by Jayme Morse
“Actually, I need to go talk to Kieran,” I informed him. “I’m pretty sure there’s been some sort of mix up. I’m not really supposed to be here. There’s no way I could actually have Demon blood.”
Zay let out a little laugh. “That’s just crazy talk, Lux.”
“Is it?” I glanced over at him sharply. “Because right now, from my point of view, there’s no way any of this could actually be possible. How do I know that you people—you Demons, I mean—are telling me the truth? I don’t even have wings yet. What reason do I have to believe that I really am a Cambion and that you all aren’t just messing with me?”
“Wait, what? A Cambion?” Zay asked with raised eyebrows.
“That’s what Kieran told me I am. Half-Demon, half-human. Cambion.”
“Oh. Right.” A look that I couldn’t quite identify passed through his amber eyes. “You are half-Demon, Lux. Trust me.”
“Trust you. Trust you!” I scoffed. “The last time I trusted you, you brought me here. To a school for Demons.”
“Because it’s where you belong,” he replied quietly.
“How do you know that for sure?”
Zay sighed and then glanced down at his watch. “We don’t have a lot of time. Flight Lessons class is going to start in four minutes and it’s a bit of a walk to get over there. But I promise you I’ll show you some evidence that will make you believe you are part Demon as soon as we’re out of this class, okay?”
“Fine,” I agreed with a sigh. It wouldn’t kill me to sit through one Flight Lessons class before being shown this so-called evidence and then probably going back to the human world.
“Okay. Come on.” Zay led me down the gray stone hallway and then to a door that took us outside. The sky was still black with rain clouds.
“Why does it always look like it’s going to storm here?” I questioned.
“One of the powers Demons possess is the ability to control the elements,” he explained. “We can cause thunderstorms, create hurricanes and tornadoes, start fires—you name it. If we’re really angry with someone, usually there’s a really bad storm. Some Demons even use their ability to control the weather to trap others in one location. If the weather is bad enough, it can prevent them from being able to leave. However, it’s usually only the ‘bad’ Demons who use that ability.”
“So, are you telling me that all of the Demons are angry at someone? They all want to create storms to trap students here?” The idea made me feel sort of sick to my stomach.
“No, it’s not like that at all. Don’t worry,” Zay replied, laughing at me. “The reason it’s cloudy and storms a lot here is pretty simple. All of the demonic energy in one place is what causes it. If enough students at Demon Blood Academy get annoyed or angry, all of their energy combined has an effect on the sky.”
“I see.” I paused. “But it’s not always cloudy in the human world, even though there are Demons there, too.”
“That’s correct.”
“So, if humans and Demons coexist, then why is it sunny in the human world more than it is here?” I asked.
His eyes flitted over to meet mine. “Angels are responsible for the sun.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Angels actually… exist?”
Zay chuckled. “You thought that Demons were the only ones who existed?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “I guess I just hadn’t given it a whole lot of thought.” I paused for a moment. “Does a person need to die in order to become an Angel?”
“Some people become Angels or Demons when they die,” he replied. “But some are just born that way, just like we were born Demons.”
“And half-Demon,” I corrected him. “Where do the Angels go? Do they just live among humans? Or do they live up in the sky?”
He laughed. “No, they don’t live in the sky. They do live alongside humans. There’s an entire realm where Angels can choose to live, separate from ours.” He paused and glanced over at me. “You know how we come here to make sure we don’t become ‘bad’ Demons?”
“Yeah,” I replied with a nod.
“The Angels go to their own academy, Angel Fire Academy, so they don’t become too good,” Zay explained.
I just stared back at him wide-eyed. “It’s possible for Angels to become too good?”
“Yup.”
I waited for Zay to explain further, but he didn’t. Instead, he just continued to lead the way.
As we approached the cliff—the same cliff that Zay had originally landed on the night before and which reminded me a lot of the cliff from The Lion King—I saw a group of people dressed in school uniforms standing out there.
“This is where we’ll be having Flight Lessons?” I asked.
“Yes,” Zay replied with a nod.
I swallowed hard, unable to hide my nervousness about it. I had just imagined them practicing flying when they were on solid ground, not on a freaking cliff. This suddenly seemed so much more dangerous.
As we got closer, I spotted the woman who appeared to be in charge of the class. She looked like she was in her early thirties with auburn hair that fell over her shoulders in long, loose waves. She was wearing an emerald green dress, which made her amber eyes pop against her fair skin and long lashes.
“Isaiah, what are you doing here? You don’t have Flight Lessons until one o’clock,” the woman said with wide eyes as she approached us.
“I’ve actually been assigned Guardian,” Zay explained. “Professor Moore, this is Lux Whitmore.”
As the other students began to whisper, the teacher’s eyes widened with recognition as he said my name. Professor Moore turned to me, taking me in. “It’s such an honor to meet you, Lux.”
“It’s nice to meet you, too,” I replied with an awkward smile.
The teacher studied my face for a few moments before speaking again. “I will be your Flight Lessons instructor. Tell me, Lux. Have you gotten your wings yet?”
