Descend (Celestial Academy Book 2): A Reverse Harem Romance

by Maya Nicole

  His expression turned into a smile and my breath caught in my throat. His smile was enough to bring me to my knees. Even here in the flesh, I wanted him.

  "We are a package deal." What was I saying? I couldn't just make a decision without making sure the other three were fine with it. My heart stuttered at the thought of them rejecting Reve.

  "Toby will be the hardest to convince of my intentions. He is very protective of you." I gave him a confused look and he continued. "Sometimes you are all still awake when I come to you. I observe your interactions. If anyone is going to try to kill me, it will be him. The other two are too caught up in each other that they probably won't care. Toby though, you're his end game."

  "Let me take care of Tobias." I looked down at my hands. "Stay for dinner. Let's see what happens."

  What could possibly go wrong? It would be so simple to introduce him as the dream demon who had been wooing me with romantic gestures in dreams. They would totally be on board with me wanting to explore him in the flesh. Totally.

  "There's another small problem. Your father can't know about this. If I would have known he was your father I wouldn't have..." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Now I'm in too deep."

  "I can't guarantee that." I really couldn't. Sometimes my dad just showed up unannounced. Besides, if I didn't tell him then someone else would, I was sure.

  I grabbed my phone. It was better that they were prepared for Reve and not entering blindly. A dream demon will be at dinner. You better be on your best behavior.

  Reve slid off the counter and walked around the island into the living room. He picked up a few pictures I had and looked at them.

  I watched him as he moved around the room before he sat down on the couch, crossing his ankle onto his knee. His movement was much smoother than a human's or even an angel's.

  "Do you fly?" I asked. Of course everyone had super powers except me.

  "Something like that. It's more of a float and only when I'm in phantom form." He patted the couch cushion. "Come sit. You set the timer on the oven. You don't have to watch it."

  "You cook?"

  "No, but I've been around long enough that I know how things work. Like timers." He grinned at me. He was a little bit of a smart ass, something he hadn't been in my head.

  I needed to keep him away from Asher.

  "How long have you been alive?" I was starting to realize that this question didn't matter much anymore. Not when those around you lived seemingly forever.

  "Do you really want the answer to that? It's much longer than your angels." I stood off to the side of the couch and his eyes moved from my face, down my body, and back up. I did the same to him.

  "You look twenty." If I had to hazard a real guess, he was much older than twenty. Tobias and Asher were one hundred. He couldn't be that much older.

  "In Inferna, we don't measure time. It's hard to say how long I've been alive, if I'm being honest. Are you going to sit? I don't bite. Unless you want me to." He ran his hand over the cushion next to him and then folded his hands in his lap.

  I sat down next to him and turned my body towards him. "Inferna?"

  "The part that your father runs is referred to as hell, but that's in Inferna. Could you imagine someone saying, 'go to Inferna' instead of 'go to hell?'" He chuckled and shook his head. "Inferna doesn't flow off the tongue like hell does."

  "You never said how old you are."

  He rubbed his chin, thinking. He looked up at the ceiling and then did some elaborate counting on his fingers, mouthing things to himself. "Maybe around two thousand."

  My eyes widened. "We're talking weeks, right?"

  "Years. It's an approximation, give or take a century or two."

  My mouth opened in disbelief. I didn't even have time to completely process his age, when there was a knock at the door. He went to stand and I put my hand across his chest, stopping him like when you slam the brakes in a car and put your hand out to stop the passenger from flying forward.

  This was about to be a car crash.

  "I'll get it. Wouldn't want you to fall and break a hip." I stood as he laughed. What else do you say to a demon that is so old?

  I felt like puking as I went to the door. They wouldn't try to kill Reve, would they? Could Reve even die? Jesus, he was practically older than Jesus. Perhaps he was older than him.

  I opened the door to three concerned faces. At least this time I wasn't covered in bruises. It's the small victories.

