The Demon Academy: The Complete Collection

by G. Bailey

  Fear.

  It crawls over my skin as Sera throws herself into Eike’s arms, and he kisses her forehead, almost like they are together.

  “I will protect you. I will always protect you,” Eike tells her, and I push the strange fearful feeling aside as I realise something far worse.

  “You two are dating, aren’t you?” I demand. Eike pushes Sera behind him, but she keeps her eyes on me all the time.

  “Yes, I love him. It’s always been Eike, even when we didn’t know it,” she explains to me. “But why am I so scared of everything? I feel like we should run away, but I know it’s not real. It just feels real.”

  “It’s some fucked-up magic,” I growl, looking around us. “Almost as fucked-up as my best friend, who sleeps around with girls like they are nothing more than toys, dating my sister!”

  “Sera isn’t like any other girl; we both know that, and it’s not just dating. I’ve asked Sera to be my mate, my alpha female to the pack, and she has accepted,” he all but roars at me, and I’m actually shocked into silence. Eike has been my best friend since before I can remember. He was the one that got me ice to press against the broken bones my father gave me, he was the one that made me laugh when I thought that would be impossible, and he was always the one that I went to when things weren’t good.

  I told Eike about Lexi and how I knew she was my mate. He was the one that suggested I spend more time with her and let my wolf’s urge to cook her food and protect her take over. He was right, of course, but I don’t know how to accept that he loves my sister. I never saw it coming, not once. I’d joked about it before, but it was always that, a joke.

  “The pack won’t accept it, not easily. That’s what I told you when you asked, Eike,” Sera replies, and I smile. Maybe there is hope yet.

  “You basically said yes, and fuck the pack. They will accept you, or they can deal with me,” Eike growls. “You are my mate, and I’m tired of letting other people control us.” Well, there goes my hope.

  “I’m only half—” she counters.

  “You are full everything, Sera. I don’t ever want to hear that shit about your blood again, because it’s never mattered to me, and it will not matter to the pack. I saw you die, and I couldn’t protect you, and it made me realise that I never want to be in that situation again. I never want to lose you; you are my everything. You are strong, kind, sweet and totally beautiful, and I love you. That’s what is important,” he firmly tells her, moving to cup her face. Fuck, even I can’t argue with that.

  “I love you too, Eike,” she softly replies. I sigh, rubbing my wet face as I turn around and sense something in the woods, but I’m not sure where it’s coming from. Within seconds, the trees are full of ravens, sitting on every branch, weighing the trees down as they creak in the wind.

  “As sweet as this is, I sense a problem coming in,” I interrupt, not having a clue how to process them. Putting Sera in the middle of us, Eike and I look around as we smell someone getting closer. Suddenly, there is blue dust falling from the sky, surrounding us like a blanket and a yawn escapes my lips.

  “W-what is it?” Eike asks around a yawn. As my eyes close, I swear I see a woman with raven wings and blue dust covered hands.

  “Who are you?” a woman asks as I blink my eyes open and see I’m in a cage on my own. I crawl to my feet, searching for my sister and Eike, sensing them nearby. The woman is about my age with long brown hair and bright brown eyes, and is wearing modern clothes. I sense something bird-like about her as well as a sweet smell I can’t quite place. In fact, this whole place stinks of that sweet smell, making me suspect it is how fairy tales scent.

  “If you’ve hurt my sister—” I growl, grabbing the bars of my cage.

  “Your sister is sleeping in the cage next to you. We won’t hurt her unless you give us reason to,” a guy says, coming to the woman’s side and wrapping an arm around her. He smells like that sickly sweet fairy tale stuff, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out they are mated. “My name is Tobias Dormiens, and this is my mate, Madilynn Dormiens. We are two of the leaders here, and you are trespassing on the Lost Time Island. Now who are you?”

  “And why do you smell like wet dog?” another guy asks, coming into view as he leans on a wall outside the cage.

