by G. Bailey
“Any chance you have Morgan’s number? We should group chat us all, save us passing on conversations,” Nikoli says.
“A group chat with three demons, an angel and a wolf. Sounds like fun,” Claus jokes, and I grin.
“Pack a bag, just in case,” Nikoli suggests, briefly kissing me before walking to the door. Claus presses a gentle kiss on my cheek before walking out with his brother.
“Am?” I shout for her as I go to my bedroom and turn on the lights. She isn’t here, I soon figure out, and I quickly pack a bag full of clothes, the letters from my parents, and my uncle’s necklace that somehow appeared on my bed one day. Not that I wear it now, knowing what it is. I’m packing some cat food as the door to my apartment is opened, and I tense up, wondering if it is Lucifer, before I see black angel wings and then Morgan’s stern expression. He walks right up to me and kisses me. A full kiss, not holding anything back as he lifts me onto the kitchen counter and parts my legs, pulling me against his body. I’m sure I hear the door being slammed, but I’m so lost in the way Morgan is kissing me that I don’t move. That is until I hear a low growl that gives me goose bumps and gets Morgan’s attention.
“Angel, aren’t you meant to be her teacher?” Javier asks as Morgan turns around, and I jump off the cabinet side with flushed cheeks.
“What can I say, I’m a bad fucking teacher. You must be the wolf,” Morgan replies, holding an arm out to block me behind his back, overprotecting me.
“You must be the angel,” Javier sternly replies. Talk about a tense situation.
“Is it always this awkward here?” Eike drones, and I hear Sera’s giggle as I push Morgan’s arm away and step around him. Javier is in a stare down with Morgan as Sera comes to me and hugs me tightly, whispering in my ear.
“I’m so sorry about your parents. I’m so, so sorry, Lexi.” I nod against her shoulder, not really having the strength to reply to her as a sob catches in my throat. Sera has a thick black cloak on, the same as Eike and Javier. I see under the cloaks, they all have casual clothes. Sera’s hair is up in a messy bun, and her eyes are nothing but happy to see me. I’m pulled from Sera into Javier’s embrace, and I wrap my arms around his neck, resting my head on his chest for a moment.
“I don’t believe we have really met. I’m Serafin, and this is Eike. I’m sure you’ve heard of Javier,” Sera says.
“It is good to officially meet you, Serafin,” Morgan comments. “Now, why are you all here?”
“Lexi is leaving,” Javier says as he lets me go.
“I agree,” Morgan states.
“What about Gabriel?” I ask him.
“I don’t want you in the academy with Lucifer, not now he is back. We can find a way to contact Gabriel when we are hidden,” Morgan suggests.
“So we are doing this?” I quietly ask, and they all nod. “Wait, I can’t find Amethyst. I can’t leave without her.”
“I will search for her, but you need to leave first with the wolves,” Morgan tells me.
“Why? What are you going to do?” I catch Morgan’s arm, and he takes my hand off, lifting it to his lips and gently kissing the back.
“I’m going to make sure Lucifer isn’t going to follow us any time soon,” Morgan tells me.
“I will help,” Javier states, nodding at Morgan. Javier kisses me on the cheek before letting me go, and my heart feels like it’s in my stomach as I watch Javier hug Sera and pat Eike on the shoulder. “You two take Lexi to where we talked about. Eike, I’m trusting you with the most important people in my life. You got this?”
“I will protect Lexi and your sister with my life,” Eike tells him. “An alpha’s promise.” Wait, alpha?
“Good. If anything happens to them, you better pray you are dead, wolf,” Morgan darkly promises. Javier pats a nervous looking Eike on the shoulder before following Morgan out of the apartment.
“Are you ready to leave?” Sera gently asks.
“I have been since the first moment I got here,” I tell her, and she grins.
“There’s nothing like escaping, Lexi.” I pray she is right. I pray the devil can’t find us, because if he does, we are dead.
Chapter 54
The demon cat.
