Fallen Academy: Year Three

by Leia Stone

  “So what do we do?” I asked him out loud, and Elodie stopped to look at me, perplexed.

  “I thought you had a plan.” She sounded irritated.

  Shit. I was talking to Bernie.

  “I do. I… uh.”

  “You need to steal a car,” Bernie stated casually.

  My eyes bugged. “I have to steal a car?”

  She was frowning. “Are you okay? You’re acting weird.” We were almost at the bottom floor by that point. I needed to get her moving.

  Bernie must’ve revealed himself to her right then because she jumped backward, and stared at him wide-eyed. Her gaze ran over his wings, her mouth gaping open.

  “This is Bernie. My guardian angel,” I introduced them.

  She’s going to have me committed.

  With a nod, she extended her hand. “I’m Elodie.”

  Bernie smiled, taking her hand casually. “I was just telling Brielle that she needed to steal a car.”

  The boy didn’t seem phased by Bernie’s sudden apparition. Instead he seemed to have other issues. “Stealing is bad,” he declared.

  “Yes.” I agreed with him. “Which is why I find it very interesting my guardian angel is asking me to do that.” My gaze flew to Bernie.

  Bernie waved it off like it was no big deal. “You’ll have it returned, and you’re trying to help someone, so it cancels out the bad karma.”

  Hmm, that seemed questionable. I wondered how long Bernie had been in the guardian angel gig.

  “Since you were born.” He winked.

  I rolled my eyes and was about to retort when the sound of sirens grew closer.

  Shea and Lincoln, my mom, Raphael, Mikey, Noah, they were all waiting on the other side of that border. I would do anything to get to them. Even steal a car. And I’d promised Raksha I wouldn’t let anything happen to her family. That was a promise I held dearer than any other.

  How the hell would I steal a car? I didn’t know, but I’d figure it out soon. Hustling down the last flight of stairs, we stepped out onto the street and I quickly tried the door handle of a beat-up maroon Toyota.

  Locked.

  I moved to the next car as Bernie tried the same handle on the Toyota and it opened.

  “Hey,” I scolded him. That was totally locked!

  Guardian angel perk, I guess.

  Elodie and the boy slipped into the back, while I opened the driver door with ease. A Demon City police car blared down the road, and I leapt into the car with my hood still up.

  Bernie sat next to me with a kind smile.

  “You have powers to start this thing?” I asked. I wasn’t about to rub some wires together like in the movies and get electrocuted.

  He simply snapped his fingers and the car started.

  My eyes bugged out, and when they flicked to the rearview mirror, I saw Elodie was in shock as well.

  “Where have you been all my life?” I threw the car into Drive, and pulled out onto the main road.

  I’d made a promise to Raksha, and I intended to keep it.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Taking a right at the next light, I started driving us near the highway, away from the sound of the sirens.

  “Remember when Stacey Masters bullied me in third grade? Why didn’t you jump in then?” I asked Bernie. I couldn’t get over this guardian angel thing.

  He looked down at his clasped hands, a slight frown on his face. “I do remember that. That was very sad, but I’m only permitted to help you with this one life event. Once you get over that border, my entire existence in this lifetime will be complete.”

  What? What was going to happen at the border that was so important my guardian angel’s entire existence depended on it?

  I was about to ask when Elodie spoke. “Do I have a guardian angel too?”

  I could see from her face that she was totally tripped out by Bernie’s presence.

  Bernie nodded. “Of course. Everyone does. Many of them.”

  We drove out of town in silence. It was too much to process for me, let alone Elodie, and the thought of being home in a matter of minutes was too much excitement for me to bear.

  Bernie suddenly reached out and grabbed my arm. “Don’t go to the border. Get off at the next exit. Lucifer is here and looking for you.”

  Shit.

  “Mommy’s boss, Lucifer?” the boy asked from the back seat.

  Did he know her boss was the Devil? Doubtful. He probably thought Lucifer was some normal name.

  “Yes. Mommy’s bad man boss is looking for us, but once we cross over to Angel City, we’ll be safe. Right?” Elodie asked me.