  "A dream demon sent you roses and is now in your apartment to join us for dinner?" Tobias wasted no time brushing past me and walking right into my living room. He had connected all the dots quickly, although Asher had most likely told him everything already.

  Asher followed close behind him, but Olly stopped in front of me as I shut the door. "Did he hurt you?"

  My mouth had opened to respond but then I heard a grunt and turned to see Tobias had pinned Reve to the brick wall. Of course, at that moment, the timer for the oven went off.

  "Let him go." I stopped several feet away, not knowing if they were going to come to blows. Reve had his hands up in surrender and had an amused look on his face. "Now."

  Tobias let him go and stepped back, a scowl on his face. "I think it's time for you to leave."

  "You can leave, but Reve isn't." I gave him a pointed look and then went to turn off the oven and take out the enchiladas. It was a risky move taking out a hot pan with shaky hands, but somehow I managed to get the Pyrex dish onto the stovetop without burning myself.

  "What if he tries to kill us or something?" Olly whispered, suddenly appearing right beside me. I jumped at his sudden appearance next to me. Somehow he managed to move like a tiger going in for the kill.

  I slammed the spatula I had in my hand down and turned towards him. "No one is going to kill anyone. Actually, you know what? I take that statement back. I will kill each and every one of you assholes if you don't sit your asses down at the table and shut up."

  Olly's eyes went wide before he turned and marched his ass to the table and sat down. I watched as the rest of them sat down silently.

  I was tired and irritable and just wanted to enjoy the dinner I cooked, not listen to them berate Reve about being a demon. It was the last thing I wanted to hear.

  I let out a shaky breath and dumped a bag of tortilla chips in a bowl, grabbed the premade salsa and guacamole, and put them in the middle of the table. No one said a word but there was still a lot of distrustful looks going on.

  How would they react when they knew about me? I shuddered at the thought as I placed the pan of enchiladas on the table and sat down.

  We ate in silence, besides the grunts that acknowledged that what I had cooked was actually decent. Maybe there was a future for me in the culinary arts, although all it would take was one squirrel and I would be distracted enough to burn a house down.

  I was munching on a chip when Tobias put his fork down and looked between me and Reve. "Have you two slept together?"

  The tortilla chip lodged in my throat and I damn near felt like I was going to die. I gulped down half the glass of water in front of me as the chip went down like a knife.

  "I don't know how best to answer that question." Reve pushed his plate slightly forward on the table and folded his hands in front of him. "Technically speaking, no."

  Tobias's eyes narrowed on Reve. "Either you have or you haven't."

  "Well, I have never physically touched her." Reve looked over at me.

  "What does that even mean? You've touched her, just not with your hands? I don't speak demon, so you're going to have to clarify." I was a little shocked at how Tobias was speaking to Reve. He was protective of me, but this was a whole new level.

  "Aren't you some hotshot teacher? I'd expect a little more from a man that teaches Demonology. You must be one of those that they can't shake because of tenure." My eyes went wide as Reve blasted Tobias. "It means I haven't physically touched her. I'm a dream demon. I'm sure you are smart
enough to figure out the rest."

  My head swiveled back and forth between the two. Reve looked smug and Tobias's face had turned red.

  "So you took advantage of her in her dreams?" Tobias put his hands on the table like he was about to stand up. I didn't want him to stand up.

  Asher and Olly just sat in silence. They seemed amused at the back and forth between the two men. At least they weren't attacking Reve too.

  "I can assure you that her subconscious made all the decisions to proceed with any sex that was had. Right Danica?"

  "Sex that wouldn't have happened if you weren't in her head to begin with."

  "Guys, can you please stop." I let out a sigh. "Even in the dreams, I feel the same way as I do with any of you. Protected, loved."

  "You think he's the fourth guardian?" Tobias scrunched up his nose in disgust. "It's highly unlikely-"

  "It actually makes sense. An archangel, a Fallen, a turned angel, a demon." Olly brought his hand to his chin.

