by Riley London
A traitor?
Because she was helping me take on the Princes of Hell?
Ugh. Angel politics was starting to get really fucking annoying.
“Hey, did any of you get over 80 percent on Mr. Toorin’s last quiz?” Zachary asked. “Is it just me or are his questions getting way too esoteric—”
Zachary’s words were interrupted by a dagger sinking into his shoulder. He paused for only a second before he leapt into action, pulling his sword away from his side and attacking whoever had just used their own weapon on him. Another second passed and I was able to see that the perpetrator was a demon, with glowing red eyes and a focused stare.
Wait.
No.
This person wasn’t a demon.
They were possessed by one.
I looked around the cafeteria as a mass of people suddenly descended upon the angels, their weapons raised and their eyes glowing in unison.
It was a trap. It had to be. One of the Princes of Hell must’ve sent in these possessed humans to try to get the angels to commit a sin against God, which it would’ve been had they brought fatal harm to any of the humans. It was against our commandments to ever kill a human being, even in the middle of a battle.
If any of the angels at the academy were to accidentally kill one of the possessed humans, then they wouldn’t be able to get into Heaven, which would’ve been the worst punishment imaginable.
And rather ironic too, which I was sure the Princes of Hell considered before they went through with this fucked up plan.
“Bless your weapons!” I screamed as loud as I could. “They’re human!”
After I spoke, Zachary took a moment to look down at the person by his feet. Thankfully, it didn’t look as if the man he’d sliced with his sword was fatally injured, although he was going to need several stitches.
“Shit.” Zachary groaned, before he shouted, “Auxilium!”
“Auxilium!” I repeated, before I leapt onto the cafeteria table, my sword already in my hand. I began to slide its blade through as many possessed people as I could, knowing that as long as the blade was blessed, then it would bring no harm to the human being possessed by a demonic spirit. The goal was to force the spirit out of their frame and then if necessary, deal with it separately.
I felt Zachary jump onto the table, his frame soon lining up behind my own. He grunted as he dealt with his own share of humans, pushing them away when they got too close to us and bringing his sword down against them when they didn’t get the hint. I was only able to get glimpses of Zachary’s fighting, although even those small moments were amazing to watch.
Zachary really was made to be a fighter.
Benjamin was, too. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Benjamin running away from our table entirely as he started to make his way through a crowd of humans clawing at him with their hands and sinking their daggers into his flesh. He didn’t appear to react to any of the pain, staying focused on the task at hand, ridding them of their demonic spirits.
But then, I saw a human that Benjamin didn’t see, getting closer and closer to his frame, pushing past the other spirits.
“Benjie!” I called out. “Behind you!”
But Benjamin didn’t turn around. He was too preoccupied with what was ahead of him, seemingly a hundred more humans, forcing their way through the cafeteria doors.
Shit. They were everywhere. I hadn’t even noticed the level of chaos around me, so focused on keeping the demonic spirits at bay, away from the table that Zachary and I were defending as an island. I tried to call out for Benjamin again, but he still wasn’t paying me any attention and the human behind him was getting closer by the second.
“Shit! Shit!” I panicked as I shifted off the table. “Zach! Cover me!”
“You got it.” Zachary’s reply was confident, coming from somewhere behind me. “Just tell me when to move.”
“Now!” I screamed, before my feet met the floor. I made a mad dash for Benjamin, who was halfway across the room, but I was being slowed down by the sheer number of people who were now crowding the cafeteria. I had visions of one of those old-school zombie movies that Charlie liked to watch, the way their bodies just seemed to keep multiplying, the way they seemed to move like one big wave.
“Benjie!” I tried again, even though I knew there was no point. Benjamin couldn’t hear me over the commotion no matter how loud I was.
But I couldn’t lose him. Not like Garry. Not like Charlie.
I couldn’t just stand by and let the world take him away from me too.
