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“Now, are you going to bite me when I try to wrap your wing? If you are, a warning would be nice, but I will try to be gentle,” I told him while scratching the top of its head. The phoenix watched me unravel the bandages, and I carefully plucked him from where he sat on the bed, placing him on my lap. He whimpered, and his snake-like tongue slivered out to lick at my hand placed under his chest.
“I’m sorry. I am trying to be gentle,” I told Ryze. I bandaged him up, placed him on the pillow, and tucked my jumper and pillowcase around him to keep him warm.
“I need to go, but I will be back in the morning. You have to be quiet, though.” I told him. Ryze fluffed out his remaining feathers before ducking his head under his good wing. I sighed and rushed out of the cellar and slipped back into my room.
Chapter 39
Aleera
Iwas awoken the followingday by the alarm next to my bed. I tossed and turned all night after what Darius had said to me, so my eyes felt like sandpaper. My mind went to the phoenix when I sat up. I needed to steal some breakfast before classes started and quickly check on him. Tossing the blanket off, I heard something slip off the end of the bed with a thump on the floorboards. Walking around to the end of my bed, I found a box. I bent down, picking it off the floor, and turned it over. A sticky note was attached to it, so I peeled it off.
“I already hooked it up to the Wi-Fi. You just need to turn it on. Love, Kalen.”Looking at the box, I found it was a tablet. Was Darius aware he had given it to me, and why would he allow it? I pulled it from the box and looked at the shiny device. It was so much better than my old one. Shiny and new. I pressed the power button, and it lit up. No doubt they would track everything I did on it. I knew not even Kalen would be stupid enough to give me a device that could link me to the outside world without parental controls on it.
Despite that, I smiled, wondering if I could speak to my pen pal friend. Would Darius become angry but he was aware, so he couldn’t get mad, could he? I dressed quickly and made my way down to the mess hall. The door wasn’t open yet, and I had to wait. When they did, the demon that opened them sneered at me, and I gulped, taking a step away from him.
He said nothing but turned on his heel and walked back out to the kitchens. My stomach growled hungrily at the smell of food. He placed the huge trays out, and I quickly grabbed a bowl, filling it with dry cereal. I grabbed another and put some eggs and bacon in before retrieving a water bottle and slipping out before he returned. Although it was necessary to steal food, I felt like a thief. I couldn’t live on air alone. After I walked down to the phoenix, he ignored the dry cereal I’d placed in front of him and beckoned at my eggs instead.
“You know that is probably in some small way a relative you’re eating, right?” I told him.
He chuffed and pecked at my bowl, and I sighed, placing it on the bed beside him so he could help himself. I chewed on a piece of bacon before eating the dry cereal. When I finished, I opened the water bottle and poured some into a bowl so he could have a drink. He guzzled it thirstily while I pulled the tablet from the back of my pants.
The device was definitely monitored. I couldn’t access much on the internet, and half the apps didn’t work. Despite it being pointless, I typed in the old chat group name and was surprised it didn’t shut me out.
After logging in and trying to remember my password, I discovered my email account was shut down, and I had to create a new one. With a sigh, I typed in the search bar HTIARW. To my surprise, the account still existed. I wondered if the person would still remember me or even want to talk to me. Regardless, I sent a message explaining I had a new account and telling them my old login name. With a sigh, I turned the screen off. “I suppose now we wait,” I told Ryze. He nudged me with his beak, eating the rest of my eggs.
When the siren blared, signaling the start of classes, I groaned and got to my feet, saying goodbye to my not-so-feathery friend. Climbing the stairs, I waited for there to be no noise before slipping out and over to my first class, which was with Tobias. As I walked down the hall, I was snatched and instantly thrashed as they dragged me into a nearby classroom.
They let me go, and I turned to find it was Darius. “Where did you sneak off this morning?” he asked.
“To breakfast,” I told him.
“I checked, and you weren’t in there,” he snapped at me. I took a step back before noticing Tobias leaning against the wall.
With a roll of his eyes, he pushed off the wall. “Can we get this over with? I have a class to teach,” Tobias said in a bored tone.
I glanced between them, wondering what he meant when Darius grabbed me. The moment he wrapped his arm across my chest and jerked me against him, I shrieked. Darius tucked me against him. He grabbed my wrist, offering it to Tobias, who snatched it in his tight grip while I struggled against Darius’s hold.
“We warned you last night this was necessary. Now, remain still,” he snarled next to my ear.
I stopped, and Tobias sank his teeth into my wrist. I looked away while he fed off me. Though his grip only tightened, and I started feeling light-headed after a few minutes.
“Enough, Tobias. Let her go,” Darius snapped at him, but he didn’t. Instead, he sank his teeth in again, making me whimper.
“Tobias, I said enough!”
Tobias growled at him when Darius yanked my arm away, making me cry out as his teeth tore away from the flesh. Tobias went to attack, but Darius flicked his wrist, and Tobias hit a barrier and froze. My eyes widened, and Tobias appeared stunned. Darius then bit his wrist and jammed it against my mouth. I turned my face, not wanting his blood.
“Now! That shield won’t hold long,” Darius growled, and I opened my mouth, hating the idea of drinking his blood directly from him. I sputtered, and he ripped his wrist away before shoving me away. Only when he did, he yanked me back toward him before reaching down the back of my pants and pulling out the tablet.
“Where did you get this?”
“It was on my bed. Kalen gave it to me,” I told him. My body tensed, and I flinched when he examined it. He glared at it before thrusting it back at me.
I hesitantly took it before he looked at Tobias. “Go, before I change my mind,” Darius spat at me, and I rushed out.
Chapter 40
Darius
