Orion shouted something at me, but I didn’t understand.
My ears rang.
I blinked, and Orion was gone. A crowd stood around me.
Beside me Jax cradled Jinx as he screamed at someone.
Cobra ripped off his pants and wrapped them around the stump where Jinx’s leg had used to be. Jinx’s body arched as she flung her head back. Her face twisted with pain.
I blinked with relief.
She was conscious. She’d be okay.
Sharp feedback stung my ears like someone had spoken with enchantment, but I couldn’t make out any individual words.
Everything was garbled.
Jax gathered Jinx into his arms and sprinted toward the academy, and the rest of his legion followed. Sadie looked back over her shoulder at me with a tortured expression, but then she disappeared from view.
I blinked.
The angel with the mismatched eyes was saying something to the kings. The rest of the angels were staring down at me with wide eyes.
Malum shoved at the angel’s chest, but no flames leaped off his skin.
The angel said something, and Orion threw a fist at his head. An angel shoved him backward, and all hell broke loose. Scorpius and Malum threw themselves at the angels, and they clashed in a spray of fists.
Was I hallucinating?
I opened my mouth to ask, but no words came out.
My lungs burned like I’d smoked a thousand enchanted pipes at once.
Luka wrapped his arms around my chest. The world spun as he lifted me off the ground, and I put my arms around his neck.
John grabbed my legs and positioned them around Luka’s waist.
I tipped backward from the weight on my spine. John lunged forward and caught me. His fingers pressed against the overly sensitive skin, and I shivered.
Vegar and Zenith pulled the kings away from the angels and dragged them over to us. The twins carried me toward the academy with our teammates close behind.
When we passed the student section, I was glad my ears were ringing.
Students shouted things in my direction. Some pointed. Others made rude gestures. The rest gaped at me in shock.
Lothaire stood to the side with his mouth gaping.
He looked like he’d seen a ghost.
I buried my face in Luka’s neck and breathed in his spicy scent. He smelled like warm male and safety.
When we entered the academy, I began to shake.
An ache throbbed through my muscles, and the burning sensation in my lungs was worse across my chest.
I felt disoriented and shaky.
Like I had a fever.
Luka laid me down on a makeshift cot, and I held on to him desperately. Fear skittered through me, and I was afraid to release him.
My wings were heavy and painful against my back, and I flexed my shoulder muscles to ease the pain.
Their weight disappeared as I felt them retract tight against my spine. It was a bizarre sensation. I could still feel their heaviness weighing me down, but they no longer protruded from my body.
I didn’t know what was happening to me.
My teeth chattered from the sensation of cold while my chest burned like I was too hot. It was overstimulating and confusing.
I blinked back tears as I shivered.
Luka and John lowered themselves to the floor like they knew exactly what I needed. They lay beside me on the ruined mattress pad and pressed themselves flush against me.
I was sandwiched between them.
I was safe.
John pressed a gentle kiss against my temple, and everything went dark.
Chapter 47
Scorpius
REVELATIONS
Rebirth—Day 62, hour 7
The room was unnaturally silent when I woke up. Something rubbed me the wrong way, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
Something was different.
I had no memory of what happened after Lyla ordered us to reveal our powers. It was blank. The only thing I remembered was the angel captain telling us that Arabella belonged with his legion and all of us losing it.
I listened carefully. Only four people breathed in the room, and I could identify the sounds in my sleep.
I was alone in the room with my mates and Arabella, and I had no clue where the twins or demons were.
Muscles pulled and groaned as I sat up.
My body hadn’t hurt like this since I was a kid. Not since five children had ambushed me after school with a crowbar and beaten me bloody while they mocked me for being blind. Back then I’d gone into a coma and hadn’t woken up for days.
Now I felt the same, if not worse.
Agony scoured down my back, and every breath hurt my sternum. Corvus must feel the same, because he groaned as he shifted in the bed.
Something or someone had hurt us so badly that we’d needed days to recover.
That didn’t happen to us as adults.
Ever.
Corvus swore violently as he realized Orion was still asleep in the bed, not moving. I pressed my ear to our Revered’s chest, and his heart beat slowly.
He was in a deep healing state.
Silence was loud between us. My Ignis and I didn’t need to speak to know we were thinking the same thing.
We’d failed our Revered.
Again.
Some Protector I was. My hands shook with the urge to find a knife and hurt myself.
Across the room, a familiar feminine voice sighed and distracted me from my thoughts. There was a low whistle as she blew out smoke.
Corvus’s neck cracked as he snapped his head to look at her.
When my Ignis spoke, his voice was like broken glass. “Why do you have angel wings?”
I stilled.
“I’m practicing retracting and extending them,” Arabella said calmly like she was talking about the weather.
We both sat still in shock.
I could practically taste my mate’s unholy rage.
Corvus flung himself across the room at her with insane speed. For the next hour, he grilled Arabella about what had happened in the showcase.
The story she told was unbelievable.
“Tell us what happened,” Corvus growled, and the bed creaked while Arabella’s teeth chattered together like he was shaking her back and forth.
“I already told you,” Arabella said with a heavy sigh.
Corvus growled for the tenth time in five minutes and snarled, “Give us the truth.”
Arabella blew smoke from her lips and said with annoyance, “For the millionth time, I already told you.”
“No, what you told us was an impossible lie. Now tell us the truth of what happened.”
The wall cracked as Corvus punched it.
“Why don’t you do me a favor and shut up? How about that?” Arabella’s voice dripped with venom. “I’m done trying to reason with you. I already told you the truth!” Bedsheets rustled as she rolled over. “Leave me alone.”
Corvus laughed cruelly. “No. I can’t do that. Not until I know what actually happened. My Revered is still unconscious. I can’t let this go!”
“Oh my sun god!” Arabella yelled. “Then go hold your precious Revered and stop bothering me!”
“No!” Corvus roared as he gnashed his teeth together loudly. “You somehow stopped us, and you did something to him!”
His voice dropped, and he said menacingly, “Do you understand that we’ve never been able to control our power once we started? Ever. Yet you tell me the girl was marked for death and she’s still alive? And that somehow you just lay in front of her and poof, you’re both fine?”
“Hmmm,” Arabella said sarcastically. “Yes. That’s exactly what happened.”