  “Right,” I answered without hesitation. Lie number two.

  No point in freaking her out, telling her that he could basically spy on us anytime, and make us get in car accidents and stuff.

  “I’ve blocked your energetic signatures from his prying eyes,” Bernie assured us.

  This man has some serious power.

  “Is Maximus a real dog?” I asked him as we exited the freeway and drove along a frontage road.

  Bernie chuckled. “Of course.”

  “Now what?” I’d reached the end of the frontage road, so we were close to the border. The high wall stood tall in the distance.

  “Turn right,” Bernie instructed.

  I drove along a small side road for another minute, when Bernie asked me to stop. The distinct sound of helicopter blades was whirling in the distance. Were they looking for us?

  “Let’s get out here,” Bernie urged.

  While Elodie and her son climbed out, Bernie turned to me.

  “Brielle, after today I won’t see you again—well, not in this form. I’ll always be with you, but I won’t be permitted to converse with you like this.”

  For some reason, that made my heart pinch. “Oh.”

  He reached out a glowing hand and placed it on my chest, right over Lucifer’s devil mark. “I just want you to know that I heard every prayer, felt every ounce of pain and desperation, and I’m so incredibly proud of the woman you’ve become.”

  A tingling trickled across my chest and then down my arms, tears pricking my eyes as I felt this incredible unconditional love wash over me. I didn’t understand the world, or why bad things happened. If we all had guardian angels, then why the hell couldn’t they just jump in and save us from that car accident, or bad relationship? But none of that mattered right then because in that moment, there was a perfect love filling my body, one I hadn’t felt in a long, long time. One that reminded me of my father, Shea, Lincoln, and every good thing I’d ever cared about in my life.

  Finally, he removed his hand, and I looked down to find fresh bare skin. No mark.

  “How?” I gasped.

  When Mr. Claymore tried to touch it, it had conjured a portal for Lucifer.

  “Lucifer is not all powerful. What was never agreed to cannot hold,” he stated cryptically.

  Those words, ‘what was not agreed to,’ made me think of what I had agreed to down there. How I’d taken that glowing bone, and agreed to use Sera to open the gates of Heaven.

  “Umm, Bernie… what if I did agree to something? Something bad.” My heart thumped in my chest, the sirens sounding closer than ever.

  Bernie’s face fell and a frown pulled at his lips. “That’s something you need to figure out yourself, my dear. Come on, we don’t have much time.”

  Shit. Sera was right. I never should’ve done that.

  Pushing it from my mind, I hopped out of the car and ran to Elodie and her son’s side.

  I let the cloak fall to the ground and popped my wings out. They sprang from my shoulders with a slight ache, but with a flew flaps, I knew I could fly just fine. That healer demon had fixed me up well.

  “I can’t fly anyone over,” Bernie informed me.

  Okay. I got this.

  “I’m going to fly you over the border wall one at a time,” I told them. It seemed like the most logical plan, and from there we could head out on foot un
til we found a car, person, or something to help us. If I could get to a phone, I could call Shea or Lincoln.

  “She’s here!” A male voice shouted from far away.

  I spun around to see a flatbed truck full of demons was driving our way.

  Elodie thrust her son into my arms. “Take him first.”

  Without thinking, I grabbed the boy, strapping him to my body like a monkey.

  He clung to me, crying out, “Mom!”

  “You’re fine. Everything is going to be okay. Have you ever been flying?” I asked him, trying to keep my voice calm as I kicked off the ground and flapped my wings madly.

  He yelped instead of answering me, and burrowed his head into my neck.

  “I’ve got you,” I promised.

  He was lighter than most dogs I knew, and I carried him with ease as we flew higher and higher over the fence. Looking down, I spotted a nice community park. A few kids were playing there, and as I descended, their parents stared at me wide-eyed. When I landed and set the boy down, one of the moms ran for her child in fear.

  “I’m a Celestial in the Fallen Army, on official duty. Can you watch this boy for a minute?” I yelled out to her.

