by Leia Stone
‘We can do this,’ Sera egged me on. ‘Shea is family.’
I clenched my jaw and pointed to Shea, standing with my mother at the edge of the circle in shock.
“The girl right there is my sister,” I told him.
He furrowed his brow as he looked from my pale skin to her brown tones.
“And I know you don’t trust me, or know me that well yet, but one thing you will learn is that I’m loyal as fuck, and I’m not leaving her behind. I’d rather die!”
He looked defeated, weak, and tired. “Then you might just get your wish.” Lincoln collapsed onto the back of my car, blood leaking from his leg.
Does that mean he’s allowing it? I didn’t wait to find out. Turning, I faced the Grimlock demon. “I accept your terms.”
He sneered and clapped, producing Shea’s contract and handing it to my mother.
“My witness will be here any moment,” he stated.
Lincoln was mumbling something, reaching for me. Shit. He was getting worse by the minute. I opened the back of the car, and helped him inside.
“Are you going to be okay?” I asked. “Should I call for help?”
He shook his head. “No one can help me in here. Just make this quick. The longer you draw it out, the better chance you have of losing.”
Thanks for the confidence.
I turned and came face-to-face with Shea, tears pouring down her cheeks. “What the hell are you doing? Call it off!”
I shook my head. “I’m not leaving without you. You’ll go dark, we’ll stop talking, and my mom will cry all the time. So no.”
She barked a laugh through her tears, and threw herself at me for a bone-crunching hug. “He has an old left knee injury, pains him all the time. His throat skin is the thinnest. Everywhere else is like rubber,” she whispered, then pulled back.
It hit me then that I was about to kill a man, or at least attempt to. The thought was horrifying. Demon or not, I was about to become a killer. Looking across the parking lot, I saw his witness was the Abrus demon that was going to buy my contract.
Great.
I moved to walk into the circle, when Lincoln snaked an arm out, and grabbed my wrist. “If she’s really your family, then there’s nothing that can stop your seraph blade from defending her.”
Whatever I was going to do, I needed to hurry. The back of my SUV was overflowing with crimson blood.
It started to rain, as it often did in Demon City, mercifully snuffing the black portal fire.
‘When he advances, kick his left knee out and then go for his throat,’ Sera told me.
It was like having my own personal battle instructor in my head.
Taking a deep breath, I popped out my wings. I didn’t exactly know how to fly yet, but I could at least hover, which could be useful in a bad situation.
The demon grinned, black leathery bat-like wings erupting from his back.
Oh shit. What have I done?
Without ceremony, he charged for me, holding a big-ass flaming red serrated sword, flapping his wings to hover and advance his height.
‘Plan B!’ Sera shouted. ‘Slide under him and cut his groin!’
My eyes bugged out. ‘What?’ But I didn’t have time to protest; he would be on me in a second.
Here goes nothing.
I used his momentum and dropped to my knees. As he sailed over me, I arched back and thrust Sera into his groin. I connected with something, but I wasn’t sure how much damage I’d inflicted. He didn’t even scream, and the dagger pulled away clean.
Popping up into a standing position, I flapped my wings twice and hovered. Grim was coming at me fast.
This is for Shea.
The only thing standing between us being free souls together was him. There was no way in hell, that I was letting that happen.
He flew at me, his long flaming sword outstretched. We were going to collide, and there was nothing I could do. With no shield or armor, that sword would gut me like a fish.
‘Stick out your leg!’ Sera urged.
I did, connecting with his chest as he sliced into my outer thigh with his sword. Searing pain tore through my leg, and a wail ripped from my throat. The bastard had cut me, but at least my guts were still firmly inside my body.
He grinned and then flew backward to get better momentum, but I didn’t give him a chance. With a battle cry, I flapped my wings harder than ever before, and rushed him, intending to cut into his neck. As I lunged for him, he moved down and my dagger went into his eye instead.
Good enough.
‘Keep it in there!’ Sera shouted.
