House Of Legions (The Angel Descendants book 1)

Chapter 71 (Clare)

***

The room was rowdy, as the people caught up with news and conversations, completely disregarding all the drama that had taken place twenty minutes ago. © 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

Clare had just spoken with one of her own, Draiken when she spotted Vincent, “There’s one who can be of grave use to you Clare, he’s in the mountains of Aquadore, him as an ally might just save your life.”

She smiled at Vincent, he leaned in closer to her ear, a hint of a smile brushed his lips as he whispered, “Nikolai Blackwyll, I suggest you go alone.”

“Thanks, Vincent,” he winked at her and walked away.

Clare’s gaze shifted, it landed on Kalbreal across the room. He stood alone, lost in his mind no doubt, and she just couldn’t look away from the gingered hair Angel, who was now part of her past and possible future.

She didn’t know how to feel about his link to her past, or that he had purposely defended her, by going against his own. She couldn’t hate him, because if she was honest to herself, she would’ve been dead if it weren’t for his betrayal.

She got to live a normal life, as Nathan had put it, because having amnesia made it easier to accept that she was being hunted to death, by Angels. Having amnesia made it bearable to live with the outcome of having her soul forcefully ripped out of her, leaving her bare. The same thing she had hated and chastised herself about, the same sickness that she tried so hard to reverse, was the same thing that had kept her breathing for another eight years, given by one selfless fire Angel named Kalbreal.

She still didn’t know why the Angels wanted her dead, but knowing what she knew about Kalbreal, knowing the sacrifice endorsed from saving her and the determination he set on keeping her alive, she was certain that she could never part from her Angel, because that’s exactly what he was, her Angel.

She dropped her gaze when he turned to face her as if he could feel her eyes trained on him. It should have freaked her out, that he knew exactly when she watched him, but it didn’t, and she was in no mood to analyze what that meant.

Capturing those visions in her mind again was harder than she thought, with all the chattering and laughing going on around the room, so she focused on facts instead. She knew that girl was her, but she was different, young and fearless, with raven black hair, and the eyes, she couldn’t remember the eyes, it was always blocked, maybe it was a trick of the light but she was almost certain it glowed, ha, she’ll remember eventually. Nathan explained that her memory could take days to unravel, depending on how fast her brain was able to process the information.

Clare knew that there was more, much more behind those locked memories, and maybe the reason for her mother’s death laid there waiting to be reborn. She had to try and piece together the events which transpired when she was younger. Her instincts told her that she needed to do it soon because something was coming and it was coming straight for her.

She looked at Kalbreal, whose back now faced her, and knew her feelings for Angel-boy had altered. True, he had been a constant in the last few days, since her life turned into turmoil. Seeing him now as not just her one time saviour, but the reason for her continual existence.

Clare smiled at the memory of what he’d meant when he said he’d saved her twice. Now when she saw him, she found it hard not to see a broken Angel with blazing wings, and even harder not to look at him as one who had shifted a place in her heart.

She sighed because even with all Kalbreal’s flaws now just a minority, he did not have midnight blue eyes that glimmered in the darkness or the touch that possessed her from the very first time. So though there was a small part of her that felt for Kalbreal, he was not the one she yearned for. Not the one she craved like an addiction, writhing for her next hit, not knowing what she was addicted to. That one, his name was William, and he was coming for her. She felt it in her soul, as strongly as the shudder that rippled through her at the mere thought of her faceless obsession.

Clare caught Raphael’s seething gaze on her, like a hunter waiting on its prey. She frowned at the bloodlust in his eyes, a complete one-eighty to how kind and generous he once was. She remembered her mother calling him “Labiel,” she mouthed the name, soundless, what did it mean?

There was more to it, more to this, something was off with that picture, she just couldn’t wrap her head around it, but she would, tonight. She had never been more glad for her photographic memory, which she purposely hid at school, not wanting people to think she was a geek with good looks. Nope, she had saved it for University, where it was cool to know it all. Unfortunately, with Angels trying to kill her, she wasn’t going to get the chance to test the theory of that one.

She walked closer to the mouth of the cave, as she thought of Calub, wondering how he was if he was safe. She knew deep in her heart that she was doing the right thing. Saving him was what she had to do, regardless of Angels and whoever the hell else trying to shorten her life span.

Clare was just about to walk out of the room when she caught Raphael moving toward her. Her hackles rose instantly but quickly dissipated when a man stopped him in his tracks.

Phew, that was close, she inwardly groaned.