AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Shutting my eyes couldn’t stop my death. So, instead, I turned as much as possible, trying to look at Razai. Really look at him. Maybe, deep down, he still cared about what happened to me. Maybe he really did hold a sliver of affection toward me. Considering how he saved my life and all.
Maybe, just maybe, he’d let me live. Brashness aside, I didn’t want this to be the end of me. If there was a chance… any at all… “Why?” I pleaded.
Razai’s blurred profile was all he’d allow me to see. Behind him hulked the dark, beautiful mass of his wings. True to character, he gave me the last answer I’d ever expect.
“Because in the next month, someone is going to kill me. I won’t be able to stop them. But you can. You’re the only person who can save my life, Gray Wilder. I need you.”
Chapter Sixty-One
I jolted as if he’d roared. “W-what?”
Clave interjected for the first time. “We have company in thirty-seven seconds. I suggest we take this chat elsewhere.”
“Your office,” my captor asserted.
Clave scoffed. “Not secure anymore. Castile has been quite nosy lately. He may suspect.”
“Irritating.”
“Seventy-six seconds.”
My thoughts raced. These people were delusional. Did he actually think I’d be on his side? Ready to help him?
No.
He’d murdered Benjamin.
He’d set me up and watched me play his macabre little game. And all throughout those sick lies, he’d kissed me. Touched me. Lured me into his clutches like I was a little bird he wanted to tame and trap.
Bullshit. I may not have known Razai as much as I’d thought, but he should definitely know me better than this.
“Why not my faculty room?” I blurted. “That’s supposed to be private, right?”
Two sets of skeptical eyes narrowed. Well, at least they weren’t stupid enough to think they’d already won me over.
“That might have been acceptable a few days ago, Miss Wilder, however, this cannot take place on campus any longer.” Clave stated. “We risk too much already with this present assemblage.”
I swallowed hard. My emotions were so snarled that I couldn’t even tell whether my intuition was at work or not. All I knew was that I had to get away and tell Azra we were going on the run. Razai knew he could use my sister against me. She wouldn’t be safe for as long as he lived in Divine Territory.
Razai muttered something to Clave. Clave made a face and replied. I was too focused on the bottle in my hand to hear them.
Three things happened at once. I zeroed in on the concrete pathway three feet to my right and threw the antidote bottle. The one I’d been expressly told not to break. Simultaneously, I summoned my wings and launched into the sky.
The cold air ripped down my body while the boom and flash of a bomb went off below me. I didn’t look down. The only focus was the beat of my wings on the wind. If they survived, they’d be on my tail. Fumbling in my jacket took more multitasking than I’d expected, and my wings wavered as I dug around for my phone.
“Shit. Just fucking perfect. I must have dropped it somewhere.” I needed to call Azra now and warn her. Panic clogged my chest. I pushed the emotion into beating my wings harder, flying faster and faster still.
The black night sky loomed above me like an infinite god. The ground shone like holiday lights. That’s when I confronted my next problem: it’s illegal to fly outside the Volare.
I had less than a minute before someone spotted me in the sky and I had Divine fae in the sky ready to hand me a hefty fine. That’s if they didn’t notice the odd color of my wings too. If they did, a fine would be the least of my problems.
My skin itched, imagining a hundred eyes on me. My intuition pulled me downward, confirming the threat. I had to land.
A dark alleyway called to me. Just a single strip of darkness. “Shit,” I hissed, and then I turned my direction toward the street. Head-first. My speed picked up exponentially. Even with my wings tucked tight against my body and sight set on the alley, I still gasped in fear as I shot between two buildings. The dive-bomb lifted my stomach in uncomfortable flutters. Ten feet from the ground, I pivoted, flung my wings out, and landed hard. The impact jarred up my heels. My bones practically rattled. A gasp spluttered out my mouth at the shock.
I’d have to work on that.
Time wouldn’t let me wait for the subway. The cold air turned hot and sticky on my skin as I pushed my legs and ran toward Azra’s apartment. Just another few blocks… I could make it… I could get there before Clave and Razai.