I called for the electricity in my veins to please flow through my hands. I begged and pleaded with every angel in Heaven, reciting the names of the ones I knew. I prayed for Michael to hear me, if he was even listening, to give me enough strength to save Benjamin even if it killed me.
A burst of pure light came through my palm, blasting through the crowd of people, right towards Benjamin’s frame. The possessed human behind him stopped in their tracks, the red glow knocking out of their eyes.
The same thing happened to all of the humans in the cafeteria too, as their eyes returned to their normal shade and they stood, confused and stunned, on academy grounds.
“Where are we?” one of them whispered, glancing around the room.
“Celeste…” Zachary moved until he was at my side. “What have you done?”
What are you?
It was Gabrielle’s voice in my head, same as always when she spoke for the Council. I wondered if she had her own voice, or if she signed some pact saying that she was never allowed to speak again.
I sat in Mrs. Deveraux’s office, waiting for the proverbial gavel to strike. After I’d forced the demonic energy out of the mass of humans in the cafeteria, the Council had been immediately alerted about my seemingly newfound abilities. Mrs. Deveraux sat across from me, her face stoic, despite the nervous way her fingers tapped along the wood of her desk.
“I’m an angel,” I replied out loud.
No. You are something…more.
“No. I’m not.” I shook my head. “I’m just an angel, with maybe a few more abilities than most.”
Where do you come from?
“The city.”
Where do you come from, child? Tell us the truth.
“She is telling you the truth,” Mrs. Deveraux answered for me. “She’s an angel. She’s from the city. What else do you want to know?”
Why do you speak for her?
“Because I grow tired of these inquisitions.” Mrs. Deveraux sighed. “If there is something you would like to accuse Celeste of, then be my guest, but do not waste my time and her own by asking useless questions.”
All right then. We will begin the accusations.
“The accusations?” I looked towards Gabrielle. “Of what?”
Evangeline Deveraux, you have been accused with conspiracy.
Mrs. Deveraux’s eyes went wide. “Conspiracy? On what grounds?”
Are you denying that you knew about the girl’s power?
“No.” Mrs. Deveraux shook her head. “But that does not mean—”
It means that you kept something from the Council, during an open investigation. It means that you cannot be trusted.
“Gabrielle, please reconsider—”
You will hereby be stricken of your role as leader of Angel Academy.
“You can’t do this,” Mrs. Deveraux scoffed. “Michael appointed me. He handpicked me—”
Yes and we always suspected that his affection for you clouded his judgment in that decision. Just because you were his favorite, it did not mean that you were ever truly qualified.
“I am more than qualified.” Mrs. Deveraux stood up from her seat. “And I will be damned if you try to take my name off something that I helped build. That I sacrificed for.”
You will be reassigned a role at a later date, if you are to receive an innocent verdict.
“No.” Mrs. Deveraux’s response was firm. “This is my home. You cannot ki
ck a woman out of her own home.”
Wrong, Mrs. Deveraux. The academy is the home of the angels, and you are but a guest at our leisure. And now, you are being asked to leave.
“Gabrielle,” Mrs. Deveraux’s voice broke, seemingly right along with her resolve. “Please. Don’t do this.”
Either leave of your own accord or we will make you leave.
Mrs. Deveraux looked down at me for a moment, sadness behind her eyes.
And then she was gone, walking out of her office and headed down the hall. I was able to hear the sound of her heels echoing against the marble floor. When I stared back at her desk, it already felt like something was just so wrong.
This was Mrs. Deveraux’s home, walking the halls, working in her office. It was strange to be near her desk without her presence, unnerving even. It was even more unnerving that Gabrielle still remained in the room, her gaze focused on mine.
Just when I thought that Gabrielle was going to say something to me, Benjamin stepped into the room. He had a puzzled look on his face as he walked over to Gabrielle’s side.
“The Council asked to speak with me?” Benjamin asked.
Yes.
Gabrielle smiled, before she placed either hand on a side of Benjamin’s face.
