by Cara Wylde
Her smile turned into a grin. “Because when I torture someone, I don’t care about how they feel. I know how they feel. I don’t need a bloody confession. You do.”
I bit my lower lip, then stopped when I realized the stupid gesture was just giving me away. Giving away how insecure and out of place I felt. What if she’s right, and this isn’t me? I’m acting like the bad guy. I’m not bad, I’m good. But a good person would never do this, not even to an enemy. Good, bad… I’m in between. White, black… I’m gray.
“I want you to help me throw a party for Mabon,” I skipped to the point when I realized she was making us go in circles, hoping she’d trap me emotionally. “The other girls are in, the guys are, too. We need a mage to do a cloaking spell and hide the whole party from the guards.”
She fake-yawned. Once she heard my request, she relaxed in her restraints.
“Why not ask Klaus or Caspian? Or that other guy… what’s his name? The one who loves kissing the Headmaster’s ass.”
“You know why.”
She huffed. “Because they can’t pull off such a complicated spell.”
“For once, use your powers for good?”
“How is breaking the rules using my powers for good?”
“You hate the Headmaster just as much as I do.”
She scrunched up her nose. “Not as much as you, I wouldn’t say. After all, I’m not the daughter he abandoned.”
“Ugh!” I wasn’t getting anywhere with her. I turned on my heels, getting ready to tell Corri to break her bonds. We were wasting our time.
“Okay, I’ll do it. Not for you, though, for my friends. I know everyone’s looking forward to Mabon. They can’t stop talking about it. Which you should tell them to fucking do, otherwise Headmaster Morningstar will eventually hear from someone and shut the whole thing down. Who do you think will lose all her worth points?”
“Don’t worry about me.”
“You think people will finally like you if you go minus one hundred for a party?”
“I don’t need anyone to like me. Lorna, I’m not sure you’ve noticed, but I’m the only girl here who’s got two hot-as-sin, completely loyal boyfriends. And I have friends, by the way. Friends who like me and don’t care about my name.”
“A gay mage who can’t do medium spells, and a hybrid who works in the kitchen? Fine friends, indeed.”
“Shut up. So, you’ll do it.”
“Yes, I’ll do it.”
I nodded at Corri to release her. As the ropes around Lorna vanished, my shoulders tensed. She could easily attack me now. Sure, the pixie would never let anything bad happen, but that was something my brain understood, and my body refused to comprehend. I was alone with Lorna, in some RDC student’s dorm-room, and my body was in fight-or-flight mode. This girl had given me PTSD. Lovely!
“Relax,” she came up to me. Her wicked smile told me she could sense my anxiety. She held her hand out. “How about we make peace for a while? Given the circumstances, working together instead of against each other will benefit everyone.”
I gazed at her hand. I was supposed to shake it, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
“For a while. That’s vague.”
“Don’t worry, dumpster princess, you’ll know when the peace is over.”
I sighed. “You’ll put on a show, won’t you?”
“We’ll put on a show together.”
This is a bad idea. I shook her hand.
“Don’t forget about the pictures.”
She frowned. “You finally have a weapon that may work against me. How does it feel?”
I pulled my hand free. “Fuck you.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
All the girls involved did a hell of a job. Lorna included. The night of Mabon, all the students retreated to their rooms before curfew, spent an hour getting all ready and fancy, then teleported right on the beach when the clock struck nine. It was a little early for a party, but we were all starved to get out from between the tall, heavy, repressive walls of the Academy. Music blared from the speakers, booze was being passed around, and food was generally being ignored. Pandora and her friends had outdone themselves, and since this party was completely outside of the school norms and no one except for the students and a few trusted members of the staff knew it was happening, she’d focused on less fancy spirits, skipped the water and non-alcoholic drinks all together, and even sneaked in some questionable herbs she insisted could be smoked safely.
“What the hell? You only live once,” I said as I accepted a cigarette she’d just rolled up for me.
“You’ll love it,” she beamed.
