Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

I ’m surprised I don’t notice it right away. The sacred golden fountain sits centre stage, crystal clear water spouting out of the top where a beautiful golden angel stands, her wings stretched wide. My gaze finds my father’s, and he smiles. I feel his strength radiating through my body, helping calm my nerves. I love how he can do that, and I am excited to discover more of my own powers, whatever they may be.

“I want the power of strength,” Demetros says.

I turn to him with a smirk. “Of course you do.”

“Hey, what’s so funny about that?” he questions as he takes another sip of the magical red liquid inside his glass.

I cover my mouth and laugh. “That is such a typical male thing to say, to want strength.”

He crosses his arms. “Okay, so what power is it that Zarla Quinn would like to harness, then?”

I have never thought too much about what powers I want. I always assumed the sacred golden fountain will choose them for us, whatever they are to be. What would I choose? I haven’t yet told him about my mother’s daggers, or that I have, in fact, harnessed my first power. The last thing I want is more attention on me, especially when this ceremony is about the both of us.

He arches a brow at me, and I open my mouth to speak when my father’s voice fills the air.

“Welcome, angels, to another guardian angel ceremony!”

The room fills with applause, and after a moment, he raises his hands, and there is an almost instant silence. I glance around the Grand Hall, which can seat a thousand angels. But tonight, it holds several hundred, most of which are angels from the academy, their families, and the high-level angel families.

The Grand Hall has impossibly high ceilings. Etched into the white walls are various images of angels dancing, epic feasts, and beautiful landscapes from within the Kingdom. The floor is polished marble, and there are several enormous chandeliers spaced around the hall, hanging in mid-air thanks to some sort of magic. It’s one of the most impressive places within the entire Kingdom and is the usual place for events of the utmost importance.

My focus shifts back to my father as he continues.

“Now, as you all know, my beautiful daughter Zarla is here this evening, and I want to wish her a happy birthday. Eighteen years old today, and I couldn’t be more proud.”

My cheeks flush, and Demetros glares at me, clearly not impressed. I may have neglected to mention that it’s my birthday. But in my defence, I’ve never been that big into celebrating them anyway.

“And as tradition goes,” my father continues, “I call upon her to join me up here and be the first angel of the evening to become a guardian!”

My cheeks burn as I stand and make my way up to the stage. My father and I aren’t close, but he doesn’t miss the opportunity to pretend otherwise. Appearances are important to him. I catch Astelle glaring at me and can’t help but feel for her. She’s to become a guardian this evening, too. Why did my father have to single me out?

I’m starting to understand why she feels the way she does about me. Our father hardly makes it easy for her, clearly displaying at every opportunity that I am his favourite. Hell, he didn’t even allow her to take his last name. It makes no sense to me, as it’s only during public displays and never in private. He doesn’t hate me or anything, but he puts in little effort with me.

My father takes my hand as I bow to him, and he then holds it up high in the air. Applause fills the hall once more, and he guides me toward the sacred golden fountain. It’s as if time slows as I make my way toward it, my red and gold robes gliding along the stage behind me. The fountain takes up most of the stage and could pass for a swimming pool due to its size.

It’s deep, too. I gulp as he releases my hand and takes a step back. It’s up to me now. Instinct kicks in as I take in a deep breath and step forward, placing my hands on the edge of the fountain. My reflection peers back at me, and my eyes show the fear and uncertainty circulating throughout my body.

And then I hear it. The gentle sobs of a human. A male.

I furrow my brows as I search the water, unsure of what I am hearing or what I am supposed to be seeing, and then a light shines up out of the water, so bright I have to shield myself from it. I blink a few times and soon adjust to it. And then I see him, my human. He is sitting in a chair next to a bed in a small white room. There’s a woman in the bed, and she’s dying. That much I know.

The male is gorgeous. I have never seen a male like him before. My breath catches as I watch him, and a strong need grows deep inside me to be with him. I dip my hand into the water, reaching out to him, and a pain like no other rips through my body.

