by Eva Brandt
I was torn between being flattered and offended by her words, but at this point, I was so exasperated with the whole thing I felt like I was losing my mind. If the ‘princes of the school’ saw me as cattle, they were probably into bestiality the rest of the time. Thinking back, all of them had displayed sexual attraction toward me one way or another. I just didn’t know how to deal with that.
Was that common in the demon world? Did people flirt with their enemies while insulting them? Was it an extreme form of ‘pigtail pulling’?
If so, I dreaded the end result.
“Anyway, you should do your best to keep your distance from them,” Darling continued. “Rumor has it Callum enjoys making people fall in love with him, then shattering their souls to pieces. Mikael’s technique is more subtle, but I heard his last lover ended up fed to the school dragon. And Stefan doesn’t even bother with that. He takes matters in his own hands and deals with all intruders himself.”
That explained a lot. But how the hell was I supposed to avoid them, if they kept approaching me? They weren’t in my year, but I still ended up sharing some classes with them. This was horrible, as if I was under some kind of foul curse.
“Thanks for the warning, but it’s not that helpful. I have Familiar Bonding with them in an hour.”
“Right. I forgot about that.” Darling grimaced. “Good luck then. You’re going to need it. Maybe try to stick close to Lilith. I doubt they’ll bug you if you do that.”
I thanked my friend for her suggestion. It was better than the sole plan I’d come up with—which was hiding in the library until class ended and pretending the world didn’t exist.
I could do this, I reminded myself. I refused to let them intimidate me. I needed to pass each class so that I’d survive my stint at the academy and go back home in one piece. Nothing mattered except that. I could take a little harassment for the sake of survival.
The Advanced Creature Control and Familiar Bonding class—known simply as Familiar Bonding—was held outdoors, at the very edge of the island. Here, the ground ended in a steep cliff instead of a beach. As the only first year there, I was very nervous, especially since I suspected more than one person must’ve died by being thrown from this high point.
When I arrived, Lilith was already standing on the edge of the cliff side. She was wearing real clothes today, something that looked liked hunting gear. As much as her previous outfit had embarrassed me, I’d preferred it, because I dreaded what this change meant.
Stefan, Callum, and Mikael were nowhere to be seen, at least, not for now, so I focused on the teacher. “Welcome to Advanced Creature Control and Familiar Bonding,” Lilith said. “This year, we’ll be doing a series of practical exercises that will help you channel the magic of your familiar and make sure the two of you are in perfect sync.
“The purpose of this class is to reach a point where you and your familiar can even communicate not only through speech but also through your minds. Most bonded animals will start out unable to say much, but that is a temporary obstacle, a problem that can be easily remedied.”
Her words made me perk up. I could learn how to talk to Shiro! That was actually pretty awesome. If I managed to do this, just the skill alone would make the trip to the academy worth it, no matter how bad it was the rest of the time.
“We will start by testing the level of your affinity with your familiar. Be advised that this might be a dangerous process and more than one of you might die.”
Uh. What?
She smiled beatifically and, just like that, a dragon came flying from beyond the cliff. Much to my surprise, Mikael was riding it, with TB wrapped around his neck like a suffocating scarf.
It was at that point that I realized humans and demons did have something very important in common. We might hate each other, as evidenced by my horrible relationship with any student of the school who even deigned to give me the time of day, but we were all equally as terrified by massive, fire-breathing beasts. The natural exception was, of course, Lilith, who was probably the type of person who would enjoy the legendarily bad ending of season eight of Game of Thrones.
Mikael was not Daenerys, though, and he didn’t order his version of Drogon to turn us all into ash. He just landed by Lilith’s side and pressed his forehead to the creature’s neck, as if praising it for a job well done.
With his task now completed, he dismounted and stepped away from the dragon. “For those of you not in the know, this is Redrum. He is the school’s dragon. He has volunteered to be our testing guide for today. All you need to do is to approach and have your familiar touch Redrum.”
That sounded like a recipe for disaster to me. I loved Shiro dearly, but I knew he wouldn’t understand the necessity of such a thing. Hell, even I didn’t, and I had no desire to have Shiro approach a fire-breathing reptile that could turn him into a puppy-shaped crispy strip.
