Dark Angel Academy (The Complete Series)

by G. Bailey

  There are two sides to Ren. One is like this: playful, relaxed and fun. The other side, his serious side that tempts me with promises and truths, is far more alluring.

  “Ask your teacher about vampires,” he suggests. “You did say you would after all. Now is perfect.”

  “No,” I hiss back, and Ves looks at me strangely from my side. I try not to look at Ren as he gets up off my desk and walks around me. His fingers play with my hair, and I can almost feel the strands moving. I can almost feel him so close to me.

  “I wasn’t asking, Kaitlyn Lightson. Ask away or I will be your new version of a haunted house,” he threatens so sweetly. Poison wrapped in candy. That is exactly who Ren is.

  “Master Gabriel, can I ask something off-topic?” I question the second he finishes his speech on the holy blessing that angels are or something. I wasn’t listening thanks to my ghost vampire friend.

  “I will allow it. What is your question?” he asks, and I clear my throat, finding the strength to say it.

  “Are vampires real in this world?” The second he registers my question, a nervous look flickers over his features for just a second.

  “Why would you ask such a thing?” he questions, and I shrug. I can hardly tell him the real reason.

  “I’ve heard demons are real. Why not vampires?” I ask. “There are enough movies about them.”

  “I do not lie, and you know this well. Yes, vampires are real creatures of this world, and they are truly evil beings. Vampires are born to do one thing and only one thing. Destroy,” he says, and I gulp.

  “He judges us all because of what one vampire discovered,” Ren says with a low laugh.

  “Surely that can’t be the entire race. Are you basing your opinion on one vampire’s actions?” I ask.

  “I do not judge entire races on the actions of one, and it is rude to consider I do. In this world, you will find so many creatures, but a vampire will not be one, I’m afraid,” he firmly states, and I want to tell him I’m looking at a vampire ghost right now.

  “Why?” Vesnia cuts in, clearly interested.

  “Angel blood to a vampire is more seductive than any treasure in the world. Long ago, we were at war with vampires, and we won. What is left of their race will die in time,” he explains.

  “Ask about born vampires,” Ren pushes.

  “Can they be born?” I enquire as he tries to change the subject and turns to the board. He tenses up and looks back at me.

  “Not since a great mistake was made, no. Now unless your questions are about the next project, I suggest you keep them to yourself, lass,” Master Gabriel states, and I nod in agreement. Ren winks at me before disappearing once again, and now I have a million questions for him. If vampires are evil, does that make Ren the same?

  Why would Ren come to the angels if they were at war?

  I make a mental checklist of things to ask him next as Master Gabriel asks us to get into pairs and go outside to note things of interest on the academy castle.

  “Riley, can I work with you?” I ask him, hoping he will say yes. I need us to get back to some kind of normal, and we haven’t had any time alone together recently. He sighs before nodding once, holding out his hand. I grip his hand as we get up and leave the room after the other students, feeling Master Gabriel’s eyes on me.

  “I didn’t know you liked vampires, Katy,” Riley says into the awkward silence drifting over us. “Or guys like Henry or Thallon, while we are on the subject.”

  Tugging the ends of my hair, I grab his arm and stop him in the corridor. “You will always be my best friend; you don’t have to be scared of losing me.”

  “I’m not scared,” he scoffs, tugging his arm away from me, but I see right through it and we know it.

  “Why don’t we ditch class and go and get snacks? We could find a tree to sit under and talk like we used to all the time?” I ask, and he runs his fingers through his hair a few times.

  “Alright,” he finally agrees, and I grin, hooking my arm in his. “As long as you don’t spill orange juice on me like that time in middle school. It was so embarrassing to go back to school with a big orange stain all over my trousers.”

  “If I remember right, you poured your chocolate milk on me as payback the next day. Chocolate milk on trousers looks way worse,” I say, laughing. He laughs with me, and for a bit, it’s just like the old days with Riley and me.

  And I wish it could always stay like this.

