The characters and events portrayed in this book are products of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Printed by Ann James Publishing, December 2020
Copyright © Brandi Elledge, 2020
www.brandielledge.com
Cover and interior design by We Got You Covered Book Design
All rights reserved. Unauthorized distribution or reproduction is strictly prohibited without the express written permission of the publisher.
Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9967193-4-6
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Afterword
Acknowledgments
About the Author
This one is for my Aunt B.
What makes a great aunt? Sassy, funny, and a little bit crazy. And babe, you got them all.
I love you, BIG.
My head bounced and swayed with every step that my captor took. My mind was so foggy because, every time I would wake, I was immediately shot with a tranquilizer gun, over and over again.
When I woke this time, I let my body hang limp as Trev carried me over the rocky terrain. For whatever reason, I couldn’t visit Finn in my dreams. Maybe because of the toxins running through my system. The moment I came awake, I tried to will myself to a peaceful sleep so I could talk with the one person I craved to see, but it was of no use. My mind refused to comply.
Trev laid me down in some sort of shallow cave, and as soon as he exited, I tried to get my limbs to work. I couldn’t even feel my toes.
I lay there, unmoving, as he reentered, dropping a stack of wood not too far from me. He was consumed with building a fire, and I was so consumed with trying to get my limbs to unfreeze that I didn’t hear the other person come into the cave until he was upon us. I took deep breaths, pretending to still be asleep, if only to buy myself some time. Five minutes could be my salvation.
There was a light nudge to my ribs, and then a snarl.
My mind was foggy, but I still recognized Trev’s voice. The traitor.
“Don’t touch her again.”
“Or what, little brother?”
Boots crushed the small pebbles that I lay on as someone paced in front of me. The same voice bit out, “What were you thinking of bringing her here? Why didn’t you fly her back to the Empowered Academy? You do realize that being immortal doesn’t mean that you can’t die, correct? Thanks to the headmistress, she now has a way to kill the fully blessed. Granted, her weapon isn’t as quick or as painless as the Flaming Sword, but dead is dead. After she injects you with the serum, she will tear your wings from your back then take your empty head from your shoulders.”
Trev’s voice was quiet, but there was steel laced in it when he said, “I’ll tell you what I was thinking, or should I offer an apology for interrupting your whoring and drinking?”
“My patience is waning.”
“I needed to buy time. I was hoping the headmistress would send you out for me.”
“Why?”
“Obviously, because I need to talk with you. This girl is more than just a tool to lure the commander in. She could be our escape, too, brother. She could be the answer to a problem that we have been trying to solve for years.”
The other man scoffed. “You always did have your head in the clouds, especially when it came to pretty women.”
“Are you happy? Truly?” When Trev’s brother didn’t respond, he said, “This girl is more than just a pawn in a war. She can help us right our wrongs. What is the price you’d pay for freedom?”
“Who says I’m not enjoying life?” Even half-drugged, I could hear the lie in his voice.
“Do you realize how bad the Empowered Academy has become?”
The brother scoffed again. “No, I missed the selfishness and greed that has spread through it like a disease. I also missed the Satanic behavior. And let us not forget the dark magic, along with the makings of the wendigos. You say bad, brother? The academy passed bad decades ago.”
“We can’t leave,” Trev said. “You know this. You bear the mark, just as I do. Not unless the first wendigo ever created is taken out.”
“And you think that this slip of a girl is the answer to our prayers? That she will free us? That she will be able to take on a wendigo?”
“I would bet my life on it,” Trev said.
“Well, good brother, because that is exactly what you would be doing. They sent me out to look for you so, in all actuality, you would be betting both of our lives and anyone else who you bring into this mess.”
I could feel someone crouching beside me.
“I sense a lot of power … more than should be possible.” He leaned in closer to me. “She’s waking. Her pulse is becoming erratic.”
“So, do I dart her again?” Trev asked. “Or, do we have a deal?”
“Again? How many times can you dart someone who is mortal before they die?”
“Exactly,” Trev said. “I’ll tell you the rest once you agree that we have a deal. Are you in or out, brother?”
My eyes popped open to see a man in his early twenties peering down at me. He had hazel eyes and streaks of blond through brown hair that touched his shoulders. He was as handsome as his brother, the traitor, but he had a jaded look to him. Being in foster care so much, I knew his type well. The world had scorched him, and he still carried around the burn marks as a reminder.
“Please, no,” I said. “No more darts.”
He loomed over me. “Oh, and you think this beggar will be our leader?” He chuckled as he looked back over his shoulder.
