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