Broken: A New Adult Paranormal Bully Romance (Hellfire Academy Book 2)

by Alice Wilde

  The moment he does this, I can feel exhaustion overwhelming me and I release my hold on him as I try to shove him away. But he doesn’t let go and only presses himself harder into me, the stone wall digging into my back, a painful reminder of the past.

  Suddenly, I’m left gasping for air as Rhys is pulled off of me.

  “I said no physical manipulation,” Formido shouts, still holding on to the back of Rhys’ collar. “Detention. You’ll both serve it over the weekend.”

  Rhys pulls away from Formido and shoots a dark look at me before turning on his heel and storming out of the dungeon as the other students watch on in shock.

  I move to take a seat in one of the chairs as class resumes and I wait for it to end, silently chiding myself for what I’ve just done. There’s no doubt in my mind that they’re sure I’m a harpy now.

  11

  Rhys

  No... No. No!

  Damn it. Seriously, what the hell just happened?

  Once again, I let that little girl get into my head… but how? How was any of this even possible? It shouldn’t be.

  I can hardly wait to hear what Thorne is going to say later. Not that it matters, but holy hell, what just happened? This wasn’t like anything I’d ever experienced. After the summer away, I thought I’d learned to deal with this… but with a single touch, Eden’s already wrapping me around her conniving little finger once again.

  I don’t understand.

  She should be the one crawling, begging, pleading for me to spare her…not the other way around. Not that I had done any of those things, not yet. But we’re playing a dangerous game, and it’s only a matter of time before she breaks one of us…if we don’t do it first.

  But how?

  I’d thought for sure losing her wings would send her running for the hills, but what if it only made the challenge of staying here that much more enticing for her?

  I look up to find I’ve walked nearly all the way across grounds at this point. Thick, dark foliage surrounding me. I hadn’t meant to come this way, but it doesn’t really matter. It’s not like I’m going back to class anyway.

  Continuing on, I push through the foliage and find myself standing in front of Dawnbreak Tower. Great, practically a dead end. As I turn to leave, a light catches the corner of my eye and I look up to see a soft glow coming from the top of the tower…as well as the silhouette of a being. I can’t quite make out if it’s a man or woman, but whoever it is disappears from sight before I can find out.

  I step behind a nearby tree, waiting and watching. It doesn’t take long before a cloaked figure emerges from a hidden space in the tower and darts off through the night.

  I start to follow after them when I decide against it, instead slipping into the space the other being had emerged from and Find a small, secret door. Prying it open, I duck inside and start making my way up the stairs toward the top of the tower. The trapdoor at the top of the stairs is padlocked.

  As if that ever stopped me before.

  I reach up and crush the lock in my hand before pushing the trapdoor open and stepping up onto the open tower terrace. There’s still a faint glow that lights up a small section of the floor. It seems to be coming from something lain out over a raised circular surface in the middle of the space, but whatever is emitting the light has been covered with a black cloth.

  Crossing over to it, I carefully pull up the cover to look beneath and immediately drop it. I step back in disbelief, my eyes wide and my jaw clenched.

  Shit.

  12

  Eden

  As soon as class is over, I rush over to Kate. No matter what she says, I’m not about to leave her alone after whatever Thorne has just put her through. I only wish there was more that I could do to show her how much she still means to me.

  Thorne glares at me as I approach, but says nothing as he pushes roughly past me. I’m surprised by the amount of relief this obvious display of dislike gives me.

  “Kate?” I ask nervously. “Are you okay? What did he do to you?”

  Kate looks up at me from her spot on the floor, her eyes are red and bloodshot, still wet from whatever torment she just endured. She says nothing, only shaking her head at me as if to keep me from saying anymore.

  “Honestly, Kate,” I say quietly, crouching down and placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, but she shrugs it off. I can’t help but notice the irony of our situations now compared to how they were before class. “You can tell me anything, I just want to know you’re okay.”

  “She’s fine,” Nyx says sharply from over my shoulder.

  “I wasn’t talking to you,” I say as I get to my feet and face her. “And from the looks of things, she’s absolutely not fine. If you are really her friend, you could see that.”

  “Oh, and you are her friend, are you?” Nyx asks, rolling her eyes. “Then where were you this summer when she needed friends most?”

  “What are you talking about?” I ask, glancing down at Kate. She’s not looking up at me anymore, her face turned down to her hands in her lap.

  “See, you don’t even know,” Nyx says. “So, who are you to say anything about friendship? Come on, Kate. We have better places to be.”

  Kate gets slowly to her feet, her face still downcast as she moves to follow Nyx out of the dungeon. But as she passes me, Kate turns to look up at me and I can almost promise she mouthed the words “I’m sorry.”

  I want to run after her, but now is not the time, not with Nyx around. As soon as they are out of sight, I gather my things and head back across grounds toward my dorm.

  The sky is still dark enough to tell me there’s a bit of time left until supper. I don’t have any more classes today so I’m hoping I can get back to my room before the Demigod Trifecta can corner me again. I need time to come up with a plan, or at the very least I need a safe space to think.

