I hate humans. Especially the dumb blonde that’s all over Thien every time I turn around. Ditzy, I think that’s her name. “Why is she always touching him?” I harp to Blaze. “I mean seriously Willow, look at her. And that big-headed jerk is just eating it all up.”
“Did you really tell them he was Gay?” Blaze asks.
“I did.” I smirk.
We both laugh as we watch Thien make his way over to our table. There are fourteen of us, so we had to push two tables together in the lunchroom so we’d all fit. I made sure there was no room for humans just in case Ditzy got any bright ideas.
Thien and Aiden sat across from us discussing their theory of the female hormone cycle in humans. Disgusting. I’m all but ready to checkout when my heart drops into the pit of my stomach. Noah.
Noah is the General of the Elite. His code name is Demise. He used to be good, but when the Watch killed his brother he decided to punish them by traveling to earth and turning mankind against one another. That was the birth of race wars and humans have been killing each other ever since.
Noah’s eyes land on me and he stops, motioning for his team to take a seat. Beside him is Qi, pronounced like the key you would use to turn a lock. Her code name is Venom. Spend five minutes with her and you’d know why. Not only is she never happy, but also, she poisons everything around her with her negativity. She’s also madly in love with Noah.
Her feelings for Noah caused us to come to blows more times than I can count. Each time I could have killed her, and each time I spared her life. I did it for Noah. I did it because he asked me to.
“Aria Bliss.” My name slid off his tongue like silk. His voice was like music to my ears. We had history. Too much history. We toyed with the idea of being together before he was cast out of Petrem. That was the end of that, but every time I see him, like Thien, it rocks me to my core.
“Noah Archer.” I reply, standing to greet him.
“Last I heard you were at the Fortress.”
“It turns out my presence was needed to help outwit some idiots from the Elite.” I smirk.
“You could always join us and rule by my side.” He offered.
His comment wasn’t meant as an offer, he was baiting Thien. They hated each other. Rising to the occasion, Thien pulled me behind him and walked up to Noah. Right up to his face. Let the dick-measuring contest begin.
“Don’t talk to her. If you have anything to say to a member of my team, you talk to me.”
“Ah yes…the de facto General. Tell me, how does it feel to know you come in second to a girl? She has more balls than you do and they’re bigger.” Noah smirked.
“Why don’t you ask your sister whose balls are bigger?” Thien quipped.
They lunged towards each other with human spectators on each side and I panicked. I froze everything. The last thing we needed was a shadow between these two amongst humans. It was too risky. I wasn’t worried about Thien or Noah. Both were equal in strength and agility. Neither could get the best of the other, but the damage they’d leave in their wake would be tremendous. Eventually Wake and Hydro were able to pull Thien away. Members of the Elite, Harm and Bind were able to pull Noah away too.
“Don’t ever talk about my sister!” Noah shouts at him.
“Then stay in your lane and away from my team.”
“You mean Aria.” Noah corrects him.
“As long as she’s a member of this team, yes.”
“Is that what you want?” Noah turns his attention to me. My eyes avert to the floor. I can’t look at him because I know he’s going to hate me for this, but he chose to do the work of evil.
He yanks free from Harm and heads back over to his table to sit down. I meet his gaze and instantly wished I hadn’t. His ego is bruised. “One of these days, I’m going to kill him.” Thien promises me. I believe him. The murderous tone in his voice and intent in his eyes told me he would the first chance he got.
I held out my hand for Thien to take. He hesitates, deciding whether he wanted to take my hand or not, but in the end he slides his hand into mine. We couldn’t afford for him to lose his cool now. I released time and everything began to move again. Its called suppression. Whenever I use suppression time stops. When I release time it blocks out whatever I don’t want to be remembered. It works best in the human world since their minds are so susceptible.
“Why did he ask you if that’s what you wanted?” Thien eyes me skeptically once Noah is on the other side of the cafeteria. I can’t answer his question. Not truthfully anyway. It would reveal too much and there were some secrets that were better left untold.
“I don’t know.” I lie.
It was the best answer I could come up with on short notice. All eyes are on me. They know I’m lying.
I glance at Noah’s and he along with everyone on his team is looking at something. I follow their gaze to the left side of the cafeteria and notice a dark haired boy returning their gaze. He’s avoiding their eye contact. Everyone except for Ginger. Her code name is Ghost. He likes her. That’s how they were able to get their hooks into him. “Low and behold…Asher.” I point him out for the team.
