I couldn’t understand his words, but the meaning still came across. Just as I began to feel my head fog and my vision fade in and out, a comforting heat spread through my body.

  My skin started to glow around me, and just like with Joey and the Nephilim, Morax, the person holding onto me hissed and jumped away in pain. The smell of burned flesh hit my nose, making me want to vomit.

  I choked on the intake of air filling my strangled lungs and spun on my attacker, fully aglow. He stared at me in shock as he held his scorched arm. My eyes went wide when I recognized the angel cowering in front of me. It was the Power that came to my house with Riyon and Osca. The one who never spoke to me.

  “What did you do to me, Arai uyirinam?”

  “I burned you! Want me to do it again?” I rasped the words out and stepped closer to him, taunting with my arms outstretched.

  He flinched away, and his eyes flicked to somewhere behind me. I turned just in time for the other Power to knock me to the floor at full speed. My head smacked against the hard marble, instantly causing my vision to spin, and another sizzling sound came from the angel on top of me.

  “Do not touch her light!” the other one shouted, and the skinny Power jumped off of me.

  “Erin!” a deep voice shouted my name from a distance, but I couldn’t lift my head to find him.

  My blurry eyes finally found Zander, as his furious form flew into my bedroom. His white wings were spread wide, framing his sculpted torso. He looked very much the avenging angel, and I thanked the heavens that he was my Guardian.

  He locked eyes with the tall angel, and slammed into him with a loud crash. I couldn’t follow their movements as they sped throughout the room, locked together in battle. My heart dipped into my stomach as the Power got the upper hand and dove off the balcony on top of Zander.

  I tried to call out for him, but my body felt like it was fading. The absence of the two battling angels left me alone with the first Power that strangled me. He shook off his now healing arm and looked down at my body at the same time as me. My protecting light was gone.

  I pushed myself up onto my elbows as the angel stalked toward me, looking fierce. The whole room wobbled around me, and I threw my head back in pain. Just as a smile twisted the Power angel’s face, another savior came to my rescue.

  “Griff,” I whispered as the huge animal burst into my room and trampled the descending angel to the marble floor.

  The Power hit the ground with a sickening crack and Griff’s large beak opened wide and clamped into the angel’s shoulder, severing his arm from his body. I had to look away from the sight as bile rose in my throat.

  More crunching came from the scene only feet from me, and I tried to ignore the disgusting sounds. I closed my eyes and turned onto my side to call for my Guardian.

  “Zander!” I screamed, but no response came.

  I started to slide in and out of sleep, and when my eyes opened again, Zander was in front of me breathing heavily. “I’m here, Erin. I’m here.”

  I sighed at the vision of his green eyes so intensely focused on me. “You really are my Guardian,” I whispered, my eyes shutting and the world going dim.

  Only the sound of Zander’s voice rang through the dark as I disappeared inside of myself.

  “I told you, Erin. I will always protect you.”

  Chapter 18

  * * *

  “Those stupid sons of…” Riyon’s outburst trailed off, but the meaning was clear. He was mad.

  My new Power friend fumed as he stalked back and forth on the street outside my bedroom. If steam could come out of a person’s nose and ears like it does in the cartoons, he would be filling the entire block with smoke.

  Penelope sat on the cobblestone with her head in her hands. “Riyon, stop,” she spoke softly.

  He didn’t stop. His large red wings fluttered as he continued pacing.

  I woke up to Zander leaning over me sometime in the night, after passing out from the damage to my head. He was carrying me out of my room and down to the street where Riyon sat holding Penelope.

  Zander and Riyon spoke in angry hushed tones for a few minutes, but my mind struggled to focus on them. I heard Riyon tell Zander to leave, and “stay away for a while”, but I was too weak to protest, or beg for him not to leave me.

  Apparently, before coming into my room, Penelope had been ambushed by the two Power angels. They broke her wing and hit her so hard over the head that she was knocked out. It took a lot of force in order to knock out a Power as tough as Pen.

