Awakening (Children of Angels) (29 page)

Katherine stared back at him, and he knew that she was not afraid of him - she was not capable of fear. She simply stared, defeated. She had been foolish to try to get away, why did she think that she would be able to break his Truths? Foolish and impulsive, she had thought this might be her one chance at freedom. The tower was what kept her prisoner. The Truths were woven by the most powerful ones here, the ones who had decided to spare her life – the chosen few who decided everything. She had thought that getting out of the tower would allow her to shift and be free.

His cold gaze was fixed on her eyes, and he struggled to control his anger. He should have known better than to bring her here. She had betrayed her own kind, why had he thought she would help him? Before he even had to really think about it, they were back in the tower, and he had released her. She stepped away from him calmly, and he noticed a red mark on her arm where he had grabbed her. A human would bruise, he knew, but she would heal herself in no time. Right on cue, the handprint vanished, without so much as her needing to glance at it.

“
Good evening, Katherine
”
he said coldly.

“
Good evening, Evan
”
she replied calmly.

And then he was gone.

CHAPTER THIRTY

M
ia drifted in and out of consciousness in the darkened room, and couldn't quite figure out where she was. The pain was what woke her each time, and each time she woke, it took her a while to remember that she had to heal herself. Slowly, she healed each part of her, piecing herself back together. It seemed to take a very long time, but she didn’t know whether it was days or weeks, since it was always dark. She wondered how much longer she could survive without eating or drinking, although she was not hungry or thirsty.

Once all her skin was healed, she worked on bringing the glow back into her bones, and found she could heal herself more quickly. Eventually, she found herself sitting upright in the bed, her pain now no more than a dull ache resonating through her body, as she examined the room around her.

He
had not come back since he had brought her there, and she wondered what he planned to do with her. She hoped he
never
came back - she would find a way to get herself out of here, she didn't want
his
help. Amongst the hazy memories of the pain and the fire and the darkness, there was one memory that stood out crystal clear. A memory that made her feel sick to her stomach. A memory of blood.

She shuddered at another, more distant memory, from the dream, when his face had changed and he had shown his true nature, and wondered what it meant for her, now that she had his blood in her.

Mia felt her heart beating strongly now, and the heat from her power building up again and hoped she could fight him off if - when - he returned. But still she would rather he didn’t return at all.

Eventually, she had explored all that she could through the darkness from her perch on the bed, and so she kicked back the covers gently, and gingerly stepped onto the cold wooden floor of the room. She cringed, waiting for a creak in the floorboards, but it thankfully did not come. Holding on to the edge of the bed, she allowed her legs to take the full weight of her body, and was pleasantly surprised by how little it hurt to stand, after the horrendous injuries she had suffered. Walking across to the window, she pulled back the heavy curtain, and gasped at the sight beyond.

What stretched out before her was a seemingly endless expanse of lush grass, with pathways criss-crossing at regular intervals, giving the impression that they had been woven into the land. From her tower (at least she thought she was in a tower, she seemed to be very high up indeed), she could see smallish structures, an even mixture of domes and cubes, and all seemed to be constructed of the same white material, which was not quite reflective, but also not matt. It was something in between, and Mia doubted it was any material she had come across before.

There were no flowers that she could see, just grass and these buildings. The only building which differed from the uniform ones below was directly opposite the building she herself was in, and was part of a huge outer-wall, like the ones she had seen in picture books of old castles, and walled cities, to defend from invaders. The wall was constructed of the same material as the other buildings, but (and she could not be sure, since she was quite some distance from it) appeared to be carved from one single block, as opposed to built with bricks. She wondered if the buildings below were the same. The one building she was focused on now though, was the one built into the wall. A huge tower, round like a lighthouse, but with a tapered point, so that it was conical. Something about the building intrigued her. There was something there that made her sad, but she couldn't pinpoint what it was.

She turned her attention now to the sky, which was what she had noticed first. It was a curious sky, unlike one she had ever seen before. It was somewhere between purple and red and blue, a most unusual mix of the three, and the colours seemed to shift and change slightly in hue and shade even as she tried to fix them in her mind. In place of stars and the moon, there were simply two huge bright orbs, and she thought that any stars up there would be hidden by their brightness. Both appeared, at first glance, to be white, but when she looked closely, one had a pinkish tinge, the other greenish.

She was fascinated by it all. So much so that she did not feel the ripple pass through the room, or hear the soft thump of Evan’s feet hitting the ground just behind her.

