I opened my eyes. Mila was asleep awkwardly on a seat next to my bed and Mr Aleksandrov stood against the door.
“You're awake,” he mumbled, trying not to waken Mila. “It’s the first time she’s slept in two days.”
I turned my neck and flinched as pain radiated through my spine.
“You’re pretty beaten up, I wouldn't move too much.”
I tried to swallow but my throat was dry. Mr Aleksandrov poured me some water; he cracked a vial of clear liquid, mixed it into the cup and handed it to me. Slowly, I reached out for it, my muscles ached.
“It will heal you quicker.”
“Thank you,” I croaked. I drank the whole cup and cleared my throat.
“Ruby!” called Mila. She launched out of her bed and nearly landed on top of me.
“Thank god, you're okay.”
“How are the others?” I asked.
“The ones that survived are okay.” Bitterness laced Mr Aleksandrov's tone.
Of course, guardian angels died and it was my fault.
“Mila, now that you know Ruby is awake and okay, you need to go back to school.”
“But Uncle, I—”
“Let's go.” Mila stormed out the door and Mr Aleksandrov turned to me. “Ruby, when you get back to school, we need to have a serious discussion.”
Great, no doubt I would be kicked out of Sage. I nodded in compliance. He grabbed his coat that hung over the end of my bed and left the room. I inhaled deeply and sighed loudly.
There was a light knock at the door; it was Eli. I should have been relieved when I saw him but I had a feeling our conversation wasn't going to be nice. He strolled in and sat on the armchair that Mila had been sleeping on.
“It’s good to see that you're awake and okay.” He smiled a painfully fake smile.
The room was so tense; you could cut it with a knife. “Yeah…” I muttered.
We glanced around the room awkwardly.
“I know you need time to recover from what happened, but if I don't say this, I’m going to explode.”
I dropped my head and braced myself.
“What you did was selfish.” His voice was so cold and fierce. “Do you have any idea what you put Mr Aleksandrov through, what you put me through?” His voice had raised a decibel.
“I know, I'm sorr—”
“People died,” he interrupted. “Does that matter to you or are guardian angels disposable? There's plenty of us, right?”
“No, it’s not like that at all.”
“Then what's it like?”
“He had my cousin… or at least I thought he did.”
“Ruby, if you had come to me, I would have been able to tell you your family wasn't even in the country. We kept tabs on them for you,” he admitted.
Guilt bucketed heavier on me.
“Don't you trust me?” I looked at his face, he was genuinely hurt. It was written all over his face. “I thought we were being honest to each other but you were hiding so much from me.”
“Eli, I didn't want you to get hurt…” I pleaded.
“But instead of calling trained angels that kill vampires for a living, you decided that you, a goddess who doesn't even know how to use her magic, would go and take one on.”
“It sounds stupid when you say it like that.”
“Reword it any way you want, it won't sound any smarter.”
A tear rolled down my check and Eli hung his head.
“I was scared. I was so scared,” he whispered. “You nearly died. At one point I thought you did. I couldn't feel anything from you, and I felt… sick and numb and… alone.”
I looked at him as more tears wet my face. “I'm sorry for what I put you through, but they’re my only family, and I can't lose them as well,” I cried.
“I just wish you came to me. I guess we don't have the connection I thought we did.” He got up from the chair and walked towards the door.
“Eli, please, don't go.”
He paused and turned. “Now you want my help and support? You can't pick and choose.”
I flinched at his words. He left, closing my door behind him. I sat staring at the door, tears falling one after the other, each dropping faster than the last. Once again, I felt alone… more alone than ever. Eli was the last person I wanted to push away, even though my actions said otherwise.
The next few days grew more and more depressing as they rolled by. No one visited me, I wasn't upset about that; I understood. I had put everyone in danger, and risked the school and Mr Aleksandrov's reputation. I had gotten guardian angels killed and I betrayed Eli. I'm not my favorite person right now either.
Today was the worst day so far. Today, I had to return to Sage Sanctum.
My thigh had healed very well in the last few days, just like Mr Aleksandrov said it would. The medical staff at the hospital were shocked it had healed so quickly for a cut so deep, but didn't really investigate it.
I was wheeled to the front door; it was hospital policy and it was embarrassing. When we reached the door, I rose from the wheelchair and grimaced in pain when I put pressure on my leg. I shut my eyes and felt Eli. My stomach dropped; they had sent him to pick me up. I suppose it wasn't a bad thing. Another guardian angel would have driven me off a cliff after what I did, after I got their colleagues killed. Eli opened the door for me and I climbed into his car.
We drove for an hour without saying a word to each other. I wanted to tell him I was sorry and that I didn't mean for this to happen. My heart ached whilst we drove. I couldn't stop fidgeting with my hands.
Eli pulled over onto the side of the road, exhaling loudly. I glanced around nervously; maybe I wasn’t going back to Sage and they were just going to dump me on the side of the road, like a wounded animal.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Ruby, I think that before we get back to Sage, we should talk.” That's what I wanted, to talk to Eli, but now that he wanted to, I didn't. I was scared; I had no excuse for what I did.
“It was wrong of me to attack you when you had just woken up. I had been waiting, stressing for two days before you woke up, and it was building and building and I— ”
“It's okay, I deserved it,” I confessed. “Everything you said was right.”
He grabbed my hand, caressing it in his.
“In my mind there weren't any consequences. I knew I would be killed or turned again, but I was willing to risk everything to save Camilla. Aleksandrov didn't do anything when we were attacked at the cabin, so I assumed he wasn't going to send any guardians to save me.” I ignored the way my skin tingled in his grasp. “But now there are consequences and I have to face them.”
