Chapter 14
“Where are we?” I asked when he’d taken me into another building on the far side of campus.
“The meditation building.” He gestures down the curved hallway. “My office is down there if you ever need me.”
Fingers threaded together, he guided me up a curved set of stairs that spiraled to the top floor. Apparently, there weren’t any magical lift corridors like at Central Hall.
My legs ached by the time we got to the top, my wings dragging uselessly behind me. Kaito flipped a latch that opened onto the roof, finally letting me go as if he trusted I couldn’t run anymore.
Or fly away.
He led me to the building’s edge and I sat with him, legs hanging over. My wings opened instinctively in the breeze and I peered down.
Kaito’s hand rested on my thigh and I knew he’d catch me, or die trying, should I fall.
“I’m not strong enough to fly yet,” I murmured. I wondered if I’d ever figure it out. At this rate, I wondered if I ever would.
“You probably couldn’t survive the fall.
Yet.” He squeezed my thigh. “You might be able to reincarnate again, should any harm befall you, but I wouldn’t want to put that theory to the test. I also don’t want you to fear heights, or what you really are.
Within a few months, maybe a year, you’ll grow into your new gifts. ”
“Will I be strong enough to fly by then?”
He was quiet a long moment. “I don’t know. You aren’t a full-blooded angel.”
Sighing, I lifted my gaze to the sky that bled red into blue, disintegrating into stars in-between the shift of colors.
“What is that?”
Kaito followed my glance. “We’re in a convergence of sorts.
The Echo of Calamity really did a number on the realms this time.
” He sighed, his thumb stroking my thigh.
“You know that as you were dying, the portal to Hell opened. What you didn’t get to see was that Fortune Academy went straight through and slammed into Hell, right on top of Monster Academy.
But that wasn’t the only thing that happened. ”
I held my breath, hanging on his every word.
“Hell sucked the edges of other realms in, too. Right along with ours. Sort of like a…” He paused to think.
“A black hole?”
“Not a bad example.” He grinned. The smile faded fast. “One of the realms is new to me.”
His voice trailed off and he just stared into the forest.
I followed his gaze and studied the twisted trees, really seeing them this time, and I realized they were unlike anything I’d ever seen. The trees had a faint glow and it looked like each different species had a different aura. Did trees have auras?
“That’s the enchanted forest. We’ve never seen it before—never heard of it. Some of the students aren’t as aware of the other realms, but…”
“Some of you are.” I bit my lip before saying, “Like Dante.”
“Yes.” Kaito blew out a heavy breath and I knew he hurt for the Hunter, too. “But even Dante’s never seen this realm before. There are creatures none of us have ever heard of.”
“The uni-hare?”
He glanced at me, then at the bunny that lingered behind us, his rear leg scratching at his ear.
I flushed. “I sort of… bonded with him.”
Kaito chuckled.
One of the knots inside me loosened a fraction.
As I glanced back again, I found the uni-hare gone.
Then a soft warmth rested on my shoulders, but I couldn’t see anything.
When I reached back, I yipped when I pricked my finger on something sharp… like a uni-hare’s horn.
“They can make themselves invisible,” Kaito said, smothering a laugh. “It seems he wants to stay close to you.”
I gaped at him.
He did a better job covering his laugh this time. “We think it’s a protective instinct. Their horns are sharp and a great weapon, but… it’s still basically a rabbit.”
“Freaking bunny,” I grumbled, but I kind of liked the soft pressure on my spine.
He trusted me and wanted my protection.
I decided I liked that.
Although I didn’t need more weight on my back. “Can he make himself any lighter?” I complained. “My back is sore.”
Kaito’s gaze slid to my wings. “Are they heavy for you?”
I glowered. “You could say that.”
He hummed in thought. “I’ll have to talk to the Dean about that. Maybe there’s something we can do.”
A spark of hope lit in my chest, only to be crushed under another wave of rage.
It didn’t matter if I learned how to fly. Cole had wings, too, and he’d rip me out of the sky given the chance.
Which is why I needed to take care of him before this went any further.
Before he hurt anyone else.
A slow, steady heartbeat filled my ears, only I realized that it wasn’t a heartbeat at all.
“Are those drums?” I asked, squinting into the darkness.
“It’s Cole,” Kaito said grimly. “He’s preparing tonight’s attack.”
Seven days.
That’s how long Cole had given me, but he hadn’t promised that there wouldn’t be any Demonspawn attacks during that time.
“What time is it?” I asked.
While I had gone to shifter class in the morning, I had fallen asleep in Logan’s arms. Surely I hadn’t napped for that long?
“It’s nearly midnight,” Kaito informed me, making me curse.
“They’re gathering in the tunnels,” Kaito said. “I sense that Cole has been holding them back, but he’ll lift his restraint soon.”
That lined up with the letter I’d received.
“Then why are we up here?” I demanded, shoving upright. My anger burned hot inside me all over again.
