“Screw Faith,” I growled. It suddenly came to my attention that I was a very jealous person…“Eli isn’t hers.”

“Maybe not, but she’s been assigned to keep an eye on him just like Tate has been assigned to keep an eye on you.”

I dropped his hands. “How do you know that?”

“My uncle is the higher power. He’s privy to certain information.” She turned her gaze on Eli. “Go before someone comes out here.”

With a heavy sigh, Eli grabbed his glass and sauntered off. When he completely disappeared from sight, Mila stepped forward.

“Ruby, please, I’m begging you follow the rules, just this once.” Her face seemed strained—her panic coming through rather clearly. It made me nervous and all of my instincts flared.

“What’s going on? Why are you scared?”

“You’re the bane of their existence. An annoying fly that won’t go away. They’ll take any excuse they can get to lock you up forever. We don’t know what they’re capable of, but we know they’re serious. One slip up and we might not ever leave here.”

I angled my head, not believing her words. “Nice scare tactic, Mila, but they aren’t going to keep us locked up here.”

She laughed once. “And if they do? Who would know? How can someone rescue us when ninety-nine percent of them don’t even know this place exists? You have a history of running away. It wouldn’t be hard to convince someone that’s what you did again.”

I sagged a little, defeated. She was right. I was risking the well-being of all of us. Here, Eli was a no go zone. “I’ll stay away,” I grumbled.

She stepped forward and slung an arm around my shoulder. “A few more hearings and a couple of blood donations and we’re homeward bound. Okay?”

I smiled. “Right.”

Chapter Eight

Eli’s hearing was a lot more aggressive than Hunter’s. They spent less time recounting the events of the last few years and more on the relationship between Eli and I. It seemed to be a hot topic, even though it had nothing to do with my freaky blood or how the vampires breached the charms of the school. Eli kept his cool, giving no indication of the emotions he really felt for me. I only hoped I could do the same.

“You seem attached to Miss Moore,” Cesare speculated aloud.

Every now and then eyes would flick to me and Hunter would shift forward in his seat, blocking them from view. I knew he was trying to help me—to make this easier on me, but I was still mad at him for the kiss. What he did wasn’t cool and Eli and I hadn’t really spoken over the last couple of days because of it. I hoped Hunter felt every pang of despair I did.

“Of course. We’ve been through a lot.” Eli shifted in his seat, adjusting his light blue t-shirt. It hugged his muscular arms and hard chest. Half the time Hunter had to keep clearing his throat to prevent me from drifting off into Eli land.

“You have nothing negative to say about her?”

Eli nodded his head. “Sure, there are a lot of things she needs to work on and improve, but you’re not really asking for that, are you? You’re asking me to disrespect her in front of all of these people, but I won’t. She has saved my life and the lives of others many times. Regardless of her shortcomings, she deserves nothing more than absolute respect.”

Cesare shifted in his seat. “I see the glimmer in your eyes, Mr. De Luca. You’re very fond of Ruby, are you not?”

“Very fond?” Eli asked, his sceptical tone hurting my chest for some strange reason. “I wouldn’t say that. She stirs more grief than anything else.”

The room chuckled, charmed by the love-hate relationship Eli had painted. He was very good at playing someone who wasn’t in love with me and it kinda hurt.

“One would say that the relationship between you and Miss Moore has seeped past the boundary of professional.”

Eli frowned. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He was a good liar, I’ll give him that. However, I could see it in Cesare’s old-ish face, he wasn’t fooled.

“When the two of you met, Ruby was?”

“Seventeen, turning eighteen.”

“Ah, young…naive…impressionable?”

“On a good day I can’t get her to do what I say, so impressionable isn’t the word I’d use.” Again, people laughed.

“And what word would you use?”

Eli raked his fingers through his hair, his eyes flicking to me. My heart rate sped up under his scrutiny and my palms began to sweat. The air began to heat up and I wondered if he felt it, too.

“Independent.” He looked back to Cesare. “She does whatever she wants to do.”

