Fallen Academy: Year Two

by Leia Stone

  ‘What? No way. I’m not hurting my brother.’

  ‘Pull me out. We won’t seriously hurt him, but we might have to keep him from mauling the crowd,’ she told me.

  I pulled Sera out, and Lincoln dropped his sword. He wrestled onto Mikey’s back half, trying to hold him down. Raphael was becoming weaker; every time my brother thrashed, he gained more way.

  “Where’s Clark!” Lincoln roared to someone offstage. I kept my eyes on my brother, while I wondered who the hell this Clark guy was.

  “He’s coming!” a voice called back.

  Mikey ripped free then. In one thrust, he rolled out of Raphael’s and Lincoln’s grasps, and then stood with his back to the demons, who’d been watching keenly the entire time.

  “Evacuate the building,” Lincoln ordered a Fallen Army guard, who was standing offstage with a gun in his hand.

  “We’ll take him off your hands,” the demon sitting with Grim informed us, winking.

  “Screw you,” I snapped at the ugly demon.

  Mikey had his head down and was glaring at me with those freaky yellow eyes.

  “Mikey. It’s me, Bri,” I told him.

  Movement to my left pulled my attention, but not enough to take my eyes off my brother.

  “I can stun him if he lunges. It’ll wear off quick, but it might help in the short run,” Shea said as magic crackled at her palms.

  I was trying to keep the tears at bay. My poor brother had been taken over by a monster.

  ‘Let her,’ Sera instructed me.

  Turning my head slightly to my best friend, I nodded to Shea.

  An Abrus demon I didn’t know stepped closer. “He could learn more about his powers at Tainted Academy,” he cooed.

  I pivoted my body to him, Sera raised and glowing in my hand. “I will cut you if you go near my brother.”

  The demon scowled at me and took a step closer as if to threaten me.

  I’d never seen Raphael with a weapon until right then. He tore across the space, blindingly fast, with a twelve-inch golden dagger in his hands. His wings flapped earnestly, causing a gust of wind to pick up my hair.

  “He’s a free soul. And free souls are mine to protect.” Raphael’s voice was so deep and menacing, I barely recognized it.

  The demon cowed, taking a step back with his head lowered, and that’s when Mikey lunged. Not for me, or Raphael, but for the demon.

  Without uttering a word, Shea threw an orange fiery ball at Mikey’s right shoulder. My brother howled as if in pain, hitting the ground. Limp. He’d dropped twelve inches from the Abrus demon.

  “Shea!” I snapped.

  “It’s just a stun spell. He’ll be—” She didn’t finish her sentence because Mikey stood once more, a bit wobbly, and shaking his head as if to clear his thoughts.

  Shit.

  I really, really, really didn’t want to kick my brother’s ass.

  “If he lunges for me again, I’m putting him down!” the demon roared, smoke billowing from his ears.

  I took one step into the demons’ black-tiled side of the stage, and Sera pulsed a bright white light from her blade, sharp and quick. “Touch my brother and I will end your life!” My wings popped out of my back, and I heard some in the crowd gasp.

  The demon’s gaze went to my chest, and upon seeing the symbol there, he grinned. “You’ve got Lucifer’s temper.”

  The comment was like a kick to the stomach. Did I? Was I like Lucifer?

  I staggered backward and lowered my dagger slightly.

  Mikey growled again and lowered his front end, sticking his hind legs into the air, preparing to pounce.

  “Freeze!” a deep male voice boomed behind me. Mikey whined, lowering his bottom half, and going fully flat onto the ground.

  I spun around to see a tall man in his early thirties leap onto the stage. His hair was chocolate brown, and fell in wild wisps around his face. He was stacked with muscles, like a linebacker, and his eyes were… haunting. They glowed an eerie honey color. He kept his eyes on my brother with each step he took.

  This must be Clark.

  “That’s my brother,” I told him. “Can you help him?”

  He didn’t take his eyes off Mikey. “That’s up to him.”

  The alpha moved within a few feet from Mikey and my brother started to growl. Towering over him, Clark crossed his arms, and leaned forward. “Submit,” he growled in a voice that was only half human.

