The Angel of Olden Academy ✓

chapter nine

I arrived at the cloister garden half an hour early—because, as Viola put it, I was so utterly whipped—and waited for Adam. It was a beautiful place, the garden, with its arched columns and arranged flowers. Then again, everything was beautiful now that I was alive to see it—alive, awake, strong, in love.

In love. I'd thought a lot about love that day. There had been an assembly for the cured Impotentia patients, and I'd missed the damn cause of the disease because I'd been too busy overthinking what I should wear tonight. It was then that I'd realized that I'd never felt this way before, not with anyone. There was a warmth in my chest, and a nervousness in my stomach, and a certainty in my head. I was in love with Adam Holland.

I'd only known him a month. It was too soon, I knew, and I was nowhere near ready to say it. But knowing was more than enough.

"What's got you so cheery?" Adam asked, approaching the bench where I'd been gazing happily at the sky.

"You."

His brows lifted in surprise. "Okay, who are you and what have you done with my grumpy demon?"

I grinned and pulled him closer. "Your grumpy demon just found out he isn't going to die, and has significantly less to be grumpy about."

He leaned over and kissed me. Hard. I gasped for air when he pulled back, and he smiled. "Sorry. I just can't believe I'm allowed to do that."

I gave a breathless chuckle. "How long have you wanted to?"

He sat beside me on the bench, leaning against me, and I moved my arm around his shoulder. It was early spring, and the evenings were cold.

"I think it was when you woke up that second time, after you'd been out for some days. I'd been taking care of you, and I—I grew fond of you, I guess. Then you woke, and I was so relieved I could barely breathe." He looked up at me, sheepish. "And you? When did you know?"

"I denied it for a long time," I said after a moment. "But I think I knew it that day, too, somewhere inside. When the human—" I froze. The human. I'd forgotten about him completely. "A-Adam?"

"Yeah?"

"You're ... done with him, right?"

His brows crinkled into a frown. "With Leo? Of course." I let out a breath, and Adam pushed himself up, bringing his face to mine. "We were already broken up, really, when I met you. I only gave him another chance because he begged me to—and because I thought I was delusional, fancying a demon." He grinned and kissed me on the cheek. "But I ended it after that day in the infirmary. I remember thinking, If they had fought, who would I have defended? And the answer was you."

"Because I was sick."

"Because you matter to me," he said, looking right into my eyes, and there was that warmth in my chest again. "You really freaking matter to me, Ehren Cross."

It wasn't I love you, but I'd take it.

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A little while later, we lay on the grass and looked up at the stars. I tried to give Adam my jacket to use as a blanket, and he looked at me like I was crazy. "You know you're recovering from near death, right?"

So in the end I just held him close, and told him everything I knew about the constellations above—which was an embarrassing amount. I admitted to him that I didn't just love history but fairytales and myths. He didn't laugh—just asked me to tell him more.

After that, we fell into silence. I forgot to be nervous about being seen. I forgot to be angry or sad at all. Something inside me was bursting at the seams, something I didn't recognize—something like hope.

"Ehren?"

I looked over to find him watching me.

"Why don't you ever grow your horns?"

I arched a brow. "I've never seen you show your halo."

"Yeah, well," he said. "That's embarrassing. It's so useless, compared to everything you can do. Claws, fangs, fire, smoke. Forked tongue. Purple eyes."

"Violet," I corrected, and he smiled.

"I just wonder why you never grow your horns. I'd like to see them."

I shifted uncomfortably. "Well ... if you want to know the truth." He nodded, and I closed my eyes, bracing myself. "They're small. Okay? Like—two inches. Which isn't an indicator of the size of anything else," I added, and heard him giggle. "You're laughing at me."

"No," he said quickly. "I'm not. I swear." He climbed on top of my stomach, and I opened my eyes. "Show me, Ehren."

I couldn't refuse him anything. I let my horns twist from my temples. They were pathetically short, like the ones you see in cartoons. My father told me never to show them, that they'd betray how weak I was—how useless. But Adam looked at them with interest, and a sort of fondness, and ran his thumbs across their curved tips.

"They're cute," he decided.

I groaned, turning away, and he caught my face in his hands. "You're cute," he said, "whether you like it or not."

"I'm not supposed to be cute," I said, pouting. "I'm supposed to be scary. And handsome—devilishly handsome, to be exact."

"You're those things, too," he assured me. "But mostly you're cute." He plucked a small purple flower from a nearby plant and tucked it behind my ear. "To match your eyes."

I hesitantly blinked my brown eyes back, revealing the violet ones beneath. Adam kissed my cheeks, unfazed. I love you, everything inside me sang. I love you I love you I love you. Instead, I said, "Show me yours."

He bit his lip, but nodded, and kept his eyes on mine as the glowing halo encircled his head, golden like his hair, brighter than the sun. It seemed to light up the entire world around us. It found the warmth in my chest and spread it throughout my entire body, from my fingertips to my toes.

I lifted my head and kissed him. "You're so fucking beautiful," I said against his lips, and he smiled, laying my head against the ground, kissing me until I forgot which way was up and could hardly remember my name.

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