Demon Blood Academy: Term One

by Jayme Morse

  “I-I wanted to tell you I’m sorry,” Nick told me, a genuine look in his eyes. “When you kissed me, I wasn’t expecting it. At all. I should have told you how I felt, but it just surprised me. I just… I never realized…” He paused, his eyes locking on mine. “I never realized that you feel the same way about me as I do about you.”

  “You do?” I couldn’t help but feel… surprised, to say the least.

  Based on the way he had responded, I really had thought there was no way that my feelings for him were mutual.

  He nodded. “Yes. I was just surprised. This whole thing… It’s just so complicated, you and me.”

  Complicated how? That was the only thing that I could seem to wonder. What about our situation was complicated?

  After a few long moments, I realized what he meant.

  “Because we’re best friends, right?” I asked.

  Nick stared at me for a moment. “Yeah. It’s… complicated.” He paused. “But I hope you still want it.”

  The truth was that I didn’t think I did. At one point, it was what I had wanted, but… that was before. Before I had met Zay. Meeting Zay, knowing him… Well, it had changed everything.

  Before I could figure out how to answer Nick without hurting him, I heard the sound of voices in the distance.

  “Shit. The Guardians… They’re coming, and I’m not supposed to be here.”

  I swallowed hard. With the Code Red alert, I wasn’t sure what they would do about him being there. But there was still so much left for us to say.

  “Nick, I need you to tell me what you’re doing here.”

  His eyes locked on mine. “I came to save you, Lux.”

  “Save me from what?” I pressed. “What do you think I need saving from?”

  “Everything, but we need to get out of here. It isn’t safe,” he whispered. “Once those Guardians find me…”

  It occurred to me then that my wings were still spread. Moving to stand in front of him, I crouched down.

  “Climb on my back,” I ordered. “I’ve never flown before, but I’m going to do this.”

  “Lux, that’s not necessary,” Nick told me.

  “What do you mean? We need to get out of here.” I glanced over my shoulder at him, shooting him a confused look.

  He shook his head. “No.”

  Then he lifted himself into the air.

  It made me wonder again if he was a Demon, except he didn’t have wings like me or the other Demons did.

  I stared, completely in awe, as he just hovered there, reminding me of Peter Pan. “Come on.”

  Without even thinking twice, I did exactly as Professor Moore had told us to do during her Flight Lessons class.

  I arched my back and then thought about how badly I wanted to fly. Closing my eyes, I pictured myself as weightless as a feather. When I opened my eyes again, I found that my body had been lifted into the air.

  My stomach lurched as I glanced down at the stone grounds of the castle below me, but I didn’t let it stop me.

  Without even giving the Guardians or Zay a second thought, I followed after Nick.

  Chapter 31

  Lux

  When Nick finally landed on a cliff that was miles away from the castle, he glanced up at me.

  I lowered myself to the cliff, landing beside him.

  My mind flashed back to the day I had fallen off the other cliff—the one near the castle—during Flight Lessons. It was the day Zay had saved me. Well, the day I had thought he had saved me.

  I might not have been about to fall to my death, but if only I had known then that I was about to fall harder than I had ever fallen for anyone before. If only I had known that I would fall harder for him than I had for the guy from my not so distant past, the one who stood in front of me right now, wearing a stupid grin.

  “That was pretty great, Lux. Especially for your first time flying. You looked pretty awesome out there.”

  “Nick, you need to tell me everything. How much do you know? Do you know the reason I can fly?” I asked, glancing over at him with wide eyes.

  “Yes. I know that you’re half-Demon, Lux,” he replied with a nod.

  “How do you even know about this place?” I motioned to the cliffs and, well, everything. “How do you know about Demon Blood Academy. Are you a Demon, too? And if you are a Demon, then does that mean your wings are invisible?”

  Nick chuckled. “No, believe me, I’m the furthest thing from a Demon.”

  “What are you?”