“Which brings me to my next point, since Ruby’s return to Sage Sanctum, she has caused more trouble than anybody, ever. You are a respectable angel, Mr. De Luca, but you’ve let her get away with so much, things no sane angel who liked his job would allow.”

“I am aware of that.”

“I’m concerned her beauty and her charm have rendered you defective.” I shifted forward in my seat, ready to leap to his defense at any second.

“Defective?” Eli pondered the word out loud, seeming rather offended. “You’re aware I’m not a machine, right? I let Ruby get away with more than I should have because she hasn’t been brought up in this society like everybody else. It’s too late to ingrain our beliefs in her. She’s been through a lot, all of it traumatizing. She has seen things, horrible, disgusting things…you try controlling someone after they’ve been exposed to so much darkness. They’re tough and strong and they don’t take anything from anybody. I’d love to see anyone of you do a better job with her than I did.”

Cesare frowned, unimpressed with Eli’s response. I was impressed. I was biting back a smile and gripping the edge of my seat. He could pretend we weren’t an item all he wanted, but I could feel it in his words. As soon as Cesare asked the wrong question, he defended me. Cesare shifted in his seat, leaning back and looking smug. “There are two sides to every story and until we hear Ruby’s, you are to be transported to the holding cells. The ban on guardian angels and goddesses might not be our law, but it’s a law we have upheld for a very long time.”

My chest tightened. They weren’t serious? I shot up out of my chair, but Hunter grabbed me, pulling me back down before anyone saw.

“Sit down,” he demanded, his fingers digging into my arms. “Are you trying to get arrested?”

“Let me go!” I growled under my breath.

“I’ll get him out, Ruby,” Mr. Aleksandrov cut in, leaning across Mila and putting a hand on my leg. He was using his emotion control magic on me. I felt my anger and my panic wash away, replaced with a soothing calm. I stopped thrashing in Hunter’s arms and when he let me go, I relaxed in my seat. Mr. Aleksandrov didn’t remove his hand from my knee and I watched, totally at peace as elite guards handcuffed Eli and took him away. He didn’t look at me once as they pulled him through a wooden door behind the council stand and I’m glad he didn’t. I didn’t want him to see me so relaxed and calm about it because I know deep down I was anything but.

Mr. Aleksandrov rose to his feet, removing his hand from me. I began to feel more agitated and angry, but Aleksandrov was limiting how much of it I was feeling. “Even when Miss Moore’s hearing is over and you still decide an inappropriate relationship has occurred, surely there’s some loop hole. She’s not a fully blooded goddess.”

“She’s enrolled and has been attending Sage Sanctum as a goddess, has she not?”

Mr. Aleksandrov chuckled. “Hardly. The vampire/heelian/guardian angel sides to her have definitely hindered her learning progress and technically, she’s the same as Mr. De Luca. She’s one of my guardians.”

“An unnecessary announcement on your part, Ivan. You seem to hold a soft spot for this girl and Eli De Luca. Strange, considering he chose to save Ruby over your own niece. Would you be defending him if Mila had died?”

Anger flared in me before disintegrating.

“I hold no animosity towards Ruby or Eli. He chose to save her over Mila because he and Ruby have a deeper relationship. Prior to then, Mila and Eli hadn’t really spent time.”

“He was her guardian.”

“Correct, but although she was bonded to him, Mila had many other guardians there to protect her.” He cleared his throat. “I’ve also taken their punishment into my own hands. They are aware now that favoritism won’t work in this line of work. I also feel the need to add that you can’t lock up and banish Eli on assumption. Your laws don’t allow it and even if you found some loophole in that, I should remind you that in order for the accusation to stick, the higher power must have physical proof of a breach. I have seen nothing that would even hint that Ruby and Eli have engaged in any unlawful behavior.”

My chest swelled at Mr. Aleksandrov. He held his own, putting his foot down and showing them all that he deserved to be here. They made no mistake making him the higher power, although I got the feeling that they definitely regretted it. Oh well, that’s what you get when you manipulate people to get things. The council chose Mr. Aleksandrov as higher power to get to me and my blood. They didn’t realize how close we were, and despite our differences, Mr. Aleksandrov was family.