  Mikey’s lips peeled back as his growl grew louder and he held the alpha’s gaze.

  Oh God. What does this mean?

  Clark bent on one knee, shoving his face right in my brother’s, and I stopped breathing.

  “You will submit to me, or I cannot help you,” he declared.

  Holy Shit. My brother was going to rip his face off, I was sure of it.

  A few more seconds into the stare-down and Mikey’s growl turned to a whine, his amber eyes falling to Clark’s shoes. Then my brother lowered his head and rolled onto his back, exposing his belly.

  Clark’s meaty hand reached out and grabbed the scruff of my brother’s neck, shaking it. “Good pup. Let’s go,” he barked and stood.

  “What? Where are you going?” My voice trembled as Mikey rose to a standing position and stood at Clark’s side.

  Clark’s honey-colored eyes flicked to me for the first time, and I felt a physical power wash over me.

  “I’m taking him to my land. I’ll teach him to hunt deer and calm his thirst for the kill. When I’m satisfied he won’t hurt a human, I’ll send him to school,” the alpha declared.

  Umm, what the hell did he just say?

  “Can’t you just force him to change back to human? Then he won’t hurt anyone.” Right? I was kicking myself for not paying much attention, during the week we spoke about Beast Shifters in my fallen history class. I figured everyone was like Luke—shift, kick some demon ass, shift back.

  Clark shook his head. “He won’t be able to change back until he’s quenched his thirst for the hunt.”

  A strangled gasp reached us, and I turned to see my mother listening in on our conversation.

  Oh great.

  “Well, can I visit him?” I called out. He was walking away with my brother on his heels.

  “Maybe,” he called back.

  My eyes flew to Lincoln, who just shrugged.

  There were a cluster of men and women waiting by the door for Clark. When he neared, they bowed their heads, and stepped out of the way to let him pass. After he and my brother were out of sight, they pulled in the rear and left behind him. They were like a freaking cult.

  ‘Or a wolf pack,’ Sera offered.

  I didn’t need a dose of her logic right then. My heart was hammering in my chest.

  “Well, that wasn’t ideal, but Clark will take good care of him,” Raphael offered.

  The archangel was standing now, dagger sheathed, and wings down calmly at his sides.

  What a crazy day.

  But ‘not ideal’?

  My brother was stuck as a monster, and had just gone to live with some dude I’d never heard of for God knew how long.

  “Extremely not ideal,” I told him, then went to comfort my mother.

  If life would stop shitting on me, that would be great.

  Chapter Five

  I’d left the Awakening ceremony early to drive my mom back, and assure her that I would take care of Mikey. That this Clark guy was someone we could trust, and everything would be okay. Lincoln told me to let myself into his trailer and wait for him, that he’d wrap up his duties at the ceremony and meet me there.

  I let myself in, and after fifteen minutes I was bored off my ass.

  ‘Let’s snoop,’ Sera offered.

  I chuckled. ‘Oh my God, how are you an angel’s blade?’

  ‘Good question. They probably messed up when they made me. That’s why I got sent to Earth.’

  My chest vibrated as I laughed again. ‘Wait, are you saying I’m only worthy of a reject i
nfinity weapon?’

  ‘Did you just call me a reject?’ she retorted.

  A grin lit up my face and momentarily all of my worries washed away.

  ‘What’s that little poetry book?’ Sera pressed.

  My eyes flicked to the brown leather-bound book in front of me and I shook my head.

  ‘No way. That’s messed up,’ I told my blade.

  ‘They’re just poems. It’s not like a journal,’ Sera pressed harder.

  I groaned. ‘Fine, one look. Because I’m bored and curious what he writes in there.’

  On nights that I studied over there, he would scribble in the book and play his guitar.

  Reaching over, I flipped through the pages to the last, most recent one.

  Eyes like the sky, they behold mighty power.

  Hair like the sun, I want to stay warm forever.

  Her love fills me up, fills me up—

  The door handle jiggled and I chucked the book across the table. It slammed against the wall and fell awkwardly onto the bench seat.

  “Hey,” Lincoln said as he walked in.