  His jawline tightened a little. “Before we talk about what I am, we really need to talk about what you are.”

  I snorted. “What I am? I’m a Cambion.” I paused. “That’s a half-Demon, in case you didn’t already know.”

  “I know what a Cambion is, but…” Nick trailed off.

  “But what?” My eyes grew a little wider.

  “No one’s told you,” he murmured, his green eyes not moving away from mine.

  “No one’s told me what?”

  “The truth about what you are.”

  I held my breath. Was it possible that I was finally about to get the answers I was looking for? The answers that everyone here had seemed to be withholding from me?

  I tried not to get my hopes up, knowing that the chances that I would actually get answers were slim. What were the odds that Nick, of all people, would know the first thing about what I was?

  And yet, he had managed to find his way to Demon Blood Academy. He must have known something about my real identity or else he wouldn’t have been there at all.

  “What am I?” I found myself asking.

  “Well, I’ll tell you one thing you’re not. And that’s a Cambion,” Nick said matter-of-factly.

  “Am I a full-blooded Demon then?”

  But even as I asked the question, I couldn’t help but think it seemed so unlikely. Why would Kieran have lied about me only being half-Demon? Wouldn’t he have just told me if both of my parents had been Demons? That theory just didn’t add up.

  “No.” Nick paused. “I’m sure that you’ve probably heard a thing or two about your father by now, haven’t you?”

  “Benjamin Whitmore,” I replied, nodding in confirmation. “There’s a portrait of him hanging on a wall in Demon Blood Academy.”

  “Of course there is.” There was a bitter edge to his tone, and a look that I couldn’t identify passed through his eyes, flashing through them almost as fast as lightning. “Your father was a very, very powerful Demon. In fact, he was considered to be the most powerful Demon in the world until he was killed.” He stared at me for a moment before saying, “He wasn’t just killed, Lux. He was murdered by the Blake family. I’m sure you’ve probably gotten to meet Kieran Blake and his sister, Kassidy, by now.”

  Ignoring the fact that Nick knew who either of them were, I just stared at him dumbfoundedly.

  “Wait, are you saying that Kieran is the one who killed my father?”

  I could feel the anger building up inside of me at just the mere thought that the Headmaster had killed my father. If he was the one who had taken away the opportunity for me to ever meet my father, I was fairly certain that I would never forgive him.

  Nick shook his head. “No, not Kieran. He wasn’t even alive then. It was Nolan Blake, his grandfather, who killed your father.”

  “But why? Why would anyone have wanted to kill my father?” I questioned.

  “Where there’s power, there’s always fear of corruption,” Nick replied. “And in some cases, there is actual corruption.”

  “Are you saying that my father was… corrupt?” I just stared back at him, confused.

  Why would there be a portrait of a corrupt Demon hanging on the wall inside Demon Blood Academy, the training facility to create good Demons? It just didn’t make any sense.

  “If the shoe fits.” He shrugged.

  “But a corrupt Demon can’t be… a good thing,” I realized aloud.

  “No one ever said there was anything good ab
out Benjamin Whitmore. I didn’t say anything good about him, at least.” He paused. “See, Lux, the reason your father was the most powerful Demon in the world was because he was the evilest Demon to have ever existed. The worst of the worst.”

  “My father was… evil?” I could feel my heart drop just a little bit.

  For some reason, I had been clinging to the hope that my father hadn’t been bad. It made me feel like less of a monster myself—and a monster was exactly what I viewed “bad” Demons to be.

  “Yes, I’m afraid so.” He paused, gauging my reaction. He must have noticed the disappointment on my face because he said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but you needed to hear it from someone.”

  “But… how? How is it even possible that my father could have been so evil?” I frowned, trying to make sense of it all. “Not all Demons are evil. And I’m not evil. At least, I don’t think I am.”

  “You’re the furthest thing from evil, Lux Whitmore,” Nick said gently.