  Chapter 17

  “Sneaking out of class is against the rules, Miss Lightson.” I jump out of my skin as I step into my room, finding Master Gabriel standing there waiting for me. How do the stairs enchantment not work on him?

  With a sheepish grin, I reply. “I’m sorry?”

  “It can be our secret, Miss Lightson. Now please come with me,” he asks, and I know I don’t exactly have a choice. I follow him out of my room and up the stairs. We head outside the academy and right around to the back. He opens a door I’ve never been in before, and I follow him into a massive library. This must be the tallest room in the academy, with rows and rows of books going all the way up to the glass ceiling at the top of the room. There are no ladders or stairways to get to the top books, and everything is silver. Silver walls, silver tiles on the floor, and a chandelier hanging in the middle of the room, sparkling bright white light around the room, reflecting off its crystals. “Please wait here a second.” Before I can say yes, Master Gabriel stretches out his long white wings and flies into the air. He circles around a few times before stopping at a bookshelf and taking out a heavy-looking, black leather-bound book.

  Watching Master Gabriel fly down to the ground is beautiful. Angels really are beautiful, if not a wee bit deadly.

  “Any answers you wish about vampires can be found in this book,” he tells me and offers me the heavy book. I take the book and flip the first page open, seeing it’s a book full of paintings. The first one is an image of two beautiful men in white cloaks, their hands on the pregnant stomach of a woman with long black hair on a grey stone table, her skin paler than snow.

  “This is a painting of the very first vampire. It is said two gods, both male, came from the sky and kissed the belly of a young woman. They promised her a child but failed to mention the child would be forever cursed the life of a vampire,” he explains to me. “The woman died in childbirth, as do all female vampires who bring life into the world.”

  “That’s so sad,” I say, running my fingers across the painting. Master Gabriel closes the book in my hands, and I hold it to my chest. I want to know more, and I’m not sure how Master Gabriel knew that, but he did.

  “Much of the past of vampires, angels, demons, wolves and fairy tales are submersed in pain and misery. We must find a way to be better than those before us, to be stronger,” he states. “I hope, before I die, I will find a way to make this world as I picture it when I close my eyes.”

  “Wolves and fairy tales?” I question with wide eyes full of shock.

  “Why don’t you start with one book of monsters, and we will see about the rest?” he suggests, and I grin.

  “Thank you, Master Gabriel,” I answer. “Can I ask why you are called a master and the other teachers professor?’

  “I am one of the ten original angels who made this academy. In honour of our dedication to young angels and making the world a better place, we became masters of the angel community,” he explains. “And I’m very old, lass.”

  That makes me laugh. “So there is a life after Angel Academy and the job we do?”

  “After a certain amount of human lives you change and care for, you will be given a pass to go to the city of angels and live there in peace,” he tells me. “The city of angels is more enchanting than you could ever imagine. Many who see it never wish to leave.”

  “The city of angels?” I ask.

  “There are three levels to this world,” he explains to me and pauses. “Maybe it is best I show you.” With a wave of his hand, hologram images
fill the middle of the library. I only wonder for a second how he is doing this until I see what the image is.

  There in the middle is earth, and above it is a glowing white line, and then there are two large rocks above mountains. I know those two as the academy, but above them is the orb, and it shines light onto a city in the clouds.

  “What is this white line?” I ask, wanting to step forward and touch it.

  “The portal between our world and earth. If you flew through it, you would find yourself in the skies near Ireland,” he tells me. I run my eyes over the images a dozen times before seeing a red line on the other side of earth and a city in the red light from the line.

  “This is hell, right?” I ask. “Where the fallen angels are?”

  “You are very curious, angel in training. You remind me of someone else who always asked a million questions and wanted to learn everything the world has to offer,” he muses, waving a hand and making the hologram disappear.

  “What was his or her name?” I ask.

  “Morgan,” he softly says and sighs. “I must get back now, and so should you. I hope you enjoy the book, and we will discuss it in the future.”