  When I was able to speak again, I tried to relay the night's attack to Riyon as my throbbing head calmed to a steady headache. He just got madder with every word, especially when Penelope went over her own attack in detail.

  I could tell that Penelope was hurting from her broken wing, and I hurt for her. I didn’t know what it took to heal such an injury, or if it even could be healed, so I just sat silent, helpless.

  “Why would they even do this? And why tonight?” Riyon kept talking to himself, trying to understand what happened.

  “Riyon,” Penelope tried to get his attention again, but his anger was too loud in his ears.

  “Gah!” he shouted and threw his large fist into the wall closest to him. The whole building shook, and parts of the stone crumbled under his fist.

  Penelope stood then. “Riyon! Stop!” She yelled at the angel and he froze, eyes locking with hers. The anger in him faded and his shoulders relaxed to a sad droop.

  Penelope walked over to him with her one broken wing hanging lower than the other. She placed both of her small porcelain hands on Riyon’s dark face. “I understand that you are angry. I’m furious that they could get to me and hurt my friend, but please just… stop.”

  His eyes closed and he nodded, seemingly relaxing with her touch. I felt like I was imposing on their intimate moment, but I was also incredibly intrigued by it. They were in love, even if they wouldn’t admit it.

  Riyon turned his eyes on me then, remembering that they weren’t alone. “Can you walk?” I nodded. “We need to inform Morian of this attack. Immediately.”

  “Okay.” I moved to brush dirt off of myself, but rolled my eyes when I found none, even after laying in the street. Clean freak angels.

  ⬨⬨⬨

  I sat beside Penelope in the large circular dining room where I first met Morian. Riyon had run off to find him, as we figured he would be sleeping still.

  Pen pulled me under her arm and kissed the top of my head like my mom used to do. I wanted to cry because I missed her so much already. “Are you doing okay, hon?” she asked.

  I shrugged and pulled back from her. “I’m not sure. I’m more confused than anything right now.”

  “I’m so sorry. I don’t know why that all happened. I was supposed to be your guard and I failed.” Tears stung her kind blue eyes.

  I shook my head and placed my hands on hers where they rested in her lap. “Pen, quit it. You are absolutely not to blame. You couldn’t have known something like that would happen. I mean, I was pretty sure I was given guards to protect others from me, not the other way around.”

  She wiped at her eyes with the backs of her hands and nodded. “I was honestly thinking the same thing. I can’t believe the Talaivarkal leaders believe you to be this dangerous creature, when it’s those pieces of crap that need to be locked up.”

  “Right now I don’t feel powerful at all. I felt like a small child trying to get away from those Powers. If it wasn’t for Zander and Griff, I could’ve been toast.” I remembered my two protectors, both fierce in very different ways.

  Penelope shook her head and snorted. “You and that gryphon. Seriously, girl, how on earth do you make all animals gravitate toward you, not to mention the mysterious animals known as men.”

  I sat straighter in my chair, rolling my eyes, and rubbing at the tender spots on my neck. “Men don’t gravitate towards me, Pen. Zander keeps leaving, doesn’t he? Even after something like what happened tonight, he still left me.”

  Penelope groaned and whispered loudly to me, “But he had to leave, Erin. He didn’t want to.”

  “What does that mean? Why did he have to leave me?” She didn’t make any sense to me.

  She looked around the empty room and leaned in closer to me. “If he stayed…”

  “Erin!” A voice cut Penelope off, to my irritation. Will I never get answers?!

  I stood and turned to the door where Amell charged toward me with worried eyes. I had never seen so much emotion in him before, and it took me off guard. Before I could react, he lifted me off the ground and wrapped me in his massive arms, bringing me against his bare chest.

