Blessed: Academy of the Seraph

by Brandi Elledge

  Oh sure, like that’s totally possible while sitting on his lap!

  I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, feeling him wrap his arms around my waist while he chanted some foreign language. I let the words slide over me.

  “Let down your walls,” he said. “Open yourself completely to me.”

  I did as he asked, shifting on his lap as he reached for something on the coffee table. I peeked an eye open to see him grabbing a small dagger while he rubbed my back comfortingly with his free hand.

  “Gabriella, we have to mix our blood while I finish out the last words. Even without your full powers, you will heal quickly, and I can also help take the pain away.”

  My eyes unconsciously darted to the blade then back to him. “I’m pretty damn sure that you were communicating with the wolf, you can read my mind when in close proximity, and now you’re admitting to taking away my pain. What darken touched you?” Then a thought hit me. “You aren’t just fully blessed, are you? You are a Nephilim, too.”

  He nodded. “There are a few of us running around.”

  Of course he was a Nephilim. I didn’t know why I hadn’t connected the dots sooner.

  A smile touched his face. “We need to hurry. I’ll go first.”

  He cut the palm of his hand then handed me the blade. I hesitated before I slid the cold metal across my palm. The moment his hand grasped mine, my pain faded, and my heart felt like a ball of yarn was being wrapped around it, tightening ever so often to make sure that it wouldn’t come unraveled. He said a few more words, and then I knew the binding was complete, because his lust hit me like a ton of bricks. Or was it my lust? I couldn’t decipher my thoughts from his.

  I shifted again on his lap, causing him to wince. My eyes widened after what I had just felt. There was no doubt that the commander was definitely hot for the pupil.

  “I think I should … um … Maybe I should just …” I went to move off his lap, causing him to now groan.

  He looked like he was about to lose control, and the thought that my nearness was the cause of that made me giddy.

  I looked over his perfect physique. And he clenched his fist in his lap.

  His voice was deeper than normal when he said, “Walls, Gabriella. Build them.”

  Embarrassed, I quickly tried to shut him out. “No offense, Commander, but your lust is hitting me pretty hard, so maybe you should build your own walls.”

  “Trying,” he gritted out.

  I couldn’t help the smile that lit my face. Yeah, I was a little embarrassed that Finn knew how damn hot I thought he was, but it looked like we were in the same boat. Except he was having a hard time steering his ship.

  Giving him some space, I stood up and walked to the massive bookshelf. I ran my hands over a golden book, trailing my fingers down the spine and accidentally hitting a small lever. Pressing it, the fake book opened, revealing the treasures hidden inside a box. There was an emerald ring that reminded me of Finn’s eyes, a packet of notes that looked like love letters, and a lock of hair.

  I lightly touched the deep brown lock of hair that was tied with a red ribbon.

  “What are you doing?” a voice boomed from over my shoulder, causing me to almost drop the box.

  “I’m sorry. I just saw the book and …” I closed the box quickly. “I’m sorry.”

  He took the box from me. “Careful, those things are priceless.”

  “Yeah, of course they are. I had no right. I’m sorry. I really am.”

  I watched him as he placed the box high on the top shelf, way out of my reach, making me feel even worse. Then he went into the kitchen, shoulders tense.

  I followed him, pulling out a chair at the table. “I really am sorry. I didn’t know that it held personal belongings.”

  He released a deep sigh. “I’m not mad. Those items just bring back a slew of emotions.”

  I thought of the ring. “Were they your mother’s?”

  “No.”

  My heart tightened. A lover, then?

  “Oh.” Was that the only word I could come up with?

  My mind ran wild. You wouldn’t keep belongings like that if your loved one was still breathing.

  Curiosity getting the best of me, I couldn’t help my next question. “What happened to her?”

  He slammed a plate that had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on it down in front of me. “She died.”

  His wall collapsed just for a brief second, and the grief that I felt rode over me like a tidal wave, pulling me under to where, if he hadn’t reinforced his walls quickly, I might not have ever surfaced.