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

E
van had returned to the room several times since he had
brought Katherine here, fleeting visits, just to make sure the girl was healing, and each time he visited, he felt her power growing stronger. He enforced the shielding around the room a little more each time, afraid that she was growing more powerful and that the Truths might break. Once she had begun to regain consciousness, his visits had been no faster than a blink, just to be able to see her, to know she was healing, and most importantly, to know that she was still there. If anyone could break these Truths, it would be her. He knew that he couldn't contain her if she did not wish to be contained. He only hoped that
she
didn't know it.

On this occasion, he had flickered into the room and flickered out again, as usual, but this time, instead of seeing the sleeping or sitting figure he was accustomed to, he saw only a flash of an empty bed, the covers pushed down into a pile at the bottom. In that moment, he had been gripped with fear, he hadn't thought on his last visit that she was strong enough to shift across the room, much less break the Truths - perhaps he had been wrong, perhaps she'd fooled him. And so he had shifted again, focusing hard on shifting to the place where Mia was, wherever that may be, and in his panic somehow managing to miscalculate and ending up an inch or so off the ground. As he completed the shift, he thumped softly to the ground, and found himself back in his rooms. In front of him, a silhouette against the twilight beyond the window, stood Mia. He breathed a sigh of relief, she was still here. And now he knew that she was, he was not quite sure what he should do.

He reached out to touch her shoulder, not sure why, surely it would make more sense to speak to her? To let her know he was there? But something in him told him to reach out and touch her. He did so tentatively and slowly. When his outstretched fingers were an inch from her, he jumped back as something like a jolt of static passed between them. Mia jumped too, and turned quickly to face him, her expression changing quickly from surprise and confusion to a mix of hatred and fear, that was like a punch to the stomach.

“
Hello Mia,
”
he said softly.

“
What did you just do to me?
”
she snapped back, her voice as steely as the gaze from her eyes.

“
I didn
’
t do anything
…
I don
’
t know what happened.
”
He spoke calmly, snapping back at her would do him no good.

She didn't believe him, he could see that. She did not trust him, and he realized as he stood face to face with her that she may never trust him.

“
Mia, we need to talk.
”
He turned slightly, and gestured to the bed, indicating that she should sit.

“
I
’
m fine here thanks,
”
she said coldly, folding her arms.

“
Mia,
”
he sighed wearily, as though he was dealing with a petulant child,
“
you
’
ve been very sick. I know you
’
re healing well, but you still need to rest. Please just
sit down.
”

“
No
”
she replied firmly, but he could see she was already beginning to pale.

“
Fine.
”
He shrugged, feigning indifference, and stifling the frustration that bubbled just below the surface.

He would have his work cut out for him here, that was for sure. She would not come quietly, that was the only thing he was certain of right now.

“
How much do you know, Mia? Of who you are? Of who you were born to be?
”

The question had caught her off guard, and she stood with her mouth hanging open, looking, she imagined, rather stupid. She had been ready to reply to whatever he said with a tongue laced with venom, but this question was unexpected.

“
What do you mean?
”
she asked in spite of herself, and mentally kicking herself for engaging with him.

“
I mean, what has your guardian told you?
”

Mia could only assume that he had meant Leonara, and she felt a pang when she thought of the Angel. She wondered where Leonara was, if she was safe - if she was in trouble for losing Mia, and being punished.

“Everything.” She lied, trying to keep her voice even, sounding as though she knew now exactly what he was talking about. He smiled wryly.

“
Oh I doubt that, little Mia, I doubt that very much. No-one knows everything. Even I do not profess to know everything. But I think I know a lot more than you do.
”

He was infuriating. His condescending tone, and that look he gave her. It made her blood boil. To treat her like she was a stupid child. He was only two years older than her! He might have grown up around this, knowing what he was, he might know more about being an Angel - if he could even be described as that, more like a
demon
than anything- than she did, but that did not mean he could speak to her like she was simple.

“
Calm down, Mia,
”
he instructed, the smug smile disappearing from his face,
“
you remember what happened last time you lost control, I assume?
”
He spoke harshly now, his face cloudy, and she glared back at him, her eyes narrowed in spite.
“
I only want to tell you the parts they don
’
t want you to know.
”

“
And why would you do that?
”
she replied, still sounding, despite her best efforts, like a spoiled brat.

“
Because you have a choice.
”
He spoke simply, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“
A choice in what, exactly?
”

“
In your own fate.
”