Dark Angel Academy (The Complete Series) - G. Bailey Page 0,16
impressive chest onto his six-pack and that V shape that dips into his trousers. There is a tattoo on his ribs of some kind of words, and I have to snap my jaw shut as he looks up and sees us, and he waves. I wave back and all but trip on thin air as Vesnia laughs and tugs me away before I can make more of a fool of myself. We see a few more of the students from our class as we head to the stables, which are busy as I find Riley talking to a light angel near the front. The light angel lifts his bushy eyebrows and points at me, and Riley nods when he looks back.
“Welcome, class, I do hope you had a good night’s sleep. My name is Professor Nina for all those who have forgotten,” she comments from the stable door. “Now in my lesson, I will teach you how to care for your horse, how to call your horse on demand and become a fighting pair.” She pauses and clears her throat. “I want each of you to stand a good distance apart and use your whistle. The whistle will only work if you want your horse to come, so you must want to call your horse. Let’s start.”
“Good luck,” I whisper to Vesnia as we walk apart. I find a clear space near the edge of the stable and pick up my necklace. I place the cold silver whistle in my mouth and close my eyes, thinking of Ayda. The second I blow the whistle, a strange hum of something shivers over my skin, and I know she heard me. I open my eyes, seeing other students blowing their whistles, but there is no sound coming out, and then I hear the horses. The sound of their wings cutting through the air can’t be missed. I look up as a herd of horses fly in the air, and right in the front is Ayda. She leads the group, and they fly in circles as they land right in a line behind Ayda in front of me. I smile at her and place my hand on her head, enjoying the simple contact of her soft fur. She neighs at me, and I suspect we agree. I try to think back to riding her last and how natural it felt, even though I was just in a cloak and I’d never ridden a horse before. Let alone a flying horse.
“Very good work. Except for you, what is your name?” Professor Nina asks, and I turn to see her asking a guy with brown hair.
“Eric, but I did try—”
“I think your horse has let you go for being weak. I am sorry,” she softly tells him, placing her hands on his shoulders. I scream along with my classmates as Professor Nina roughly turns Eric’s head to the side, and a snap rings out in the silence. Eric’s body crumbles to the floor, and Professor Nina leans down, picking up the whistle and tugging it from his body. I’m shaking as everyone is dead silent, and Professor Nina goes back to her happy smile.
“Do remember that your second life is a gift in exchange for passing The Angel Academy as a strong angel. There is no room for the weak in the world of the angels,” she firmly comments, and I gulp. We are all still frozen as Thallon walks through the horses, still missing his shirt, and leans down to Eric’s body. Tears form in my eyes as Thallon softly closes Eric’s still open eyes before picking up his body and carrying him away. I search for Riley in the crowd and find him watching me, the same look of disgust and horror in his eyes.
“Now, we will start by getting you to place a saddle on your horse and learning the correct way to do this. We will end our lesson with a little race between each other,” Professor Nina comments, and then she hums a song as she walks into the stables.
Angel Academy is deadly.
And we have to survive, no matter what.
“Brilliant, each of you has learnt and picked up everything I’ve taught you today. Next, let’s get you in pairs for a race,” Professor Nina cheerily comments, and I want to reply that the only reason everyone has behaved is because they are shit scared of you, but I don’t, biting my tongue instead as people start to pair up. Riley