  I grabbed my plate and headed back toward the living room where I ate, even though I was no longer hungry. Finn’s pain was so raw that his loss must’ve been very recent.

  My emotions switched gears. To be the recipient of that kind of love was unfathomable. My stomach rolled. Surely, I wasn’t jealous of a ghost?

  The atmosphere had changed. I had invaded Finn’s privacy and made him upset. After the binding, I was struggling with keeping my walls maintained.

  I finished my sandwich in record time and put my plate in the sink. “I’m super tired. I guess the adrenaline from the confrontation with Devon has worn off. I think I’ll head back to my dorm and maybe take a nap.”

  He knew I was lying, but he shooed me out of his house with the wolf on my heels.

  Later that night, I watched a funny movie with Hannah and Trev, along with most of the students. No one had mentioned Devon’s name. If they knew what had happened to him, I would have been shocked. It was like Finn had just made him disappear.

  At some point during the show, I felt Finn show up. I knew exactly where he stood without even looking. However, feeling awkward after the day we had, I ignored him.

  I got multiple strange looks about the wolf that refused to leave my side. I had whispered to Hannah that I would tell her later, but poor Trev was flabbergasted, especially when he tried to get super close to me on the blanket that I had lain out and the wolf came in between us. I looked up to find Finn’s eyes on me and, not for the first time, thought he was communicating with the wolf.

  When the movie was over and I was in my bed, I prepared myself for a dream, hoping that it would be yet another missing puzzle piece about my previous life. Regrettably, for whatever reason, no dreams came to me that night.

  I should have had a restful sleep. Instead, I woke up feeling hollow.

  The holidays were almost nonexistent. There was no time off from training or classes. It didn’t bother me that there was no celebration, though. After all, I had been a foster kid. It was rare that I participated in Christmas festivities anyway.

  As New Year’s Day approached, I became more and more anxious. I had briefed both my besties on who my mother was and how I had been touched by more than just a few archangels. Seven to be exact. I also told them about how Azrael had put the Flaming Sword in me.

  They were quiet, shocked, and mad that I had kept this a secret from them, but in the end, they had forgiven me and had numerous questions. Some, I still couldn’t answer.

  As my birthday approached, Hannah was terrified, and even Remy wasn’t her usual ghostly self. None of us knew if I’d be able to hide my powers.

  Finn didn’t voice his concerns, but he had me training in hand-to-hand and weapons three times a day. I was constantly tired and sore, but I had to admit that the training was paying off. I had gotten deadly accurate with the throwing knives.

  Today, my morning classes had gone by faster than normal, maybe because I had been daydreaming about the archangels and not what Mrs. Fields was saying. Regardless, the day had escaped me.

  In magic class, Finn had asked me numerous times if I was paying attention. I tried to keep my anxiety down and my walls built so he wouldn’t be privy to my thoughts, but I felt like I was losing the battle.

  Later that day, the wolf and I took the familiar path to his house and knocked on his cabin door several times. When there was no answer, I en
tered, calling out a couple of times for the commander. When he didn’t respond, I still let myself in and shut the door behind me.

  I looked at the clock on the wall. I was right on time for our hand-to-hand training. I knew he was in the cabin, because the binding was like a GPS system—I could always tell exactly where he was.

  As I neared the couch, I heard the shower running. I plopped down, closing my eyes for a few seconds. All the extra training was exhausting.

  The wolf stretched lazily in front of the fireplace, gently snoring.

  I was almost asleep when I heard a noise.

  I popped my eyes open to see Finn standing in front of me in nothing but a fluffy towel hanging low on his hips, water droplets dripping down his well-defined torso. Roaming my greedy eyes all over him, I hadn’t had the chance to make it to his face yet when he cleared his voice. I jerked my eyes to his.

  “Uh …” So articulate, but Lord help me, I had lost my knowledge of any and all vocabulary. He was magnificent.

  A scowl masked his handsome face. “Sorry, I was out on the field, training some demis with props, when one of them exploded. I needed a shower and must’ve lost track of time.”

