Wicked Wings

6

Our second year at Seraphim Academy is about to start, but this time it’s all wrong—because one of us isn’t here.

I turn back to Bastien and Marcus with a scowl. “It’s been months. Jonah should be back by now.”

Marcus raises a shoulder in a shrug, his body lazily draped over the black leather couch. “Maybe he doesn’t want to come back.”

I shake my head. “Don’t be ridiculous. He wouldn’t miss the start of the new school year. Something’s gone wrong. Have you foreseen anything, Bastien?”

“As I said the last three times you asked, no, I haven’t,” he replies dryly from the armchair he’s sitting in, without looking up from the old book he’s reading on fae magic. “None of my contacts have heard anything either.”

I let out a growl as I start pacing on the stone floor. “Demons must have found out what he was doing and taken him. It’s the only explanation.”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Bastien says. “There is no evidence of that.”

“There’s no evidence of anything! Jonah is one of us. The fourth member of our group. Practically a brother. Why am I the only one upset by this?”

Marcus runs a hand through his dark hair. “We’re all upset. You think I want to go back to my dorm and see his empty bedroom? No, I really don’t. But I have faith he’ll be back soon, or we’ll find a clue as to why he’s been gone so long.”

“Statistically speaking, the chance of finding anything at this point is low,” Bastien says. “It’s been three months. The case has gone cold.”

Marcus reaches over to punch Bastien in the arm. “You’re not helping.”

I turn away from them and pinch my forehead. As much as I hate to admit it, Bastien is right. We’ve spent the last few months waiting for Jonah to return, or at least send us a message letting us know he’s okay, but it’s like he completely vanished. The Archangels have been looking for him too, without any success. Something must have gone wrong and stopped him from completing his mission and returning. I fear we might have lost him forever.

Through the open window, I spot a car I don’t recognize as it enters the parking lot. It’s a silver Honda Civic so ancient I’m impressed it’s still running, with no less than three dents that I can see from this distance. The driver is a woman, though I can’t make out too many details from this angle, and she drives slowly as she searches for a spot. She finds one—next to my car. Where no one else dares to park. I cringe as she barely misses my bumper, and she pulls into the space so crookedly I’m sure she’ll fix it, but she doesn’t. Whoever that woman is, she definitely needs to be kept far, far away from my car. Or off the road entirely.

She gets out of the car and shakes out dark brown hair that cascades down her shoulders in thick waves. I can’t see her face, but she’s wearing tight black jeans with an ass so fine I almost forgive her for her terrible parking job.

She grabs a messenger bag and shuts the door, then glances around the campus like she isn’t sure where to go next. Another first year, no doubt. After a few seconds she begins walking toward the lawn with a confident step, but as she gets closer and her features come into focus, every muscle in my body tenses up. She’s easily the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, but that’s not the problem.

The problem is that I recognize her.

“It’s her.”

“Who?” Marcus gets up and moves to my side. His gaze follows mine out the window and he lets out a low whistle at the sight of the woman. She’s nearly below us now, on her way to the building we’re on top of, and we’ve got a clear view of her cleavage from the low V of her tight red shirt. She definitely knows how to wear clothes to accentuate those curves, and it’s hard to look away.

“The woman in the photo.” I take out my wallet and pluck the photo out. Bastien is on the other side of me now too, and he glances between the photo and the woman. She’s younger in the photo, but there’s no doubt it’s her. Same wavy dark brown hair. Same intriguing green eyes full of secrets. Same red lips begging for a kiss.

“Are you sure?” Marcus asks.

“I’m sure.” I shove the photo back in my wallet. “She’s the one Jonah warned us about.”

Bastien peers down at her. “That’s the new half-human. She just Emerged last week. How is she connected to Jonah?”

“I don’t know,” Marcus says. “What are we going to do about her?”

I clench my jaw. “We’re going to do what Jonah told us to do.”

Marcus frowns. “Do we have to? It seems extreme.”

I give him a stern look. “She can’t be here at Seraphim Academy.”

Bastien strokes his chin as he looks down at her. “We’ll have to make her leave.”

“How will we do that?” Marcus asks.

The woman catches sight of us, three large men standing at the edge of a bell tower looking down at her. She stops in her tracks to stare up at us and something in her eyes feels like a challenge. Now I’m even more intrigued.

“We’ll do whatever it takes,” I say.

Bastien nods. “Even if it means making her miserable.”

“I don’t like it,” Marcus says. “It’s a shame to make someone that hot leave so soon.”

I give him a sharp look. “Quit thinking with your d**k for once and remember our promise to Jonah.”

Marcus lets out a dramatic sigh. “Fine.”

“We have to do this.” I step onto the ledge and let my wings unfurl with a harsh smile. “Now let’s welcome her to Seraphim Academy.”