My eyes drift over to Noah whose already staring at me. I quickly look away. Asher follows Noah’s glance and we make eye contact. The poor kid has no idea he’s a piece of meat in a tug of war between two hungry lions. I look away but apparently he’s still staring. Tech nudges me in the side. “I think the weapon is in love.” She chuckles.
I meet his gaze for a second time and he’s still staring. My eyes drift over to Ginger who’s takes it as a challenge. The game is on. There’s no way I’m going to let a weapon fall into the hands of Mal. Mal is Noah’s father. He’s half Angel, half Demon and DEADLY.
Standing up, I walk over to the fruit buffet counter to get more fruit. Angels don’t eat meat, its just…cruel. We don’t eat anything that has a soul. A figure emerges beside me, fidgeting like a nervous little fool. “You’re Aria, right?” Asher asks.
“That’s me.” I flash him a smile.
“And you’re from Maine?”
“How did you know that?”
“I’m in your first period class.” He answers.
Really? I’ve been going to this stupid school for a week and he was never even a blip on my radar. While prison didn’t rob me of my skills as an assassin, I definitely need to work on my detective skills. “Yes. I’m from Maine.” I nod. “You are?”
“Oh…um…Asher. My name is Asher.” He smiles.
“Its nice to meet you Asher.”
Human boys are so fickle, much like their angelic counterparts. Give them too much attention and they act a fool. I walk away and sit back down with my team. Asher stands there wondering what to do next.
He could always go sit back down.
He approaches and Thien casts him a warning glance. Surprisingly, he’s undeterred. “So…um…my sister Desiree is having a party this Friday. I’d like you to come and bring your friends.”
“Are you asking me out?” I shift my eyes to meet his.
“Oh…um…no.” He stammers. “Ginger asked me to invite you all.”
“Ginger huh?” My eyes land on the demon. They’re toying with us.
I reach into my backpack and pull out a sharpie. Partially because I was curious, but also because I wanted to stick it to both Ginger and Noah, I lift up his shirt and right my number on his abs.
“That’s my phone number. If you can manage to not sweat it off by the end of the day and call me, we’ll be there.” I wave him off back to his table.
“What are they up to?” Cara, code name Scythe asks out loud. We were all thinking it. We watch as Asher walks back over to his friends. He glances over at Ginger who flashes him a smile of gratitude. I wonder if we’re too late to get to him.
“Are we really going to a human party?” Pru, code name Harmony, sounds way too excited. “I hear their parties are LEGENDARY.”
“Its child’s play.” Thien scoffs. “My parties are legendary.”
“Which ones? The ones you invite us to, or the private parties every girl in the Legion are talking about?” Blaze asks. She bursts into laughter. Harmony, Sky, Scythe and Despair all join her. Its obviously an inside joke but its gone way over my head.
“I don’t get it.” I shrug.
“Hold your tongue.” Thien quickly gives them an order. His tone is sharp and menacing.
He and Blaze exchange awkward glances. Her eyes shift to mine, and then she quickly looks away. They’re keeping something from me. Whatever it is, it made Thien nervous. That’s hard to do. Now I really want to know what it is.
“What private parties?” I glance at everyone. They all either looked away or avoided my gaze. Everyone except Ethan, code-name Peace.
“Look, she’s going to find out eventually so you may as well tell her.” Frustration got the better of Peace. I waited but no one would dare defy Thien. No one but Peace. The ball was back in his court. “After you were sent away things got a little out of hand.”
“What do you mean?”
“What everyone is trying to tell you is that I lost it.” Said Thien. “I got drunk, I broke a few laws here and there-”
“And he slept with a TON of girls.” Blaze blurts out as if holding that part in was killing her.
Images of Thien with other girls fill my thoughts, crushing me. We made eye contact but I couldn’t look at him anymore. We were supposed to lose our virtue at the same time…to each other. It was supposed to be our fairytale that began with an awful ceremony, in front of hundreds of Angels, where we pledge our eternal love to one another. I would promise him my Yin and he’d promise me his Yang. We’d grow old together and have three kids with his jet-black hair, full lips and pale gray eyes. HOW COULD HE? He meant the world to me.
ns 15.158.61.51da2
