Wicked Wings

13

“For one thing, they get the entire bell tower to themselves, which they use as some kind of private lounge. They’re always up there, and no one else is allowed inside unless invited by them. But you’ve been there, right Grace?”

“I have.” She’s focused on her food, obviously having a hard time with this conversation. She’s either a very good actor or she really is upset over my brother’s disappearance.

“I’ve seen them up there,” I say. “They watch over the school like they own it or something.”

“They pretty much do,” Cyrus continues. “The third one is Marcus, and he’s one of Archangel Raphael’s many sons. He’s a Malakim and he was Jonah’s roommate last year. I heard he doesn’t have a roommate this year, because Headmaster Uriel is hoping Jonah will come back to school any day now. They even left all of his stuff in there.”

Grace shakes her head. “He won’t come back, because he didn’t run away. He would never do something like that, not without telling anyone where he was going, or taking anything with him.” Her voice chokes up a little and she grabs a napkin and dabs at her eyes. “I’m sorry, I just really miss him, and I’m so worried about him.”

Me too. I shove a bite of taco in my mouth to keep from talking.

“Someone will find him,” Araceli says. “All the Archangels are looking for him. He’ll be back soon.”

Grace sniffs. “I hope so.”

He will be, at least if I have anything to say about it. And now I know exactly where to start looking: Marcus’s dorm. Chapter Eight

Marcus

C

allan is pacing again. He’s been doing it a lot ever since Jonah vanished. Back and forth along the edge of the bell tower, his footsteps so predictable on the stone I could write a song to the beat.

“We need a plan,” he says.

I stretch my legs out on the couch and fold my arms behind my head. “A plan for what?”

“To get rid of that woman in Jonah’s photo.”

“Her name is Olivia Monroe,” Bastien says in his matter-of-fact voice. “I did a little research on her after our encounter. Unfortunately there’s not much in her files.”

Callan finally stops pacing. “What did you learn?”

“She grew up around Southern California in various foster homes. Her mother died when she was six due to a drug overdose, and her father is unknown, although no doubt an angel. Until recently, she was working in a hotel bar near LAX.”

“Choir?” Callan asks.

“Unknown.”

“What’s her connection with Jonah?”

“Also unknown.”

“He never mentioned her to me,” I say, with a trace of bitterness. I’m still annoyed Jonah gave Callan the photo instead of me. I was his roommate and his best friend, but apparently he trusted Callan more. Callan pulls out the photo again and smooths his thumb over it. “He gave me this only hours before he left. It was obviously important to him, and we made a promise to him.”

“We need to learn everything we can about her,” Bastien says. “Find out how she’s connected to Jonah. Maybe she’ll know why he hasn’t returned.”

“We need to get her as far away from this school as possible,” Callan growls.

“How?” I ask. “She didn’t seem very intimidated by us.”

“Not yet, perhaps. We’ll have to take more drastic measures.”

“Like what?”

“We’ll start by making her life miserable. If that doesn’t convince her to leave, we’ll take it up another notch.”

The whole thing feels off. I shake my head. “I’m not comfortable with this. And I’m not sure Jonah would approve either.”

I think back on that moment at the end of last term.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Bastien asked.

“Yes, and we all know it has to be me,” Jonah said. He wore his baseball uniform, and would be playing against the fae in the championship game in only an hour. And after that…I couldn’t even think about that. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine, seriously. But I need to ask you guys for a favor before I go.”

“Anything,” I said.

Jonah pulled out the photo and handed it to Callan. “If this girl ever shows up at Seraphim Academy, you need to make her leave, however you can. It isn’t safe for her here.”

“What are you talking about?” I learned over to look at the photo. I was immediately struck by the girl’s beauty and intrigued by her.

“Who is she?” Bastien asked.

“I can’t tell you that,” Jonah said.

I raised an eyebrow. “New girlfriend maybe? Should Grace be worried?”

Jonah shook his head. “Just promise me you’ll do whatever it takes to get her away from this place—for her own good.”

I realized then how serious Jonah was, and how worried he looked. He must care about this girl. I thumped him on the back, trying to make him feel better and bring some levity to the situation. “Hey man, we promise.”

“Thanks. I knew I could count on you guys.”

“We made a promise to him,” Callan says, bringing me back to the present. “We said we’d do whatever it takes, and we will.”

I stand up and let my wings unfurl. “Yes, we did, but that doesn’t mean I agree with your methods. But fine, bully her into leaving if you think that will work. Bastien can try to uncover all her dark secrets. I’ll handle her my own way.”

“Yeah, we all know how you handle women,” Callan snarls.