Dark Angel Academy (The Complete Series) - G. Bailey Page 0,106
up, and my head rolls back. I open my eyes to see my blood coating the floor under the light and my once beautiful white wings on fire. I’m no longer an angel...and a part of me is glad.
I never will be on their side again.
Chapter 54
Like a soft hum of feathers against my skin, someone strokes my arm, sending goose bumps all over me, and I relax into the heat of their body as their masculine rosewood scent smells so familiar to me, comforting me even when I’m in pain and feeling broken. I open my eyes, arching my head up to meet the eyes of someone I didn’t expect to see with me when I woke up.
Am I dead?
I have to be, because Ren is with me, shirtless and holding me tightly against him like there is no one else in the world. His smoky hair is brushed to the side, like he has run his hands through it a million times, and there is a new cut on the side of his head, which has thankfully healed. He is as breathtakingly gorgeous as the first time I saw him, even as a ghost.
“Ren?” I question, sitting up and regretting it right away as pain laces through my body, and it hurts far more than I expected. Turning to look behind me, my eyes fill with tears when I see my magnificent wings are gone, and I strangely miss them even when I only had them for a short while. As I burst into sobs, Ren holds me close to his chest, careful to keep his hands on my lower waist so he doesn’t hurt me, never once letting me go or saying a single word.
And it’s everything I never knew I needed when I’ve lost something I didn’t know I cared so much for.
“How am I still alive?” I ask, not understanding exactly how I’m here. “And, Ren, where are we? Are you in the angel city with me? How?”
Ren helps me sit up, but I don’t rest back on the headboard of the metal bed we are on; instead, I lean against my shoulder. I glance around the room, noticing it’s the same room I shared with Thallon and Vesnia not long ago. Where are they? I finally notice Ren looks pale. A light sweat shines over his skin, and I place my hand on his cheek, feeling how hot he is to touch.
“The Great Light took your wings, but you are half-vampire. The angel blood always stopped you being who you were born to be...and now nothing does. You are a vampire, Kaitlyn, a master vampire by blood,” he whispers to me. “And when you escape here, our race will need a leader, and I know you can be it.”
“I’m not leaving without you! Stop making it sound like only one of us is getting out of here, Ren!”
“You keep talking like that, Kaitlyn, and I might suspect you’re in love with me as much as I’m in love with you,” he counters, and I freeze. I do love Ren...and I already knew he loved me because it’s in his eyes every time we even glance at each other. “I should have listened to you and took the vampires far away.”
“I was wrong,” I reply, shaking my head even when it hurts my back with every movement. “The angels will never stop until we are all gone. They don’t want peace, they want death, because they have lived so long they have forgotten what it is like to be mortal. To love, to feel, to simply be alive. We have to fight for those things, to make sure our people can have them. The angels will never stop, and I’m not saying what you did to the angels at the academy was right, but I understand your anger towards them.”
“So you don’t hate me for getting us in this mess?” he asks, and I smile at him before leaning closer and brushing my lips against his. Kissing Ren just feels right and oh so amazing. Even with us both weak, in a place we could never be safe, loving Ren is exactly where I want to be. His hands slide into my hair as I hold onto his shoulders, deepening the kiss before he stops us. “Thank you, Kaitlyn. You’ve always been the light I’ve needed in my life. I don’t want war anymore, I don’t want anything but you and my people safe.”