kind of excited to see them.”
He tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. “You should be.”
“What color do you think they will be?”
“The colors are different shades of grey or black.”
“What color are yours?”
He looked around the empty hall before he gave me a quick kiss on the forehead. “I’ll show you tomorrow as soon as the sun comes up. Sleep tight, Maka.”
My heart sighed with happiness as I closed the door. Tomorrow was going to be awesome. I wasn’t even upset that it’d be the weekend and I’d be working.
I took a quick shower then crawled into the bed with a snoring Champ right beside me, silently vowing to help Finn find that keepsake book.
To be loved so fiercely, even after death, by Finn, was an honor.
Not for the first time did I find myself jealous of his lover’s ghost.
The next day, I was up before my alarm went off. Not really knowing what to expect, I put on a pair of yoga pants and a T-shirt. Then I kissed a sleeping Remy on her head and snuck out of the dorm. Champ was on my heels as I jogged toward Finn’s cabin.
Finn was waiting for me when I arrived at his place. Walls up, I drank in the sight of him. His T-shirt was snug over his body, and a pair of sweatpants left little to the imagination.
He was zipping a backpack, not looking at me when he asked, “You ready?”
I bounced on the balls of my feet. “So ready.”
He laughed. “Champ has to stay here, okay?”
I scratched behind the wolf’s ears. “Did you hear that, boy? I have to leave you, but I’ll be back soon.”
Champ gave me a lick on hand then went to lie down in front of the fire. Obviously, he was okay with being left behind.
Finn grabbed my hand and took me outside. “We’re going to the west of the property, at the very edge. There is a mountain that we will be on the top of.”
“So, we’re hiking there?”
His green eyes twinkled as he handed me the backpack, and then I watched in fascination as he took his T-shirt off before stuffing it in the side of the backpack that I was still holding. My mouth dropped open.
He took a step closer, and I could feel his body radiating heat. I looked up his chiseled torso, passed his masculine jaw, and to those hypnotizing green eyes of his that were full of lust.
He stopped when there was a mere three inches that separated us. Then, in the blink of an eye, his wings popped out. They were as magnificent as the man who stood in front of me. Feathery and at least six feet wide, they looked as strong as they were beautiful. His black wings matched the same color as the tattoos that swirled around his arms and lightly up his neck.
I started to reach out to touch them when he snagged my hand with a shake of his head.
“Maka, to touch another angel’s wings is like foreplay for humans.”
I felt my face redden.
He kissed the back of my hand before he laid it on his chest. Then he grasped my chin and forced my head up. “You can touch them any time you want. I just thought I should forewarn you of the significance first.” Then he wrapped both arms around my waist and pulled me flush against his body. “You ready?”
“For what?”
With a wicked smile, he scooped me up into his arms and ran until his wings carried us into the sky. I let out a shout as I tightly looped my arms around his neck and buried my head against him.
He laughed as we soared. “Come now, Maka. Since when have you been afraid of a little adventure?”
I slowly peeked out. We were flying over the treetops. The wind against my face felt so freeing. As he circled around, I laughed.
“Don’t you drop me,” I warned as he dove down toward a lake just to swoop back up at the last second.
“Never.”
He slowed as we neared the mountain top. My face felt wind burned, but I didn’t care. I was laughing as he gently put me on my feet.
His expression was so tender that I felt the binding around my heart tighten. I wanted to see my wings, to learn to fly. But more than anything, I wanted to feel his lips on mine.
His gaze turned hungry before he did crash his lips against mine.
This wasn’t just a kiss. This was a deep yearning that was finally being fulfilled. How had I lasted this long without knowing his taste?
He pressed into me further as he deepened the kiss, and all rational thoughts left my mind. As his tongue met mine, my heart ached with a burning need. He clutched my hips as a growl vibrated in his chest. That sound was the sexiest thing I had ever heard. Then, with one last kiss, he pulled back from me.
My breath was coming in pants. I felt my swollen lips as he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, clearly trying to get ahold of himself.
Finally, he said, “That wasn’t the lesson I planned on giving you.”
I shrugged. “I might have liked it better than the flying.”
His laugh turned into a sigh. “Okay, Maka, turn around.”
I did as he asked.
He swept my hair over my shoulder. “Do you feel this?” He was rubbing between my shoulder blades.
“Yeah, it feels warmer there than anywhere else on my body.”
He continued to rub my back. “Close your eyes and concentrate on letting that warmth spread out.”