  As I’m walking past the Feasting Hall, I decide to grab a few things to eat later so I won’t have to come back out. Although our main meals are served at specific times of the day, I’ve realized that they leave some of the dishes out throughout the day to be picked at. Namely fruits, vegetables, and other healthy options that tend to stay edible when left out for longer periods of time. Although I’m sure they could think of some magic to keep everything fresh all day, but I suppose that’s one way of keeping that gluttony away.

  After I fill my bag with a selection of food for later, I head back out toward the dormitory. Just as I open the door, I notice something dart into the bushes out of the corner of my eye. I glance around to see if someone is playing a trick on me, but there are no other students in sight. As quietly as possible, I follow after the shadowy figure but there’s no one there when I checked behind the foliage. Maybe it’s my eyes that are playing tricks on me.

  I sigh, and press my fingers into my temples. I am pretty exhausted. But, as I turn to leave, a thought strikes me. This is the exact same place where I originally discovered the secret portal over the summer. Spinning around, I run my hands over the wall in an effort to find the door once again.

  At first, all I feel is a solid wall and my heart sinks in my chest, but then my fingers brush against part of the stone and it suddenly clicks into place, a door opening before my eyes.

  Without a moment’s hesitation, I slip through the space, shutting the door behind me. So, there really was a portal here after all.

  Looking out over the hall, the human realm of the hall, I move slowly to the narrow passageway looking for any sign the person who just entered, but the room looks empty.

  I stop before I get to the section of the barrier that I know I can step through, not sure if I want to go any further. Just as I make up my mind to step through and explore while the coast is clear, one of the doors at the back of the room opens in a cloaked figure appears.

  The person’s hood is pulled so far down I can’t make out their face, but they’re tall enough to make me question whether or not they’re human. My heart starts to race in my ches
t as I suddenly realize that they might be making their way back through the portal, and I start to shimmy my way back to the door.

  However, I stop short when the being steps up on the dais and looks upward for the ceiling. Not unlike the Pope and his men had done over the summer. So, I wait and watch to see what will happen.

  “I’ve come as you asked,” a woman’s voice says from beneath the hood. “What do you want this time?”

  “What I’ve always wanted,” the same booming voice I heard over the holiday says from somewhere above. “So, what’s taking so long? I thought I had made myself clear.”

  “Perfectly,” she says. “But the time isn’t right.”

  “Who are you to decide if the time is right?” The voice asks angrily. “Time is already running out.”

  “I know…but there appears to be a third.”

  A long silence ensues.

  “How can that be?” The voice finally asks. “And when was there a second? I thought there was only one.”

  “Then you’ve been sadly misinformed,” the woman says with a harsh laugh. “The second was revealed to us quite by mistake, but we have yet to find out what the third is.”

  I wonder what they mean by first, second and third...

  “I don’t see how this is relevant to me, and what I’ve asked you to do.”

  “Don’t you see?” The woman asks. “We can’t move forward until we know what it is and... Someone’s listening to us.”

  “What?” The voice booms. “Why didn’t you notice sooner?”

  “I—” the woman sighs deeply. “To hell with you, too.”

  I watch from my hiding place, prepared to race out of the hall as soon as she makes a move toward the barrier, but she doesn’t. Instead, she stands in place for several minutes as if she’s waiting for something. When nothing happens, she spins on her heel or cloak whirling out around her as she makes her way back up to the back of the room and out one of the doors.

  I know I should head back through the portal door, but curiosity gets the better of me. I want to see what they’ve all been looking at for myself.

  Taking a deep breath, I make my way back toward the area of the barrier that allows me to step into the human realm. As I cautiously make my way up onto the dais, I look up and nearly jump back out of fright. I hadn’t noticed before, but at the very top of the sculpture is what appears to be some kind of… For lack of better term, demonic angel.

  Why is this here? Isn’t this supposed to be a house of God?

  I can’t tear my eyes away as I continue to look at the grotesque figure. Whoever was using this as a means of communication between the realms, surely, they couldn’t truly be a messenger from God like they said they were.

  And who was that woman?

  The sun is starting to stream through the windows. I need to get back before anyone notices I’m gone or seen…and I still have no idea how I managed to get back last time.

  As I approach the sculpture once again, I’m suddenly taken aback by a bright light.

  “Eden.”

  Blinking, I peer up at the being in front of me.

  “M…Michael?” I ask in bewilderment.

  “Yes.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I could ask the same of you.”

  “I...it was an accident.”

  Michael frowns down at me, shaking his head in disapproval.

  “How far you’ve fallen.”

  “I’d rather not discuss that with you,” I mutter, lowering my eyes to the ground as I suddenly feel a wave of guilt crash over me.

  “No matter,” Michael continues. “I’m here to give you a message.”

  I don’t look up at him, but continue to stare at my feet.

  “What is it?”