The dagger lit up a searing hot blue color, and Grim’s high-pitched wails filled the air. He started to lash out blindly, attempting to slice me. I had to let go, and leave the dagger in his eye to avoid being cut again, abandoning my only weapon. Beams of white light shot out of his ears, as he continued screaming.
‘Shea is family,’ Sera declared in a vicious voice. ‘She’s ours, not his.’
Holy shit, my weapon’s gone postal.
I dropped to the pavement as he fell in front of me, trying to pull the dagger out of his eye. The hilt kept burning his hand, so he had to let go, unable to keep a strong enough grip to remove it.
Now that he was on the ground before me, and I was weaponless, I wasn’t sure what to do.
I took too long to think about it, and he grabbed me by the neck, throwing me across the lot. I didn’t have time to pump my wings as I sailed across the space quickly, so I landed hard on my ass, pain exploding in my tailbone. I got the sense from his drunken walk, and tearing vision, that he couldn’t see well out of his remaining eye, or else he would’ve already cut me open easily with his scary-ass sword. He still managed to stalk toward me, at an alarming speed, ripping across the pavement with a growl.
‘Get up and kick out his knee!’ Sera instructed.
Oh yeah, the knee injury.
I shot up, moaning when the pain tore into me. My lower back and leg were jacked up for sure. My left outer thigh was cut and bleeding, so I used my right leg to support my weight as I lifted my left into the air, and sent all of my power into the kick. Just as he reached me, my booted foot connected with his kneecap and a snapping sound rang out across the parking lot.
“Kick his ass!” Shea shouted in a throaty scream. That was the Shea I knew, the fiery spirit who’d been broken down lately.
“Finish it!” my mother added, encouraging me.
He dropped his sword, and as the demon went down, Sera sent me a bunch of mental images, flashes through my mind of things she wanted me to do. I didn’t have the luxury of stopping to think about them, or questioning them. I also didn’t want him to have the time to forfeit and live. I threw myself over him, grabbing the knife, the hilt cool to the touch for me. Pulling it out of his eye with a nasty sucking sound, I went to slam it into his throat.
“I forfeit!” he screamed.
Screw that. I brought my arm down hard, but an unseen power wrapped around my wrist, suspending it an inch from his throat. My eyes flicked up to the Abrus demon. He had one of his hands in the air, playing me like a puppet. He raised his arm and suddenly my body was lifting off the Grimlock demon. Then his power left me, and my feet slammed to the ground, pain shooting up my thigh.
“You’ve won,” he reminded in a smooth voice. “Run along. Don’t worry, we’ll be seeing each other again very shortly.” His eyes rested on Sera. “Nice seraph blade.”
I swallowed hard, and then glanced at Shea in shock.
Her forehead was free of the crescent moon tattoo.
Her contract in ashes on the ground.
Holy shit.
I looked at my mom as she rushed over, head bent low, submissive. Handing me the Michael sword, she pulled me in for a hug. “I’m very proud of you. Call me later, but don’t ever come back here again.”
Her words shocked the absolute shit out of me. Tears swam in my vision, making it blurry. “Mom, what about you and Mikey?”
I was starting to feel dizzy. How much blood have I lost?
“We’ll be fine. Go,” she said more firmly, then turned her back on me, to walk back inside the clinic.
What will happen to her? Why is her mark still there if I killed our boss? I had a hundred questions, but a wave of dizziness took me again. When I looked down, I saw I was standing in a puddle of my blood.
Shit.
Everything was starting to blur at the edges. Shea hooked a hand under my armpit, hauling me into the back of the SUV and pushing me lightly so my body interlocked with Lincoln’s. Two bloody, half-dead people spooning in the back of my SUV.
“Get us… to the… academy,” Lincoln told her weakly. She slammed the back door and ran to the driver side.
My back was against Lincoln’s chest, his warm breath coming out in short rasps against my neck. “You’re… the craziest… girl… I’ve ever… met.” He reached out to me with a glowing orange hand. With a jolt, the car peeled out, and I remembered Shea didn’t have a license.