Benjamin Nash The Sixth. What a wonder you are.
“Thank you.” Benjamin beamed back at her.
The Council has come to a decision.
“About what?”
You have been appointed as the newest member of the Council.
“The newest member?” Benjamin shook his head. “But I haven’t even graduated yet. I thought that the Council was going to wait until—”
We are in trying times, dear Benjamin. Your counsel is more needed than ever. We know that leadership is in your blood and so we are trusting the fate of angels in your hands.
“I…I’m not sure if I’m ready to—”
A Nash has never disappointed us.
Gabrielle smiled again.
But we will give you some time to consider the decision. We are sure that you will make the right one.
And with that, Gabrielle walked out of Mrs. Deveraux’s office, without saying another word.
“Where’s Mrs. Deveraux?” Benjamin looked around the room. “I’m surprised she wasn’t here to speak with the Council about what happened back at the cafeteria.”
“She was,” I replied. “And then they asked her to leave.”
“Asked her to leave?”
“They told her that she couldn’t be in charge of the academy anymore because she was being charged with conspiracy, all because she knew what was going on with me before the Council did,” I continued. “Don’t worry about it, though. You can just add it to the growing list of things that are all my fault.”
“Celeste.” Benjamin’s words came out quiet.
“Congrats on the Council position, Benjie.” I stood up from my seat, heading for the door. “I’m really proud of you.”
“Celeste…” Benjamin offered me a hopeless look.
“I’ll see you around, okay?” I sighed, closing Mrs. Deveraux’s door behind me, and I walked back towards the dorm.
It was around ten o’clock at night when I heard a frantic knocking at the door. I opened it, curious about who’d be so interested in having a conversation with me right now. On my way back to the dorm earlier, most of the other students in the hall had averted their eyes, like they didn’t even want to look at me.
I understood it too. They didn’t know about the extent of my powers and they especially didn’t know where they’d come from. Not talking to me while the Council was still sniffing around wasn’t only a good idea, it was the best idea they could’ve ever come up with.
When I finally pulled open the door, Benjamin stood in the doorway with an unreadable expression on his face.
“What is it? What’s going on?” I eyed him up and down. “Shouldn’t you be off celebrating your new promotion?”
“It’s not your fault,” he murmured.
“Oh, are you talking about what I said earlier in Mrs. Deveraux’s office?” I shrugged. “I was just being a little emotional, I guess. Nothing to worry about.”
“Celeste, it’s not your fault,” Benjamin repeated, stepping into the room. “Tell me that you know that none of this is your fault.”
“It doesn’t really matter whose fault it is, Benjie. Everything is still falling into my lap.” I laughed, but it came out as wounded as I felt. “Everything is still falling apart around me and I’m not sure how much I can do about it.”
“You were able to bind Mammon.”
“Yeah, that makes one,” I replied. “I wasn’t able to bind Ashmedai though.”
“You saw Ashmedai?”
“More like, he saw me and decided to be an asshole,” I answered, before taking a seat on the edge of my bed. “He brought Charlie with him too. I think he just wanted to see us fight each other, see some actual combat, just to see what Charlie was capable of.”
“Charlie is fighting now?” Benjamin came to join me on the bed.
“Yeah. The princes turned him into some kind of fighting machine,” I explained. “He can pray to them too, just like we pray to the angels. And his sword is this crazy color of black I’ve never seen any of our weapons have before.”
“My God…” Benjamin’s words trailed off. “A human who can pray over their weapons and cannot be so easily killed? That’s—”
“The perfect soldier. I know. Ashmedai already said as much,” I replied. “But I wouldn’t be too concerned about all that, Benjie. I’m not sure if they can make anymore soldiers like Charlie, not without my help.”
“Your help?”
“Yep. Ashmedai wanted to make a deal with me. He’d give me back Charlie, if I helped him convert more humans into angel-fighting machines.”
“And you said no.”
