Page 6 of Fallen Demon

“You should have told Sally where you were going,” Thea said. “Anyway, now you’ve seen Ariella. It’s time to go back to your studies. I’ll see you later for lunch, okay?”

Aurora nodded, hugged my waist for two seconds, then bounced away, Sally trying to keep up without running again.

I frowned as I watched both of them disappear behind a corner. “May I ask why Aurora isn’t in your school?”

Queen Thea had just opened the Silver Moon Academy not far from here.

“Well … two reasons, really. One, there are no kids her age at the school yet. We only have teenagers for now. And … she’s already a lot more powerful than all of them. Drake and I agreed it would be detrimental for her and for the other witches if she attended their classes.” She let out a sigh. “So, she has been having lessons here.”

“It makes sense,” I said in a faint voice.

Aurora wouldn’t gain anything being among older girls who would probably feel threatened by a child half their age who was more powerful than they would ever be.

But I still felt for the little girl. Being so powerful, so different, and practically isolated because of it, couldn’t be good for her.

We resumed our trek to Drake’s office.

“Welcome back, Ariella,” the lord of DuMoir Castle said when I walked in. He stood from behind his desk and it was hard not to be impressed by him—Drake was tall, strong, lean, with the face of a god, and perfect composure. He looked dashing in a black suit and burgundy tie. The silver cross brooch, the symbol of DuMoir Castle, was pinned to the suit’s lapel. “It’s good to see you well.”

“Thank you,” I said. “It’ll be better when I get a hold of my magic again.”

He nodded once. “I heard about that. Once Zad gets back, you two will work on it.”

“That’s the plan.” I let out a long breath. “But, in the meantime, I should probably tell you what’s going on, including why I’m on the run and why Elysium has a bounty on my head.”

“If you think that’s a good idea, we would love to hear it.” Drake gestured to one of the chairs across from his desk.

Thea sat down beside me, while Killian and Lavinia stood behind us, leaning on one of the bookshelves.

I told them all about it. The only parts I left out were about sleeping with Levi, but I thought everyone in this room was smart enough to deduce that.

“All right.” Drake leaned back on his chair. “So, you’re saying Elysium is about to have a civil war.”

I nodded. “That’s what I gathered. Ylena wanted the Scarlet Hex Dagger to kill Adona, but I doubt she would have everyone’s approval. A group that opposes that is certain to rise and fight them, but Ylena would be ready for that. Now that she’s gone, I believe Rhodes will continue with their plans.”

“And they still need the dagger?”

“I’m not sure. To kill Adona, yes. To imprison her and take over, maybe not?”

“Either way, Elysium is about to explode and not in a good way,” Drake said. “That’s not good. Even if the war was contained to your realm, killing Adona, creating new rules, and exploiting and abusing humans? That would create chaos in any realm.”

“I wanted to leave you all out of this,” I confessed. “But that was back when I thought their issue was with me only, specifically, and I could somehow fix it.” Yeah, because wandering Earth alone for five years was a good prognosis of that. “This situation is much bigger than I first realized, and it’ll have repercussions everywhere.”

Drake nodded. “You know we’re here for you and everyone who needs our help.”

“We should call on our friends,” Thea said. “Have a meeting with them and see who wants to join us.”

I sucked in a sharp breath, my chest constricting. If only I had opened up to them earlier, maybe this mess wouldn’t be this big, this dangerous. I always knew they had my back. Then why did I resist it?

Because I was a young, stubborn, lost, and proud angel, who thought she was better than all of these supernaturals. That was why.

But I wasn’t better than anyone. Angels weren’t better than anyone. There were bad and good angels, just like there were bad and good vampires, witches, wolf shifters and even demons.

Maybe we should introduce new rules to Elysium, but it would be about inclusion, love, friendship, and acceptance.

“I think that’s a good idea,” I said, my voice showing the emotion twirling within me.

Lavinia put her hand on my shoulder, and Thea reached out, grabbing my hand in hers.