my cheek with my hand, wishing it was worth it to kill this nasty bully.
“Bert, let her go,” the other guard warns his friend, and immediately he drops my elbow. I grit my teeth as I walk forward out into the corridor, which is just more grey stone wall and ceiling lights that match the ones in my room. My cheek throbs, but I drop my hand from it and beg my eyes not to water. Reacting would give them a good reason to put me back in that room. My need to escape this room is far larger than my desire to punch the angel guard. Glancing back at the ghost, my only friend for a whole month, I mentally pray he finds some kind of peace. Being stuck in that room is a fate worse than death. Seeing as there is only a flat concrete wall on the other end of the corridor, I head the other way and move quickly towards the metal door with a tiny window. I vaguely notice there isn’t a single other door down here, like they don’t trust me to be around anyone. It doesn’t stand well for my supposed trial tomorrow.
What the hell am I meant to do next?
I stop in front of the door, crossing my arms as the asshole Bert grabs a key off his belt and unlocks the door. Immediately a fresh breeze blows over me, and I suck in the air like I’ve never breathed before. Bert shoves me between my wings, making me stumble into the grass clearing, and I turn back, glaring at him as his guard friend shuts the door behind us. The first thing I notice are all the people—after a month of no one, I’m so relieved to see other people. They’re standing in a clearing, which is one large space with at least fifty doors in a half-circle on the other side, and I can vaguely see beds in the rooms through the glass doors. Grey slate walls stretch high, at least two floors, and in every corner of the space are watchtowers with angels looking down on me. The grass feels strange against my socks, but it’s better than the cold stone floors I have gotten used to. The sun shines down on me up here, and bells constantly ring in the distance. The city of the angels lies just outside these walls, so close but so far, it seems.
“Blessed be the angels,” the nice guard kindly says, nodding his head at me, but I don’t reply to him as he drags Bert away, and I spin around to find out who else is trapped in this place. There must be thirty people scattered around the clearing, and I recognise at least eight of them as vampires from the academy, but the rest are strangers. One of the vampires, with her bright red hair, catches my full attention as she smiles at me. I remember her from the academy...and she is only eight. Possibly nine. And oh god, the angels are never going to let her leave here. A blonde vampire woman wraps her arm around the girl’s shoulders and draws her away, but it doesn’t stop me blaming myself for getting her stuck in here. If I could have stopped Riley, if I could have convinced Ren to stop the war sooner. If, if, if. I have to save her somehow, and myself, and that is all that is important right now. I can plan everything else out later.
“Kaitlyn!” Vesnia shouts, and I pause as I see my best friend step around a group of vampires and come to a halt. Her red hair is cut much shorter, falling to her shoulders, and several parts are braided. Her clothes match mine—so does everyone else here—and she looks thinner than I’ve ever seen her. I run to her as she steps towards me, and someone else comes to her side.
“Did you say Kaitlyn?” Thallon’s deep voice washes over me as he follows Vesnia’s stare to me, and we lock eyes. I get to them both, and we all crash into each other, holding on tightly as I breathe them in.
Hell on a cracker, I missed them so much. Tears stream down my face as I back away a little, only for Thallon to kiss me, tugging me closer to him. A loud warning bell rings once in the distance, and Thallon lets me go, stepping back and holding his hands