Morgan
“Which way?” the wolf asks me as we step out of the elevator into the empty reception hall. I immediately go on alert at the sight of no Hellers guarding the doors and the silence found up here. The wolf picks up on my tension as he looks to me, and I nod once, my eyes saying everything.
Something is wrong. And right now, we don’t need that. Walking across the entrance hall, my footsteps sound like rocks smashing against the tiles in the silence, whereas the wolf is almost silent in his movement. I push the doors open to Lucifer’s apartment and head in, but I don’t find Lucifer. I find his sons instead, just as they are heading out.
“What are you two doing here?” they ask at the same time. It’s creepy.
“Looking for Lucifer,” I reply.
“Same as us then. He is gone,” Nikoli answers. “Where is Lexi?”
“With my sister and a wolf I trust. The new alpha,” Javier says, and all of us are silent for a moment.
“Where would he go?” Claus mutters.
“After Alexandria,” a voice I don’t know says, and I turn around to see Alexandria’s cat, Amethyst, sitting in the middle of the entrance hall.
“Fuck no. How are you here?” Claus angrily demands, stepping around me.
“That’s Lexi’s cat, Amethyst. Why are you mad?” I ask.
“That’s no fucking cat,” Nikoli snaps. “How could we have been so stupid not to realise?”
“Come on, mother. Cat got your tongue?” Claus asks, and I stare in shock. Amethyst is their mother? How does that fucking work? I knew demons are messed up bastards, but this is a little extreme.
“I know you hate me, but Alexandria needs your help. Lucifer is going after her,” Amethyst says, almost pleading.
“The cat is a person? Your mother?” Javier asks the crazy question before I can.
“The cat is a demon cursed to a cat form. She can only shift back into her mortal form once a month for a few minutes. Our father cursed her after she killed our foster parents,” Nikoli explains. Ah, this ball of crazy makes more sense now.
“Everyone meet Lilith. That’s her real name,” Claus spits out.
“We don’t have time to talk about this—” Lilith starts to say.
“I’m sure Lexi won’t agree. You’ve been lying to her for years!” Nikoli shouts at the…cat. It’s weird.
“Because her parents asked me to watch her. I’ve done nothing but protect Lexi, and you two do not know everything,” the cat replies. It’s strange to see a cat talking, it really, really is.
“Bullshit. You are selfish and cruel!” Nikoli shouts. “And Lexi is going to hate you as much as we do.”
“Enough!” I shout. “Lexi, where would she be right now?”
“I can lead you to her. Her parents gave me her blood years ago to help control her powers and so I can find her at any time,” Lilith tells me. It still freaks me out that this isn’t a cat and she saw me in the shower lots of times.
“This just gets better and better,” I say.
“Show us the way, cat,” Javier frustratedly growls.
“You were always my favourite, wolf,” Lilith purrs before running to the lift. God help us, we are following a cat who is actually the consort of hell.
Chapter 55
Death is just the beginning…
None of us talk much as we climb across the rocks on the cliff to another ledge. Eike and Sera have wolf senses, so they are much better at this climbing stuff than I am. Sera stays in front of me, but Eike stays behind as we get onto a long pathway carved into the cliff. The pathway leads deeper into the cliff, and I sigh a little breath of relief from being away from the edge.
“Eike is alpha now,” Sera tells me, looking back with a big grin. “Told you he could do it.”
“C
ongrats!” I turn back to tell Eike, only to see his eyes turn from relaxed to fearful and in pain. Everything in the world slows down as I turn back, just as Lucifer stabs a sword through Sera’s stomach. I scream as Eike’s wolf jumps over my head, crashing into Lucifer, and they both tumble off the cliff. I catch Sera as she falls to the rock, her head landing on my lap.
“No, no, no. Not you. I can’t lose you too,” I mumble as tears fall down my cheeks, landing in her hair. She gasps for air as hot blood pours into my lap, and I cup her face, tilting her to see me. Her eyes look like they are fading already as she gasps for air, and her skin goes a sickly pale. Oh god no. I can’t lose her. I flipping can’t.