  “Leave.”

  “What?” I ask in shock, turning my eyes up to meet his.

  “Leave before it’s too late.”

  “How?”

  “You’ve already found a way off grounds,” Michael says, lifting his hand to point toward the back of the hall. “All you have to do is turn and walk out those doors.”

  “But I can’t,” I say. “It’s not allowed.”

  “Listen to me, Eden. This will be your last chance. Leave now and you may still have a life to live.”

  “And if I don’t?”

  Michael looks down at me for a long moment but doesn’t answer my question.

  “I’ll give your regards to Leah.”

  “Wait!”

  The next second he’s gone as quickly as he’d come, and I’m left standing alone, his words still ringing in my ears.

  Leave?

  Was this Michael’s way of saying I’d been given permission to end my studies at the academy or was there some other meaning behind it? Not that I hadn’t thought about running away a thousand times already, but now that I’d been blatantly told to…it wasn’t sitting right with me.

  Then again, Michael is one of God’s chosen ones. Perhaps he’s right, and this is simply his cryptic way of warning me of things to come if I stay.

  I turn around to look across the room to the doors in the back. Is this really my way out? My chance to escape the hell I’ve been living?

  Stepping toward them, I can feel excitement rising within me. I’d just been told, by a messenger of God nonetheless, that I could leave. No. That I should leave.

  I smile to myself, letting the idea wash over me like a sweet perfume…and then I frown, pushing the thought from my mind as a new one takes over.

  Messenger of God.

  I don’t want to believe it, but is it possible Michael and that voice were one and the same? If so, could I really trust anything he has to say? And then there’s Kate…and the strange things I’d witnessed over the past several days and weeks, could I really just leave it all behind?

  I take another step away from the barrier and toward my own freedom. This was my chance…perhaps my only chance to ever escape. Why should I stay? What had any of them done for me? Why should I care what happens at the academy?

  Wait, was this the choice Astria had mentioned? What had she meant when she said it would seal my fate and others? Was I supposed to leave or stay?

  As soon as I ask myself this question, I know the answer.

  My eyes burn as I try to fight back tears. As much as I want to hate everyone for what they’ve done to me, and as much as I don’t want to care about what happens to Umbria, Janus, and Kate and everyone else…I know I do.

  Taking one last look out over the hall, I turn back and force my way through the portal and back to Hellfire Academy.

  13

  Fenn

  “What the actual fuck,” I say in disbelief. “You’ve got to be joking. Tell me you’re joking.”

  “Why would I joke about something like this,” Rhys growls. “In fact, when have you ever known me to tell a joke?”

  “Good point. Have you told Thorne yet?”

  “No, I haven’t seen him since class. Any idea where he went?” Rhys asks.

  “Probably has something to do with that fiancée of his,” I say with a shrug. “She’s been trying to get him to spend time with her every chance she can get.”

  “So, you have no idea where he is.”

  “Exactly.”

  Rhys scowls and then climbs up to the window seat to brood. Just at this moment Thorne steps into the room and looks at us curiously.

  “What’s up with you two?”

  “Rhys just found something out you might want to hear,” I say. “Looks like our little harpy might be just as much of a trickster as yours truly.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Thorne asks, turning toward Rhys.

  “Where were you?” Rhys asks.

  “Why does that matter?”

  “It matters,” Rhys says, jumping down and striding over to Thorne, “because we can’t have trollops like Nyx getting in the way of us handling this situation. We’re dealing with something far more seriou
s than any of us ever imagined, and we can’t afford to be distracted.”

  “Shouldn’t you leave that kind of decision making to me? I wasn’t with Nyx, not that it’s any of your business,” Thorne growls, pushing Rhys aside and moving to sit in one of the large chairs. “Besides, Nyx is the last thing on my mind right now. So, what did you find out?”

  I watch Thorne’s face turn white as Rhys tells him what he’s just told me.

  “How is that possible?”

  “How the hell should I know?” Rhys snorts. “What do you think we should do?”

  “Not let her out of our sight ever again, for starters,” Thorne says. “I want one of us keeping an eye on her at all times. Got that?”

  “How exactly are we going to manage that?” I ask. “It’s not as if we don’t have other things to do, and we can’t force our way into her room.”

  “I’ll figure that part out,” Thorne says. “In the meantime, we need to tread cautiously. We’ve been far too reckless as it is, and I think the best we can do now is try to learn as much about her as possible. There’s something more powerful at work here than any of us knows how to deal with, yet.”

  “So, are you giving us permission to get information out of her in any way we see fit?” I ask with a roguish grin.

  “Yes, as long as you don’t do anything to let her know we’ve found out about this little secret of hers. Not yet, anyway.”

  “Excellent.”

  14

  Eden

  The sun is above the horizon by the time I get back to the dorms, and the common room is full of students chatting, studying and milling about before they have to retire to their dorm rooms for the day. Pausing for a moment in the middle of the room, I look around for Kate, but she’s nowhere to be seen.