  “Your soul is injured,” he whispered into my hair as he held me. The bear hug took my breath away, and I wasn’t sure if I should return it. Even after all of his rejection, I still felt like I was betraying Zander. Amell placed me back into my feet, but didn’t release my hands. His eyes studied my neck and face.

  He tenderly touched my neck and sighed. “Your body is injured as well.”

  “What’s the difference?” He tilted his head, looking confused by my question. “Between my soul and my body? How does my soul get injured?”

  He frowned. Wow, another emotion. “The body can be injured in a multitude of ways, as you know. But your soul can only be harmed by a traumatic event. It would be the same way as the humans say a ‘broken heart’.”

  “So, I have a broken heart?”

  He nodded, and pulled me in for another warm hug. “I am sorry I was not there to protect your soul.”

  I stepped back, needing space. My heart did feel broken, but not because of the attack. “It’s okay, Amell. Thankfully, I had help from…”

  “Riyon and a nice gryphon,” Penelope practically shouted to cut me off, and I threw a surprised look at her for her lying.

  She shot a quick look at me before smiling back at Amell and then bowing her head behind me. “Morian, thanks for coming to speak with us. We were just telling Amell about Riyon’s heroic rescue of Erin tonight.”

  I turned to see Riyon looking apologetically at me as he stood beside Morian. The imposing Throne angel nodded approvingly at Riyon and looked deeply at me. “Miss Porter. May we speak alone, please?”

  Shoot.

  “Yes, of course.” I smiled at the other angels as they each exited the room, silently begging for them not to leave me.

  Once the large double doors closed, Morian gestured for me to sit at a soft lounge chair beside a black and white painting of two angels falling from clouds, their wings ripping to pieces as they went. I wondered if that was really how an angel fell from divinity.

  “I need to ask you about the events that transpired in your dormitory tonight. Are you alright with giving me the details, just the two of us?” Morian sat at a chair opposite me, crossing his legs and focused entirely on me.

  I felt honored to have his undivided attention, while also feeling like a criminal in an interrogation room. “If you don’t mind me asking, Morian. Why did you want the others to leave?”

  “Riyon informed me on our walk through the halls that tonight was the first night Penemue was to be your sole guard. If that is the case, then this evening was not chosen randomly to be the Power’s night of attack. They planned this… with inside information.”

  I squinted my eyes at him, thinking it would make him easier to understand for some reason. “Are you saying that the angels closest to me were a part of this?” I hoped he was wrong.

  Morian nodded. “I believe that to be the case, yes.” I shook my head, not believing for one second that one of my friends could do this. Morian continued, “Would you mind telling me who you spend training and leisure time with?”

  “I don’t exactly have leisure time, but the only people that I interact with are Riyon, Penelope, Batya, and Zander.” I tried not to let my heart flutter when I said Zander’s name.

  “Could you suspect any of them would have reason to harm you?”

  I didn’t even have to think about the question. “Absolutely not.”

  Morian nodded again. “Alright. I will take your word for it. Now, will you please tell me about the attack in detail, as well as the gryphon’s part in it?”

  I took a few deep breaths before beginning my retelling of the ambush of Penelope and the attack on me in the dark of my room. I couldn’t figure out a way to pass up the details about my glowing skin burning the Powers, so I just opened up to Morian about it all.

  He was unfazed by my admission of the hidden ability, like he already knew. I wouldn’t be surprised considering how powerful he was.

  I told the story exactly how it happened, minus one key player. Zander. In his place, I put Riyon’s name, and Morian never second guessed me.

  Morian offered me his hand after the end of my story, and walked me back to the door where my friends waited. Penelope looped an arm around my waist and pulled me through the halls, comforting me in her special way.

  As we exited the building, my eyes landed on Osca, standing with his arms crossed as he leaned against a wall on his open red wings. I didn’t have to see his aura to know what he felt.

  All I had to do was look into his dark, narrowed eyes as they followed me out the door.