  “Oisin, that’s rude,” Madilynn tells him, arching her neck to look up at another one of her mates. At least, I suspect.

  “My name is Javier, my sister is called Sera, and the other wolf is Eike. He’s the alpha of the wolves,” I explain to them, getting the feeling they don’t know much about the world outside their own race, being that we don’t know much about them either. Eike asked around the pack before we left, and there wasn’t much to find out. The Tales are an exclusive race and like to keep themselves hidden. It’s pretty smart, considering the world around them. I’m a little confused why there is someone so young in charge, but she doesn’t seem that young when I meet her gaze. Life makes me people grow up quickly after all.

  “What wolves?” Tobias asks.

  “We know you are descendants of fairy tales, and my kind are wolf shifters. We are here to make you a deal,” I offer.

  “A deal with the wolves sounds dangerous. What deal could you possibly offer when it seems like we have your leaders in cages?” Madilynn counters with a raised eyebrow, and it soon becomes clear who is the actual leader.

  Crossing my arms, I smirk. “I’m the mate of the queen of hell, yeah the literal hell in which every soul goes to no matter how good they are. The queen of hell wants your help in exchange for an alliance.”

  “I don’t believe him,” Oisin adds when they have been silent a long time.

  “How can we know you’re telling us the truth?” Madilynn asks me.

  “Do you want to risk it?” I ask with a smirk still on my lips, crossing my arms.

  “What does your queen want exactly?” Tobias asks instead.

  “A book. It’s old, meant to be the original tales book. Alexandria wishes only to see it for an answer her parents promised it would hold,” I explain to them. “I don’t think she is asking much from you, and we will give much in return if you ever need help. You can’t say your people are protected enough that they never will need help.”

  “We may be able to help,” Madilynn finally says. Smart girl.

  “What race is your girlfriend in order to be the queen of hell?” Oisin asks.

  “A demon,” I reply, seeing the fear flash in his eyes.

  “Demons are real?” Tobias asks with wide eyes. “Any other races we should know about?”

  “You help us and perhaps I could tell you,” I counter. Tobias, Madilynn and Oisin look between each other before she looks to me.

  “Decisions are made with the entire council. We will call a council meeting, and until then, our people will bring you food and warm clothing. Do not fight them, or the deal is off before it is even started and I will drop your sleeping asses into the sea you came from,” she warns.

  “Understood,” I reply. “I believe you and my Alexandria will get along just fine.”

  “Possibly,” Madilynn replies before walking off with Tobias and Oisin going with her.

  I believe we just met the queen of the fairy tales.

  And I hope to fucking god she helps us.

  Chapter 69

  It’s a small, small world

  “Thank you, this is gorgeous,” I say to the demon in the small clothing shop Claus and Nikoli have brought me to. Amethyst is here too, sitting in the corner, watching us all. The twins are pretending she isn’t here when she clearly is, but I’m not sure how to get them to talk to her. I suspect she didn’t kill their human parents, but I can’t prove it, and Amethyst won’t talk to me about it. She says she is waiting for the twins to ask. Clearing my head, I smooth my hands down the black leather jacket that hangs nicely over my jeans and simple white top.

  “It suits you,” Amethyst tells me.

  “It is free for the queen. I will go and
get you a pair of boots that match the jacket,” the small old demon comments with a big smile before walking to the back of the shop.

  “Did you want to go and visit your grandmother?” Nikoli asks as I sit on a bench near the clothes. I received an invite from my grandmother to her house yesterday, but I just don’t know how to see her.

  It was hard enough to see Uncle Harry, and he was actually there at the hearing. I guess the only question I have is why my grandmother didn’t come to the hearing in the first place.

  “Alright, we can go there next,” I suggest. “But first, why don’t we all talk about how Lilith clearly didn’t kill your parents and Lucifer did. Now that I know Amethyst is Lilith...I just don’t think she did it.”