  "Do they all walk into a bar?" Asher seemed to be the least interested in the whole conversation of sex with Reve. He had the most time to process the whole situation, which gave me hope that Tobias would come around too.

  "What?" Olly looked at Asher, shook his head in confusion and turned back to me. "The prophecy never said anything about your guardians being angels."

  "I'm not sure why she needs guardians. She is powerful enough to protect herself." Reve looked confused and then turned thoughtful and looked at me. "Must be the angel part of you. Angels have always been the weaker ones."

  My eyes widened and my heart stopped for a fraction of a second. Did he know I was part demon? He winked before turning his attention back to a disgruntled Tobias.

  "I just don't foresee this working with a demon. We are all angels, and you are most certainly not." Tobias crossed his arms over his chest as if his word was final.

  "You love me, don't you?" I asked softly.

  "Of course I do." He seemed shocked that I would even ask.

  "And you know I love you?" He nodded in reply. "When we started this, you were the one that said being with the others was fine. You said you'd be with me no matter what."

  "He's a demon, Danica."

  "So what? He's taken care of me. Why do you think I always wanted to sleep at Asher's? He was the reason. I just didn't understand that what was happening in my dreams was an actual person."

  "You slept with him." Hurt passed over Tobias's eyes.

  Should I feel guilty about having sex in a dream? I wasn't sure. "In a dream. I haven't touched him awake, but I think I will now, because we've discussed and I've decided."

  There was a moment of silence and Tobias shut his eyes briefly, as if to gather his thoughts and emotions. "So you want this? To have him be a part of our... thing?"

  "I believe it's called a harem." Olly was staring at Reve as if trying to get a read on him. I wouldn't be surprised if that was in his skillset too.

  "Whatever it's called, I do want to have him be a part of it. The same way I wanted to be close to all three of you. For whatever reason, he's here, with us. I know it seems sudden, but hasn't everything been a bit sudden?" I couldn't help the way I felt. To an outsider, everything was unconventional, but to me it was my normal.

  People meet and fall in love quickly all the time. For me, it was just with four men. Four men I was incredibly sexually attracted to as well.

  "Would it help if I let you take a swing at me? Violence seems to help alpha males such as yourself move past any hang-ups." Reve smirked across the table at Tobias.

  "I'm not an alpha male!" I would have laughed at Tobias's defensiveness if it hadn't been such a serious conversation.

  "Dude. You are. Maybe not a loud one or one that pisses all over the place, but you do get a bit mental over her." Asher chuckled and ran a hand through his wavy locks. "Olly told me about you freaking out that you couldn't come back to Earth right away when you were summoned to heaven."

  "I agree. You are a quiet, brooding dick at times when it comes to her. It's fucking annoying," Olly mumbled.

  My eyes widened. "Asher is rubbing off on you."

  "They haven't done that yet, have they? Rubbed each other off?" Reve asked, clearly misconstruing my words as a sexual reference. Or maybe he wasn't and he just wanted to instigate a confrontation.

  Now that I had seen him interact with others, I was certain it was the latter.

  "You told him about us?" Asher sighed and looked at me for an answer.

  "No." It had only been a day, why would I tell Reve of all people?

  "What do you mean us?" Tobias seemed to forget about Reve for the moment. He gestured between Olly and Asher. "As in you two... together?"

  "It's complicated," Asher responded. "We’re still working on the details of what we are."

  Olly frowned at Asher's words, but still kept his eyes locked on the side of Asher's head. I didn't know what details needed to be worked out, but it was pretty clear after their kiss the day before that they were about to combust.

  I stood and grabbed Tobias's arm because the conversation was headed down the toilet.

  "Let's talk in the bedroom." I turned to Reve. "Maybe you can explain yourself to them."

  Tobias followed me into the bedroom and I shut the door. His eyes immediately went to the bed.

  "Really? They make a bed this big? I guess we kind of need it now that Asher and Oliver are doing whatever and you seem to be convinced that a demon could be one of your guardians. Have you told your dad about this yet?"