  Chapter 19

  * * *

  Just a half a day after the attack on Penelope and myself, my dorm room looked back to normal. I skipped training that morning, thankfully. I wasn’t exactly feeling up for stressing my body further.

  That evening, I stared down at the marble floor where Griff had torn the Power angel to shreds. I shook with chills at the memory of the crunching sound and the sight of blood. Too much blood.

  Griff left some time after I passed out, and I hadn’t seen him since. Of course, seeing him during the day didn’t happen often anyways. I wished I had some way of calling him to me so I could thank him.

  I walked out to the balcony, needing some fresh air after a hot bath. The entire city always had fresh air, even inside the buildings, but it was more the idea of sitting outside that I needed.

  Penelope and Riyon never stopped circling my building. Pen stayed on the ground since her wing was still not working, and Riyon flew above us. I wanted to tell them to go get some rest, but it wouldn’t make a difference. They blamed themselves for not stopping the attack, as ridiculous as it was.

  I sighed and leaned my back against the outside wall on my balcony, hanging my feet over the edge. The light was slowly fading in the sky, like a sunset but without any actual ball of fire like the sun. The dimming light was beautiful and my mind wandered into a comfortable sleep.

  “There you are, my daughter.” A strong voice broke into my usual dream of flying through the clouds with large white wings on my back.

  I turned to the tall man floating beside me. His raven black wings were silky smooth and gorgeous. But they still seemed wicked. Kieran.

  “You are not my father. I told you that.” I looked around at the blue sky and fluffy clouds, worried that he would bring the dark void back.

  “I am not going to change your dream, Erin. As long as you stay here and listen to what I have to say.” He gestured to a large cloud beside me, as if offering a seat.

  I settled into the soft cotton-candy-like seat. I chuckled. “This is crazy. How am I sitting here?”

  “Dreams are a haven. Anything is possible. Yours are quite miraculous. Do you often wish to be flying?” He settled crisscross on another cloud in front of me. He looked almost… normal. Minus the black wings.

  “I guess flying has always been a wish of mine. Now that I am possibly some kind of angel, it feels like more of a possibility.” I don’t know why I felt like speaking to the Nephilim. Whether he really was my father or not, it felt good to talk to someone not so divine.

  Kieran pointed to my white wings. “Do you understand that those wings you dream of are not a reality?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t really believe that I’ll ever have wings. I was told that angels, other than Guardians, get their wings much younger than me.”

  Kieran shook his head. His handsome face smiled at me, which also seemed wicked just like the rest of him. “You do not only have the possibility of becoming an angel, Erin. You are an angel completely. And your wings will appear, though they will be much darker.”

  I pulled my chin back at his statement. “You think I’m going to have black wings, like you?”

  He nodded. “You will. And they will be incredible.”

  I closed my eyes, trying to imagine myself with big black wings, and when I looked back at Kieran, his smile was wide. I followed his gaze by looking over my shoulder at the silky black feathers on my back. “Holy divinity!” I shouted, Riyon rubbing off on me.

  Kieran scoffed. “Not exactly.”

  “But, I’m not a Nephilim. I can’t be. I am a good person.”

  Kieran leaned his elbows on his knees and his smile became a soft neutral line. “My daughter, you are not divine, nor are you Fallen. I have answers for you, if you will only listen.”

  I nodded, trying to shut my mouth for once. “You have the soul of your mother. She was an entirely pure human with love for the world and all of its creatures.” His explanation of my birth mom made my heart constrict. She was wonderful, and I never got to know her. “You also have the power of a Fallen angel. This comes with a darkness inside of you that all Nephilim possess. Whether that darkness is evident to you now, the stronger you become, the more you will recognize it.”

  I shook my head. “What if the darkness never shows? I could just be good.”

  “Erin, you have grown as a human for eighteen years. In those years, you have only had access to your human soul. I can already tell that you are more powerful than our last visit. Clearly you are training and starting to use your angel abilities. Think about it. Where did your angel side come from?”