I narrowed my eyes at her. “See, when you smile like that, I remember that I should probably never take anything from you.”
“You’ve already taken my fiancé,” she laughed. “Is he good for you?”
“Y-yes…”
“Then this will be good for you, too,” she motioned toward the cigarette. “It’s all natural, trust me. Like my ex.”
I rolled my eyes and went to find GC and Paz. If I was going to smoke the thing, I fully intended to make them try it first. Whatever it was, Pandora had already smoked one, so I knew for sure it wasn’t poisonous to demons.
“Everything going well?” I asked Lorna as I went past her. She was by herself, holding a beer and looking in the distance as if she were lost. I tapped her on the shoulder when she didn’t answer.
“Jesus!” she yelped. “Let me do my job!”
“Sorry?”
“I was just checking the perimeter.”
“With your mind?”
“How else, stupid? It’s all good. The cloaking spell is holding, no one knows we’re here.”
“How did you do it?”
She shrugged. “Enchanted a couple of crystals, placed them around the beach…”
“That all?”
She rolled her eyes at me. “Part of my mind has to be permanently focused on them. It’s a huge cloaking spell, a large space to cover, and a fuckton of people to hide. Not to mention the awfully loud music.”
“Aww… but you won’t be enjoying the party.”
She looked around and took a sip of her beer. Some of her RDC classmates waved at her, and she nodded but didn’t engage.
“It’s a lame party.”
I chuckled knowingly. “You like being the one who holds everything together. I came up with the idea, but it wouldn’t have been possible without you.”
“Look at you learning so fast.”
“Just so you know, Lorna, the fact that Valentine made you share your notes with me last year didn’t throw you into disgrace.”
“What do you know?”
“Just saying…”
I left her alone. Even if she’d made it her mission to stay away from the party and focus on the spell, I could tell she’d made an effort. She was wearing a long, white, flowy dress with red roses printed on the rims, and she’d let her long, black hair down. Classy, minimal makeup, and blood red lips. No wonder so many guys were checking her out. But while Pandora had moved on after Pazuzu and dated at least two or three guys I knew about, Lorna had never moved on after Sariel. Not that she and Sariel had ever been in a relationship. She still looked at him longingly when they ran into each other in the hallways.
“Where is Sariel, anyway?” I muttered under my breath. I spotted GC and Paz by the jello shot table, and was pleasantly surprised to see Francis and Klaus were with them. “It’s nice they choose to hang out together when I’m not around…” Joel, Klaus’s merman boyfriend had, obviously, gone for a swim. Patty was trying to convince Corri to take a bite of her jello shot, although that wasn’t how jello shots worked. The pixie didn’t seem too eager. For a second, I wanted to go to them. A fun evening with my lovers and my friends would do me good. Some dancing, some kissing, some gossiping… But there was this nagging feeling deep down, in my stomach, and I had to figure out what it was, otherwi
se I wouldn’t be able to enjoy myself.
All right. Where’s Sariel?
I went looking for him. I’d invited him to the party myself, since we’d started texting every couple of days, and he’d confirmed. I first checked the MDC groups scattered around the beach.
“Hey! Have you seen Sariel?”
“You’re looking in the wrong place,” a dark-haired guy said. “He doesn’t hang out with us.”
“Why? You’re his cabal now.”
A blond girl pulled me aside and pointed at some rocks some four hundred meters to the east, where the beach ended.
“I think I saw him heading there. Not sure, though.”
“Why would he…? Nevermind. Thanks.”
I started walking toward the rocks, pretty much convinced Sariel would never go hang around there by himself. I pulled out my phone and texted him.
“Where are you?”
No reply. With a sigh, I kept walking. It would only take me five minutes, and I could use the exercise. My bare feet sunk pleasantly in the cold sand. I was wearing a long cotton dress that kept me warm enough, and I’d left my sandals near the entrance of the cave, knowing full well no one would steal them from there. The students avoided the caves like the plague. There was something – a scent, an atmosphere, a feeling – that seeped out through the open mouth of the cave and kept them away. They weren’t even conscious of it, or that it even affected them. Their intuition had decided the caverns were off limits, and they were too busy with the real world to question it. Good. That kept them safe.