  "No, and you aren't going to. I will tell him." He made a noise in his throat. "What's going through your head?"

  "Well, let's see. You've been abducted and almost died in a basement used for bleeding out angels. Then you decide to steal medical files and get the shit beat out of you. You irrationally move off campus. And now there's Reve, a demon. What is supposed to be going through my head? I love you, and I want to protect you, but you are making it so fucking hard."

  Tears sprung to my eyes. When he said all the facts in a nice succinct way, he had a point. I sat on the edge of the bed.

  "Are you breaking up with me?" I wouldn't blame him if he was. Out of all of them, he was the one I worried would leave the most. We were an unlikely pair, and despite it feeling so natural between us, sometimes I wondered if he felt the same.

  "No. Why would you even jump to that conclusion?" He sat down next to me and ran his fingers through his hair and then rested his elbows on his legs, his face in his hands. "The thought of something happening to you terrifies me." He shook his head slightly. "I can't lose another family."

  I put my hand on his back and let out a shaky sigh. "You aren't going to lose me, or Asher, or Olly. I'm sure eventually you will feel better about Reve."

  He turned his head towards me, his hands resting on one side of his face. The eye that I could see was swimming with tears and one dripped out and onto his jeans. I bit my lip to keep my own tears from spilling over.

  "You can't know that for sure. We all know something is coming. When it does, what if..."

  "That's why I have guardians, right? There's no use in worrying about it when instead we could be spending that time loving each other. I mean, look at this bed," I joked.

  He snorted and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands before sitting up straight and pulling me towards him into a hug. "I don't trust him." He kissed my temple and stood, taking my hand. "I think you should have one of us with you for a while if you plan on hanging around with him."

  The logical part of my brain, the part that actually took the time to think things through all the way, knew he had a point. I wasn't about to admit that to him though. Mainly because that would give his alpha complex even more of a boost.

  "Are you going to be nice? I'm not as worried about Asher and Olly." I followed him to the door where we stopped.

  "I'll try my best." That was a non-answer if I'd ever heard one.

  We went back in
to the living area and Reve, Olly, and Asher were cleaning up the dinner mess. I turned to look over my shoulder at Tobias and give him a 'see, they can get along with him' look.

  "Olly wants to go see a movie." Asher flung a dishtowel over his shoulder and turned towards us. He leaned back against the counter and I about had an orgasm from how hot he looked in my kitchen. I guess a man doing the dishes was a turn on.

  Naked dishes would be even better.

  "I don't do well in crowds." Reve put the last dish in the dishwasher and shut it.

  "You two should go." I looked between Olly and Asher. They both looked at each other before Asher shrugged his shoulders and put the dishtowel on the counter.

  "I know what you're doing Dani." Asher pulled me into a hug and put his lips near my ear so only I could hear his words. "And thank you."

  He pulled back and kissed me before heading to the door, Olly doing the same.

  After the door clicked shut, the tension between Reve and Tobias was palpable. It was tempting to send them both on their way, but instead, I plopped down on the center cushion of the couch and patted the cushions on each side of me.

  "Mind if I check the game? Then we can watch a movie or something." Tobias grabbed the remote, not waiting for my answer, and turned on the television. I didn't know much about baseball, but what I did know bored me to tears.

  Reve sat down and put his arm across the back of the couch, purposely brushing his fingers against my neck. I shivered and my nipples hardened. It was the first time he'd touched me outside of a dream.

  "Please don't tell me you're a Dodger's fan," Reve groaned as soon as the game was on. "No wonder you have a stick up your ass."

  He twirled the end of my ponytail in his fingers as he shook his head at the screen showing the Dodgers up two runs against the Nationals. They were in the top of the eighth inning and the bases were loaded with red jerseys. I had picked up a few things about baseball from Tobias but was no expert.

  "We only root for the Dodger's in this harem," Tobias said, not looking away from the television. He was leaning forward with his forearms on his legs.