  “Nothing,” I shouted.

  Oh God, that song sounded like it was about me. My cheeks reddened.

  ‘What a sweetheart,’ Sera cooed.

  “Are you okay?” Lincoln frowned, moving toward me. I scooched over to give him room to sit next to me.

  “Yep, fine. Up to nothing.” I laughed nervously.

  Lincoln’s brows drew together. “I mean about your brother. Are you okay?”

  In my snoop-fest, I’d momentarily forgotten about my brother. “Oh. No, I’m not okay about that. He must be so scared, and I don’t know that Clark guy, but he seemed like a dick. My mom was totally freaking out too.”

  Lincoln rubbed my back slowly, up and down, over and over as I vented everything that was bothering me.

  “I just want a freaking break, ya know!” I shouted. “First I have black wings, then this crazy prophecy that I’m going to kill Lucifer, and my devil mark tattoo. I thought that was enough to deal with.”

  He nodded in understanding. “It is enough. More than enough. But we’ll get through this together.”

  “Now my brother told me that my mom’s boss is docking her pay every week, and I’m afraid she’s not even getting enough to eat. She would never tell me if she was struggling that hard.”

  Lincoln frowned. “I have ten grand left of my parents’ insurance policy money. She can have it if she needs it.”

  My chest shuttered with emotion. Who is this amazing man, and how the hell do I deserve him?

  “No, I’m going to send her some money out of my monthly checks. But Lincoln… wow. Thank you for offering.”

  He was staring at me with those intense blue eyes, messy dark hair, and pouty full lips, and all of a sudden my mind was off my troubles, and onto the man candy before me.

  He must have noticed the moment my mood shifted, because he looked down at my lips then back up at me with a half-lidded gaze.

  “I love you,” I whispered tenderly, leaning forward to brush my lips across his.

  His hand came up to thread into my hair as he gripped the back of my neck. Our kiss grew deeper as heat pooled in my gut. I’d never been so sexually attracted to someone as I was to Lincoln. Just the way he looked at me behind those dark lashes, with those moistened lips, it undid me.

  I stood and grabbed my lower back. “I’ve really had this kink in my back lately. I’d love a backrub.”

  He smirked, looking me up and down. “If you want to have sex with me, just say it.”

  Laughter pealed out of me. “I totally want to have sex with you.”

  ‘Get a room.’ Sera’s voice invaded my mind.

  Ignoring her snarky comment, I pulled her out of my leg harness and set her next to Lincoln’s sword.

  Lincoln’s strong hands came around to cup my butt as he lifted me up to straddle him. I pressed my thighs around his waist to keep myself on him and pulled off my shirt. His eyes fell to the tattoo on my chest before he bent forward and kissed it. Every time he did that, it made me emotional, a lump formed in my throat. It was like he was saying he approved of me, all of me, and he loved every part of me. Even the less desirable ones.

  We’d made it to the bed and fell into it together. Lincoln pulled off his shirt in one of those sexy one-handed moves and pressed his pelvis against me. I moaned and gripped the back of his neck, peppering his shoulder with kisses as he started to unbutton my pants.

  “School starts tomorrow,” I huffed, panting. “You know what that means?”

  His eyes were practically glowing as he looked up at me from kissing my belly button.

  “What?”

  I grinned. “I don’t have to call you ‘sir’ anymore.”

  The grin was wiped off my face and exploded into a moan as he worked his tongue magic. I’d call him ‘sir’ for the rest of my life as long as he kept doing that.

  “Thank you for seeing me, Brielle.” Mr. Claymore motioned me to step into his office.

  “Are you kidding? When I got your message, I was so excited I barely slept.”

  We were only a few days into school, and he thought he’d found a spell that could remove my devil mark. Setting my bag on the floor, I took a seat in a chair across his desk. Class started in forty-five minutes, but I’d willingly gotten up at six thirty to be ready for this.

  He smiled, and I couldn’t help but notice how kind his eyes were. Other than the streaks of gray in his brown hair, you wouldn’t know he was an older man.

  “Now, I want to warn you, this may not work. So don’t get your hopes up.” Pulling off his thick black cloak, he laid it over his chair and rolled up his sleeves.

