by Cara Wylde
We were silent for a while. I finished my gin, and when she tried to pour me some more, I refused, covering my glass with my hand.
“So, she’s dead.”
My mom shook her head. She sighed as if she was in pain and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I don’t know. All I know is that she never came back, and the police never found her. Dead or alive.”
I nodded. “What was her name? Her surname.”
“Katerina Angelov.”
“Angelov. Mila Angelov.”
My mom smiled. “Not half bad.”
I wasn’t going to tell her that Headmaster Colin had started calling me Mila Morningstar since the day I found out who my real parents were. GC and Paz were doing the same when they wanted to piss me off. If she didn’t know who my father was, then that was a good thing. But did she… Impossible. Still… Dad did tear my letter to pieces.
“Mom, I want you to promise me something.”
“Anything, baby.”
“No more lies. From now on, only the truth. I need to know I can trust you.”
She reached over the table and took my hands into hers. “I promise, baby.”
“Okay, because I’m going to tell you something, and then I’m going to ask you something. And it’s important that you don’t lie to me now.” She simply looked at me, her eyes as big as saucers. Okay, maybe I was exaggerating a bit, but I needed her to understand how serious the situation was. “When I left a year ago, I went to Grim Reaper Academy. I accepted their invitation to apply, and I got in. I study there now.”
She furrowed her thin, overly plucked brows. “Grim Reaper Academy? Oh! I remember the letter… But I thought… I thought that was a prank. What even is Grim Reaper Academy? It can’t be a real school.”
I studied her closely. “You’re telling me that you know nothing about the place?”
She blinked. “Baby, I promise you, I know nothing about it. When you got that letter, that was the first time I heard of it, and I thought it was a stupid joke. You thought the same, remember?”
“But Dad… He took the letter from me and tore it to pieces. Why would he do that? If you don’t know anything, then he does.”
She shrugged. “You know most of his outbursts make no sense.”
“This one does.” I jumped to my feet and grabbed my backpack. “He knows something. He wouldn’t have snapped like that because of a joke that didn’t even concern him. Come on, we’re going home. I need to talk to him.”
She stood up slowly. “Baby, are you sure?”
“What do you mean?” I was already across the room, my hand on the doorknob.
“I want you to come back home. I do. But you’re angry now, and if you confront him…”
“I’m not afraid of him.”
She smiled. “My baby, you changed so much…”
“You are, though.” My voice cracked a bit. I turned to her and squeezed her arm lightly. “Mom, why did you stay with him? After all he did… to me, to you. You should have left him a long time ago.”
“Baby, you know I can’t. What kind of woman leaves her husband?”
“Her abusive husband?” That came out louder than intended. “A sane woman!”
She shook her head. I took her hand and pulled her toward the door.
“I’m not afraid of him, and you shouldn’t be, either. Because I’ll make sure he never touches you again.”
CHAPTER TWO
We found Dad in front of the TV, as usual. One year away, and nothing had changed. Empty beer bottles strewn everywhere on the floor, an unfinished roast chicken on the table, among breadcrumbs and empty wrappers. Without a word, Mom started cleaning, not before making sure Dad had a new, cold beer in hand to appease him as I stood before him, blocking the TV.
“You’re back,” he said in a flat, unimpressed tone. “And you’re interrupting my game.”
I rolled my eyes and hit the on/off button on the TV. It was one of the old models that still had an on/off button. He huffed and leaned back in his armchair. He didn’t appreciate my attitude, but he was too shocked by my sudden appearance – even if he tried to hide it – to react violently.
“We need to talk.”
“We do? What the hell would we have to talk about? Look, kid, it’s a good thing you came to visit your mom. She’s been crazy since you left. I told her you’re not worth crying over, but does she ever listen?” He shook his head, as if he’d done his best here, he’d been a saint, and Mom was just so ungrateful. “So, go have lunch with her or whatever, then get the fuck out of my house. This year you’ve been gone…” He let out a full, hearty belly laugh. “It’s been great! So, how about you don’t ruin it for me, huh? I’ll make you a bargain, even. You can visit once a year, talk to your mom, but then you’re gone. You don’t live here anymore, brat. And even though she insisted we keep your room intact, you don’t have a place under my roof any longer. You’re on your own. As you should be.” He took a swig of his beer.
I was disgusted. He’d gained weight since I’d last seen him. Too much beer, bread, and steak. He smelled of sweat and alcohol, and I wondered when he’d last showered. He hadn’t changed, but I had. His words didn’t hurt me anymore. For one, I’d gone through much worse at the Academy, had barely survived year one, and there were still at least two people who wanted me dead. I’d dealt with a mage, an archangel, and a tentacled fucking monster. Stepan Lazarov couldn’t have scared me now even if he launched his fat ass at me and tried to hit me. Which he’d done in the past, and I’d been weak then. Not anymore. And two, he wasn’t my biological father. And that knowledge changed everything. He could say whatever the fuck he wanted. I didn’t care.
“Grim Reaper Academy. What do you know about it?”