  She stopped in her tracks, looking at my half-black, half-white wings suspiciously. I held out my arms, showing her the Michael and Raphael tattoos. Her gaze traced over them, until finally she nodded.

  Crouching down, I met the boy’s frightened face. “I’m going to get your mom, and I’ll be right back, okay?”

  His bottom lip quivered, but he nodded, and I pushed off the ground again.

  Bernie would keep Elodie safe.

  Right?

  I flapped my wings as hard as I could, clearing the fence and looking down to find that all hell had broken loose. Bernie had erected some type of protective dome over Elodie and himself, and the demons were raining down on him with everything they had—a Brimstone demon, a Snakeroot, and an Abrus from what I could gather. I landed on the gravel behind them, and with little effort I called up my light magic, pleased to see it was still there, alive and well.

  As the Abrus demon spun around to face me, I lashed out with my whip, wrapping it around his neck.

  “Bernie! Get her over the fence!” I shouted, pulling the sword he’d given me.

  “I’m not allowed!” he called back, taking hit after hit against his shield.

  Angels and their stupid rules!

  With a yank, I pulled the Abrus demon closer to me and came down hard across his back with my sword. It sliced into him, sending him sprawling out on the sidewalk. I used the distraction to try and sidestep the fight, intending to get behind Bernie’s shield so I could grab Elodie.

  When I was a few feet from them, she screamed, “Look out!”

  Everything happened in slow motion then.

  I heard the firing of a gun, and I spun quickly to see the Abrus demon I’d cut down was standing, and pointing the gun at me. But before I knew what was happening, Bernie was in front of me in a golden streak of light, and then he was falling. The Abrus demon fired multiple shots into Bernie’s chest, taking him down like he was hunting an animal.

  Shock and rage flooded through me, and I went berserk. I exploded with white light, throwing the Abrus demon back, walking towards him until I stood over him, flooding his body with the white-hot light and incinerating him to a crisp. My chest was heaving as I spun and slashed out wildly with my sword, cutting off the Snakeroot demon’s head. The Brimstone demon was standing there in shock, and I used his inaction to lunge and hack the demon’s horns right off his head.

  “Come on!” I shouted at him like a maniac.

  There was a little boy on the other side of the wall without his mom, and I wasn’t going to let anything happen to her or him. My guardian angel had been shot, and I was mere feet from my freedom. I would cut this guy into a hundred pieces if it meant we could all escape.

  The Brimstone demon was clutching the stumps from his hacked-off horns, and looking at me like I was a psychotic maniac, which in that moment I was.

  I didn’t wait, just charged him.

  His self-preservation seemed to kick in then, because he burst forward, using his forearms to knock my weapon aside before he plowed into me. Dropping the sword, I flew backward as his arms slammed into my chest, falling hard on my already sore body, and groaning at the pain racing through me. The Brimstone demon hovered over me, waving his hands in the air like a lunatic. It took me too long to realize he was creating a portal.

  No!

  I couldn’t go back there.

  Elodie dashed into my peripheral vision then, grabbing my sword and raising it. I kept my eyes trained on the Brimstone demon, holding his gaze so he wouldn’t notice her. He didn’t even glance her way when she raised the sword and brought it down on his neck, cutting off his head clean.

  Black demon blood exploded onto me, and I rolled to the side to avoid getting hit with his big-ass body. I scurried to stand, chest heaving with adrenaline, and looked at the Necromancer. “Thank you. I’ll be right back,” I breathed, and then ran to Bernie’s side.

  My guardian angel was lying in a heap on his back. His wings that seemed made of light were flickering in and out.

  “Bernie!” I crashed to my knees beside him. His chest was full of holes, blood everywhere, but he was smiling as he stared up at the sky.

  “I’m so sorry.” Tears rolled down my cheeks, and a sob lodged in my throat as the sirens drew closer.

  His gaze found mine and he reached out, cupping my face. “Don’t be. I know not of death, and will be reborn.” His words should’ve given me comfort, but seeing his body, the one I’d loved and helped nurture for so long, in such a frightful sight killed me.