“Of course.” I nodded. “I’m not an idiot. I know that if the price of getting Charlie back was going to be at the expense of the sake of the world, then I wasn’t really going to get Charlie back for too long, anyway. Not before the princes found a way to fuck it up.”
“It’s amazing what you sacrifice for the angels and yet, they’ve seemingly done you no favors.” Benjamin sighed. “Maybe one day, everything will even out.”
“Probably not, but that’s okay,” I replied. “I don’t think the angels really care about things being even as long as there’s a balance of sorts.”
“And what would you say the balance is for now?”
“Well, everything in my life is going to total Hell…” I paused. “But have you seen my skin lately? It’s completely flawless. No acne or anything.”
Benjamin chuckled, before gently dragging a finger along my cheek. “You’re right. Your skin is as smooth as I’ve ever seen it.”
“See? Courtesy of the angels.” I chuckled too, shifting closer to his frame.
Almost as soon as I’d moved closer to him, Benjamin’s lips were on mine. It was a sweet kiss, sensuous and relaxed, as if we had all the time in the universe somewhere between our mouths. Eventually I pulled Benjamin closer to me, just wanting to feel his body nearer to my own.
And in response, Benjamin softly pushed me back towards the bed, until I was lying on my back against my bedsheets. The kiss continued for what felt like forever, Benjamin’s tongue sliding into my mouth to meet mine. His hand massaged the side of my waist in time with the way his lips moved.
“I love you,” I breathed between our kisses, my legs instinctively spreading wider underneath Benjamin. “I love you so much.”
“I love you, too, Celeste,” Benjamin replied as his hand traveled up my thigh, not stopping until it slipped behind the fabric of my panties.
I shuddered at the contact, moaning at the feel of Benjamin dragging his fingertips right along my clit, right along the lips of my pussy too. I knew I was wet when Benjamin brought his hand back up towards his mouth and the evidence glistened along his fi
ngertips in the light.
He languidly popped his fingers into his mouth, licking my wetness off his skin.
“You taste incredible.” Benjamin smiled, warm and welcoming.
“Thank you.” I blushed a little at the compliment, not used to Benjamin being so brazen.
“May I taste more of you?” Benjamin whispered.
I gave him a hurried nod.
He brought his hand back down towards my panties, lightly brushing his fingertips along my most sensitive areas, licking his fingers clean again. I didn’t know how long it went on that way, with me getting wetter and wetter and Benjamin’s cock growing visibly harder in his pants the more he tasted me.
But thankfully, the teasing came to an end. Benjamin’s hand moved down towards his belt, which he slid off towards the floor before his pants and boxers went down with it. He looked back up at me, a concerned look on his expression.
“Is it okay if…can you be on top?” he asked in a low tone.
“Of course.” I grinned up at him, rolling out from under his frame. I waited until he lay back against my bedsheets, getting comfortable on the mattress.
I pulled my panties down towards my knees before I straddled Benjamin’s waist, placing my legs on either side of him.
“Are you ready?” I asked, gently grazing the tip of his cock against my throbbing clit, teasing both of us at the same time.
“Yes,” Benjamin groaned underneath me.
That was all I needed to hear before I sank down against him, letting him completely fill me with his cock. I placed my hands against his still-clothed chest, gathering my balance by steadily rocking back and forth on top of Benjamin’s hips.
Fuck.
It felt so good.
I was so completely distracted by the way Ben’s shaft perfectly fit inside of me that I hadn’t even noticed that he’d unbuttoned the buttons on my blouse, his hands slid underneath my bra. I moaned as soon as I felt Benjamin’s fingers sliding across my nipples, only adding to the pleasure I already felt right between my thighs.
“Benjie…Benjie…” I moaned, starting to buck my hips against his own with abandon, desperately chasing my pleasure as my chest grew more sensitive to Benjamin’s touch and my pussy tightened around his cock. Benjamin seemed to be struck by the same feeling, pushing his hips up towards mine, meeting me tit-for-tat with pressure and speed.