  “I’d like that,” I reply as he starts to walk away, but then he stops, looking back once.

  “What made you ask me about vampires?” he asks.

  “I think my curiosity is rubbing off on you,” I say, making him chuckle. “But it was just random.”

  “Nothing is random in our world, Miss Lightson, and lies are beneath you.” I try to keep a neutral face as he walks out of the library, and only when the door shuts do I feel like I can breathe again.

  Chapter 18

  An ear-splitting alarm wakes me up, and I sit up as Vesnia rushes into my room only in her pyjamas, slamming the door against the wall.

  “That’s the alarm for an attack. I read about it,” she tells me as I get out of bed, and we both freeze as we hear someone nearby scream.

  “We should go and help. Or something,” I say, thinking about Riley. I can’t leave him alone out there, and he would do the same for me. I chuck on a hoodie and my boots, then run out of the room with Vesnia following behind me. The corridor is jam-packed full of girls all rushing around, but none of them are getting brave enough to head up the stairs. Knowing Riley might be looking for me, I rush up the steps, Vesnia holding my hand for support. I hold in a scream when I see three bodies on the floor, all with holes in their chests near their hearts. I flick my eyes to Vesnia as a clicking noise catches our attention. We look down just as a metal gate snaps across the top of the stairs to the bedrooms, and the bars start to glow blue.

  “I think we’re locked out,” Vesnia all but cries in panic.

  “We should hide; Riley will be safe. This was a stupid idea,” I mutter, looking around us.

  “You could say that again, angel blood,” a woman sarcastically drawls. I turn around, keeping Vesnia behind me as three women walk into the room, all dressed in leather, blood pouring from their mouths and down their necks. Even then, they are ridiculously beautiful and enchanting, and it doesn’t take a genius to work out they are vampires.

  “You two take the redhead. I want the blonde to myself,” the vampire woman clearly in charge states. In the blink of an eye, the two other vampires are behind me and dragging Vesnia away. I scream and try to grab her foot, but someone pulls my hair, and I go flying across the room. The air is sucked out of my lungs as I smack onto the floor, and I swear I see stars. The blonde vampire is leaning over me as everything comes into focus, and she smiles.

  “I might keep you as a pet. Would you like to be my pet, angel blood?” she asks, leaning down, and I hate that she smells amazing. Everything about her makes you want to go closer, even as she drips someone else’s blood from her lips. “You would, wouldn’t you?”

  “No, you stupid bitch!” I shout at her and wrap my hands around her throat, squeezing as tightly as I can. My body buckles after she lifts a hand and slaps me hard around the face. My hands fall away from her neck as tears fill the corner of my eyes, and her hand presses my cheek against the tile. In the distance, I hear Vesnia’s screams, her pleas for anyone to help her, and I want to help.

  But I can’t. The vampire’s sickly breath blows against my neck as more tears fall, and I close my eyes, blocking out the world. If I’m going to die, it’s going to be while I’m in my own imagination and in my world back home. With my family.

  Suddenly her hand is ripped away from me along with her body, and I look up as Henry offers me a hand. In his other hand lies a sword covered in blood, and splatters of blood cover his white pyjama shirt. Dirt and more blood are brushed against his cheeks, and his black hair is all over the place like he just woke up.

  And he is my saviour.

  My hand slides into his, and he lifts me up, pulling me against his chest.

  “Are you okay?” he asks me, searching my eyes for some answer he can’t ask me for.

  “Vesnia!” I shout as I snap out of the haze and find her on the floor, two dead vampires at her side. I search for the vampire who hurt me as I run over, but we are alone. Vesnia has two bite marks on the side of her neck, cuts all down the middle of her pyjamas, and bruises all up her cheeks.

  She looks terrible, but the rise and fall of her chest gives me hope.

  “We need to get her to a doctor!” I shout.

