17. Phoenix

Chapter 17

Phoenix

I hope Arabella's okay. When Marin comes to call you out of class, it usually means you fucked up in one way or another and are about to find out what sort of punishment lies before you. I tried to catch her attention before she exited the room, but she didn't spare me a second glance. I wanted her to know it would be okay and I had her back, but I couldn't. The last thirty minutes of class were torture as I counted down the minutes until I could get out of the room and go check on her. My knees bounced with my anticipation to the point Rhys kept giving me a pointed look, telling me to settle down. I couldn't help it, though, I was worried.

The morning started on a great note. Arabella was smiling and seemed relaxed around me, which excited me. I wanted her to be my friend, and maybe something more. I was attracted to her. I know Angels and Fallen don't mix, but I can't stay away from her. I'm drawn to her in a way I have never felt before. If all she will give me is friendship right now, I'll take it until she's ready to hear how I actually feel about her. I had thought she wouldn't speak to me all day, considering every class I have with her also includes my brother, but that wasn't what happened. Sure, our conversations had been short, but she greeted me and made small talk, despite the death glare Rhys tossed her way. Several times, he told me to stay away from her, but I just ignored him. For the first time in my life, I was doing something I wanted to do, not what he told me to do.

"What the fuck are you doing, Phoenix?" Rhys snarls as we go back to the dorms. "Why are you talking to the angel? Did you forget she's an angel? They don't mix with us and think we're the scum of the earth."

"Arabella isn't like that," I argue. "She has been nothing but nice to me this whole week she has been here. You're the one taking this feud between races further than it needs to be."

"No, the angels did that themselves. I'm just following their rules. You need to stay away from her before she drags you down and gets you killed. Let's go," he demands as he picks up his pace.

Arguing with him, especially when he's like this, gets us nowhere. He is too hard-headed for his own good and won't listen to anyone except our parents and Lucifer. I wish he could just get out of the mold we've been thrust into and see that not everyone is the same. Arabella has been nothing but nice since her arrival despite Rhys being a complete ass to her. I have no idea how to get my brother on board with her not being the enemy but I'm determined to. I don't want to lose my brother over this, but I also don't think I can walk away from Arabella. There's something about her that just calls to me and I need to know what it is.

When we reach the dorms, Rhys heads directly inside and up to our dorm. I choose to hang out in the common area, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Angel who has consumed my thoughts and make sure that she's okay. Councilwoman Talia can be tough but I've also always found her to be fair despite her being a Seraphim. I don't think she would target Arabella or call her to her office for something stupid.

Thirty minutes pass, and I finally catch sight of Arabella. I was almost about to give up hope and just go up to my room and start my homework. She keeps her head down as she enters and scans her ID. Her beautiful black hair hides her face, so I'm unable to see her expression, and she doesn't even see me. Rising out of my seat, I go to approach her, but she breezes past me and heads up the stairs, not slowing down for a second.

Shit. It must have been worse than I thought if she is rushing back to her room and not paying attention to anything around her. I'm torn between following her to make sure she's okay and just heading to my room to give her some space to deal with whatever is going on. Deciding to make sure she at least reaches her room alright, I follow her upstairs. Some would call this stalkerish behavior but I call it making sure my friend is okay even if she doesn't know that I'm here.

Yeah, that's what I can tell myself, so this doesn't feel awfully weird. I'm just worried about my friend.

I keep a flight of stairs behind her so she doesn't get suspicious and tell me off. I hadn't seen her friends around, which was weird. Usually, the three of them are attached at the hip unless they have separate classes. Hopefully, one of them is waiting in the room so she isn't alone.

"NO!" Arabella wails.

The sound echoes all the way down the hallway and reaches me on the stairs below her floor. Picking up my pace, I run up the last few stairs. When I reach the floor I see her at the end of the hallway on her knees, hitting the floor in front of the open door. Even from the other end of the hallway, I can see what upset her. Someone destroyed her whole dorm room, even the door is hanging off the hinges. It's a disaster.

"No, no, please, not again," Arabella wails, shaking and rocking her body back and forth. "Why can't they just leave me alone."

"Arabella," I whisper as I move up behind her. I don't want to startle her too much knowing that she's in a vulnerable place right now, but I also can't just ignore her either. "What happened?"

"Phoenix?" she murmurs through the tears as she looks up at me.

Hating standing above her, I drop to my knees and pull her into my arms to provide her with as much comfort as I can. "You're okay. Everything is going to be okay."