He was silent for a second, and if I didn’t know him better, he looked like he was considering my words carefully. But I knew him better. He laughed.
“Grim Reaper what?”
“The letter I received last year, on my birthday. You remember it, don’t you? I read it out loud, in the kitchen. It was an invitation to apply to Grim Reaper Academy, and the second I finished reading it, you took it from me and tore it to pieces.”
He cocked an eyebrow, thought for another second, took a swig of beer. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. What the fuck is a Grim Reaper Academy, anyway? What do they teach there? How to kill people? Is it like… a school for assassins?” He laughed harder. “Ilena, see what books do to people?” He yelled after my mom, who was in the kitchen. “Work more, read less,” he turned back to me.
Mom appeared in the doorway. She watched us fearfully as she dried a freshly washed plate with a towel.
“Your beloved daughter here is going on about some academy for assassins. Meh. Too many fantasy books.” He reached for the remote control, which he probably knew wouldn’t help because I’d turned the TV off from the button. “Now, move.”
“I know you remember.” I stepped closer to him, fixing him with a hateful gaze. God, I really did hate this man! “You tore that letter to tiny pieces, told me to forget about it, and sent me to my room. You told me that I never received anything. Why would you do that? Unless you knew something about it. Unless you know, right now, even as you’re lying to me, about the Academy, about what it is, about who I am.”
He clenched his jaw. Slowly, he set his beer down and stood up. He rounded the table and leaned in to hiss in my face. Fuck, his breath smelled like a dumpster!
“And who do you think you are?”
I stood my ground. One year ago, I would have cast my eyes down, slouched my shoulders, apologized profusely, and gone to my room, hoping he wouldn’t take revenge on my mom for my disrespectful behavior. But I wasn’t that person anymore. I wasn’t Mila Lazarov. I was Mila Morningstar, and that had to mean something. I had to make it mean something. Although I was pretty sure I was going to take my mother’s name sooner or later.
“I know I’m not you
r daughter. I know you and Mom adopted me in Bulgaria when my real mother disappeared. Her name was Katia.”
He was taken aback. He retreated a few steps, hit the coffee table with the back of his knees, and almost lost his balance. He recovered quickly and plastered that smirk of his – which I’d come to hate – on his lips.
“Is that so? And who told you?” He turned to my mom. “You told her, woman?” But she shook her head, and he looked back at me. “So what? Now you know. Good for you. Now you know you don’t belong here. You never belonged with us. You leeched off us like the parasite that you are…” He spread his arms. “But I’m a good man. I have a big heart. I took you in, fed you, clothed you, sent you to school. You should be thanking me, you ungrateful brat!”
“Why do you hate me so much? What have I ever done to you?”
He pointed his finger at my face. “You exist.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “I exist. I remind you of her, don’t I? What? Do I have her eyes? Her hair? I remind you of her and how she left you.”
He cursed in Bulgarian and spat on the floor, then turned on his heels and stormed out of the house. That was so like him.
“Now you’ve done it, baby,” Mom said with tears in her eyes. “Why do you have to be so direct? So harsh?”
“No more lies.” I walked to her and wiped her tears with the hem of my wristband. “He can’t blame it on you anymore. I’m not your daughter, so it’s not your fault.”
“Do you think that’s why he blamed everything on me? No! Because I was the one who wanted to adopt you. I was the one who wouldn’t let you go. After you leave, he’ll… he’ll…” She started crying harder.
“Shh… Mom. Mom! I’m not leaving. There’s one week left before school starts. I’m staying here.”
“But he said…”
“I don’t care what he said. He knows about Grim Reaper Academy. He’s a piss-poor liar, and I’m not leaving until I get the truth out of him.
But I was wrong. I stayed the week and didn’t accomplish a thing. When he realized I wasn’t going away this time just because he’d said so, he made a habit of getting out of the house early in the morning and disappearing until late at night. I had no idea where he went. Some rundown bar, most likely. All I knew was that it was the first time in my life – and his – when he was the one staying out of my way. Why? It was so unlike him. Which made me wonder… What else had I been wrong about?
At least, my mother could take a break. I’d never seen her so happy and relaxed as I saw her that week, when we were just the two of us all day. We went grocery shopping, stopped by the diner a few times a day to make sure everything worked smoothly, and she didn’t even care that the new girl was making mistake after mistake. It didn’t matter, because we were together, and my dad was, for once, minding his own damn business. We had our coffee in the morning, in peace and quiet, and I told her about Grim Reaper Academy and what I studied there. I told her about the ocean, the woods, the luxurious dorms, the teachers… and I may have slipped a thing or two about GC and Paz, although I avoided mentioning one was a false god and the other was a demon. It was hard for her to grasp there were supernatural people in this world, and while she accepted the fact, she avoided talking about it. I could tell she didn’t want details. It was easier for her to stick to her world view and think the students and professors at the Academy were normal people, like me and her. There was a certain feeling of safety that came with the notion, and she wasn’t yet ready to give that up.