  “You mean an angel healer, darlin’,” he corrects me and slides his arms underneath Vesnia and picks her up gently. “Hold my sword. I think the fight is nearly over, but it’s not safe for me to walk there. I need to fly her to the healer right now.”

  “I will fight and protect Kaitlyn here,” Thallon says, and we both turn to see him walk in the room with two swords in his hands. “Go!”

  “You best protect her like she is your fucking queen, Thallon. I will be back,” Henry growls and takes off, flying through the door. Thallon runs to me, dropping his swords onto the floor, and then he kisses me.

  His hands cover my cheeks as his lips move across mine, softly, gently and perfectly all at the same time.

  My first real kiss is in a room full of dead vampires, with a bloody sword in my hand, and yet it’s everything perfect with the world because it’s with Thallon.

  “I thought you...and shit, when I saw you covered in blood and hurt... I’m sorry if I crossed a line,” he mutters, shaking his head.

  “No line crossed,” I say softly against his lips, even as my cheek stings.

  “Good, because I want to cross this line again and again,” he whispers to me, and my cheeks light up. I smile so widely until I flinch from the pain, and he gently lowers his hand to have a look. Suddenly the alarm stops, and we both breathe out a sigh of relief.

  “Let’s go carefully to the healers’ rooms,” he suggests, letting me go, and picks up his swords. “Just in case of any more surprises.”

  “I don’t know, I like your surprises, Thallon,” I reply, and he chuckles as we go to find Vesnia, and I pray she is going to be alright.

  Chapter 19

  Holding Vesnia’s hand, I rest my head on her bed as I wait for her to wake up. The healers spent thirty minutes with her, using their powers to heal her the best they could. Anything else, they said, would just need rest, and her own room is best for that. After changing into leggings and a pale blue oversized shirt, I checked in with Riley, who had stayed in his room the whole time and is fine. Henry and Thallon made me hold an ice pack to my cheek for a bit, but it doesn’t hurt anymore. I stare at Vesnia a little longer and look around the silent bedroom.

  “Ren, are you here?” I ask into the silence.

  “Who is Ren?” Vesnia asks with a little groan, and I shoot my gaze back to her as she sits up on the bed and stretches her arms out.

  “My neck feels like it’s been used as a dog chew toy,” she mumbles, touching her neck where it is bandaged up. “Remind me never to play with vampires again.”

  “I’m so sorry I couldn’t stop them. How are
you feeling?” I ask.

  “Sore and in real need of some snacks. Oh, and some chocolate milk,” she says, resting back on her pillows.

  “And as your non-bitten temporary slave, I’m on it. The healer demanded bed rest for you, so you will be happy to know you’ll miss class tomorrow,” I tell her, and she laughs before flinching.

  “Really?” her eyes light up, and I can’t help but chuckle. I slide my boots on and wave goodbye as I leave her room. The academy is silent after the attack, and I didn’t expect it to be anything different after I saw the actual state of it as Thallon walked me to the healers. I saw dozens, if not a hundred bodies in every room of the academy, and the teachers were making quick work of dragging them away. It’s not a sight I ever thought I’d be okay with seeing, but since becoming an angel, I’ve become numb to death, or at least since I saw those dead angels on the mountains. I go through the greenhouse and into the corridor for the dining hall when I hear shouting.

  “It’s madness to keep him here! We should just kill him!” Master Gabriel shouts in pure anger, and I’ve never heard him like that before. I pause outside the door I’ve just passed, hearing more talking inside, but I can’t understand them from here.

  Curiosity killed the cat. But luckily, I’m not a cat. Or at least that’s my excuse as I push the door slowly open and sneak inside the corridor I find. The corridor turns off into two staircases, and the walls are lined with white pillars with deep shadows in between them. I carefully walk down the tiles, hearing the voices getting louder with every step, and there is a manly sounding groan. A pain-filled groan. I freeze, knowing I should go back, but I don’t as I rush to the steps and slowly walk up to them. My footsteps are lost in the sounds of the pain-filled noises and Professor Badhur’s demanding voice.