  “Hmm …” Still, no words.

  “Let me go get changed.”

  “Yep.” Yes! There was a complete word, and it was an appropriate one to use.

  As soon as his nice, firm butt cleared the room, I took a couple of deep breaths. Seeing the most handsome man in the world in a towel? Of course I could handle that, duh. And when he came back into the room, I would use big girl sentences, and my eyes would stay on his face.

  I fanned myself while making sure those damn walls were intact. Not that it mattered. I was pretty sure he had seen the drool coming out of my mouth a minute ago.

  My eyes were closed again when Finn re-entered the room.

  “You’re exhausted,” he said.

  Without opening my eyes, I replied, “Yeah.”

  I heard him sit on the coffee table in front of the couch. “I’d like to give you the day off, but with your birthday approaching, I fear we don’t have the time to slack.”

  I grunted.

  “We could do something a little different today, though.”

  I opened my eyes. “Yes, you have my attention.”

  “And I’m not in a towel, imagine that.”

  Heat rose to my cheeks. “That’s not my fault. You put a cute boy in a towel in front of me, and I’m probably going to look.”

  “Just cute? You were leering.”

  I narrowed my eyes into slits.

  He chuckled, putting his hands up in a defensive pose. “Easy. If it were reversed, I would have been leering, too.”

  “I wasn’t leering. I was just shocked. And you’ve seen me in a robe.”

  “I know. I leered.”

  I didn’t know where this conversation was going, or how I should feel about it. Excited? Or should I exit stage right? I mean, he was still in mourning, or so it appeared.

  He reached out to touch my leg, his warm palm sending tingles up my thigh. “Some of the fully blessed and demis, who are strong, have a get-together around this time in the training room. They fight one another.”

  “For fun?”

  He laughed. “It’s actually good training. Do you want to go?”

  “I guess. I mean, if you think it’ll help.”

  “It can’t hurt.” He stood then pulled me to my feet. “We need to leave now if we’re going.”

  I tiredly followed him across campus to the training room. He held the door open for me, where I almost backpedaled when I saw Marlie-Beth over in the corner, laughing like a hyena. Her little side-kick, Angelina, was being the perfect puppet, laughing along with her at all the right times.

  Finn trailed his hand up and down my spine. “Don’t be nervous. Use Chamuel’s gift of intuition and study your partner. You’ll know what they plan before they do.”

  I gave a nod.

  Finn pushed me farther into the room then went over to a sign-up board and put my name on the list.

  One of the kids whined, “Commander, you can’t fight. That’s not fair.”

  Finn leveled him with a look. “I didn’t add my name, but now that you’ve suggested it, maybe I should.”

  The whole class groaned, causing Finn to laugh.

  We stood around the ring and watched as Dan called two fighters up at a time. The goal was to knock the other person out of the ring.

  I wiped my sweaty palms on my pants. I could do this. I had been training so hard.

  Dan gave me a wink when he called my name.

  I took off my shoes and socks before I stepped into the center of the ring. Then my spine straightened when he called out Marlie-Beth’s name.

  “I’m a fully blessed,” she spat. “Why would I lower myself to fight with a demi?”

  Finn spoke up. “If you’re too scared, Dan can call another name.”

  There were a few snickers.

  Her face was red with rage as she stepped into the ring.

  I calmed my heart and cleared my brain as Dan counted down. I stood still, waiting for her to come near me. I was not going to dance around and chase her.

  Studying her stance like Finn had trained me to do, I watched as she threw a couple of warm-up punches to gage the distance between us. She always stepped with the front foot before she swung. Good to know.

  Before Dan said one, Marlie-Beth swung. I barely had time to duck. Then she brought her knee up and caught me in the chin. I staggered back then dropped to a knee as she charged me. Dropping back on my hands, I kicked my leg out, aiming for her knee cap. The scream that tore from her lips gave me motivation.