The wind picked up, blowing my long, blue hair in my eyes. I struggled to gather it in a messy ponytail and secured it with an old scrunchie I always kept around my wrist.
“Sariel?”
The rocks were just ahead. Their sharp, pointy edges didn’t look very inviting, especially since I was barefoot. The waves crashed against them, bathing them in foam. The tide wasn’t very high tonight, so sitting on the rocks wasn’t dangerous, for sure. It looked refreshing, actually, if one managed to find a smooth rock to park one’s butt on.
“Sariel, are you here?”
I heard laughter, and I strained my ears to identify the direction it was coming from. Someone yelled something, and I realized there were more voices, more people. Is this a private party, or something? Does Lorna’s cloaking spell even reach this far? If it didn’t, I guessed it wasn’t much of a danger. To find us, the Unseelie guards first had to figure out that we weren’t in our rooms. Then, they’d have a whole lot of land to cover, and I was sure they wouldn’t think about the beach first. It was hidden, anyway. If one looked from above, one couldn’t see it.
A cry of surprise or fear – I couldn’t be sure – rose toward the sky, making my heart jump and my senses switch to high alert. I pulled my long dress up to my knees, so I could climb more easily, and planted one foot firmly on the smoothest rock I could divine in the falling darkness. More laughter, another cry, then a yelp and a splash. My foot slipped, and I had to let go of the dress to grab the rocks with my hands and regain balance. A wave came crashing a few feet away from me, and the white foam it left behind enveloped my ankles. It felt cold and energizing. I finally pushed myself up on a higher rock and stood up straight. Now I could see where the noises were coming from.
Four VDC students stood around a fifth student they had presumably pushed to the ground. Merrit was among them. They laughed and made jokes, and when the blond-haired guy who was their victim tried to pull himself to his feet, they pushed him down again. He was doing his best to hold onto the rocks and not fall in the water. Judging from how wet he was from head to toe, he’d fallen a couple of times already.
“Hey! What’s going on here?”
The four VDC guys looked up at me, surprise painted on their faces. I recognized Raziel the angel, too.
Merrit shrugged. “None of your business.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. I was too far to see who their victim was, so I scrambled closer. The bully squad was at it again. The Mighty Jerk Cabal had found a new victim, and I wasn’t going to have it. At least, my guys weren’t part of it anymore.
“The party’s on the beach, you morons,” I yelled, as I did my best to get to them. “I don’t even know if Lorna’s spell covers this place. You better go before the Unseelie find you.”
I was getting close. I found my balance on a conveniently square rock, but when I looked up, Merrit was all in my face. I couldn’t see past him. I placed a hand on his chest, either for more balance, or to push him away – I could decide later.
“What’s wrong with you, Merrit? Who abused you as a child?” I realized I was being extra mean, but sometimes that was the only way to talk to people like him.
“Fuck off, Mila,” he said through gritted teeth. “You shouldn’t be here.”
I rolled my eyes at him, utterly unimpressed. “Move, idiot.” I pushed him hard. His right foot slipped, he lost his balance and fell on his side, finally allowing me to see what he’d been trying to hide from me. I gasped.
The blond man on the ground was Sariel. His shirt was torn, revealing the wide plain of his back. His wings… His wings were no more. All that was left of the large feathered beauties were two bony stumps covered in caked blood.
I stood frozen in place. Merrit cursed under his breath, scrambled to get back on his feet, but I couldn’t hear him, nor see him. The other three VDC guys stepped away from the archangel. Is he still an archangel if his wings are torn? Raziel went past me, mouthing “sorry”. Sorry? Was he really sorry? He grabbed Merrit and pulled him toward the beach. Five minutes later, Sariel and I were alone on the rocks. He was kneeling, his back turned to me.
