Defying Destiny (Afterword Academy #3) - Katie May Page 0,58
in horror.
Only a few days ago, the Academy had been full of life, almost as if the building itself was construed of pure power. But now, it’s a mere shell of its former glory, and I have to wonder if we traveled to the upside-down world without my knowledge.
The Academy itself is run-down and decrepit, with holes large enough to fit a small car dotting the sides. The brick is crumbling in some places, blue-green mold beginning to grow, and the sidewalk is riddled with large cracks. The grass, normally a luminescent green, is now brown and flaky, and the flowers have drooped in their pots, some of them almost completely black. It looks as if tornadoes have wreaked havoc on the area. As if a large earthquake has rippled beneath the grounds.
Horror fills me as I stare at the place I was beginning to consider home.
“What happened?” I gasp, eyes watering. “How long have we been gone for this type of devastation to occur?”
“Lilith happened,” Caius hisses, voice low and deadly like a ferocious lion preparing for the hunt. “Come. We need to find Eve.”
We’ve only taken a small step when a student appears around the corner, head ducked. The white wings protruding from her back indicate her as an Angel. She can’t be older than ten, maybe twelve, and her tiny eyes flicker upwards as we approach.
But before we can question her, horror etches itself onto her face, and she drops the linens she was carrying, breaking into a run in the opposite direction.
“What the fuck?” Brax mumbles, echoing what we’re all thinking.
Why did she run?
And who is she running to?
Fuck. There goes our element of surprise, if she reports to Lilith.
“Where do you think Eve—Aggie—will be?” Caius questions, forcing us to focus on the matter at hand.
“If Lilith doesn’t know the truth about her, then I’d say our room,” I confess as worry crashes through me. “But if she does know the truth…”
“You can’t think like that.” Brax places his hand on my shoulder and gives it a squeeze. “Aggie is a tough bitch. I’m sure she’s fine.”
And I know his words are meant to be a comfort, but worry still niggles in my mind. What if something happened to her? What if she’s dead because of me? Because she helped me? I know I’m seconds from breaking, seconds from unraveling like a thread being pulled on a sweater, but I can’t stop my turbulent thoughts.
We move as a synchronized unit along the pathway bogged down with weeds and crawling with bugs. When one particularly disgusting creature pulls itself onto the top of my shoe, I release a rather undignified scream and jump onto Braxton’s back like he’s my personal—and sexy—pony.
He chuckles darkly as his hands come around to grip my legs under my knees.
“Don't worry, baby. I’ll protect you from the big, bad bugs,” he teases, and I lean forward to bite his earlobe, causing him to yelp.
“After what I’ve seen in Hell…you can bet your hard ass I’m never going near a bug again. Why does the Afterlife even have them?” I direct the question at Caius, who smirks at me as if I’m the most amusing thing he’s ever seen.
“Bugs die too you know and have to travel to an Afterlife. That’s pretty speciest to assume they don’t,” he points out with a disapproving head shake. When I gape at him, flabbergasted, his lips twitch to indicate he’s teasing.
“The terrifying Darkness just made a joke,” Brax says in shock. “What is this world coming to?”
Before either of us can retort to that, Brax’s footsteps stumble to a stop. In front of us, Caius releases a muffled curse.
Immediately, Braxton turns so that we’re facing the opposite direction, his body as taut as the string on Auston’s bow.
“What’s going on?” I demand, attempting to wiggle my way down. Braxton only tightens his grip on my legs. “Brax! Is it Aggie? Oh fuck. Is it Aggie?” This time, I flap my wings to gain momentum, leaping off of Braxton’s back and spinning around before he can stop me. I hear his curse, but I’m already walking forward on numb legs, coming to a stop beside Caius.
I can barely comprehend the scene before me. Horror doesn’t even begin to encapsulate the emotions swirling in my stomach like a rapidly growing tsunami.
“Are they…?” I trail off, but Caius knows what I’m going to say anyway.