Those extra minutes had given me enough time, as I was able to reach out and snag his arm. Remembering how I had killed using just my hands, I focused on the rage and fear I felt that night.
Trev flew to his brother’s side, tackling him toward the crackling fire. Their eyes were wide as they stared at me with … hope? Well, shit, that didn’t go as planned.
“Did she almost kill me?” the angry Viking asked.
Trev smiled. “Yep. And I had to save your sorry ass. So, you know that theory you had earlier about how to kill an angel? Well, it looks like she carries the fast, more painless option.”
A matching smile lit up on the Viking’s face, and a dimple winked from under his left eye. Definitely siblings.
My throat was dry as I croaked out, “Smile now, you asshats, but when I get all my parts working, there is nowhere you two scumbucket pigs will be able to hide. I will find you, and I will kill you both.”
The smile never dropped from the Viking’s face as he said, “Such foul language. What’s your name?”
My eyes were slits. “You can call me Executioner.”
Curse words streamed out of the Viking’s mouth,
and then he patted his brother on the back. “I’m sorry I doubted you. I’m in. Definitely in.”
Trev nodded at me. “If we don’t show up with her, we’re dead. We need a plan.”
The brother groaned. “Savage killers? Yes. Witty banter with”—he gave me a wink—“devastatingly good looks? Yep. Making plans? No, we suck at that. All our plans always backfire.”
“One thing is for certain,” Trev said, “we can’t bring her to the academy with all that juice flowing from her.”
“Agreed.”
Dodging my right arm, the brother crouched beside me.
“What’s the matter?” I snarled. “Are you scared, princess?”
The brother was laughing as his warm hands touched my head, and then pain like no other consumed me. My body bucked as something tight coiled around my head. My powers flared to life right before they puttered out like a wet blanket to a flame. I hissed as the pain caused me to bite my lip until blood pooled. Then everything went black again.
A cold, cement floor was flush against my cheek. Not wanting anyone to realize that I was awake again, I tried to keep my heartbeat steady as I continued to take deep breaths. I didn’t dare open my eyes. Not yet.
I tried to bring my powers to me, but … nothing. It was as if I was human. I don’t ever remember feeling like this, not even when I was a child.
“Are you going to lay there all day and pretend you’re still asleep?”
I knew that jerk’s voice.
My eyes flicked open to see Trev on the other side of steel bars.
Slowly sitting up, I took in my surroundings and laughed.
“What’s so funny, beautiful?”
“You,” I said. “You couldn’t come up with anything more original than putting me in jail? Or, wait …” I patted the rock wall behind me as I stood. “Is this a dungeon? So much cooler, but still, you didn’t really shock me.”
He came closer to the bars. His brown eyes roamed over me like he was checking to see if I was in good shape. That was rich.
“Gabriella, we need to talk.”
I waved my hand about. “Well, it looks like I have some time on my hands. But, for the life of me, I don’t know if I can stomach looking at you.” I slid down the rock wall with my eyes closed. My head was pounding, and the last thing I wanted to do was have a chitchat session with Trev.
Finn would come for me. This I was certain of.
A small smile curled my lips at the image of Finn storming into wherever the hell I currently was. I felt for our connection. He had bound me to him, and because of that bond, he would know exactly where I was. It was my only saving grace at this point.
I ran a hand over my chest. I felt … nothing. My eyes flew open and met Trev’s. He winced.
“What have you done to me?” I asked as tears of frustration pooled in my eyes.
“I’m trying to protect you.”
I made my way to my feet once again and crowded the steel bars. “Where am I? And what is your twisted plan this time?”
“I don’t have a lot of time. I need you to listen carefully. Everyone here must believe you are nothing more than a low-level demi. The headmistress of this school needs an object. An object that she has spent her entire life looking for. She believes that Finn knows where that object is. She also believes that you are the key to getting Finn to talk.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Yeah? And how would this headmistress know that I might be the great bait for the mighty Finn?”
He gave me a sheepish look.
“You are truly un-freaking-believable.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. I had to give her something—some sort of hope. Lives depended on it. I don’t expect you to forgive me or even understand why I did what I did, but I am sorry. I did betray you, and the sorry truth is I would do it again and again if it meant saving the ones I love.” He curled his hands around the bars that separated us. “I am trying to help you.”
“I’m sure that there is something in it for you, though. I mean, excuse me if I’m wrong, but you don’t seem like the unselfish type.”