Too weak to care, I just stared at the glowing orange hand as he laid it on my bleeding thigh. He was trying to heal me. He was bleeding to death, weak as shit, and still trying to heal me.
“You’re the hottest guy I’ve ever met,” I said stupidly. The blood loss had obviously made me loopy, let my inhibitions down.
A low laugh erupted out of me, and then a black wall slammed into me as I lost consciousness.
Chapter Ten
My consciousness returned in bouts.
I remembered Noah standing over me screaming, then there was a bright golden light, and Raphael appeared. I remembered Lincoln’s terrified face hovering over me, and Shea crying.
It all came in snippets, like a dream.
Now, I could feel bedsheets underneath me, my rib cage, thigh, and tailbone were throbbing. I tried to speak, but only croaked. Opening my eyes, I winced against the bright light.
Shea’s face swam into view. “You crazy bitch! Don’t ever do that again,” she scolded, sticking a finger in my face for good measure.
I tried to smile, but my face hurt. “I can promise you that.” Shakily lifting a hand, my thumb brushed across her clear forehead.
She burst into tears then, and threw her arms around me. “Thank you!” she sobbed in my ear. “Mi familia.”
“You’re welcome, mi vida loca.” I didn’t really know Spanish, but I threw out what I did randomly because it always made her laugh.
I was rewarded with that laugh now.
Peering around for the first time, I noticed I was in some type of medical room, with only a chair next to my bed. The door was propped open, leading out to a tiled hallway.
“You’re in the healing clinic at Fallen Academy,” she told me.
I nodded. “Am I expelled? In deep shit?”
We were free souls, but without jobs we wouldn’t be able to live in Angel City, and now we were banned from Demon City. We were basically homeless if they wouldn’t take us.
She shrugged. “I don’t think so. I mean, there was a lot of yelling, but I heard the words ‘brave idiot’ tossed around a lot. Seems like the old dude likes you.”
I smiled. Raphael.
“Is Lincoln okay?” I asked, eyeing the open door.
That time it was her turn to smile. “You mean the hottie who fought for your freedom? Yeah, his injuries were pretty minor. Being in Demon City was just zapping his energy, or whatever. Once we got over the border he perked right up. Moderate blood loss and some stitches, I heard them say.”
I sighed in relief. “Is he pissed at me?”
She grinned again. “So pissed. Unnaturally pissed. He punched the wall.” She pointed to a hole in the plaster. I grimaced. Her hand rested on my shoulder. “You almost died, Bri. You can’t go fighting demons, like you’re some badass.”
I’d nearly killed a demon, so I was arguably a badass, but I wasn’t going to say a word. Shea would go all Puerto Rican on me, start cussing in Spanish, and wave her angry hands in my face. So I just nodded, glancing at the pile of my clothes on the chair, and noticed for the first time that I was wearing a thin white cotton gown, and nothing else.
“Where’s Sera?” I asked, eyeing the gown.
Shea frowned. “Who?”
“My dagger.”
Dawning shone on her face. “Ah yes. In the middle of his rant, Lincoln ripped it off you, and said you weren’t allowed to have it outside of weapons and battle training.”
That motherfu—
“Brielle. You’re awake,” Raphael’s voice came from the open doorway.
I sat up, nervously clutching the sheet around my body. Raphael was with Mr. Claymore, both looking at Shea.
“Come in,” I told them. Please don’t kick us out.
“What you did was very dangerous,” Raphael chastised me.
I frowned. “I know, but—”
“But also admirable. I’m very taken with the story. To save your sister from a lifetime of slavery like that. It’s touching.”
Shea raised one eyebrow at me.
“Sister?” I asked. I mean, yeah, I considered her my sister, but….
“Lincoln said you two were family,” Raphael stated, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Shea’s hair and skin were about ten shades darker than mine.
Lincoln told them that? Hmm. Maybe they would only let her stay if she was related to me.
I grasped Shea’s hand. “We are, and if you kick me out, we’ll have nowhere to live. But… no pressure.”