  I nodded. “Got it. Totally not overexcited or anything.” I bopped in my seat, trying to hide my grin.

  He chuckled. “Come in!”

  A frown pulled at my lips, not having heard anyone knock, and was surprised to see Raphael step into the room, tucking his wings back as far as he could to squeeze into the space.

  “Hello, Brielle.” His voice was always so calm.

  “Hey. Wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

  He made his way behind Mr. Claymore’s desk, and looked up at me with his piercing blue eyes. The way his golden blond hair glowed around his shoulders, sort of reminded me of the halos Catholics always depicted around the angels’ heads. “Oh, I’m just here to drop a little Celestial magic and leave. What you two do with it is none of my concern.”

  He winked just as his hands suddenly glowed with a crazy bright orange healing light, so bright, I had to shield my eyes. I peeked back over to the desk, through my fingers, to see him pouring the golden light into a large jar. Once it was full, he nodded to Mr. Claymore, and moved back around the desk to the door.

  “Have a good day,” he offered cheerfully, and then he left.

  I busted out laughing. “That was super shady.”

  Mr. Claymore chuckled softly, but then his face fell into a more stoic pose. “Raphael cannot directly help the humans, so he does what he can in obscure ways.”

  My lips turned down into a frown. “Why not? What would happen if he did?”

  Mr. Claymore put on a pair of thick leather gloves. “If he does… he can’t go home.”

  Home?

  ‘Heaven, you dingbat,’ Sera barked.

  ‘Oh shit.’

  “Oh. Why?” I was totally prying, but I needed to know everything about this.

  The Light Mage picked up the jar with his thick leather gloves and sighed. “It’s just his penance, that’s all. Don’t worry. Now, this might hurt a bit, so take a deep breath.”

  Raphael’s penance for what?

  He was standing over me now, holding the glowing jar of Raphael’s magic, his own purple light beginning to sneak in and mix. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to drink it or what, until he upended it right onto my bare chest and a burning sizzle erupted across my flesh.

  I hissed, as the golden purplis
h light saturated my chest, and sank into the skin there. Then, a cool minty feeling spread across it.

  “Sorry,” he mumbled.

  I nodded, breathing in and out heavily, looking down at the tattoo that was still very much there. My skin was starting to turn an angry red, and the burning was back. Mr. Claymore began to chant, sprinkling clumps of salt down my shirt.

  I was just starting to think this was going to work when movement to my left caught my eye. My head snapped to the side, and my mouth dropped at the portal that was slowly opening in the middle of the air.

  “Uhhh,” I said, and pointed.

  The Light Mage looked back at the portal and cursed, nearly dropping an entire bottle of salt on me.

  “Get behind me,” he muttered.

  Oh shit. Why can’t anything go my way?

  I stood, pulling Sera out, and stepped behind the professor.

  The portal grew wider and a dilapidated stone building came into view. The building didn’t scare me, but the stench of sulfur did.

  “Is… is that Hell?” I gasped.

  He was throwing streaks of purple across the room, which were attaching to the edges of the portal and forcing it closed.

  My chest no longer burned, or felt cool, or felt… anything. I looked down, and other than a few grains of salt, it looked normal. The menacing skull with wings and a lopsided crown was still there, staring up at me.

  My eyes flicked back up to see Mr. Claymore wrestling a tiny Yew demon that was trying to fly into the room with its little bat-like wings. It appeared as though Mr. Claymore had magically bound its mouth, purple energy bands wrapped around it like the rubber bands they put around lobster claws. That was a good thing considering they spit fire.

  ‘Stop horsing around and point me at him,’ Sera demanded.

  Oh. Right.

  I tipped the blade over Mr. Claymore’s shoulder and pointed the tip right at the Yew demon. A bright shot of white light erupted from the blade and slammed into its chest, knocking it backward. Mr. Claymore pulled tightly on the purple bands and the portal sealed shut.

  Once he was satisfied it was closed, the Light Mage spun around and looked at Sera in my hand. “Thanks for that.” He nodded. His hair was a mess, completely wind-blown.