When he didn’t say anything, I continued, “I overheard you and your brother. You said that someone had found a way to kill the fully blessed; strip them of their immortality. If that’s the case, then why would this headmistress need the you-know-what?”
“Because she has to make the serum. I don’t know how she does it yet, but I know that the source of the serum is limited. Also, there are steps she must take after she injects the serum into the fully blessed. Then she has to strip the fully blessed of their wings. And finally, she takes their head. The other item that I was talking of”—he gave me a pointed look—“can kill a fully blessed or, as we know, an archangel within seconds. To have that kind of power—”
He stopped talking and put a finger to his lips before he pointed at the floor where I had been lying. Then he closed his eyes like he was sleeping.
I hesitated for a second before I went back to the corner of the small cell and lay down quietly. I didn’t know why I trusted him, but I had nothing to lose at this point. The devil you knew and all that.
I took deep breaths, trying to even out my breathing as I closed my eyes, pretending to be asleep.
A few moments later, I heard heels clicking on the cement floor and a hand trailing along the bars, as if the person were taking a stroll in a park instead of walking in a moldy, windowless dungeon. I was more than tempted to peek through my lashes, but my instincts had me feigning sleep.
With a cold, feminine voice, the person said, “Hello, my pet.”
“Headmistress.” I had never heard Trev’s voice sound so distant, so cold.
“Tell me,” the woman all but purred, “what took you so long? My scouts reported that you should have arrived with the girl yesterday.”
“Yes, but I thought we were being followed, so I chose to stick to the ground, under the shelter of trees.”
“Hmm,” she said, “Wasn’t that the point, though? To have the commander follow after the girl?”
“Yes, Headmistress, but I wasn’t entirely sure that it was the commander who was following us.”
“Explain.” Her voice was laced with so much venom and ice that I was impressed with how Trev didn’t waiver.
“I believe there are others who are interested in this girl for the same reason that you are.”
“Camaella?” the woman asked.
I couldn’t see what Trev did, but the woman then growled.
“Of course. That bitch would do anything to please Lucifer. She thinks she will get her hands on the Flaming Sword, but it is I who will wield it.”
“Yes, Headmistress. That is why I took the extra day to get here. I was hoping to lead whoever it was following me astray. I knew it would be in your best interest to keep this girl, her identity, and what she means to the commander as quiet as possible.”
“I took your word that he was enamored with the girl and would chase after her, but if you are wrong, I’ll make an example out of you.”
“Yes, ma’am. However, it doesn’t look like I need to worry about that. Our scouts have located him.”
“How many did he bring with him?”
“It’s the commander we are talking about. Does it matter? I mean, his power is unfathomable.”
The headmistress grunted. “So, he does hold affection for this one. That means he won’t kill us if she is in danger. And you are sure she is a demi?”
“Very.”
“So, no healing powers? How unfortunate for her. Take two and put them in a box. Tie it with a ribbon and leave a note saying he can storm the academy, but she’ll be dead before he can reach her.”
Two? Two what?
Trev cleared his throat. “As you wish.”
They were both quiet for several seconds. Finally, the headmistress said, “He needs to know how serious I am about this. It seems that our commander has a decision to make. He can give up the whereabouts of the Flaming Sword, or he c
an have the girl. He can’t have both.”
The joke was on her. I was both. And if Finn wanted me, he would have both.
Energy hummed around me. Without my powers, I got no read on her, but something in me said she was testing Trev.
“Go get the items that you need for the commander’s present and keep me informed.”
I lay as still as possible as their footsteps grew farther and farther away. I was confused and tired. I had no powers, and I couldn’t feel Finn, which meant he couldn’t feel me either. Whatever Trev’s brother had done to me left me vulnerable.
When Finn did show up, I would be absolutely no help to him. We had so much to talk about.
A tear streaked down my dirty face. This couldn’t be how our story ended.
The air pressure changed around me, giving a jolt to my system. I lay on the cold ground, but all of a sudden, I wasn’t cold anymore.
Sitting up, I looked around me to see if I was alone. There was no one on this level, but I knew that someone was staring at me, even without my powers.
Four feet from me, a man appeared, but this wasn’t any ordinary man. No, this was an angel, with brown, wavy hair to his chin and golden eyes that smiled upon me as if I was his long-lost daughter. All six feet of him crouched down so he could get a better look at me. His handsome face took in my features like he was committing them to memory.
The fact that I felt like a thousand suns were shining upon me gave me a clue to who this angel was. Plus, I remembered him from my last dream.
Captured: Academy of the Seraph Page 1