“And,” Mr. Aleksandrov added, like he suddenly remembered something else. “If Ruby and Eli are found guilty of a forbidden affair, I, as higher power, will lift the law on guardian angel and goddess relationships. I may be sitting down here in the crowd, but do not forget my place on the board. I hear it’s an important one.”

A sharp intake of air was inhaled at once throughout the court house. I was worried if I took a breath, there’d be no air left to breathe. Cesare and the rest of the council remained still, looking at Mr. Aleksandrov as if he’d told them he was a vampire. Like a sudden train horn, everyone protested at once, screaming their disapproval. They leapt out of their chairs and began to rush at us. Hunter snatched my arm and yanked me to my feet. I reached out for Mila, who reached out for Aleksandrov, but he brushed her off.

“You three go, I’ll sort this out and look at getting Eli out of the holding cell.”

Mila stopped and looked at her uncle. He smiled at her, completely unfazed by the screaming mob at his feet. Ten people on the edge of the crowd saw us trying to leave and came at us, thankfully, Hunter got a random side door open and pulled us out before they got to us.

We slipped through random halls, trying to find a way out and back to our building. We got nothing.

“Where are they? Put them all in a holding cell!” I heard someone shout.

Mila yelped and pulled out of my grasp. She opened a small cleaning cupboard big enough only for her and pointed to another across the hall. With a nod, Hunter and I ran to it and dived inside just in time for the angry group to pass. Our breathing was loud and fast as we panted out our anxiety.

“You’re freaking me out, will you stop feeling so—”

“I’m sorry that I’m so anxious. Mr. Aleksandrov pissed off an entire city and now they want to lock us up! You try feeling so calm about life then,” I snapped in a harsh whisper. God, why couldn’t I have pushed Hunter into the single cupboard and locked myself in here with Mila?

“I would if your emotions weren’t taking control all of the time.”

I exhaled and then tried to take steady breaths. I didn’t know how long we were going to be in here and already I felt the air was thin. After a few quiet, tension-filled minutes, Hunter spoke. “Since we’re going to be locked in here for a while, I guess now is a good a time as ever to apologize for last night. I shouldn’t have kissed you. I’m sorry.”

I let my head fall back against the wall. “Are you?”

“Yes. It was an ass move on my part, but I couldn’t help it. I felt your emotions. I felt how conflicted and hurt you were about Eli and I felt you when he looked at you and I got jealous. I wanted him to feel how I felt for a split-second.”

Oh boy. “I love him…”

“I know you do.”

I brushed my fingers along my arm. “I don’t want to hurt him like that. You can fight with him and you can torment him in any way you want—except that way. You can’t use me as payback for him. If I lose him…” I choked on my last word and quickly swallowed a sudden sob. “I can’t lose him. Not ever.”

Hunter slid down the wall until his knees rested against my shins. “Tell me why.”

It was simple. “Because he’s everything to me. We’ve been through a lot…”

“And we haven’t?”

“Sure we have.”

“Yet, you don’t feel the same way as me? At one point, I could have sworn you did.”

I closed my eyes. I cared for Hunter. When Eli was gone, he was all I had. He’d helped me lots of times, and if Eli wasn’t in the picture, then Hunter and I could’ve been something. But he was a friend, and if there was anything being in love with Eli taught me, it was the different levels of love. Comparing how I felt about Eli in the beginning pales in comparison to how I felt about him now. I would even go as far to say that I ‘liked’ Eli back then, not loved. Being in love with Eli taught me that I never loved Hunter…at least not in the way I loved Eli. I mixed up my loves. I loved Hunter as a friend—hell—as family, but it wasn’t the same thing. Close, but no cigar. The kind of love that I have for Hunter is the same love that I have for Mila. I would do anything for them. I would go above and beyond to make them happy and keep them safe, but I would die for Eli. I would give up everything I live for and everything I own just to see him smile. It didn’t make sense, but I was used to that. I rarely made sense.