“No.” I paused. “At least, not that I know of. Would I know if I got them?”
“Oh, yes,” Professor Moore replied with a laugh. “When they come in for the very first time, you will have absolutely no control of them. They’ll appear on their own, randomly and without warning, and they won’t go away until they feel like it. You might have them for five minutes or for five days. It really all depends on how cooperative they are. After they come in for the first time, however, you will be able to control when you want them to come out.”
“How do you control them, exactly?” I questioned.
“Oh, it’s very easy,” Professor Moore replied with the wave of a hand. “You simply have to will them to come out. It’s like thinking about how you wish to move an arm or a leg. Just think about how you want your wings to come out and they will. When you want them to be gone, you just need to mentally urge them to go away. It’s really very easy. Our wings are quite receptive.” She paused. “Since you haven’t gotten your wings yet, however, there won’t be a whole lot for you to do during this class. Just feel free to hang back and listen to all of the instructions that I’ll be giving the other students. This way, you will be more prepared to fly when your time comes.”
“Okay,” I replied with a nod.
Turning her attention away from me, Professor Moore focused on the others in the group. “Since several of you only just had your wings come out this week, we’re going to start with the very basics. Those of you who have been here for a while may join in, even though these instructions will be nothing more than a refresher for you,” she explained. “Flying can be very scary if you don’t know what you’re doing, but that’s the entire reason you’re here. After you’ve completed your training, you will know what you’re doing.” The teacher paused. “The first thing I’m going to ask all of you to do is urge your wings to come out. Just think about how you want those beautiful wings to appear on your lovely shoulders.”
I watched as Professor Moore closed her eyes. A moment later, her own large, black feathery w
ings appeared.
All of the other students followed suit until I was the only one in the group who was standing there without wings. I just stood there, staring at them all, feeling completely enchanted.
Even though I had seen Zay’s wings already, I was more aware of what these wings signified now and it sort of surprised me that I found them so beautiful.
How could something so beautiful come from something so dark?
Professor Moore opened her eyes and glanced around at the others in the group. A smile hit her lips.
“Very good,” she said as she began to walk along the edge of the cliff, not taking her eyes off of her students for even a second. “Next, you will need to arch your backs a little. While you can fly when your bodies are straight, this will give you the ability to dive through the air. It’s quite similar to the difference between jumping and diving into a pool.”
I watched as everyone arched their backs, similar to the way Zay had arched his back when he had rescued me from the balcony at Cara’s.
I glanced over at Zay then. He stood there, wings spread behind his shoulders. With his jawline clenched and his back perfectly arched, he seemed incredibly focused on this flying lesson.
Knowing that I could have just kept on staring at him if I let myself, I pulled my eyes away from him.
“Splendid,” Professor Moore cooed at her students. “The next thing I want you to do is imagine that your bodies are completely weightless. Imagine that you don’t weigh any more than a feather. Getting into this mindset is very important. Although it will not change your body weight, it will help you get rid of everything that is dragging you down—your fears, anxieties, and anything else that may be going on in your life. Imagining that you are weightless will put your mind at ease. Our wings are strong enough to carry us, no matter what our body weight is. The only thing that can weigh us down is our emotions.” Turning to the group, Professor Moore instructed, “Now, close your eyes and picture it. Imagine a weightless feather falling through the sky. Then imagine that feather is you—and that you are floating.”
That was all it took, apparently, for them to lift themselves into the sky.
As the students opened their eyes, one of the girls let out a big gasp.
“You’re doing great,” Professor Moore told them with a smile as she hovered above them in the sky. “Now, I want you to flap your wings. Tilt your neck a little in the direction that you wish to go in and that’s where your wings will take you.”
The students all began to move in different directions across the sky.
“Now, I want you to try diving and dipping through the air. Imagine yourself as a bird.”
As they all began to take off, I just stared at them, completely in awe. They all looked so beautiful flying through the sky like that. It looked so… fun.
Stepping closer to the edge of the cliff, I watched them all flying through the sky. They swept back and forth, some of them dipping and diving like acrobats. I couldn’t help but think that they all looked like birds, even though they weren’t.
It was amazing to me that Demons could look so graceful. It was hard to imagine that, if what everyone was saying was true—if I really was a Cambion, then I, too, would eventually be out there flying like they were.
Of course, I was a skeptic. I still doubted that there was any truth to any of this. I doubted that I would ever get my wings.
As Professor Moore began to lead the students downwards, I leaned over the edge of the cliff so that I could continue to watch them flying. I was completely mesmerized by them.
And that’s when I lost my footing.
Chapter 8
Lux
As I fell through the air, I tried to scream… but no sound seemed to want to come out.
I felt too much panic to scream. All I could do was think about how I was falling to my death. It would be a painful one.
I had always heard that before you die, your entire life flashes before your eyes, but that wasn’t what happened. All I saw was how far I was going to have to fall before it was all over. I couldn’t even see the ground below, which told me one thing.
I was about to be a goner.