“Goodbye, my best friend. I really do love you, Lexi,” she tells me before coughing on the blood in her mouth, and her head rolls to the side in my arms.
“God, no. No, please no!” I plead and scream as I lay her down on the stone and start trying to bring her back, pressing down on her chest even though I know she is dying. She is leaving me. Suddenly, a bright green light, shaped like a star, floats out of her chest, and I reach out, grabbing the edge. Another hand grabs the other side and tries to pull it from me, though I don’t let go. I meet Lucifer’s eyes over what I think is Sera’s soul, and he smirks.
“The half breed wolf’s soul belongs to me,” he growls. A big wave crashes sea water across us, but I never let go, not as lightning flashes across the sky and lights up the devil’s evil grin.
“Her soul does not belong to you. It’s too good, too pure. I will never let you have her!” I shout at him.
“How inviting you are, fighting for the weak,” he muses, like this is nothing. To him, it might not be.
“How fucked-up you are, fighting for a mate who wants to kill you!” I shout at him. “And I promise you, Lucifer, I will kill you one day. I will end your life.”
“I will make you a deal. You can have this soul and place it back in this body. I will heal her for you, and then you will come to hell with me, willingly, and become my mate in a ceremony there,” he suggests, a deal he knows I want part of. The devil whispers exactly what I want, and my hand shakes on Sera’s soul as I look down at her dead body, her glazed eyes.
“Deal,” I promise, and I know I’ve given away something I never should have. For Sera, I will pay the price.
Sera deserves to live more than anyone I know, even if it damns my soul.
I promised her brother I would keep her alive. I promised myself no one else I love would die because of me.
This way, I keep all my promises even at the cost of my soul. Lucifer’s smile is too wide, so happy as he lets Sera’s soul go, and I grab it with both hands, holding it closely as he pulls the sword out of Sera’s chest. Lucifer’s hands glow red as he hovers them over Sera’s wound for only a moment before stepping back. I push the soul into Sera’s chest, and I watch as she slowly gasps, blinking her eyes open. I wipe my tears away as I stand up, and Lucifer steps over Sera to me. He holds his hand out to our left, just over the cliff, and orange fire burns into the air.
“Jump into the fire with me, my mate. And we will forever burn.” Without looking back, I let the devil grab my arm and drag me into hell.
Epilogue
Lucifer’s arm wraps so tightly around me as we free fall into the dark, burning tunnel that leads right down into hell. The heat is so hot it feels like it’s burning every inch of my body, and I can smell nothing but smoke. I see the edge of the portal above as it starts to close, leaving the people I care about on the other side. At least they will be safe. Lucifer’s deep, terrifying laugh fills my ears.
He won.
I gasp, reaching my hands up in the air as Morgan flies through the portal, and he screams in pain. He screams so loudly as his wings burn away into nothing but embers, and bright red light shines from every part of his body. He is frozen in the middle of the air for a brief second, and I realise he has done something for me he never, ever should have done.
He is a fallen angel now.
No.
For the second time in history, an angel fell into hell for a demon he loved…for the fallen never rise again.
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Description
This academy is going to hell...
There can only be one king of hell and only one fallen angel to hold the title. I didn’t know that until my angel fell into hell for me. Morgan challenges the current king, with the whole of DA brought to hell to watch. The winner not only gets the title, but he also gets control of everything hell holds.
Including me.
I just hope my angel doesn’t lose too much of himself to save me in the end.
I won’t let him. I can’t.
With my wolf, my demon princes and my angel, I should be able to survive hell. Right?
Once the fallen fall, they must never rise again...
18+ RH and the final book in The Demon Academy Series.
Prologue
Morgan
“What happens when an angel falls into hell?” I enquire, leaning back in my desk, causing my chair to scrape across the stone floor. Jonathon nudges my side, begging me to stop asking the teacher questions. He would rather get through the class as quickly as possible, and I wouldn’t.