"No, it won't" she shouts, trying to pull out of my hold. I tighten my arms around her so she can't escape. "You don't understand."

"Then help me understand," I plead. The only thing keeping me calm right now is her being in my arms. I want to rage and destroy whoever did this to her suite. They need to pay and I'll make sure they do, right after I get Arabella calmed down and somewhere safe.

"This happened before. Last time, it was just my room that was destroyed," she begins, but I cut her off before she can continue.

"What the fuck do you mean last time?" I snarl. "This has happened before?"

"Yeah, last week someone broke into my room and destroyed it. I have no idea what they were looking for but nothing seemed missing. I haven't gone inside to check if anything is missing this time. But whoever did this got the whole suite. Even Harper and Isis's doors are wide open and their rooms a mess," she explains over choked sobs. Thankfully, the more she's talking, the more her crying has calmed down, but the more my temper has risen. She can't stay here.

"Go inside and gather what you need for the night. You aren't staying here tonight," I demand, releasing her from my arms and helping her stand. It's taking everything in me to control my rage. I've never been this angry in my life. Usually, I'm the calm one, and Rhys is the one who flies off the handle. I will find out who did this.

"But…," she tries to argue.

"No buts", I growl. Taking a breath I try to calm my temper to a manageable level. I don't want her to run away from me. I'm not sure what I would do if she did, but it wouldn't be good. "Go get whatever you need for the night you are staying with me where I know you will be safe."

"I can't stay with you!" she screeches, putting her hands on her waist as she stares me down. "I am not staying in the same dorm room as Rhys, and what about the girls? They need somewhere to stay too."

"I'm not giving you a choice, Arabella," I bite out. "I'm barely holding it together right now. I need to have you somewhere safe while I deal with this and the only place I trust you to be safe is my dorm. No one fucks with my brother, which means you will be safe there. As for the girls, I'll talk to the dorm staff and we will find them other rooms to stay in while this is investigated. Now," I pause. "Get. Your. Things."

She looks like she's about to argue with me but thinks better of it and turns around to head into her suite to do exactly what I asked. I can tell she isn't happy about it one bit but she leaves it alone and walks inside the suite.

"And don't think we won't be talking about why you have a bruise on your face either," I growl as she walks away from me. I saw the bruising the second she was in my arms but I knew that moment wasn't the time to bring it up. One problem at a time, Phoenix, that's all we can handle . My eyes don't move from her as she carefully steps around tossed furniture and clothes. When she steps into her room, I move into the suite to keep her in my eyesight. If I thought the main living space was bad, her room is even worse. Half her clothes are shredded, not just tossed around her room. Fuck. Whoever is targeting her really isn't messing around. I didn't think she had any enemies here except my brother. I guess I was wrong. I have a feeling I'm going to need to pull Rhys in on this. He's already going to be pissed that I'm bringing her into our suite, but even I know he doesn't put up with threats like this.

"Okay, I think I have everything that I need for now. I'll have to come back before class tomorrow to go through things and see what can and can't be salvaged." She shakes her head as she pulls the strap of her duffle bag up her shoulder. "I just got a lot of those clothes and haven't had a chance to wear half of them yet."

"I'll replace them," I answer, reaching to grab her bag from her shoulder with one hand and grasping her hand with my other. I'm not taking any chances of her changing her mind. She is coming to my room, end of story. I drag her out of the room, not bothering to try to shut the door behind us, and head down the hallway. My room with Rhys is one floor up. We have one of the bigger suites in the dorm. How we got that I have no idea but I'm not going to complain about it.

"Phoenix, slow down," Arabella pleads from my side as she stumbles and tries to keep up with my pace up the stairs.

"Sorry," I mutter, trying to calm myself down and slow my pace. "Fair warning, Rhys is in our suite. I'm going to take you to my room and then I'll talk to him while you get settled. Just ignore whatever comments he makes. I'll handle him."

"Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean your brother hates my guts and the feeling is mutual. We really shouldn't be in the same suite. I can find somewhere to stay with the girls. It's fine." She argues as we come to a stop outside my suite door. It's cute that she thinks reasoning with me is going to work. We're far past that.

"Not happening," I bite out, scanning my keycard and pushing the door. "You're staying here. End of story."

"WHAT THE FUCK IS SHE DOING HERE?" Rhys snarls the second Arabella comes into his sight.