“I am your Guardian Angel and I will be here to guide you every step of the way, but under one condition.”
I knew what it was.
“You tell me everything.”
I stared at our hands but eventually nodded. He was right, the decisions that I made in my life would affect his, too.
“It was the first time in my life I felt like I truly lost something special to me.”
I turned and looked at him, his eyes fixated on our hands. “But your father—”
“He was a good man, when he wasn't blaming me for killing my mother.”
We sat in silence for a few seconds.
“She died when she gave birth to me. The night my father died… my grandmother was babysitting me, I was almost seven years old. She brought me to Sage, and Glenda; an old retired angel, took me under her wing and raised me. When I turned twenty-one, she passed away.”
My heart shattered into a million pieces at Eli's story, a story of so much loss and sorrow.
“My point is… I share your fears of being alone. I would have done the same thing as you.”
He let go of my hand and started the car. The rest of the trip was still mostly in silence, and after a few hours, we were pulling into the gate of Sage Sanctum. The very gate I had slipped past the night of my escape. Eli handed a piece of paper to the guard; he glared at me before letting us pass. I guess the guys at the gate got in trouble for not being attentive and failing to see me sneak out.
“This will be fun,” I muttered under my breath.
“You have no idea.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Your little stunt has made curfew earlier by an hour and dorm students have to be escorted to and from dinner. Students also have to sign in and out of their dorm rooms whenever they leave and every dorm has been issued another dorm monitor.”
I was speechless, not because Eli had used the word dorm to many times in a sentence, but because I single handedly ruined every student’s life at the school. Raina and her posse weren't going to be the only ones hating on me now. Eli pulled into the car park, exited his door, and came round and opened mine.
“There’s something else you should know.”
“Oh no…” I groaned.
“I have to take you to the dining hall; the school’s board has requested a meeting.”
“Like a 'thanks for nothing, see you later,’ kind of meeting?”
He smiled a sympathetic smile. “I don't know.”
I stepped out of the car and scuffed my shoes against the pebbles. “If I'm kicked out, what happens to you?”
Eli shut the door and leaned up against the side of the car. “I get assigned to someone new and you will continue your life amongst the humans. If you don't graduate, then you don't get a guardian angel.”
“I have one now and I haven't graduated.”
“You only have one because you were being targeted specifically. We’re going to be late.” I leaned against the car next to him.
“I'm scared. I don't want to leave here.” My voice was shaky.
Eli rubbed his backhand along the side of my face. I absorbed his touch like a sponge absorbing liquid.
“Whatever happens, I’ll be here.”
“Even if they kick me out?”
“Especially if they kick you out.”
I leant in and hugged him, his muscles tensed from surprise, but he relaxed and hugged me back. I closed my eyes and savored the moment. He said he’d be here for me, but I would never ask him to leave all that he has for me. I hugged him because this might be the last time we see each other.
“Rub—”
Eli and I pulled apart. It was Hunter. I felt heat fill my cheeks; no doubt Hunter could see how embarrassed I was that he saw our embrace.
“Aleksandrov sent me to meet you two at the gate.”
Eli started walking and I followed. Hunter fell into step beside me and pulled me back a little.
“De Luca? Really? That's the guy you're interested in?” he whispered hastily.
“What are you talking about?”
“He's a guardian angel. It's not allowed.”
“It was a support hug,” I scoffed.
When we embraced, I felt it. It was my heart, it fluttered and pounded. It felt right, the way he hugged me back showed me he felt it, too.
“If you say so…” sighed Hunter.
“Why did Aleksandrov send you of all people, anyway?”
“I happened to be walking by the hall and bumped into him.”
Students were scattered everywhere and dirty looks and comments were whispered from every angle. Most hated me. Some girls looked at me adoringly and boys looked at me like I was a bad ass goddess that had no respect for the rules and could hold her own — I wonder if it would change their mind if they knew I had my ass handed to me and that I ended up in hospital.
“She reminds me of Cat Woman,” I heard a boy state.
“Sexy,” replied his friend.
“Your stunt has driven most of the boys crazy,” said Hunter.
“Ew… Please, I’m nauseous enough,” I replied.
He laughed a little more when he saw me grimace. We approached the steps of the hall. “Good luck,” whispered Hunter in my ear and squeezing my hand.
“Thanks.”
Hunter turned and walked away. Before Eli opened the door he turned to me. “He likes you,” said Eli, nodding his head towards Hunter.
“What? No, he doesn't.”
“You didn't see his face when he saw us hug.”
“Really? You want to do this now?”
Eli turned back and opened the door. We stepped inside. The room was mostly empty; the only furniture was the long desk filled with people and a single chair on the opposite side.
“Ruby, come sit.” Mr Aleksandrov gestured to the chair.
They all watched as I walked over to the chair and sat down. Eli stood beside me, arms crossed.
“Ruby, you sit before us because you broke major rules, not only school rules, but rules that are considered law in our world.”
I nodded.
“Why?”
I sat in silence for a moment, trying to gather my thoughts. “I received letters from Hank saying he had captured my cousin, Camilla.”
“And why didn't you tell your guardian angel, Eli De Luca?”
“Because I knew he would stop me from going.” My response was somewhat true, that and the fact I didn't want him to get hurt or to deal with anymore 'Ruby Drama.' He had already done so much for me.
The panel whispered amongst themselves before a woman cleared her throat, ready to ask the next question.
“Miss Moore, are you aware that we knew your cousin wasn't even in the country?”
“Not until after the incident.”
“So, if you had involved your guardian in the first place, we wouldn't have dead guardian angels, vampires, and nearly a student, on our hands. Now that you understand that, let’s discuss rule breaking,” Mr Aleksandrov continued.