  Actually, that wasn’t true.

  I was evil. Thoughts of The Evan Thing—and the horrible, horrible thing I had done—surfaced to the back of my mind, but I tried to force them away.

  I shook my head and glanced up at him. “No. Based on what you just told me, I’m not the furthest thing from evil. My father was the evilest Demon to have ever existed, and you want me to think that I’m not evil, too?” I swallowed hard. “There’s no way that my father, the evilest Demon in existence, didn’t pass down some evil genes.”

  “You are only half of your father,” Nick pointed out. “You did have a mother, too. And your mother… She was nothing like your father.”

  “How do you know that? Did you personally know my mother?” I shot a pointed gaze in his direction.

  I was beginning to wonder where he had gotten any of his information. But at the same time, he had found his way to Demon Blood Academy and had known that my father was a Demon, so his sources must have been at least somewhat accurate.

  And the truth was, I wanted to know more about my mother. I wasn’t about to stop Nick mid-story when there was a chance that I could learn everything I had never known about my birth mom.

  Running a hand over the back of his neck, he shook his head. “No, of course I didn’t. But your mother is just as much of a legend as your father was. Based on everything that I’ve heard about her, the woman was quite extraordinary.”

  “If that was true, then how did she end up getting involved with my father in the first place?” I asked skeptically.

  “Your parents had what most would call a forbidden romance,” he explained. “The whole entire world—actually, scratch that—the whole entire universe was working against them, preventing the two of them from being together. No one wanted them to be together. It was just written in their blood that they couldn’t be together. I’m not sure if it was their connection or the fact that their relationship was so off-limits that drew them together, but somehow they managed to build a connection.” Nick paused. “I suppose that you might consider them a real-life version of Romeo and Juliet. No one wanted them to be together, and yet, they found a way to bring you into this world.” Nick’s eyes locked on mine. “You’re more than just half-Demon, Lux.”

  I swallowed hard. “What do you mean, Nick?”

  “You’re not a Cambion, Lux. I don’t know why they would have told you that, but I have one guess. They didn’t want you to know the truth about what you really are and what it really means.”

  “What am I?” I asked.

  He stared at me for a long moment before finally saying, “You are a Helven.”

  “You’re speaking a foreign language,” I replied frustratedly. “What does ‘Helven’ mean?”

  His eyes locked on mine. “It means ‘sent from Heaven and Hell’. Half-Demon… half-Angel.”

  ***

  Zay

  If it was possible for a Demon’s heart to stop beating naturally, mine would have done just that when I saw Tyler dancing with Lydia Engle.

  Where the hell is Lux?

  Scanning the room for her, panic began to course through my veins when I didn’t see her anywhere. I tore myself away from Kassidy then.

  “Zay, where are you going?” Kassidy called after me, but I didn’t even turn to look back at her. Right now, I was focused on one thing and one thing only: finding Lux.

  As I approached Tyler, I grabbed his shoulder and turned him to face me, not caring that I was completely tearing him out of Lydia’s arms.

  “Where is she?” I asked.

  “Where is who?” Tyler asked dumbly.

  “Lux! The girl who’s supposed to be your date, you idiot! Where the hell is she?” I could feel the anger rising to the surface.

  I didn’t allow my anger to come out often, but this was Lux we were talking about.

  “Gee, man. I don’t know. I think she must have gone to the bathroom or something,” Tyler replied, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.

  I gave him an angry shove, causing some of the other students to stare at us. I glanced around the room for Kieran, but for some reason, I didn’t see him anywhere. Where had the Headmaster gone?

  A thought occurred to me then, one that I didn’t want to believe could be true but seemed like a real possibility. What if the entire reason Lux had gone missing was because Kieran was the one who had her? What if he was planning to hurt her or use her as a weapon or some sort of bargaining tool?

  Just the mere thought that Kieran could do something to hurt Lux… Well, it made me feel sick to my stomach. And not only that, but it made me livid, too. It made me feel more rage than ever before.