"She's staying here with us for the time being. She's taking my room, and I'll sleep on the couch," I answer, leaving no room for argument. Never once have I stood up to Rhys, but there's a first time for everything.

"The fuck she is!" he shouts, stomping his way over to where we stand. He stands toe to toe with Arabella staring her down. I expected her to flinch or at least step back behind me, but she does neither. She holds her ground, staring him down. Good Girl.

"This is my dorm too. I say she stays, and you can get the fuck over it," I step between them so he's forced to look at me. "Someone broke into her dorm and trashed the place. Twice." I add that little detail for good measure. "She isn't safe there and I won't have any harm coming to her. She stays here. I'm going to take her to my room and then go speak for dorm staff and get this taken care of."

"What happened to your face?" He questions Arabella as he leans around me. He doesn't bother to acknowledge anything I say out loud. He may have ignored my words, but he heard it when his eyes flared with more anger.

"None of your business," Arabella states.

"We are getting to that. One problem at a time," I growl simultaneously with her.

"Don't you dare move a fucking muscle, Princess," Rhys demands before he storms past us and out the door. Neither of us move until we hear the door click shut.

"So that went well," she jokes. "What do you think he's going to do?"

I have an idea of what he's doing, but I won't tell her. It's better if she doesn't know because I don't want her chasing after him, demanding him to stay out of it. No, she is my responsibility now, which makes her his responsibility, too, despite how much he hates it. Maybe this will force them both to get over their animosity, and they can be friends. It's wishful thinking, but fuck it.

"No idea, that's a later problem. Let's get you to my room so you can settle and take a nap. This way." I guide her down the hallway on the right. "This door is the bathroom," I point to a door on my right before coming to a stop in front of my room just a little further down. "And this is my room. Please make yourself at home." I push her into my room, and she stumbles a few steps before catching her footing. Moving to my closet, I place her bag on the floor, knowing I'll take care of it later when I clean out some space for her. When I return, she's standing in the same spot, her eyes roaming the room, taking everything in. "Like what you see?"

"I didn't expect your room to look like this?" she answers in awe.

"What did you expect it to look like?" I'm curious as to her answer. My room is decorated in shades of blue. The walls are painted a light baby blue to help light the room, and my bedding is dark blue. The two contrast each other well.

"Honestly," she begins. "I expected dark colors like black and red or something like that."

"I'm not a vampire, Arabella," I laugh. "Just because I'm a Fallen Angel doesn't mean I don't enjoy bright colors."

"I'm sorry," she chuckles. "I guess that was pretty presumptuous of me."

"No worries. Here, you can change into these," I hand her the t-shirt and sweatpants I grabbed before exiting my closet. "I'm not sure what you packed in your bag, but those should fit you pretty well, so you can get some rest. I'll leave you here. Rhys won't enter while I'm gone."

"Where are you going?" she asks softly, clutching the clothes I gave her to her chest. She's been putting on a brave face, but right now, that brave face is gone. In its place is fear. I'm hoping it's fear of the situation and not of me.

"I'm going to go speak to the dorm staff, and depending on how long that takes, I'll see what I can salvage from your room for you before making some dinner for us. I promise you're safe." I step forward and run my fingers softly down the side of her face that isn't bruised. I watch as she closes her eyes and nestles into my hand. I'm not sure if she knows she's doing it, but I won't say anything about it right now. "Get some rest, Beautiful," I state before pulling away and walking out of the room, closing the door softly behind me. Leaving her behind is one of the hardest things I think I've ever done, but I need to get answers for both of us, and I can't do that if I'm hiding out in my room with her.

When I return to the living room, my brother asks, "Is she in your room?" I didn't hear him come back in, but I was distracted.

"Yes, she will take a nap while I go handle things. Don't you dare go bother her," I growl, getting in his face. "She's been through enough and doesn't need shit from you."

"I'm not going to do anything," he says defensively, throwing his hands up in the air. "She'll be safe here while we go get answers. I already alerted the dorm staff. They are going to meet us at her suite. Let's go."

I never thought I'd see the day Rhys was doing something nice for Arabella, but now isn't the moment to question it. I'll figure out what his deal is later. Right after this mess and finding out who hurt my angel. For now, it's good to have my brother on my side to handle this. With him, we will get more answers than I would be able to get on my own. That's the only thing that matters right now.

"Let's go," I agree, walking out of the suite and down to the fourth floor.