Defying Destiny (Afterword Academy #3) - Katie May Page 0,39

give out, until the winds die down and we slide down yet another dune, only to find our footprints at the bottom.

“We’re lost,” Preston announces. “And we’re no closer to finding Auston and Hadley than we were before. Or Caius for that matter.”

“I’m going to fly around one last time.” Braxton must be exhausted, spending half his time in the air since we’ve arrived. I can see the fatigue on his face as he beats his wings before slowly ascending into the sky.

All hope feels lost, and my body no longer feels like working until…

“I see something!” Brax’s voice shoots down from the heavens, and suddenly, I’m not so tired. “Follow me!”

Preston and I force our legs to continue on, trudging up the next dune then sliding down it, following the airborne Demon. Then I see it, a whisper of white, stark against the expanse of brown desert.

“Auston!” we all begin to shout as we approach. We try to run through the sand, but it seems to only make us move slower as we sink with each step.

Braxton gets there first, turning back to find us, terror in his gaze. “Help me!”

“We’re coming!” I shout back, coercing my exhausted body to continue on. Reaching down for my last bit of strength, we finally reach Brax, who is hovering over a bloodied figure.

“Oh my god, Auston!” Pres shouts, dropping to his knees.

“What happened to you, brother?” My voice chokes as I ask the question.

But before he can answer, he lifts his torso revealing the face of Hadley below him. Her entire body is buried. All that we can see is her face.

“Help me,” he whispers, tears leaking from his eyes.

Silently, we all get to work, digging around her delicate frame, but it seems like for each scoop we remove, two more replace it. I can see now that he was simply keeping her face out of the sun.

“What do we do?” Preston cries out, movements becoming frantic. “And where the hell is Caius?”

Caius…

I’ve tried to give that monster the benefit of the doubt, but this is just too convenient.

“I’m here.” It’s Hadley who responds, but the nuances to her voice are off. “Inside her. Keeping her calm, allowing her to maintain the little energy she has. You guys have to get her out of here. The sand…it’s—it’s crushing her.”

“Fuck!” I shout, doubling my efforts. With the four of us working as fast as we can, we finally make some headway, and soon, Brax and I are able to reach down and grip her under her arms, but she’s still too stuck.

“Keep working!” Preston urges. Hadley’s mouth opens, and the darkness himself exits, quickly becoming a tangible soul. Not wanting to consider the essences he’s using, I just accept his help as we all pull Hadley to her freedom.

But even out of the sand, she’s still unconscious.

“Hadley baby!” I shout, rubbing her sweat-soaked hair from her brow.

Her eyelids begin to flutter, and we all gasp in relief when she opens her bright blue eyes. “You’re here,” she whispers so softly, I almost miss it.

“We’re here.” Preston grabs her hand, and she slowly moves her head towards him.

Caius looks at her with an almost desperation before he once again becomes a smoky fragment of what he once was.

With Preston and Brax taking care of her, I focus on Auston. “Aus? You okay?” His back shakes with tremors, blood covering him. “Bro, what happened?”

“They came for me,” he says rather ominously. “My halo. I think they were attracted to it.”

“Who came for you?” I ask, even though I know the answer—the creatures in the darkness.

He just shakes his head, pulling on his hair, rocking on his knees. It’s difficult to see the strong, proud Angel brought to this. But that’s what Hell does—it tries to break you. It dives into your mind and makes your worst fears real. It must be particularly difficult for an Angel to be here.

“It’s okay. The darkness is gone now.” I wrap my arm around his hunched shoulders and squeeze. He sniffs and wipes his nose on his arm, turning his icy gaze on me.

“Thanks, bro.”

Reaching up, he rustles my hair like he used to do when we were kids, and just like that, the old Auston is back. “Come on,” I say. “Hadley needs you.”

Love gleams in his eyes as he crawls to our girl. Brax and Pres move aside to give him space. I stand and move over to Caius. “So what do we do from here?”