Dark Angel Academy (The Complete Series) - G. Bailey Page 0,44

we do in class.

“Angels do not fall. It is in our blood, in our bodies, in our souls and the very essence of this class and what we can teach you,” she starts off and slowly turns to the side. We all stare out at the hundreds of little rocks, no bigger than four feet apart, floating around in the air. Sometimes they crash into each other, but mainly it looks like they are making small circular patterns in the wind. I get a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach before she even talks. “Today’s class will be learning the art of spear fighting on these rocks. Two of you will go out one at a time, and the goal is to get to the island in the middle. If you manage to knock your opponent off, you will pass this class for the rest of the year. If you fall off, you will die as no one will catch you. Do you understand?”

“Wait, what happens if we both don’t fight and just get to the middle?” I ask.

“There is only one course of rocks that get you to the middle, and they will not hold the weight of you both. You fight for the rocks, or you both die in the fall. If you both happen to work together and get to the middle, the first one to knock the other unconscious or dead wins,” she answers me, and I gulp. “As you spoke first, I believe you should fight first, Miss Lightson. Mr. Becker, you will be her opponent.”

“You can do this,” Vesnia firmly tells me, and I nod at her as I walk forward and wish it wasn’t Riley I had to go against. Especially when he is mad. I guess I’m not too worried, as I don’t think Riley would actually hurt me or try to kill me, no matter how mad he is. Professor Bates gets two spears, the ones we use in class, and hands them to me as we stop near the edge. The first rock is a step away, but the others are large steps. Riley has long legs, he is going to find this a lot easier than I am.

“Good luck,” I whisper to Riley and look up at him. He stares at the rocks like I’m not here and ignores me.

“Go!” Professor Bates shouts, and Riley moves first, stepping onto the rocks. He moves quick, and I step onto the rock after him. The rock wobbles under my feet, and the cold air threatens to push me off, but I make the big step onto the rock next to Riley’s. I see the one rock to the left and step onto it, my throat feeling clogged with fear as it shakes a little in the wind. Taking a deep breath, I decide to step onto the smaller rock right in front of me, and it’s pretty steady for a second before it tilts. I almost scream as I jump off it and onto the rock in front of me, landing face down. I crawl to my feet and look back to see Riley jumping from rock to rock to get to me. I look back, seeing four rocks in a diagonal line right up to the middle, and I know that’s the best way to go. But Professor Bates is right, they are too small for anyone to do anything but step on one at a time and jump. I lean back, bracing myself just as something hard slams into my face. I scream as I fly into the air, rolling but luckily sliding across a rock. I dig my fingers and feet into the rock to stop myself and look up, knowing Riley just hit me in the face with his spear. Blood pours out of my nose as Riley looks back at me and just smiles. He turns around and takes the four steps to the middle and places his hands in the air like a champion, just before I pass out.

Chapter 24

I wake up alone in a white sheet-covered bed, smelling nothing but cleaning products and feeling the pain of my nose, knowing I’m going to look like crap before seeing myself in the mirror opposite me on the wall. My nose is covered in purple bruises, and it was no doubt broken. Dammit, Riley. When did becoming an angel mean you get to be an asshat? I sit up, blinking from the bright light