Thinking back, I’d heard Callum and Gemma mention Redrum before, on my first day, before I’d arrived at the academy. What I hadn’t realized at the time was that his name was actually Murder, in reverse. It made me even less inclined to allow any contact between the gigantic reptile and my poor dog.
The others students didn’t seem happy about the concept either, but they complied. Several of them had to physically drag their unwilling companions to the dragon, since none of the familiars wanted to approach the reptile.
I watched the whole thing and a deep, sharp pain echoed through me. Those poor creatures deserved better, and so did Shiro.
When it was my turn, I took a deep breath and stepped forward, toward the dragon. I stopped in front of the magnificent beast and met those golden eyes that seemed to see far too much. “Thank you for participating in this process, Mr. Redrum,” I said, “but I’m not going to force Shiro to do anything like that. He’s afraid and rightly so. I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re pretty intimidating. So, if that’s okay, I will touch you myself. I know it’s a bit of an unusual approach, but I don’t want to hurt my Shiro, even at a mental level.”
For a few seconds, the dragon and I stared at one another. I was beginning to think the creature was contemplating if he wanted to eat me raw or cooked, when he suddenly let out a low rumble. “I like you,” he said. “You’re a clever one. Very clever.”
He patted me with a massive claw and that was when I realized what the rumbling was. He was laughing. The dragon was laughing. I couldn’t understand why, but he hadn’t eaten me yet, so, go me!
Lilith was just as thrilled about this development as I was. “Congratulations, Ms. Michaelis. It would appear you understood the purpose of the lesson. I fear you’re the only one.”
So it had been just a test to see how many people truly valued their familiars! How hadn’t I realized that sooner? Gemma had told me before that familiars didn’t have masters, but most of the students today had forgotten that in their fear of the dragon.
“It’s understandable that you might miss this on your first attempts,” Lilith said, “but be advised that in further classes, I will not be so indulgent. Do not forget the very first lesson I taught you. Respect and care about your familiar. Do not force him or her to do something he or she doesn’t want, just because it is inconvenient for you. Come up with a way to reach a consensus. You do not have a relationship of master and pet, but one of equals.”
Wow. That one was a new tidbit of information. When I’d read about familiars in the past—mostly in fiction—they had been presented as the magical underlings of witches or wizards. Gemma’s comments had suggested that might not be accurate, but I’d have never realized the goal of this class was equality between a familiar and a magic user. How did that work? Was it just a metaphor? Equal in rights, if not in skills, like in democracies?
Ugh, I was getting confused again.
The dragon rumbled once more, snapping me out of my thoughts. “By all means, Ms. Michaelis, I encourage you to touch me. I enjoy being petted by the worthy. In fact, if you don’t min
d, there’s this one scale that’s been bothering me terribly all day.”
This was how I ended up literally scratching a dragon’s back while my teacher went from student to student and personally checked the state of their familiar bond. Redrum’s tail swayed back and forth, like he was wagging it, and at one point, Shiro ended up climbing on top of the creature, with me.
“You look comfortable up there,” Mikael said, walking up to me, with TB still curled around him.
“I suppose I am,” I admitted. “Does that bother you?”
“Surprisingly, no, although maybe it should.”
Redrum extended his paw and helped Mikael climb on top of him. “You know, I don’t understand you, Alyssa. You are human, and yet, you haven’t folded or cowered like the others. You have talent, but all you talk about is how much you loathe it and how much you hate this place, which gave you your power in the first place. Why not seize it? Why not try to become more?”
He didn’t seem hostile today, so I provided him with a calm reply as well. Maybe if I just explained, I could make him and the other ‘princes’ see sense and leave me alone. “Because my idea of becoming more was never about being Satan. Don’t get me wrong, Mikael, I appreciate the demonic magic I received. I do. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have come here at all. But I’m not a threat to you or anything like that.”
I should’ve known better than to think something so simple would work. “Hmm. I don’t think I quite believe that.”
Smirking, Mikael brushed his fingers over my cheek. He’d touched me before, plenty of times, but today, for some reason, it was different.
