by Leia Stone
Fallen Academy: Year Three and a Half
Leia Stone
Contents
Trigger Warning
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
The End
Acknowledgments
Copyright © 2018 by Leia Stone. All rights reserved.
Cover art by Amanda Rose.
Fallen Academy characters, names and related items are trademarks owned by Leia Stone.
No part of this publication may be reproduced. Stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, live or dead are purely coincidental.
Stone, Leia
Fallen Academy Year Three and a Half
Scottsdale, Arizona
1. Paranormal Romance
For information on reproducing sections of this book or sales of this book go to www.facebook.com/leia.stone
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Created with Vellum
To all the soulmates.
Trigger Warning
Trigger Warning: Some mild themes of attempted suicide are in this book. Do not read it if you think it will trigger you. Please call the suicide prevention hotline if you are having trouble. 1-800-273-8255.
Chapter One
As the portal closed, my entire body seized up. I stumbled forward, tripping over my feet, and grasped at the air in front of me, trying to catch her.
“Brielle!” I screamed again, panic and grief tightening my chest.
If I could get to her in the next few minutes, stop the bleeding, she could survive…
I spun, heart hammering in my chest. “Shea! Open a portal!” I screamed to the light mage. Chloe and Luke were frozen in shock at the back of the room, but Darren and Blake ran out the side door, probably to get help.
Brielle’s best friend looked at me in horror, tears rolling down her caramel cheeks as her hands shook.
“SHEA!” I snapped, stalking towards her.
Lucifer had cracked the ground wide open and Shea wasn’t on the same side as I was, not to mention my wings were broken—a constant searing pain in my back. Luckily, my best friend had freed himself of his bonds and was now flying to grab Shea. With three flaps of his wings, Noah deposited her by my side.
She was hyperventilating, chest heaving as she struggled to breathe. I wanted to lose my shit too, but I couldn’t. Brielle was counting on us.
“Shea. Open the portal and Noah can heal her. Okay?” I tried to keep my voice calm, but it shook.
Still trembling, she straightened her shoulders. “Okay.”
She’d always been gifted for her age. I’d never tell her that of course, because she already had an ego the size of Texas, but she was especially strong with opening portals, so I knew she could do this.
Shea took in a deep breath; standing with her feet planted shoulders-width apart, and held her hands out in front. A purple fire crackled between her palms, but it died out just as quickly. Her eyes widened in alarm, and she tried again, igniting her magic, only to have it fizzle out immediately.
“I’m being blocked,” she croaked.
“No!” I shouted, as desperation threatened to take hold of me.
Brielle … all that blood.
I shook myself, grabbing Shea’s hand, and ran past the spot where Lucifer had taken Brielle. We burst through the doors into the cold night. The demon alarm was still going off, and across campus, I spotted Raphael running our way, with Michael at his side. Darren and Blake trailed behind them.
“Try out here.” My hands were shaking, and I knew I was on the verge of a full-blown panic attack.
Would Brielle have bled out already? Could I still save her? How deep had he cut her? Why had he cut her? How many minutes had passed?
Hundreds of questions ran through my mind at rapid speed. I feared I was on the edge of losing my mind.
Shea’s shock seemed to have worn off a little. She was wearing the look of fierce determination I was used to, her lips peeled back in a gritty sneer and her hands held out, magic flaring wildly…
Only to be shut down again.
“Fuck!” she roared.
“What’s happened?” Raphael looked at our faces, and then most likely read our minds, because he sagged suddenly against Michael.
“Brielle,” the archangel whispered. He looked sick with shock; I could barely look at his face.
Shea thrust herself into my arms. “Fly me to Demon City!” she growled.
Yes! Of course.
If she was being magically blocked, it probably only extended to Angel City.
“No, I wouldn’t do th—” Noah was cut off by the sound of my wings ripping from my back.
A searing hot pain shot through my shoulder blades as sweat rose on my forehead. I’d forgotten my wings were broken. They’d barely healed, and were very fragile.
Screw it.
I tucked Shea into my body, sending some of my own healing energy to my wings, and took off for the skies.
Oh God.
The sharp burning between my shoulders was like a red-hot poker, being driven into my back. It was nothing compared to the pain in my heart at seeing my fiancée’s throat slit by the Devil. I flapped my wings madly, telling my body to get over it, because no matter the pain I was getting Shea over that wall in record time.
“Let’s think this through!” Michael screamed next to me, his voice traveling over the wind. The archangel had taken to the skies with me.
This isn’t happening.
I groaned, ignoring Michael, focusing on the flight and my self-healing. Anything to take my mind off of the pain in my wings and in my heart.
Looking down, I saw the border of Demon City.