It’s his pain. I am feeling what he is feeling. The grief and sorrow are almost unbearable. I cry out and cover my mouth for a moment as I desperately try to adjust to it. The strong need to go to him builds inside me. I want to comfort him, to be there for him. I reach farther into the water, and the image disappears before my eyes as the water ripples back to my reflection.

A white light shines up out of the water, and I slip my other hand in on instinct. As I do, light bursts from the water, snaking up my arms, and a burning sensation grates up my skin along with it. I scream as markings form from my fingers and trace up my arms. I immediately recognise these as my guardian markings, which allow me to travel between our Kingdom and Earth.

My heart races as I frantically search the water, and I become aware of my father’s hand on my shoulder.

“Congratulations, my daughter. That is your human, Kyle Smith. You are now bonded to him, and these markings will allow you to travel freely between Earth and our Kingdom.”

Tears threaten to fall as I stare into my father’s eyes, before remembering I am being watched by an entire hall full of angels. I need to compose myself.

I swallow the lump in my throat and bow my head to my father. “Thank you, my King.”

He ushers me back to the centre of the stage, and I kneel before him as he takes his gold, diamond-encrusted sword and gently places it down on my shoulder.

“Zarla Quinn, daughter of mine, I, Harlum Quinn, ruler of this Kingdom, hereby name you Guardian Zarla Quinn. The magic of the gods within the sacred golden fountain has bonded you to a human with whom you are to protect. You will abide by the ancient angel laws and guardian over him. Do you accept?”

I lock my gaze with his and nod. “Yes, my King. I accept.”

He takes my hand and gently pulls me to my feet while the audience applauds. All but one, I notice, as my eyes meet Astelle’s. She looks unimpressed, as usual. Lacinda steals my attention, and I smile as she claps furiously in the crowd.

“Now, you must be bonded to your second.”

This is the moment I have been dreading. Nerves swirl in the pit of my stomach as I take deep breaths and await my fate.

My father waves his hand across the crowd and red magic flows from his fingers out into the room, swarming around the tables of angels, before finally encircling my chosen second. My heart sinks when I see who it is. Finlay. His lips curl up at the sides into a sadistic smirk, and I somehow feel it was planned. Impossible, though. The gods who forged the Kingdoms made this decision. Their power resides over us all, and their decision is final.

He stands and makes his way to the stage. I try to avoid eye contact, unsuccessfully, as his cold amethyst eyes bore into mine. He grips my hand and holds it up in the air. His grip is tighter than needed, and I wince at the pain before he loosens his hold on me.

I had hoped they would choose me as your second. This is going to be fun.

My eyes grow wide as his voice fills my mind. An unwanted perk of our guardian and second bond. My stomach knots at his words, which I know hold only ill intent.

My father sends us back to our tables as the ceremony continues. Astelle is next, before the first twenty angels fill the stage to find their human within the sacred golden fountain. I sit in silence, in total shock at what has just happened. Of all the angels to be chosen for my second, they gave me the one I despise the most.

Demetros squeezes my hand, and I’m thankful to have him here. He knows how I feel about Finlay, and he understands how I’m feeling at this very moment. I reluctantly turn in my seat, and Finlay is watching me, the same smirk on his lips. His two sidekicks next to him are laughing as they look over at me. I swivel back around and wipe my unshed tears away before anyone notices.

It will be okay. I can get through this , I tell myself.

I breathe in the fresh air, trying to calm my nerves. It’s going to be okay, I tell myself repeatedly. I won’t have to see him that much. He will just take over for me on Earth when needed. But the thought of him watching over Kyle makes me wild. I curl my fists at my sides, squeezing my eyes shut. We won’t have to spend much time together. Even so, the thought of working with Finlay bothers me. I don’t trust him, and at the academy, they taught us that trust is essential in the guardian and second bond.

I release my wings and lift into the sky. I need to get away, just for a bit. To stay close to the ceremony, I fly up onto the castle roof. This is one of my favourite places to escape. It has been my special place since I was young. Lacinda, Demetros, and I would always hide away up here, watching the city lights of the Kingdom. It gave me peace when I needed it the most.

