Nephilim (Academy of the Fallen #2) by Daniele Lanzarotta Page B

best to protect you.  Then I ended up here.  The place where I should have brought you from the beginning.”
    “No offense, but I’m glad you didn’t.  Andrew and Kelly are the best parents I could have asked for.”
    I didn’t mean for my words to be hurtful, but I could tell they were.  I awkwardly attempted to explain what I meant.
    “I—I didn’t mean that the way it came out.”
    He sighed.  “I’m thankful for them keeping you safe from this world for as long as they did.  It is just that now you are not prepared.”
    “Once you let me go… did you ever try to find Benjamin?  To take him away from his father?”
    “I did… but his father hid him well.  I wasn’t able to find anything about him at all until… well… until after Benjamin got to you.  I still don’t think it is too late for him… If I could only get him to listen.”
    I looked at him in shock.  “You don’t think it is too late?  He is going around having children of his own!  He is his father’s son!”
    “Only because I couldn’t stop him from being raised that way.  Benjamin, the one I raised in the first few years of his life… he is still in there.  He just needs help remembering who that Benjamin is.”
    I just shook my head, thinking that maybe having the people from the other Academy stay here wasn’t a bad idea after all.  Mr. Daniels just didn’t seem like the most reliable person to do the job.
    “What about Irene?” I asked.  “Do you know what happened to her?”
    He shook his head and hesitated  “Part of the condition for me being accepted at the Academy was to let her go.”
    “Is that it?” I asked.
    He nodded and we both got up.
    “I’m going to see how Chambers is doing, if you would like to come along…”
    I hesitated because even though I was mad at Hunter, I was also worried and wondering why he ended up in the infirmary.
    “I—I’m not sure I want to see him, but what happened?  Why is he in the infirmary in the first place?”
    Daniels sighed.  “The girl who was outside is a succubus.  They tend to suck the life out of people.”
    “…but Hunter is… welll, you know what he is.”
    Daniels looked surprised.  “I sometimes forget the two of you tell each other everything.”
    I nodded.
    “Succubi can feed off anyone.  Hunter is just weakened, but he will recover.  If he was human, he would’ve likely died.”
    I nodded.  “Can you just ask someone to let me know how he is doing?”
    “Of course… and Kayla, as much as I don’t like this connection that you have with Chambers… what happened between him and the demon wasn’t entirely his fault.”
    I nodded and left, not sure what to think.
     

 
    NINETEEN
    I wanted to go straight back to my room and just lock myself in.  I was near the building when I heard someone calling my name.  I turned around to find a guy, one of the haunted, rushing to catch up to me.
    I had seen him before, but honestly, I couldn’t even remember his name.  I tried to pretend as if I had not heard him and rush inside the building, but that plan failed miserably.
    “Kayla!” he called again.
    He was too close, so I just turned around.  “Can I help you?”
    “I just wanted to make sure that you are okay,” he said. 
    Honestly, I was surprised he was not out of breath.
    “Yes, I’m fine.”
    “You don’t remember me, do you?”
    “Sorry.  I remember meeting you before, but I’m terrible with names,” I lied.
    “My name is Tucker,” he said.  “We met in the cafeteria on your first day here.”
    “Oh, right.  Sorry.”
    I stood there in awkward silence.  “So, I—I have to go… I’m kinda tired.”
    “Oh.”
    Something about his expression changed.  He grabbed my wrist, pulling me toward him, and tried to kiss me.
    I pulled away.  “What the hell are you doing?”
    He let go of my wrist.  “Sorry… sorry… I just thought I was helping.”
    “With what exactly?!”
    “Well, I saw you all upset