Cesspool. I hate this place. I want nothing more than to free it of innocent humans and then light it on fire.
As I descended, my arms felt like they were going numb. I was probably causing some kind of nerve damage, but I didn’t care.
Brielle was my family. The only family I had left.
Emotion tightened my throat, and I had to bite down on my tongue to keep myself from losing it. Lowering Shea and I into a wash between the Demon City wall and some apartment buildings, I landed, setting her down. Pain, like razor blades scratching every surface of my skin, settled into me. Just another reminder that I couldn’t be here for long, not like Shea or Brielle could.
Michael, Noah, and Raphael landed next to me, all wincing with the same pain I was feeling. Being a Celestial in a demon stronghold was agony. Their eyes were searching the perimeter for threats, but my gaze fell on Shea.
Come on. Please.
The mage slapped her hands together, and with a grunt, a spark of green magic flared to life, before turning inky black.
“That’s dark magic,” Michael mused. There wasn’t judgment in his voice. More like he was making a statement.
Shea shrugged uncaringly. “Gotta do what I gotta do.”
Yes!
I
would do anything to get Brielle back here safely right now. Even sell my soul to a demon.
As the portal started to open between her hands, I nearly fainted with relief. But just as quickly I remembered that I couldn’t go through it. None of us could. Except, for Shea.
Dammit!
I winced, remembering the time Brielle had impulsively run into the portal to get Sera, and Shea had slipped in right behind her. The love of my life was loyal to a fault. I’d tried to go in after her, and it nearly tore off one of my limbs. This time was different. She was bleeding out; we had no time. I’d just have to try. I wasn’t going to let Shea do this alone.
Raphael’s strong hand landed on my shoulder. “No, son. You will die. I’ve seen it happen. That world will incinerate you.”
I felt the edges of my mind going dark, back to that place I went when my parents and sister died—that reckless place where I didn’t care about anything, least of all my own safety. Raphael’s hand on my shoulder turned into a clamp, pinning me to the spot, and I knew then that if I tried to jump into that portal, he would stop me.
“I’m going to get help from other Fallen Army guards who are demon-gifted,” Michael announced, just as the portal was wide enough to step into hell.
“There’s no time for that shit!” Shea snapped. “He cut her throat! She’s bleeding out.”
Beyond her was a fiery wasteland, with row after row of straw huts—some of which were on fire. A few demons were milling about, talking to each other. Without another word, Shea spun on Michael. “Lend me your sword.”
Lucifer had crashed our party when we were all unarmed. We weren’t ready for this kind of thing. It made the anger inside of me boil hotter.
Michael faltered. “I’m not worried about the loss of my sword, child, but you cannot go in there alone.”
I knew Shea, she was almost as stubborn as Brielle. Saying that would only fuel her fire.
“Watch me!” she snapped, and leapt through the portal unarmed.
“No!” Noah screamed, stepping after her before Michael swooped in to hold him back as well. Noah was hyperventilating, something I probably should be doing, but I was in too much shock.
With one flick of his wrist, Michael unsheathed his sword and tossed it inside the portal, where it clattered at Shea’s feet.
Shea nodded, scooping up Michael’s Sword of Truth, and placed her finger to her lips in an effort to quiet Noah, who was now whisper-screaming her name.
Michael’s sword was legendary. I didn’t know any demon that had survived one lick from its blade. I wanted to shout at her to hurry, but I also needed to comfort Noah, as he feared the loss of his girlfriend, while I was still grieving mine.
Locked in Raphael’s grip, I stood there, while Shea snuck between two huts and stepped out into the main road, where demons were milling about the area.
Everyone on the Earth side of the portal froze. What would she see? What would she do if she were to spot Brielle or Lucifer himself? I stopped breathing when she looked left, and then right, and then left again. A passing Yew demon recognized that she wasn’t dead, or a demon, and hissed, lunging for her. Shea raised Michael’s sword, bringing it down hard across the demon’s neck, cutting his head clean off.
“BRIELLE!” she screamed in agony.
I’d never in a million years forget the terror in her voice. It sprouted gooseflesh on my arms.
“BRIELLE!” Her chest heaved as she frantically looked left and right, clearly seeing no sign of her best friend.
The world started to spin then, and my soul split in two as I crashed to my knees.
She was gone.
Brielle was gone.
Chapter Two
My eyes popped open and I clutched my chest. My heart was hammering wildly against my sternum. Looking around at the tile floors and small twin bed, I realized I was in the healing unit. Noah was asleep in a chair, Shea on the cot by the window.
“Brielle,” I breathed, disoriented.
Maybe I’d had some fucked-up dream, that Lucifer had shown up to my captain’s promotion ceremony and killed the love of my life.
Shea bolted upright at the same time as Noah.