I did as he asked. With my mind, I pushed the centralized warmth out toward my fingertips. Then I heard a woosh and a snap, followed by Finn’s gasp. There was no pain. Unfurling my wings felt just like raising my arm or kicking out my leg.
Without opening
my eyes, I asked, “Is there something wrong?”
“No, Maka. You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen.”
He gave me the courage I needed to open my eyes and look over my shoulder.
I was shocked. My wings weren’t massive like Finn’s—half the size, actually—but they were just as magnificent, and they were crimson red.
“I have a feeling that’s not normal.”
“Not at all,” he said. “But just like everything else about you, your wings are extraordinary. Let’s work on retracting them.”
After a few tries, I learned how to put my wings away.
“You ready to fly?”
I looked over the cliff that we stood on. “Um … no, not really.”
He grasped my hand. “I will never let you fall. Trust me?”
I wouldn’t have nodded if I had known what he would do next.
Finn tossed me over the cliff, and I screamed as I kicked and flayed mid-air. I was falling. Panic seized my heart.
A shadow came barreling beside me at the speed of a bullet.
Finn yelled, “Use your wings.”
I let the warmth spread out and heard the pop as a flash of red came into my peripheral vision. Naturally, they began to beat, keeping me suspended in air. My laughter quickly turned into anger as I saw the smirking Finn beside me.
“You jerk!”
“Retaliation?” He tilted his head with the question. “I will let you toss me from the cliff if you can catch me.”
The next thirty minutes was spent with me chasing after Finn as he dived and soared around every obstacle we flew over and around. With this little game, he was getting me used to my wings.
“Time out,” I shouted. I was never going to catch that man.
He circled around and flew toward me. Grabbing me in the air, he pulled me up against him. The sun was fading as we hovered there, watching it disappear behind the mountains. I wanted to remember this moment forever. Him holding me tightly, our wings surrounding, us suspended in the air … It was perfection.
He gently kissed me. It didn’t have the heat of our first kiss, but it was no less priceless.
When he dropped me off at my dorm, having insisted on flying me back, since it was important that no one know that I had wings, much less red wings, the ball of yarn that was binding us together pulsed with an emotion. I built my walls and did my best to hide the shock I was feeling Because … with that one emotion that had slipped through, he had let me know that he loved me.
Today had been the best day of my life.
I went to bed that night, dreaming of a fully blessed who had somehow managed to sneak his way into my heart. My dreams took me to a past life, one that I had been craving to see ever since I had learned that I had lived in another time.
I stood in a meadow of black-eyed Susan’s. My white dress blew around my ankles as the gentle breeze picked up. With my palms, I covered my eyes as I counted backward from twenty. When I heard a noise to my left, I couldn’t help but giggle.
“Ready or not, here I come,” I called.
I moved through the meadow, looking for the one who held my heart. Where did he go? His muscular body was hard to hide, so his only option would have been to find an astronomically large object to hide behind.
Over to the left of the meadow was a bank that led to the small creek. As I started to head that way, I heard a noise behind me, alerting me that I was going the wrong way. I whirled just in time to be tackled to the grass, warm arms cushioning my fall. Before I could even reprimand my love, his lips were on mine.
Every kiss was like the first. He demanded my soul, and my soul was his for the taking.
He glided his hand down my side, causing me to shudder. His touch could do that to me—make me burn with a fever that always left me yearning for more.
He tore his lips from mine too soon, and I groaned.
He laughed as he whispered, “I love you more and more every day, Ella.”
The dream started to fade as I recalled that Sandalphon had once called me that. Ella.
I tried to get the dream to return to me. I wanted—no, needed—to see the boy’s face who was my other half, but something was pulling me out of my dream.
I woke up to Champ pawing at my chest and Remy screaming for my help.
I bolted upright in bed. “What’s going on?”
“There is a fight going on. I think Hannah is in trouble.”
I threw on a pair of sweatpants and didn’t bother with shoes as I ran out of my dorm room. The halls were crowded, and students wouldn’t get out of my way, even with the wolf nipping at their heels. I elbowed my way through all the first-year students and took the stairs leading up to the second floor where Hannah’s room was.
I momentarily froze in the doorway when I saw blood everywhere.
A warm hand grabbed me by the elbow. “Gabriella, go back downstairs,” Trev said.
I shook my head as I continued to look for my friend. There were at least twenty kids fighting each other in the small dorm hallway.
Remy floated by me. “Hurry up. She needs us.”