Just as I thought my life was about to end, I felt a pair of strong arms embrace me, halting me from falling any further through the air.
My heart pounded against my chest, and I began to breathe evenly again as I stared at the depths below.
“It’s okay, Lux,” Zay whispered against my ear. “I’ve got you.”
As I realized that I was going to be okay, I could feel my whole body begin to tremble at what could have been.
He hovered in the air for a few moments before he began to fly upwards, keeping a tight grip on me.
As he landed on the cliff again, I stepped out of his embrace.
I glanced over at him. “Thank you. That’s twice now that you’ve saved my life.”
“I think you overestimate my life-saving abilities,” he replied quietly, his eyes locked on mine.
“Oh, please. You’re my hero.” You’re like Superman but hotter, I thought to myself.
“I didn’t do anything heroic today,” he insisted.
“I’m afraid of heights,” I admitted aloud. It was something that I had never realized before. It was apparently the type of thing I couldn’t have realized, apparently, until falling off a cliff had nearly killed me.
It must have been a new fear.
“You have absolutely no reason to be afraid of heights, Lux.”
“I almost just died and you’re telling me I have no reason to be afraid. Are you kidding me?” I snapped at him.
“Falling off a cliff isn’t going to kill you,” Zay assured me.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “How do you figure?”
“You’re half-Demon, remember?” he said pointedly.
“Wait, are you saying that since I’m a Cambion, I can’t die?” I just stared at him incredulously. “Are we… immortals?”
“No, we’re not immortals, exactly. But falling off a cliff isn’t going to kill us. Human weapons won’t even kill us,” he replied. “You could easily survive a bullet through the heart.”
“So, what will kill us, then?”
“There are special weapons that are used specifically to kill Demons.”
“What type of weapons?” I pressed.
Zay hesitated. “The only type of weapon that can be used to kill a Demon is the type that’s been infused with the blood of an Angel. It’s thought that Angel blood is the only thing powerful enough to kill a Demon.” He paused. “When a Demon is injected with Angel blood, that will also kill them.”
“How do Angels die?” I asked.
“Numerous ways. It’s almost as easy to kill an Angel as it is to kill—” Zay started to say, but at that moment, Professor Moore landed next to us.
“Lux, are you okay? I saw you fall off the cliff.” The teacher shot me a look of concern.
“Yes, I’m okay. Thank you,” I replied with a small smile. “Zay got to me in time.”
“I’m sure he’s already explained to you that falling off a cliff won’t kill you,” Professor Moore said.
“He did explain that,” I agreed with a nod. “It might not be deadly, but it sure was scary.”
“Of course. Not having your wings yet certainly puts you at a disadvantage right now, but I can assure you that you’ll begin to feel a whole lot better once you do finally get them.”
“Thanks,” I replied with a small smile.
“Well, I’d better go check on the others,” Professor Moore said as she spread her wings out and rose into the air.
I watched as she glided across the sky, moving swiftly to the nearest Demon student.
Then I turned back to Zay.
“What were you saying again? It’s almost as easy to kill an Angel as it is to kill…?”
His lips formed a flat line. “A human.”
“I don’t get it. You make that seem like a bad thing,” I said,
noting that he sounded somewhat disappointed about that.
“It is a bad thing.”
“How? We’re not Angels,” I said.
“It doesn’t matter.” He sighed. “Have you ever heard about the balance of good and evil?”
“I know it’s one of the classes on my schedule.”
“So, here’s the gist of it.” Zay met my eyes. “When one Angel dies, one Demon dies, too.”
***
Lux
I was allowed to leave Flight Lessons early since I didn’t have my wings yet and there was nothing for me to do besides observe. That meant that Zay also got to leave early, since he was my Guardian.
He led me back to the building. Once we were inside, he said, “So, the next class on our schedule is Possession, right?”
“Yeah, but you’re forgetting something,” I reminded him.
He glanced over at me. “Like what?”
“The evidence that I really am half-Demon.”
“Oh, yeah. That. Come with me.”
As we slipped through the same door we had come outside through, Zay led me down a hallway. The hallway was lined with large portraits of people.
“Who are all of these people?” I asked.
“Well, for starters, they’re not people at all. They’re some of the most important Demons to have ever lived,” he explained as he led me to the end of the hallway and then pointed at one of the portraits. “That’s him. Benjamin Whitmore.”
“Benjamin Whitmore?” I asked with wide eyes.
“Your father.”
My heart caught in my chest. I stared up at the portrait. I had never seen a single photograph of my birth parents before. A part of me had always wondered what they had looked like.
As I stared up at the portrait, there was no doubt in my mind that it was, in fact, my father.
The resemblances between us were just uncanny. We shared the same sun-kissed skin, the same shade of chocolate brown hair, the same long, pointed nose, and the same high cheekbones.
I stared up at the portrait for a few moments before turning back to Zay. “What about my mother?”
“What about her?”
“Are there any portraits or photos or anything of her?” I asked as a bell rang. Students began to filter out of a classroom further down the hallway.