I hear a soft thud behind me and jump, spinning to meet a pair of familiar amethyst eyes. I’m surprised I didn’t sense him through our bond.

“I saw you slip out and thought I would come and check on you. That’s the job of a second, right?”

Finlay’s words are harsh, and I can feel his annoyance through our bond. A fun perk of the bond is to be connected to one another, to sense if the other is in danger, to communicate through our minds. But with Finlay, this connection feels much more like a burden than a perk.

“Now that’s a bit far, don’t you think? I’m hardly a burden.” His silver wings disappear into his back, and he takes several steps toward me.

Instinctively, I move back. I’m close to the edge of the roof now.

His eyes light up. “Don’t tell me you’re scared of me.”

I lift my chin, holding my ground. I won’t allow him the satisfaction of knowing how he makes me feel. At least not willingly, anyway. “Absolutely not.”

He smirks, stepping closer still. “Good, because we’re supposed to trust one another, remember?”

I remain silent.

“You know,” he says, brushing his fingers against my arm, “there’s this angel law, one I have always liked. Can you guess which one it is?”

My body tenses at his words, my skin prickling beneath his touch. I know what he’s doing, and I know exactly what law he is referring to. I yank my arm away from him, unable to stand it any longer.

He bites his bottom lip as it twists up at the side. “No? Let me enlighten you. If a male angel presents himself to a female, she is to accept him.”

I squeeze my eyes closed, disgust forming in the pit of my stomach. It is a law, one I can hardly believe still exists. One my father hasn’t bothered to remove. One day, when I become the ruler of this Kingdom, it will be the first thing I will change.

“Well then, I had better make the most of it while I can.” He moves quickly, his lips crashing into mine. His hand knots in my hair, and he harshly presses himself into me.

I can barely move. He has me pinned against the stone. He slips his hand into my robes and traces the edge of my breast. I instinctively push him away, and he stumbles back, his eyes wild with rage.

“Are you going to break the law now, Zarla?”

“Do not touch me again,” I warn him. “You are my second. That is all. You do not get to touch me.”

It probably isn’t smart on my part to anger him further, but I won’t stand here and let him use this ancient law that no other decent angel in this Kingdom would dare to use. Before I have a chance to duck, he smacks me across the face, and I stumble, losing my footing and twist my ankle on the way down.

“You disgust me,” I say as I get to my feet and release my wings, then I lift into the air.

Finlay grips my sore ankle, and I cry out as he pulls me back down and pins my chest up against the cool, rough stone.

“Let me go!”

He ignores me and presses up against my back until the stone cuts into my cheek.

“You think you’re better than me?” he says, his breath hot against my ear. “What, because your daddy rules the Kingdom? I may not be a guardian, but that doesn’t mean I’m not stronger than you. Better than you. Don’t forget who my father is. I am sure he would love to hear how the King’s daughter is breaking angel law.”

He steps back, and I spin around as he releases his wings and jumps off the castle roof.

My hands tremble, and I grip the stone for support. I need to speak with my father. The fountain must have made a mistake. He can’t possibly be the right second for me. He is a monster.

His voice fills my mind. We could’ve been good together. We still can be. You do not want me as your enemy.

Stay out of my head! I all but yell through the mind link.

I close my eyes and focus on my training. They taught us to close off our minds at the academy. Maybe I could do that to Finlay. I visualise the link in my mind connecting the two of us and mentally disconnect it. I slowly open my eyes and wait, but it’s silent. It may not last, but it’s all I can do for now.

I touch my cheek; the blood is sticky against my fingers, but it doesn’t hurt. My foot feels better too, and I stretch it out, moving it around. It feels completely fine. I’ve healed myself already? That’s incredible.

I release my wings and fly back down to the ceremony, my robes fluttering around me as I make the descent. Lacinda and Demetros are outside on the steps, pacing around. I land before them both, allowing my hair to fall around my face to try and mask what has just happened with Finlay.

“Where have you been?” Lacinda asks, rushing to my side. “Is that blood?” She reaches up to my face.