  I stood quickly and gave her a right jab before stepping on my right foot and pivoting on my left. Bringing my back to her front, I elbowed her in her face before I grabbed her in headlock and threw her over my shoulder and out of the circle. I was panting, but I had done it.

  A slow clap started. I followed the sound to a smiling Finn.

  All of a sudden, blackness started to cloud my sight. I knew I was in danger before the visions started clawing at my brain. My knees hit the mat as I cradled my head, demons all over me, clawing at my flesh and trying to pull my limbs from my body. I screamed as one bit a chunk out of my neck, and the vein ruptured, blood spewing everywhere. They were killing me.

  I barely recognized Dan as he rushed to my side, telling me, “It’s an illusion.”

  He was right; this wasn’t real. Just as I convinced myself to push the images out, my vision cleared enough for me to see Finn haul Marlie-Beth up to her feet. The demons had stopped mauling me but didn’t release me.

  Finn gave Marlie-Beth a shake that had her head flopping back and forth. “Release her.”

  Blood trickled down her face as she glared at me. Soon, the visions stopped completely, and I fell back on my bottom. Sweat was dripping down my spine.

  Finn’s voice was chilling when he told her, “You know the rules; no powers allowed in these fights. You lost, and like a coward, you attacked her. Get it together, or I’ll remove you from the academy.”

  Her eyes widened in fear. “But where will I go?”

  He shrugged. “Not my problem, but I hear Empowered Academy is always taking in kids with less than redeeming qualities.” He dropped her to the ground. “Dan, take her off the remaining fight schedules. If she can’t play by the rules, then she is not welcome in the ring.”

  I made my way to my feet. A couple of students patted me on the back and told me congratulations.

  There was nothing more I wanted to do than leave with my tail between my legs, but I couldn’t give Marlie-Beth the satisfaction. So, taking a deep breath, I looked at the small crowd and asked, “So, who’s next?”

  Finn laughed as Dan called out the next two on the list. I made myself watch the next few fights before I excused myself, weaving my way through the students.

  A large hand hit the door, opening it for me. I look
ed up to see Finn smiling down at me.

  “You did good.”

  I blew a piece of stray hair out of my face. “I have a good teacher.”

  My wolf, who had been waiting patiently for me outside the door, nuzzled my leg. I pet him absentmindedly.

  I didn’t know if Finn could read the expression on my face, or if he could feel from the binding that I needed some quiet time to myself. Either way, he said, “See you tomorrow.”

  I waved as I walked past him. At least I no longer had the hunky teacher’s image of him standing in a towel in the forefront of my mind. I had a feeling that trick of Marlie-Beth’s was going to give me nightmares tonight. Illusion or not, I still felt the demons’ hands on me.

  My life was already hectic enough without adding nightmares of damn demons to it.

  When I got back to my dorm, Hannah and Remy were there. After I told them about the stunt that Marlie-Beth had pulled, they decided what we needed the most was a sleepover. We gossiped and laughed and pretended that we weren’t all scared about my approaching birthday. At some point, we fell asleep.

  The next morning, I got up like it was my execution day instead of my birthday.

  Upon awakening, we found a package with a note that said I had been cordially invited as a demi to come to the New Year’s Day party. This was the one day of the year where all demis and fully blessed could come together, no matter their ranking or what year they were at the academy.

  I laid a hand on my belly and looked at Remy. “Man, I am so nervous. I’m scared my powers are going to come to me while I’m in the middle of the dance floor. You’re going with me, right?”

  “Duh. And we’ve been over this a thousand times. When your powers hit you, we will get you out of there.”

  Hannah nodded. “Our goal has never been to hide your powers completely. We just don’t want everyone to know how valuable you really are.”

  “Yeah, you know. We don’t want to wave a homemade banner that screams, ‘I’m a Nephilim coming into my powers. Also, I’m literally the Flaming Sword.’ Then in smaller print ‘But I’m pretending to be a demi.’”

  Remy clapped her hands. “Enough chitchat. Hurry up and get changed. Your hair is begging me to style it in a Dutch braid.”