“Are you… are you okay?” My voice was barely a whisper. I forced myself to move. When I got close enough, I reached out to touch him. He sensed me and pulled away.
“Leave,” he said.
“Are you insane? I’m not leaving you. What have they done to you?” I looked around, trying to find his wings. But I knew I was being irrational. The wounds along his shoulder blades were old.
“Nothing.” He sat up and wiped his hands on his wet trousers. His shirt had been torn wide open on his back but was quite intact in the front.
“Let me help you up.” I took hold of his arm, but he pushed me away.
“I don’t need your help. Leave.”
“For fuck’s sake, Sariel!” I was losing my patience. “Just tell me what they did to you and how I can help. You saved me once. I owe you.”
“You don’t owe me a thing.”
With a grunt, he stood up and started climbing over the rocks to reach the beach. I followed him. The sight of his torn wings broke my heart.
“Who did this to you? Who…” I couldn’t finish the sentence. He knew what I was talking about, though. “Is this why you’ve been avoiding me and the guys?”
“You’re smart. You tell me.”
Once on the beach, he started to walk faster. I tried to keep up with him. When he wouldn’t stop, I grabbed him by the arm and didn’t let go until he halted and turned to face me.
“What?! What do you want from me?”
There was pain in his blue eyes. His hair was messy and disheveled, and I realized this was the first time I saw Sariel Gracewing in such an… unusual condition. Unusual for him. His clothes were soaked, his hair was far from perfect, and he even had a few wrinkles around his eyes and mouth that I’d never noticed before. I knew he was way older than me even though he looked young, but I could swear he’d gained a few years in just a couple of months. Or, maybe… Could it be a side effect of losing his wings?
“I just want you to talk to me, that’s all,” I said in a gentle voice. “I… I had no idea. I’m so stupid.” I closed the space between us and placed a hand on his cheek. “When I saw you at the Academy on the first day, I was so happy for you. Morningstar didn’t expel you, you are in the Merciful Death Cabal now… I’m so sorry. I’m so s
orry I was so blind and I couldn’t see that you were hurting.”
“I’m not hurting,” he murmured. He was obviously lying. “He didn’t expel me, and I am in the MDC.”
“Then… what happened? When did it all go so wrong? What happened to your wings?”
He sighed. “Francis didn’t tell you… I’m shocked, really. He’s so infatuated with you. I thought he tells you everything now.”
“He doesn’t tell me shit. Also, he’s not infatuated with me. We’re just friends.”
“Right.”
“Well?”
“You really want to know what happened…”
“Yes! I know this might come as a surprise to you, but I do care about you, Sariel.”
He bit the inside of his cheek. We looked into each other’s eyes for a long minute, and even though I was dying to find out who’d ripped his wings, – so I’d know who to go after, – I stood there patiently, knowing this moment was crucial. He was trying to decide whether he could trust me or not, and whatever conclusion he reached, it would be impossible to make him reconsider it later. So, it had to be a positive conclusion.
“Fine, whatever. You and the people you’ve trapped in your bubble are the only ones who don’t know, anyway. The whole school knows.”
Bubble? It was true that since we’d started dating, GC and Paz had grown less and less interested in the outside world. But I had no idea we were in a bubble.
“My wings were the price I had to pay if I wanted to stay at the Academy. My family disowned me, and Morningstar wanted to expel me. I begged. I actually begged my parents and Morningstar. I told them that if I’m not a Grim Reaper, then I’m nothing. It’s the only thing I’ve got in this world, the only thing I’ve ever wanted. I was ready to do anything to be allowed to continue my studies. So, they told me the price. And I accepted.”
“Why?”
“They wanted to punish me, so I let them. I’d deceived them since day one. My family had disowned me anyway. Wings or no wings, I knew I’d never see them again. And to tell you the truth, since it was so easy for them to shun me, I didn’t want to be an archangel anymore. When you’re born one, though, you usually die one. The only way out is…”