Both gentlemen laughed, and exchanged smiles. For a man in his early forties, Mr. Claymore was quite handsome, his short brown hair weaved through with silver streaks over kind eyes.
“We’re not kicking you out,” Raphael reassured. “I brought Mr. Claymore, to see if it was possible to erase Shea’s death mark. Assuming that’s what she wants. That way she could become a student here. Room and board is included, of course.”
I wanted to act tough but I couldn’t, tears leaked from my eyes.
Shea shot out of her chair. “Yes! That’s all I’ve ever wanted. I took the mark against my will. They pinned me down, and—” Her voice broke before she could continue.
Mr. Claymore frowned, stepping forward. “If that’s true, if you took the mark against your will, then I can easily remove it. It’ll take a day or two for me to brew the potion, but it’ll fall away as if it were never there.”
Shea’s chest was rising and falling, clearly trying to hold her shit in.
Raphael clapped once. “Then that’s that! I suppose you two would like to room together? I’ll have the groundskeeper make up your room so you can get settled. Were you able to bring any belongings?”
Shea and I shared a look. Yeah right. We ran like a bat out of Hell. Pun intended. I’d packed a bag like Lincoln told me to but it had one pair of clothes and one pair of underwear with my toothbrush. Nothing to last me… forever.
“No, and I’m worried about my mom and my brother,” I confessed to him.
He nodded, his glossy hair falling around his shoulders. “I spoke with your mother an hour ago when she called to inquire about your health. She said she’s fine and has been permitted by her new… employer to visit you once a month. She can bring your belongings then. In the meantime, we have an overflowing lost and found pile that I’ll have Mrs. Greely bring in for you to go through.”
I barely heard the rest of it, glad my mom was okay. I was curious who her new master was though. I was kind of hoping that when Lincoln killed Burdock, she would be free.
“One more thing.” Raphael held up a finger. “School, room, and board is free here, but if you want extra cash, you’ll need to get part-time jobs. I happen to know that the clinic is looking for someone, Brielle, and with your healing abilities, you’d be hired on the spot.”
My healing abilities I know nothing about.
I nodded. “Thank you, sir. I’ll look into it.”
Mr. Claymore looked to Shea. “And
I could always use a Mage student to keep my supplies organized. Crush my powders, help with the potions.”
Shea, eyes wide, just nodded.
They were letting us stay. They gave us jobs.
Holy shit, Angel City is Heaven on Earth.
We were finally free of the darkness that had lurked over us most of our lives. We were slaves to no one. We were free souls, and it felt good.
Raphael went to leave the room but I sat up straighter. “Sir, one more thing.”
He turned.
“Umm, Lincoln took Sera, my seraph blade. Can I get it back?” Surely he thought it was preposterous that Lincoln was treating me like a five-year-old.
He frowned. “I’ve put Lincoln in charge of your training. If he feels you shouldn’t have the blade outside of classes, then there’s nothing I can do.”
With a bow, they both left.
Grrr. Lincoln was lording his power over me, but dammit, he’d given me my freedom, so I was going to have to do whatever he said.
Oh God.
A memory came back to me then. He’d called me crazy and I’d called him hot. I hid my face in my hands, mortified, praying he’d forget. When I looked up, I saw Shea staring at a blank spot on the wall, her face a mask of complete shock.
“What’s wrong?” I asked her. “Aren’t you happy?”
She nodded. “I’m so happy. But it feels weird. I’d forgotten what happy felt like.”
I smiled and reached for her hand. “Promised you I wasn’t going to let you go dark.”
She nodded. “And I promise you not to let you get through your first year without kissing Lincoln.”
My eyes widened. “Shea, stop. He’s my teacher, kind of. And an asshole, kind of. Anyway, not happening.”
She grinned. “That was a lot of ‘kind ofs.’”
I punched her arm and she laughed.
There was a knock on the door then, and a short brunette woman–in her early forties—came in, holding a huge basket of clothes. I even saw a backpack and water bottle poking out. She also held a pair of crutches.