Wicked Wings

14

I give him a wry grin. “Then you know I’m damn good at it.”

I leap off the edge of the bell tower and spread my wings, letting the cool night air filter through them and lift me up. It’s a short flight to the dorms, and though I could fly directly into my room through the balcony door, I decide to land on the ground and walk into the common area first. Maybe the woman in question—Olivia—will be there, and I can figure out what to do about her.

I pass by the common room and flash a dazzling smile at a few ladies I pass by, but none of them is the one I’m looking for tonight. A few of them give me seductive glances, and I could probably take one of them up to my room if I wanted, but I’m not feeling it. Truth is, I haven’t been all that interested in women since that incident with Grace after Jonah disappeared. Until now. One glance at Olivia changed all of that.

On the other hand, it’ll be rough heading back to that empty suite tonight. I hadn’t realized how hard it would be until we returned for this term and I saw Jonah’s door wide open, with all his things still inside. Bringing someone back to my room suddenly sounds like a good plan after all. But then the guilt comes back and the desire fades. I step into the elevator and resign myself to a long night alone.

Olivia appears in the doorway and slips inside just as the elevator shuts. Her eyes slide over me for a moment and then she turns away, like she’s pretending I don’t exist. Fine, I probably deserve that. I wasn’t exactly friendly to her earlier. Quite the opposite.

The elevator is old and slow, and my eyes can’t help but roam over her. She meets my gaze and a spark of desire passes between us. We’re alone in a small elevator and suddenly it feels very intimate. I can’t look away, and I have the strongest desire to touch her, though I keep my hands to myself.

“About earlier.” I clear my throat. “I really don’t have anything against half-humans, you know.”

She slowly turns those green eyes on me, which are not giving me any leeway. “Sure. That’s why you and your friends told me to leave the school.”

“It’s for your own good, that’s all. We’re trying to help you.”

She snorts. “Thanks, but I don’t need your kind of help.”

The elevator doors open to the fourth floor, and I get out and head to my room. She gets off the elevator too, but heads in the opposite direction, down the hall. I fumble for my key as she walks away, and she glances back just as I get the door open. Our eyes connect, and that same desire sparks between us. She quickly tucks back a piece of her dark hair and looks away.

I enter my room and close the door. She must have felt it too, this attraction between us. I’ve never been very good at denying myself anything once I want it—and she is definitely very tempting.

The guys have their own methods, and I have mine. They may not like it, but I’m going to use them. I’ll get close to her, make her trust me, and then find out how she’s connected to Jonah—and then I’ll use that to fulfill my promise to him and get her far away from this school.

Chapter Nine

Olivia

M

y new plan is in motion.

My original plan was to befriend Grace and seduce the Princes, but only one part of that plan is working out so far. The four of them are at the top of my suspect list—okay, at the moment they’re the only ones on my suspect list—but I need to look beyond the obvious too. If it were that easy, my father would’ve found Jonah by now.

Hence, the new plan. Last night I waited for Marcus to return to the dorms, and then I followed him back to his room. Now I know which one is his, and I’ll break inside sometime when he isn’t there so I can search my brother’s room. I’m going to find out everything I can about Jonah’s time here at Seraphim Academy so I can figure out what happened to him, and then I’ll find him. I refuse to believe he’s dead or gone forever. And if he is? Then I’m going to find the bastards who took his life and make them pay.

In the morning, Araceli and I head to orientation in the auditorium, which Grace showed me briefly during our tour yesterday. We find a spot in the middle of the rows of plush gray seats, and a few other angels look at us and whisper, or nudge their friends. Araceli gives them an overly large wave, making it obvious we know they’re staring at us, and the students quickly turn back around. She turns to me and rolls her eyes. “Think they’ll ever get tired of gawking at us?”

“One can only hope.” I glance around while the other seats quickly fill up. I spot Tanwen and the rest of the Valkyries in the front with their identical straw-colored hair, and catch a glimpse of the Princes in the corner, glancing at the crowd like kings surveying their minions.

After everyone has sat down, a very tall, thin man with black hair steps onto the stage and moves to the podium. The entire room quiets immediately, and I sit up with interest because he looks a lot like Bastien, except this man radiates the power and magnetism of an Archangel. This must be the Headmaster.

As Uriel’s eyes move across the auditorium he seems to focus on each one of us in turn, and many students squirm under his gaze. Uriel is an Ofanim, which gives him the power to detect truth, and probably other powers too since he’s an Archangel.