  I now understood that his entire life was meant to save mine, and the epiphany pinched at my heart. “I love you,” I whimpered.

  “And I you.”

  What happened next was something I would never have believed, had Elodie not been there to witness it as well.

  Bernie’s mouth fell open, eyes glazed over, and then… his soul stood up. He was made entirely of a golden light, and he shook himself from head to toe, as if ridding himself of the trauma associated with his human form, which still lay crumpled on the ground. He gave me one last look and a smile before taking off to the skies.

  What. The. Fu—

  “We need to go!” Elodie pressed urgently.

  My gaze rose to the sky in fascination as Bernie shrank to a tiny golden blip, and then shook my head, trying to clear it.

  I grabbed Elodie, and burst from the ground. Flapping my wings, I pushed past the fatigue and flew us over the wall, and lowered us into the park where the little boy was waiting with the mom I’d asked to watch him. When she saw my body covered in black blood, she grabbed her kid and ran off, leaving Elodie and Raksha’s son clutching his penguin.

  I didn’t blame her.

  Holy shit, I’d made it. I’d made it back to Angel City.

  Lincoln was the only thing on my mind.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The park was now deserted. Locals who lived near the border knew the kind of shit that could go down, and were hiding in their houses. I was just about to start jogging down the street, to look for another car to steal when a big Fallen Army-issued van turned the corner.

  Elodie shrank back, covering her son as if to protect him, but I pulled her out into the street.

  “It’s okay. They’re safe. We’re safe now,” I told her, stepping into the street, and waving my arms rapidly.

  The van came to a halt and when the doors opened, I burst into tears.

  Darren and Blake stepped out of the car, eyes as wide as saucers.

  “Blake! Darren!” I sobbed, and started running.

  I crashed into Darren, who was nearest me, and his arms came around me, holding me tightly. “Jesus Christ, Brielle, we thought you were dead,” he murmured in my ear.

  I pulled back, smiling. “I got out! I escaped, and these people
helped me. I owe them my life,” I lied. If they were going to get asylum or whatever it was called, it had to be for a good reason.

  Darren seemed to realize there were others there and stood taller. “Get in the van. There’s a riot on the other side of the wall.”

  A riot? Just now? Because we left?

  “Demons are trying to climb over,” Blake informed us, opening the back doors, and ferrying Elodie and her son inside.

  Darren’s eyes looked misty. “Brielle. God, I’m so glad you’re okay.” His gaze ran over my body as if looking for injuries. The black demon blood probably threw him.

  “I’m fine. Take me to Lincoln! To Shea!” I shouted, before jumping in the back of the van.

  Something dark crossed Darren’s face, but it was quickly replaced with a smile. “Shea is going to shit herself. Everyone is.”

  We spent the twenty-minute drive in relative silence. The boys would ask me a question about my time down there, and I’d look at Elodie with her son, and tell them I’d fill them in later. It was a lot of talking in code, but they finally realized I couldn’t speak in front of them.

  “How’s Lincoln?” I finally got the balls to ask. “If he’s dating someone else, you can just tell me. I don’t care. I just want him to be happy,” I lied, then prepared myself for the devastation that would come if he had indeed moved on from losing me.

  Darren frowned. “He’s not dating anyone else. No way. He’s okay. He’s actually on a special mission for the army.”

  Silence descended upon the van, and I suddenly didn’t want to know anything about Lincoln. Not here in the car with strangers. I wanted to ask what mission and where, but I was afraid I’d burst into tears if they said it was too dangerous. Still, the casual way at which Darren said ‘no way’ to him dating anyone else made my heart race.

  Instead, I sat back in shock, and stared at the gates of Fallen Academy as they came into view.

  I had imagined my reuniting with Lincoln a hundred times. Every day in Hell, it was all I thought about while in there. He’d be on the beach with the boys during the beach games. I’d shout his name, and he’d turn to look at me, eyes wide. Then he’d scream my name into the wind and run toward me. We’d crash into each other and share the most passionate kiss of our lives.