  I knew I needed to get to her in time, but first there was something I needed—something in my room. Something that no one knew I had. Something I had snuck into Demon Blood Academy and that I had been hiding under my mattress ever since.

  It was the one thing that would protect me and Lux if anyone tried to harm us.

  Chapter 32

  Lux

  “Benjamin Whitmore was a Demon, but your mother—Natalia Ambrosio—was an Angel,” Nick explained. “You see, while your father was the evilest Demon to have ever lived, your mother was believed to be the purest Angel to have ever lived. They were on two opposite ends of the good and evil spectrum and probably the most unlikely pair. And yet, they somehow managed to fall in love. Somehow, they managed to make you.”

  I allowed myself to process all of this for a few moments.

  It was weird to think that my entire existence had been a lie. I had grown up my entire life believing that I was a full-blooded human and then that I was a half-blooded human, but the reality was that I wasn’t human at all.

  It made sense now why my wings had changed back and forth between black and gray. My very existence was a shade of gray. I was neither evil nor pure, good nor bad, Angel nor Demon.

  I was a big gray area that didn’t make a whole lot of sense in that moment.

  “Is that the reason my father was killed?” I asked. “Because he impregnated an Angel?”

  Nick shook his head. “No. The reason he was killed was because he started a secret society of bad Demons—a cult, so to speak.”

  “The Crows,” I realized aloud, remembering what Zay had told me about Professor Cranby.

  “Yes.” Nick nodded. “The Crows are a dangerous and potentially deadly group. They’re still thought to be the deadliest group of Demons even today, but they were far worse when Benjamin Whitmore was alive.”

  “How could my mother love someone as evil as him if she was so good?” I asked.

  “From what I know, Natalia Ambrosio always looked for the best in others. It seems that she saw something in Benjamin Whitmore that no one else saw—a small ounce of goodness, I suppose. According to what I’ve heard, she thought she could change him… make him better.”

  “Did she?” I asked.

  Nick shrugged. “I don’t really know. Your father was murdered only wee
ks after you were born.”

  “I see.” I swallowed hard. “Even though this is a lot to take in, there’s something that I just don’t understand.”

  “What’s that?” Nick asked.

  “If I’m half-Demon, half-Angel, then why does everyone act like I’m something special?” I asked.

  My mind drifted back to the things that had been said about me.

  “If all of the legends are true, then Lux Whitmore is too powerful for her own good.”

  “You’re more special than you realize, Lux.”

  “…Kassidy told me that Lux doesn’t even know the true extent of her powers… Let’s hope that’s true, because I have this feeling she might go power hungry once she finds out.”

  “Because you are something special, Lux,” Nick told me, breaking me out of my thoughts. “Your existence is incredible. Before Natalia and Benjamin, an Angel and a Demon had never procreated.” He paused, locking eyes with me. “You are the first Helven to have ever existed.”

  I was about to tell him that I still didn’t understand how that made me so special when he continued. “Being a Helven means that you possess the powers and strengths of both Angels and Demons. Unfortunately, that brings about a whole set of other problems.”

  “Like what?” I asked.

  His green eyes locked on mine. “You’re in grave danger.”

  “How? Everyone keeps mentioning this so-called danger that I’m in, and yet no one wants to tell me why. Why am I in so much danger?”

  I could feel my frustration building again. I was about to hit my breaking point.

  “You’re wanted by both the Angels and the Demons, Lux,” Nick told me. “They want you for your powers. They each have reasons for wanting you—things that you can do with your powers that no one else can do. Both societies want you to work for them. They want you to work against the other society, in order to become the most powerful. The Demons want to be in control of the Angels, while the Angels want to be in control of the Demons.”

  Now that the truth was starting to unravel, everything was beginning to make more sense. “What do the Angels want me to do? And what to do the Demons want me to do?”