I want to know everything about being an angel. Everything. Master Gabriel turns back to look at me and the class, crossing his arms over his white shawl as we all await his answer.
Pursing his lips, he leans on the edge of the desk. “Your wings will burn away and your soul will change in a manner that cannot be explained even in this world of magic you find yourself in. It is forbidden for angels to enter hell, no matter the reason, no matter the cause. Once you fall, you cannot ever rise as the angel you were. It is a fate worse than death.”
“Lucifer leaves hell all of the time, so that doesn’t make sense,” Jonathon adds.
“I do not mean in that way. Your soul can never leave hell, even if your body does. We all treat ourselves like our bodies are more important, but your soul is everything. A taint of that darkness would destroy you,” he pauses. “Lucifer couldn’t leave hell in the beginning, not until he found a way. I’m sure that is a secret Lucifer would not share with anyone.”
“Good thing none of us would ever go into hell then,” Isabella Louton jokes from the row behind me.
“I would never. Not for anything,” I add in.
“Have any of you boys been in love?” Master Gabriel asks, and there is a resounding chorus of nos. All of us died before we turned twenty-one, and I doubt anyone in here is much older. There wasn’t much time in our lives for real love. “Lucifer fell for love, and it is a power like none other. Does he regret his decision? I suspect so, but if it was true love, I doubt he does. Magic and power are only two of the most powerful things in this world. Love is the third and, without doubt, the most alluring. Do not promise things you cannot judge in this moment, only make the decision in your mind that there is a great price for falling.”
I muse on the idea for a moment. “If someone truly loved you, they would not want you to fall.”
“What if it was not their choice?” he asks, and the bells ring to signal the end of class. “We will discuss this further in our next lesson.”
“Blessed be the angels,” I say with the rest of the students as I stand up, my thoughts lingering on the idea of a fallen angel.
It sounds like a fate worse than death.
Chapter 56
The welcome committee of hell sucks
Fire flickers and spits across my skin, not quite burning me but feeling like I’m seconds away from it as I suck in a deep breath that feels like fire. The heat from hard, rocky ground I’m lying on itches my back, but I don’t move. I can’t. I stare up at the entrance to hell, the empty tunnel of fire that spirals up so high, seeming like it never ends as fire burns constantly. I’m in the one place I never wanted to be, but I wouldn’t have regretted it, not once.
Why did he do it? The answer flickers through my mind even when I don’t want to admit the real reason, the answer I know is true. Saving Sera’s soul and life was worth coming to hell, knowing I am going to figure out a way to escape my marriage promise, but with Morgan losing his wings, I didn’t pay the worst price. I sit up slowly, feeling every inch of my body resisting the movement like there are a million stone cats sitting on me. Rubbing the dust and ash from my crusty eyes, I see that I’m in a cage made of bones that I refuse to touch, and there are dozens of cages all around me of the same make. Totally gross. Some hang off the walls, some have people in them that seem in a coma-like state, and others have nothing more than dust and bones rattling around. Strangely, there is a breeze which is almost cold, cooling down my skin as I try to remember how I got in this cage in the first place.
Surely there is more to hell than this room?
I just remember falling and then seeing Morgan following me through the portal into hell before it slammed shut. I don’t think I could ever forget seeing his wings burn away or hearing the screams that he made, but everything after that is just blank. I touch the side of my head where it briefly stings like an old injury as I stand up, and my fingers graze against the horns in my hair. Lifting my hands, I see my fingers are rigidly tipped and black down to my hands. My clothes have seen better days, and I’m literally covered in dust and ash.
At least I think it’s ash and not ground up bones.
I’m telling myself it is ash. Ash.
“Shit, I need to get out of here,” I mumble to myself, hoping my demon will talk to me. I must be in my demon body down here, so surely she is here to help. Where the hell is she? I close my eyes and try to talk to her in my mind, but after a long pause, I realise she isn’t there anymore.