Page 1 of Saints & Sinners

Chapter One

I wasn’t suicidal. Ipromised.

That didn’t mean I wasn’t seriously considering launching myself out of a moving car as the wrought-iron gates groaned shut behind us, sealing me in.

My nails dug into the leather seat, and my breath was tight as the car crawled along the gravel path. Every second stretched too long, giving me far too much time to rethink every decision that led me here.

I could still jump out. I could tuck and roll, disappear into the woods before anyone even realized. But Joe would just sigh, mutter something about my dramatics and drag me right back.

Celestia Academy loomed ahead, rising from the mist like something straight out of a horror film. The kind where people go missing, and the world forgets they ever existed.

The ivy clinging to its stone walls curled like fingers, gripping onto the last traces of daylight filtering through the dense canopy of ancient oak trees. Everything about this place looked like it was designed to intimidate. To swallow people whole.

I hated it already.

And the worst part? This wasn’t even my first time in an unfamiliar place with no choice but to pretend like I belonged.I’d spent my whole life adapting—running, hiding, starting over. But this felt different. More... permanent.

I swallowed hard, shifting uncomfortably as Joe steered the wheel to the left, the tires crunching over the gravel.

He sighed. “Still not talking to me?”

That was the original plan when Joe told me we were leavingagainto come here. A four-hour drive later, I was proud I had kept up my silent treatment.

Until now.

“I’m not an Ascendant,” I muttered, staring at the ivy walls. “I won’t belong here.”

Ascendant.

I could scoff at the title. Celestia was one of the many academies around the world for people who had been blessed by angels before birth to one day become Celestials.

“You’ve barely even stepped inside.”

I swung my head around and cocked my brows. I was met with a pair of green eyes bordering on the color of emerald. “Easy for you to say when you’re already an angel.” Ever since I was left at his doorstep eighteen years ago, he’s looked after me as if he were, ironically, my guardian angel—except by every law and decree written into the Angelic Code, I wasn’t supposed to have one.

I wasn’t supposed to be here at all.

By all accounts, I should have been just another human oblivious to this world. But instead, I was the exception. The anomaly. The human girl who an angel happened to take pity on and fought to keep me.

“I already spoke to the Angelic Council and the academy before coming here,” Joe said. “Nadael says she is going to give my idea a chance.”

“No offence, Joe, but I doubt you can convince everyone that anon-Ascendant can become a Celestial.”

“That’s because we haven’t tried.”

“No.”I huffed, knowing that wasn’t the reason I was here. He just wanted to protect me, like always. “It’s because I’m too much of a hassle to keep around, so you dumped me here instead.”

I knew that wasn’t true. Of course, I didn’t, but I was itching for a reaction, and I got it as Joe looked at me, appalled. He had always been a father figure to me, despite the fact that we didn’t look alike. His sandy blonde hair and fair complexion differed from my curly brown locks and warm olive skin tone, but he was the only carer I had ever known.

“You really think I’m leaving you here because I don’t want you anymore?”

Resigned, I slumped against the car seat. “No.” But I was a lot of trouble to deal with in general.

He sighed. “You’re eighteen, Grace, and people out there who know that you are aware of our kind puts you in danger. I’m just trying to keep you safe, and Celestia is the best option.”

I wanted to tell him that I had better options than this, but he was right. The world was already cruel enough with demons preying on innocent souls that he feared the added danger of deranged Riftkeeper’s—humans who knew of Celestial beings—would stop at nothing to bring them down.

It’s not as if I was a targeted Celestial. I wasn’t even one to begin with. They just believed the world should be a land for the living, not one with angels or demons added to the mix. That, among other reasons, I assumed was why they disliked so many Celestials. And ever since they found out a Celestial took in a human—me—they have always sought me out. I wasthatunlucky.

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