Chapter 1
ALEXANDRA
“You’ve gotto be fucking kidding me.”
The swirling purple and gold eyes of my best friend were barely visible with the way she was glaring at me now that my monsters and I were back within the relative safety of our home with her. I’d caught her up on what just happened with the curse, as well as my plan to go on the offensive. To say she wasn’t a fan of that plan was an understatement.
I felt my monsters take a few steps back, the heat from their bodies fading as her ire increased. Couldn’t say I blamed them. Alora was usually a ball of light and energy, and this was a side of her I’d never seen before. She could be downright intimidating–I didn’t think she had it in her.
As soon as I told her our plan to go back to Ordinarius and hunt down these curses, a glint of fury sparked to life in her eyes. Immediately, I knew I wasn’t going to get a hug and a vote of confidence for my plan from her.
Nope—no blindly supportive bestie here. Alora was livid, and with the emotions displayed openly on her face, she was doing nothing to hide it.
At first, I thought her shock and anger might be overcome with a bit more discussion. But after her expression shifted, her brow furrowed and lips pinched tightly, and she started staring a hole into my face, I swallowed the explanation that had bubbled in my throat.
Just own up to your shit, Alexandra.
Clasping my hands in front of me, I slowly rocked back on my feet and grimaced. “Nope. Not kidding at all, Alora.”
I didn’t think it was possible, but her fury somehow increased with my refusal to back down beneath her withering glare. Black and gold wings ripped through her favorite black t-shirt dress to rest behind her, and I knew I would never hear the end of it for making her angry enough to ruin the dress once she realized the absolute casualty of her actions.
The sound of breaking glass meeting my ears made me wince, and my eyes widened when I noticed the loose feathers floating around Alora. They fell to the floor with the remnants of the cups from her countertop that took the brute force of the wind coming off of her wings’ sudden, infuriated appearance.
Currently, I was really questioning whether I actually wanted her and Alina to be friends anymore. If they teamed up together against me…nope. Absolutely not. I would never win a single argument.
But this plan? I couldn’t let Alora’s disapproval stop me. Otherwise, I would be placing the lives of all the students at DIA at risk.
“I won’t let you do this, Alexandra,” she argued, strands of her dark hair falling out of her loose, high ponytail as she shook her head. “I will tell Estrid. I will tell Potestas. I will tell anyone who will keep you from this suicide mission in Ordinarius. I don’t care if it makes you hate me, because at least you’ll be alive to hate me. I…” she trailed off before swallowing hard and nodding seemingly to herself. “I can live with that.”
My heart clenched at her quiet admission.
“Alora…” I breathed out, eyes roaming over her quickly morphing face. The hard, angry set to her face began to melt away with her words, replaced with a rocky, fake confidence. Like she was daring me to call her bluff.
We both knew she wouldn’t turn me in, but I wasn’t going to call her out on that right now.
I took a deep breath, blowing it out sharply as I attempted to gather my words. I could have left here without talking to her, but it felt wrong to just disappear on her when we lived together and someone just died a few houses away. That worry would eat away at her until she went crazy. It wasn’t an option in my mind, despite it being the much easier choice to make.
I knew she would keep my secret, even if she didn’t like it. I couldn’t let her think I’d died or been taken if I just disappeared.
Taking a few steps toward her, I gave her a look that I hoped came across as pleading. I didn’twanther understanding–I needed it. Lifting my hands to rest on the sides of her crossed arms, I squeezed gently. “Alora, I know it’s not a bulletproof plan—.”
She scoffed, cutting me off as she flung her hands into the air, making mine fall back to my side as I sighed heavily.
Her eyes widened as she blinked at me, fury clear in the swirling purple and gold depths. “Not bulletproof is putting it mildly, Alex.” Her hands gestured around wildly, emphasizing her words as she continued to yell, “Your plan has massive gaping holes in it, without anyone even attacking it to begin with!”
I grimaced. She wasn’t wrong, but hearing it definitely didn’t feel good.
Shoving her pointer finger at my chest, she took on a no-nonsense tone that really reminded me that she was the daughter of the queen of Hell. "You are not going to Ordinarius until you have a better understanding of your powers, Alexandra. This plan is just asking for all four of you to be killed.”
Her eyes flicked over my shoulder, scanning my three monsters, and a lead weight like a rock sinking in my stomach hit me. Turning over my shoulder to glance at them, I saw that they each wore a look of confidence for me. Their trust was implicit. A shaky breath puffed over my lips as I turned back to face her. I knew that we weren’t fully-powered yet, but after seeing my spear and powers impact Elias’ soul, I thought we really had a chance.
Was I forfeiting their lives with this plan?
My heart rate increased, rising in tandem with the anxiety churning in my gut.
“But,” she added, her brows rising as she nodded and met my eyes once more. My heart soared at that single word from her. “It’s clear that you don’t have a proper teacher here who can teach you everything you can possibly learn in as little time as possible. Not to mention, with Helen’s involvement and seeming knowledge of these curses, it’s time to consider another route that keeps her away from you.”
Her feathers ruffled, as if they hated the idea of Helen as much as we did. The honestly cute reaction made me want to reach out and pet them. The silly thought somehow had me taking a deep, calming breath to steady my racing thoughts and heart.