The looks on their faces, the utter desolation and grief, broke me. It finally set in that it wasn’t a dream. She was really gone.
“No.” I choked on a sob.
Shea rushed across the room, nearly tripping over her own feet, and threw herself into my arms, bawling.
“I tried. I’m sorry, I tried so hard. I didn’t see or sense her anywhere,” she moaned between tears.
I couldn’t do this. Not again. In one second my entire family had been blown to pieces, and now it was happening all over again.
Pushing Shea back, I forced her to look at me. Tears and snot ran down her face, her mascara dripping in dark lines across her brown cheeks. Looking at her only reminded me of my better half, and it was like a punch to the gut.
“We’re not giving up. Ever. You understand me?”
Shea nodded, her tears still flowing. “Yes. She’s strong … has healing abilities. She has to be alive.”
I breathed a little easier, knowing I had someone on my side. The Devil was a master of illusion, right? That whole throat-slitting thing could have been for show, and she’d bust out of there and we’d find her.
“She’s probably already broken free of him, and is wandering the underworld. Let’s open a portal again and call to her,” I suggested.
Shea’s lips turned up into a genuine smile. “Yes! I’ll see if the portal block has been lifted. I can open it right where he … he took her.”
Noah cleared his throat, looking awkwardly at us both. “You guys, that doesn’t sound safe…”
“Noah…” Shea warned, and my best friend backed off, putting his hands up in a gesture of surrender.
I knew he just wanted what was best for me, but finding Brielle, or what had happened to Brielle, was what was best for me.
Shea leapt off my bed, helping me up—my legs felt weak, but I was able to stand.
“What were they treating me for?” My broken wings probably. I’d pushed it too hard, but I also couldn’t remember getting here, which means I blacked out.
Noah looked at the ground. “Shock.”
My heart raced. The same thing had happened when I’d lost my parents. I’d … blacked out, lost touch with reality for a bit. Noah had seen me through that one too.
“I’m glad you’re here, man.” My voice caught.
“Always.” Noah clapped my back, and we all made our way out of the healing center, and onto the campus.
One quick glance across the large campus and I could see that Fallen Academy was crawling with Army guards. “What’s Raph doing about the situation?” I asked Noah as we passed the archangel’s office.
My best friend took in a deep breath. “He’s got two teams of twenty, going into the underworld at thirty-minute intervals, for a five minute sweep. He’s working a grid across town, but … we’ve already lost two men, so I can’t imagine he’ll keep it up much longer.”
No.
That was a really good plan … and they hadn’t found her yet? A headache throbbed at the base of my skull.
“Have they checked the spot she was taken?” We were almost to the place where I’d received my captain’s pin, and where the Devil had portaled Brielle out of here.
Noah shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’ve been by your side.”
Noah was a great friend. I knew his first concern right then was my mental health. I’d lost my shit when my family died, and he’d been there to see it. Now it felt like I was living that all over again.
I shook myself, forcing those thoughts from my head. We’d find her. Today.
After letting ourselves into the large room where Lucifer had taken her, we managed to sidestep the rubble, and with a few jumps over the jagged boulders protruding into the ground, we made it to the exact spot Lucifer had taken my fiancée.
My eyes fell
to the floor, and to the nearly black circle of dried blood there.
Oh God.
That motherfucker.
Fury rolled through me in waves, and I vowed right then and there to kill that son of a bitch for what he’d done. One day. Somehow.
I was so stuck in my own head that I didn’t even realize Shea had already conjured the portal. It looked like the magical block had been lifted. I wanted so badly to run headfirst into the opening, and start screaming Brielle’s name, but I’d be of no use to her dead.
Noah caught Shea’s arm before she could charge inside. “Raph has his teams on this.”
Shea growled at him, shrugging him off, and pulling out her infinity weapons. Her fists wrapped around the two curved discs, and she looked ready to throw down with demons.
My gaze scanned the place beyond the opening, looking for any clue as to where he took her, but I could only see a brick wall, which meant it was inside of a building. The building he was holding her in?
Shea stepped forward, just as a familiar voice boomed behind us.
“Stop!” Raphael shouted.
Peering back, I found that Mr. Claymore was right beside him.
“She could be in there!” Shea screamed, rocking on her heels.
Raph shook his head. “She’s not. I had it swept hours ago, and lost a man in the process.”
Everything in my body went numb then. I simply ceased feeling. It was weird.
Claymore waved his hands and the portal snapped shut, causing Shea to huff in frustration.
“Listen…” Raphael’s voice took on a soft tone, and I knew he was about to deal a blow. “We may just have to come to terms with the fact that Brielle isn’t coming back anytime soon, and we aren’t going to be able to find her.”