“He's a demon of rage, Lily.” Kaito rose and turned to face me. “Whatever it was he did, you’re responding exactly how he wants—and you’re feeding him more power in return.”
Hissing with frustration, I spun away and paced the long span of the room.
He wasn’t going to win so easily.
Won’t I?
The deep murmur pressed against my thoughts. In sheer, bloody determination, I shoved him out. No, Cole, I thought, arrowing my thoughts toward him in a focused stream. You won’t.
Cole backed off, laughing.
I’m waiting for you, little angel. Come to me where you belong.
I managed to push him out of my head, but it was only because Cole allowed it. We were already connected the moment I called him as my Virtue. At first, that had enraged him, but now he had come to terms with it.
He’d gotten arrogant about it, too, deigning that my Virtues weren’t good enough for me and only he could stand with me against Calamity.
Against his brother.
“The moron really needs to get his head out of his ass,” I growled. “By doing this, he’s only helping Lucifer take the throne.”
Kaito nodded in agreement. “I think that’s what he wants, actually.
Lucifer ruled Hell for centuries before your mother came along.
Cole thinks that Hell is the ultimate power, and with it, Calamity can be defeated.
Lucifer is the Conduit, and if he takes the Throne, Hell’s power will fight for domination. ”
I crossed my arms. “Which side do you think would win?” In a fight against Calamity or Hell, I put my money on the prior.
His ruby eyes rimmed with silver gazed over the campus, peering into the darkness littered with the tunnels that would produce Demonspawn at any moment.
“Hell might put up a good fight, but ultimately, I don’t think it can last. Although, it’s not a coincidence that all the realms are merging into Hell, being devoured by it.
That’s because Hell is the end of the long strand of realms, it’s the place where everything stops.
” He sighed. “While there’s logic in his assumptions, even Hell won’t be enough to stop Calamity, I’m afraid.
It’ll be a launch pad for destruction and chaos, exactly what Calamity wants to accomplish. ”
“Then I need to face him,” I said, seeing no other choice. “Seven days isn’t enough time for me to learn anything, Kaito. I just need to face him and get it over with.”
Kaito pressed his lips into a thin line. “Not yet.” He pulled a vial from his pocket and held it up. “I’ve been dealing with Cole a lot longer than you have, Lily. I’ve learned a few tricks to give myself an edge.”
I eyed the familiar black liquid that rolled inside the vial.
Evil.
I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “The last time you had me drink that, I went into a past memory where something horrible happened.” I wasn’t ready to unlock the secrets of my past, not yet.
“It’s not for you,” he said, his gaze darkening.
I snatched his wrist before he could pop off the cork. “Don’t you dare take that,” I commanded. Fear spiked in my chest. The only reason that Kaito remained my Virtue was because he denied himself his demonic desires.
He’d originally responded to my summons because he wanted the “ultimate power,” something prophesied by Hell’s witch spirits. He’d overcome those ambitions, but now I understood the changes in him.
The horns. The Hellfire in his eyes. The blue flames that licked around his face.
He’d been taking evil this past year just trying to survive.
Because I hadn’t been there.
“I’m so sorry,” I said, wrapping my arms around his neck. I gave him a tender kiss, beckoning him to lower the vial. “You don’t need that anymore.”
He obeyed, but the ruby haze in his eyes said he was only appeasing me, for now.
Rage billowed in my chest at how all of my Virtues struggled, how they suffered.
This was bigger than Cole. He had targeted them because I had trapped him as a Virtue. Now he’d gotten grand ideas about forging my Virtues in flame. Either they’d become brittle and break, or harden into new versions of themselves.
Maybe it was something that was necessary.
Maybe it was what we needed to overcome Calamity.
I didn’t have to like it.
“Your eyes,” he whispered, brushing his lips over mine. “They’re soulless and silver, empty as if you don’t know who you are, but I see a ruby gleam in them when you let Cole in.”
I ground my teeth together, knowing that Cole’s rage was infecting me, but I couldn’t let it go.
If I was honest with myself, the person I was so angry with was me.
“Breathe, Lily,” he murmured. “Don’t let him under your skin.”
Lily… are you actually listening to him? Cole’s voice taunted me inside my own head. He’s just another demon trying to get in your pants.
Kaito rubbed his hand up and down my hip, his touch grounding me. “That’s good, Lily. Deep breaths.”
After a few seconds, my mind felt like my own. But I was still enraged.
“I want to hurt him,” I said, voice shaking.
He took my hand once more. “I know. Let’s not focus on that. I brought you here for a reason, remember.” He held up the vial. “I know you don’t approve, but I need it to get in Cole's head.” His gaze pinned me in place. “Will you come with me?”
I’d follow him anywhere, even straight into Hell.
He popped off the cork and drank half of it, offering it to me.
I knocked back the rest and gave myself over to the darkness that followed.