  There’s a long pause between us all as Claus and Nikoli look between each other, and I wonder if I’ve gone too far. I shouldn’t have gotten involved. Maybe now is a good time to use holy fire to travel away, even if it sends me to the fire sun of hell. It would be warmer than in here. “Did you kill our parents?” I’m surprised when Claus asks, his voice tired, but he still asks.

  “No. I swear on my life, on your lives, I did not hurt them. After Lucifer took you from me as small babies, I spent years trapped in cat form, travelling earth, looking for you. After about six years, I met Alexandria’s parents, and they offered to help me look if I helped them with Alexandria, so I stayed near them, helped when they needed it. One day, a portal opened in front of me, and I went through it to find your parents already dead, and my curse lifted so I could be in human form, but I was set up. Lucifer laughed like it was all some joke, and I was horrified. He took you two once again before I could explain and locked me in cat form, which has taken me years to learn how to escape for even a few minutes. I moved in with Alexandria, hoping I could at least protect one of the children in my life, even if it wasn’t my twins,” Amethyst confesses.

  “That’s so sad,” I whisper into the silence just as the ring on my finger starts to burn against my hand, and I gasp, holding it out as a light projects out of the ring, making the entire one wall look like a movie screen or a window into another place.

  “Javier!” I say, seeing him first, and then I glance to his right to see a woman I almost recognise. I stare at her for a long second, hardly noticing the other four guys in the room or the fact Sera and Eike aren’t there.

  “I know you,” the woman says, studying me for a moment. “I remember now! At the arcades!”

  “You’re the girl with all the boyfriends!” I gasp.

  “I still have all the boyfriends and the keyring! It’s on my keys to the safe, but I likely shouldn’t have told you that,” she drifts off when the stern looking guy next to her shakes his head. “I’m Madi, if you don’t remember. This is Oisin, Tobias, Noah, Knox and Warren.”

  “My name is Lexi, and this is Claus and Nikoli, my mates, as well as Javier,” I add in, and she winks at me.

  “A few boyfriends is contagious, right?” she asks, and I can’t help but laugh.

  “Right,” I chuckle before remembering who I’m speaking to and getting my head on track. “Did Javier explain the deal I’m offering?” I ask.

  “Yes, he did, and we will happily help you in exchange for an alliance with the queen of hell,” she adds in, turning on her serious tone as well. As if I met the queen of the fairy tales in my local arcade before I even got dropped into this mad world.

  “You will have my alliance and promise to help you in any future war if you need it. It will be a permanent agreement between our people,” I say.

  “Are angels real, because I’m not sure if Javier is pissing with me,” the one called Oisin randomly asks.

  “They are real, our father is a fallen angel,” Claus replies. “But don’t trust the wolf on anything else.”

  “Fuck you, demon,” Javier playfully growls.

  “Guys, we need to see the book, remember?” I interrupt as Madi groans.

  “Oh yes, it’s here. I will warn you, the book has its own mind and doesn’t help us often,” Madi explains, moving aside to show me an ancient looking book on the table. Madi opens it, and a hologram of a cat bursts out the pages, walking around in a circle of blue smoke before sitting down.

  “Not more cats,” I hear Javier mutter and most of the people in the room look at him like he is crazy.

  “Why do you call me?” the book asks. “Your parents were wrong, I am not the solution to your life. You must find that in your heart. It is already there, and your parents should have trusted you to figure it out.” I try not to let that hurt me, but god it really does because she is right.

  “I called you, my name is—”

  “Alexandria Cameron, true queen of hell with her four chosen kings. You will receive many, many titles over your reign, and hell will become the most powerful city in any world,” she tells me. “You are the first interesting person I’ve met in many years.”

  “Thanks for that insult,” Madi grumbles.

  “Good to know,” I mutter, feeling my cheeks go a little red. “I actually wanted to know how to release the trapped souls in hell to save my mate.”