There were things I didn’t tell her, though. I didn’t tell her about the bullying. I never mentioned Sariel’s or Lorna’s names. Not even Francis’s. I didn’t tell her about the Great Old One sleeping under the school, deep in the ground. I didn’t tell her I’d almost died at least two times. I was still here, and that was all that mattered. And I didn’t tell her about Valentine Morningstar. Most days, I didn’t want to believe I was his daughter myself. Most days, I hoped that if I stopped thinking about it, stopped acknowledging it, then it would simply stop being true. I knew it was silly. I didn’t tell her about the prophecy, either, but I did tell her about Patty, my best friend, and about Klaus. She felt better about me leaving again for a year knowing that I had friends where I was going.
Dad wasn’t there the morning I left for Salem, Massachusetts. By then, I knew he was hiding something. How would he know about Grim Reaper Academy, he, a human, an ordinary man who’d never had a brush with the supernatural? Or maybe, that was where I was wrong. No matter. I would be back one day, and he wouldn’t be able to avoid me then. I’d make sure of it. For now, I considered the fact that he’d stayed away from home for a week my first victory against him. And victory tasted sweet. Especially when the prize was seeing my mom smiling, going on about little nothings, and giggling at her own bad jokes.
We said our goodbyes, and I walked to the train station. I needed to burn the two pounds of fat my mom’s hearty meals had put on my hips and thighs.
“See you two blockheads tonight?” I group texted GC and Paz.
“You took forever!” Pazuzu whined. “We’ve been here for three days!”
“School 2morrow no time for shit,” GC explained in his unique writing system.
“Shut up and wait for me at the gates.”
God, they were so needy! It’s a good thing they’re needy. That saves me the embarrassment. I chuckled to myself. Because if they hadn’t been that way, if they hadn’t texted me day and night, I would’ve been the obsessed one. The needy one. I missed them like crazy! My hormones had been doing a number on me all summer, and all I could think of when my head hit the pillow was GC’s strong body pressed against mine, and Paz’s rough hands in my hair. My dreams had gotten kinkier, too. Paz’s hands wrapped around my neck as GC pinned me to the mattress and… I shook my head in frustration. My panties were soaked, and I crossed my legs as I sat in the crowded railcar. A couple sat across from me, and I caught him staring. He smiled at me, and I furrowed my brows and looked out the window, making sure not to give him a second chance to make eye contact. Can’t wait to see my guys!
I’d only seen them once after practice had started. At the end of the school year, all the students came for one week at the Academy to prepare for prom. The memories I’d made on prom night had kept me going all summer. My very first prom when I truly felt like a princess… GC bought me the dress, and Paz, always in competition with GC, bought me the most beautiful necklace I’d ever set eyes on. Sapphires to go with my eyes and hair. Sariel was chosen prom king, and Pandora was queen. I didn’t care. I felt like I was the true queen that night, and seeing how all the other girls glared at me as I danced with Paz and GC, sometimes at the same time, I could bet they knew it, too. One queen and two kings. We might have not been invited on stage, but we sure won prom that night!
I took out my phone and looked through the pictures. A smile grew on my lips. The train couldn’t move fast enough. Especially now that I’d made up my mind about Paz and GC. I was going to trust them. Because trust was the only way to finally get what I wanted from them. Their bodies and souls. Not to reap, but to ravish.
CHAPTER THREE
They were waiting for me at the gates, as I’d told them to. GC ran to me, grabbed me by the waist, lifted me up, and spun me around, backpack and all. I giggled and held on to him. He put me down, and his lips were on mine, his hands all over me, groping and squeezing. He took my breath away. It didn’t last long, though. Pazuzu marched to us, grabbed GC by the shoulder, and pulled him away.
“Greedy,” he mumbled as he pulled me against him and looked me in the eyes. “Welcome back, Mila.”
I laughed, lifting myself on my tiptoes. “Thanks.” I kissed him fiercely, although GC’s taste was still lingering on my lips. His hands came to tangle in my hair, and I moaned when he pulled gently. I had no idea what his deal with my hair was, but I wasn’t going to question it. All his possessive pulling and tugging soaked my panties
in seconds.
“Okay, that’s enough.” GC grabbed Paz and got him off me in one swift jerk.
Paz shot him a murderous look, his hands turning into fists at his sides.
“Back off, asshole! You had your turn.”
“And you had yours,” GC crossed his arms over his chest, seemingly unimpressed. “It’s mine again.”
Here we go… If I let them, they would eventually end up wrestling in the dust, making a mess of their clothes, and landing a punch or two, just enough to leave bruises and give the whole school something to gossip about. I pinched the bridge of my nose, dragged a breath in, and took control of the situation.
“You guys have condoms, don’t you?”
Two sets of eyes snapped to me. I grinned mischievously, looking at them from behind my long lashes. Paz opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. Oh, good! Just left a demon speechless. GC didn’t look like he was capable of more intelligence, either. They had been waiting for so long, fighting over who’d get to take my virginity, and now, when it was finally going to happen, they didn’t know how to react. It was a good thing I’d been planning on taking full control, anyway, so I knew exactly how I wanted to proceed.