I shoved away from Trev, and when he tried to grab me, I twisted so I could avoid his grasp. Running after Remy, I was horrified at what I saw.
Angelina and a boy named Zack had Hannah pinned against the wall with a blade against her throat.
Someone was screaming. It took me a moment to realize it was me.
“We need to help her!” Remy snapped me out of it.
A loud commotion made me look behind me to see Trev fighting with another student. The student had a medium-sized blade, and Trev was barehanded. Still, he seemed to be deflecting the blows pretty easily.
I moved forward through the crowd until I finally stood before Angelina and Zack.
“Guys what are you doing? Let Hannah go.”
Angelina turned toward me. Her eyes held all the malice in the world in them.
I gasped. “You both are darken.”
Her manic laughed caused chill bumps to rise on my arms. “Oh, let’s not put labels on us.”
Zack snorted. “We are fully blessed who have chosen the right path.”
I held my hands up. “It doesn’t matter what you are. Release Hannah.”
A smile lit Angelina’s face. “She wants us to release her friend.”
Zack pushed the blade in his hand deeper against Hannah’s neck. “I think we can do that.”
Hannah’s blue eyes met mine with a plea as I stood there and watched them slit her throat.
A rage like no other bubbled up inside of me. Everything went completely dark inside of me like I was shutting down.
Not caring who saw I had power, I attacked. My movements were quick as I dislodged the knife from Zack, punched him in the nose, and then rammed the heel of my hand at his broken nose. The bone splintered toward his brain.
I watched as he sunk to his knees, but somehow, he was still alive. Because he was immortal.
All my anger and rage manifested into a tight ball. I shoved my wrath toward him, and a brilliant white light hit him square in the chest. His eyes turned vacant before he hit the floor.
Angelina jumped onto my back. Grabbing a fistful of her hair, I threw her over my shoulder, and as soon as she hit the ground, I stepped around her, heading toward my friend.
I watched as Trev came up and knelt next to Angelina. He withdrew a blade and stabbed her in the heart. Then his eyes met mine briefly. “You’ll thank me later.”
I didn’t know what he meant, and I didn’t care. One of my best friends was lying in a fetal position, holding her neck. Her eyes were glassy, and she was in pain.
Trev said, “You obviously have the power to heal her, so do it.”
I didn’t hesitate. I removed her hands and pushed mine against her wound. The blood made it slippery, but I didn’t let go as I sat there and concentrated on healing my friend.
I felt something inside of me shift. My power was bubbling up to the surf
ace. Raphael had blessed me with the power, and I was about to make use of it.
My palm started to warm, and Hannah twitched underneath of me. She tried to move, so I placed my knee on her chest. She cried out in pain, but I refused to release her. Only when the heat in my palm died down did I remove my hand. Her wound wasn’t deep anymore. It probably didn’t even need stitches.
Her blue eyes fluttered before she passed out.
Remy came floating over and was cooing words to Hannah, even though she wasn’t awake. I wasn’t sure if I could lift Hannah even with my powers. As tall as she was, she had thirty pounds on me. So, I grabbed her by her arms and started to drag her through the chaos. I was so focused on getting Hannah somewhere safe that I didn’t hear Marlie-Beth come up behind me.
Her hand was making an arch down toward my chest, and I barely registered she held a knife, when an arrow whistled through the air, striking her in the middle of the forehead. It seemed as if the world stopped for a few moments as I watched the light fade out of her eyes before she hit the ground.
I swiveled my head to where the arrow had been released. Finn stood there with his feet braced apart, looking rumpled from sleep. He had just saved my life.
Hannah moaned as I continued to drag her through the kids that were still fighting one another. Poor Remy was having a panic attack, flickering in and out of visibility.
A boy in my weapons training class pointed at me as I was weaving in and out of students who were throwing punches at one another. “You are what the boss is looking for.” He reared back to throw the blade in his hands.
I heard Finn and Trev shout, but it was too late. I felt the sting of metal as the blade hit under my collarbone and above my right breast. The boy might not have been the best in the class, but he always made his mark. That’s how I knew he didn’t want to kill me. He just wanted to wound me.
Without meaning to, I collapsed like a broken doll onto Hannah.
Then I saw the boy hit the ground, his dead eyes staring into mine.
The darken probably shouldn’t have sent mortals in to be their spies. They just lost a soldier.
My body was lifted as darkness swarmed around me. I had my powers now, so why wasn’t I healing quickly?
Blessed: Academy of the Seraph Page 18