Clearly it’s worse than I expected, and my feeble attempts to mask it have failed. I close the distance between us and wrap my arms around her.

“Gods above, you’re shaking.”

Shoot. Why couldn’t my body cooperate just this once? “It’s just cold, that’s all.”

“What happened to your face?” Demetros demands from behind.

I lick my fingers and wipe the blood away. “It’s nothing, see? I’m fine.”

Lacinda narrows her eyes. I know she isn’t buying it, but we’ve got to get back inside, so she lets it go, for now at least.

“Come on.” Demetros ushers us towards the doors. “We’ve already missed some of the ceremony. We need to get back inside.”

We hurry back to our seats, and I can’t help but glance back to see Finlay glaring at me. He winks at me and sends me an air kiss, and my skin practically crawls. If he wasn’t such a disgusting prick, he could actually be a decent angel. He is stunningly gorgeous, but none of that matters when he is rotten on the inside. He, without a doubt, gets it from his father.

His father is one of the nine angels on The Throne, responsible for upholding the angel laws of our Kingdom. I have no doubt in my mind Finlay would love to tell him I disobeyed angel law and refused him. Despite Finlay being a second, because of who his father is, he’s feared by almost all of the angels in our Kingdom. His father is cruel and will stop at nothing to protect his son. Even my father, the King, can’t stop him from upholding the law, however he sees fit.

“I will now call forth our next guardian angels to the stage. Demetros Salvon…” My father’s voice booms through the Hall, and I completely shut off to the other names being called out as I grab Demetros’s hand and give it a squeeze.

“Good luck,” I whisper before he rises and makes his way through the crowd to the stage, along with the other nineteen angels.

My father guides Demetros to the fountain where he is bonded to his human. I’m so proud of him. He looks older somehow as they guide him back to the centre of the stage, and my father announces him as a new guardian. And then he is bonded to his second. Lacinda.

Lacinda heads to the stage, totally and utterly ecstatic. I can’t help it as tears slide down my cheeks. I am happy for them both, of course I am, but I’m sad that the gods didn’t bond me to her. Instead, I’m stuck with a condescending, self-obsessed asshole.

Wow, tell me what you really think of me, why don’t you?

Crap. I let the mind link reconnect. I really need to get a better hold on blocking him out.

Or you could just go with it and let me in, you know, as your bonded second. This mind link is fun.

I take a deep breath before responding. Make no mistake, I will do everything I can to sever this bond. It is a mistake, nothing more.

He laughs in my mind, and I cringe at the sound.

Good luck with that. In the meantime, I will see you around real soon.

I focus on the link and put everything I have into severing it once more. He will not control or manipulate me.

Pain like nothing I have ever experienced before crashes into me, and I wince, pressing my hands into my head. The emotions are overwhelming—sadness, loss, emptiness. It takes a moment to get them under control as I realise these are Kyle’s emotions. He’s hurting; he needs me.

I frantically scan the hall, unsure of what to do. They haven’t shown me how to leave the Kingdom yet. Instinct takes over, and I rush out of the ceremony, releasing my wings as I fly up into the air. The need to get to him now is overpowering. I head for the Kingdom gates, somehow knowing that’s where I’ll be able to leave the Kingdom and cross over down to Earth.

The need to get to Kyle is growing, almost like an unbearable pull, and I can barely breathe being so far from him.

I land before the gates, keeping my wings in place, ready to fly once I figure this out. The gates are golden and enormous, towering over me. I study the markings on them, but the symbols appear ancient. The language of the gods, I realise. Suddenly, they move and form into a language I can read. How is that possible?

For passage through the gates of Silanthia, place your hands on the gates, and in your mind’s eye, visualise your destination.

The markings on my arms glow, and I reach out to the gates, visualising Kyle down on Earth. The gates open before my eyes. There’s nothing but thick, thunderous clouds below. I don’t know what’s down there, as I cannot see through them, but I know deep within this is the way. I leap through the gates, closing my eyes, and free fall through the clouds, down to what I hope is Earth.