  “It can be done...but not without a price. Find the four Equus ille to protect your body and soul. With them, you can save them all. Without them, you will fall to a fate worse than death. Goodbye.” With that, the book self-closes with a loud slam.

  “What does Equus ille mean?” I ask into the silence.

  “It sounds Latin, and I’m not good at Latin,” Nick states.

  “I can find out the meaning. It’s not a word I am familiar with,” the guy called Warren says. “We will send the answer back with your wolves.”

  “Thank you,” I bow my head in respect.

  “Maybe when you have time and your mates are safe, we could go out somewhere to get to know each other?” Madi asks.

  “Or you could come to the city of hell? It’s pretty cool down here,” I counter, knowing I can’t leave.

  “Send me an invite,” Madi winks. “And good luck, Lexi. Thank you for this alliance.” The picture disappears, and I sit back on the bench, feeling a little like the book didn’t help us at all.

  There is an odd silence that takes over us all, and I look at the twins to see their attention is fixed on the cat sat by the door, watching the demons walk past in the street. They look like normal people, not demons in hell.

  Then again, Amethyst looks like a normal cat. Sigh.

  “It will take time...but you never lost your twins. We are here and you are our mother,” Claus says, looking back at his brother who nods in agreement. I love how they are simply in agreement with each other.

  I love how they have found a way to move forward.

  “You were always our mother,” Nikoli adds. Amethyst jumps on his lap and Claus strokes her head as they all look at me. One problem fixed...only about a hundred left to go.

  Chapter 70

  Popcorn, a demon and a wolf

  “Hello, Grandmother,” I say, holding Nick’s hand in mine and trying not to feel awkward that my grandmother is the same age as me. She holds the door to her small little red brick house that has small flowerpots outside, and it is so normal, even for hell. Her eyes are puffy like she has been crying a lot, and she has baggy clothes on her small frame, which is a contrast from the last time I saw her.

  “I would invite you in, but I can’t,” she says, and I frown. She invited me here. “See, you look like him, my dear son, and you look like her, the woman who got him killed.”

  “Why didn’t you come to the trial?” I ask.

  “I knew he would die, and I couldn’t watch,” she admits to me. I want to tell her that she could have come and just been there for her son and granddaughter, but I don’t see the point.

  “Okay, but why invite me here? You know what I look like,” I ask with a sigh. “Can’t we just talk?”

  “I’m just sorry. Maybe in time,” she says before slamming the door in my face, and I hear her soft crying on the other si
de.

  “Come on, let’s go,” Nick softly tells me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and tugging me closer. Holy fire burns around us as he moves us to the academy, right outside the doors.

  “Hello, stranger,” Lela’s voice drifts to me from where she is stood by the graves, flowers in her hands. She has put a single purple flower on each of the graves and is clearly making her way through them all.

  “How are you?” I ask, taking in her demon appearance. Silver hair, silver horns, and she looks badass. I wouldn’t expect less though.

  “Coping, but I wish they would make better ice cream here,” she says, placing another flower down. “Your wolf just got back and went to your room. Thought you’d like to know.”

  “Thanks and see you around,” I tell Lela, who smiles softly at me. Nick holds me close as we head into the academy, and right by the horrible statue of Lucifer is the man himself. He is leaning against the statue, talking to Javier who is shaking with anger.

  I run to Javier with Nick and take his hand. Nick steps slightly in front of Javier and me as he talks to his father. My eyes stay locked on Javier’s as they speak.

  “Why are you here? Don’t you have your own castle to be in?” Nick asks.

  “The battle is tomorrow, and then I get my bride. If you are nice to me, I might let her see you afterwards. Never know, she might even remember your name,” Lucifer laughs. “Possibly.”

  Before Nick can reply, Lucifer disappears in holy fire, and we all breathe a sigh of relief.

  “How close were you to trying to kill him, on a scale of one to ten?” Nick asks Javier.