Free No Angel by Helen Keeble Page A

embers. “That’s strange,” she said, touching one of the scorched leaves. “You weren’t hot before.” She blushed. “I mean, your wings were touching things without them bursting into flame.”
    “Uh, yeah, well,” I said, surreptitiously tugging my jacket down. “Very weird. No idea what happened there.” I cleared my throat. “All right. So I’ll help you. What the hell am I supposed to do?”
    “Stop the sixth-year girls from being utter bitches,” Krystal said.
    I stared at her. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like me to fight some demons instead?”
    “You can’t fight demons,” Faith said, getting to her own feet. She was still faintly pink and avoided making eye contact. “In their natural state, they exist on a different plane than us. Even when they’re possessing a human body, they’re practically invulnerable to normal weapons. Anyway, I’m not trying to just drive them off temporarily, but to seal the Hellgate for all time. That can only be done with the power of true love. But I can’t get my true love here unless I have a date for the Ball. It’s the only time boys are allowed in the school. Were allowed,” she corrected herself. “Anyway, only girls with the highest Peer Assessment results are allowed to take a boy to the dance.” Her face was the very picture of woe. “And I’m the least popular girl in the year, thanks to the demons. They know full well what I’m trying to do. They’re influencing the girls here, making them hate me.”
    Krystal must have read the skepticism on my face, because she aimed a kick at me. “She’s actually got solid evidence on this one. Up until last year—before Faith’s dad died—Faith was the most popular girl. She always has been. It was freaky how fast it all went bad. One minute everyone was tiptoeing around, feeling sorry for her because of her dad, and the next there were all these rumors flying around about him actually having gone insane and that Faith was just as crazy. Then someone drew one of those pentagrams—maybe under demonic influence, maybe just as a joke—and Faith completely flipped in front of the whole year group. That confirmed the rumors. Fast train to outcast town.”
    “I couldn’t help it,” Faith said in a low voice. “Those things . . . they’re wrong and evil. I still can’t believe you don’t feel it yourself.”
    Krystal wrinkled her nose. “They’re just lines, Faith. No one else finds them upsetting.”
    “I do,” I said. “A few of them anyway.” I still hadn’t worked out why some of the pentagram graffiti I’d cleaned today had inexplicably made my stomach churn, when others didn’t affect me at all.
    Krystal’s eyebrows rose. “Really? Well, you’re the angel.” She shrugged. “Anyway, Faith’s spectacular fall from grace was another of the things that made me think she might be onto something with her Ball plan. Why else would demons want to destroy her popularity? That’s why we decided to try to summon an angel, using the instructions in Faith’s dad’s notebooks. If demons are influencing the girls subconsciously, it makes sense that it could be counteracted by angelic influence.”
    “You have to spread your holy love over everyone,” Faith said, nodding.
    I was pretty sure a real angel wouldn’t find that quite so dirty. “You want me to send soothing vibes at people? Looking like this?”
    We all paused for a moment, considering my wingspan and incandescent glow.
    “Good point,” Krystal conceded. “You’d better go back to normal, Raf.”
    “If I knew how, don’t you think I’d have done it already?” I waved my arms, sending up a draft as my wings echoed the movement. I still wasn’t used to the bizarre sensation of the air pushing against them. I groaned as a thought struck me. “Oh, man, and this suit was custom tailored. My dad is going to kill me.”
    Krystal circled me, ducking under my outstretched wings. “Actually, your jacket isn’t torn,”