A surge of power coursed through me, very similar to what I’d felt when I’d entered the academy, during my first day of school. It was sharp and biting, but when it settled over me, it felt like a protective blanket.
“Congratulations,” Redrum said. “It looks like you’re the newest member of The House of Envy. You’ll be able to stop sleeping in the library now.”
Well, shit.
Familiar Confrontations
Being a member of The House of Envy changed everything and nothing. I was promptly whisked away from the Sloth Dorms, into a massive tower that reminded me an awful lot of a mammoth apple tree. Each wing of the tower corresponded to a branch, with our common room being at the very bottom. As such, I had no idea how any item of furniture in my room stayed in place, since the whole structure was built at an angle.
I stopped questioning it pretty quickly when Mikael explained every house was protected by its individual patron. In our case, it was a massive sea monster, Leviathan, which was part of the reason why so many people in this house had familiars. Leviathan hoarded his members jealously, very much like a dragon, and nothing could touch them, not even gravity.
“Leviathan is one of the Princes of Hell. The only one who is more powerful is the current Satan, although just between you and me, that is debatable since the Fallen One left.”
Once I saw the painting of Leviathan that hung in our common room, I’d accepted his words at face value and let go of my issues with the gravity-defying furniture. It didn’t really matter anyway, because it soon became obvious that finding a house didn’t eliminate any of my problems. If anything, it just made them worse.
Safe in the haven of their tower, my new housemates engaged in a strange competition to get me to fuck Mikael. I couldn’t understand why. It made no sense. He was very popular—one of the princes of the school, as our PE teacher had said. His notorious violence hadn’t made him any less attractive to demonic partners. And yet, my new roommates seemed to be trying to push us together.
I now shared a room with two other girls, Lena and Yolanda, both of whom made it their business to pester me about it every morning.
“I’m just saying, it’s a bit of shame, isn’t it?” Lena would always ask as she waved her hand through the air in graceful patterns. Her comb levitated around her, making her glossy black hair look better than that of a model for of a shampoo commercial. “We can all see how he looks at you. I’d be jealous even if I weren’t in this house.”
Yolanda hummed in agreement, all the while flipping through her phone messages. “Take him up on the invitation, Alyssa,” she added. “He’s great fun in bed.”
“And I’ve told you a million times before that he didn’t invite me to do anything,” I replied, tossing a pillow at her head. “How many times do I have to say this before you understand?”
“At least one more time, my dear,” Lena replied, snickering, “until you’ve realized how absurd you’re being.”
I wasn’t completely opposed to the idea of sleeping with Mikael. I had no doubt that the demons were right and I’d have the time of my life. But I still didn’t understand him, or his mysterious two friends, who couldn’t seem to decide if they wanted to fuck me or tear me to pieces. Callum and Stefan had been avoiding me since I’d become a member of Mikael’s house, but I’d seen them talking to Mikael a few times. Their exchanges had looked tense, and I wondered if they were mad that Mikael had accepted me in his house.
Everything came to a head on the evening of our Samhain celebration. I’d fled the table of The House of Envy and retired with the other students from The House of Sloth, since they were far easier to handle. Darling was busy holding a speech about why Samhain was so much better than Halloween. I was taking advantage of her distraction to hide the fact that I hadn’t touched my very alcoholic drink.
Apparently, whenever a celebration was held at The Academy of the Devil, every single beverage available contained alcohol. I would’ve been fine with this, had I been able to consume any of it.
For a little while, it almost looked like my strategy would work. Most of the students at our table were too focused on Bartholomew Bones, who’d decided to finally prove how deserving he was of his name, and bone his twin sister in public. No one gave a shit about the fact that I was abstaining from drinking the noxious liquids that masqueraded as refreshment.
No one—except the three annoying men who had been born to be a plague on my life.
Callum, Stefan, and Mikael approached the table of The House of Sloth, and a shiver coursed down my spine at their expressions. It was the first time I’d seen them side by side since the day I’d brought TB back to Mikael. Somehow, I suspected it wouldn’t go as well.
I had no idea what had made them approach me tonight, but whatever it was couldn’t be good. Callum’s smile could’ve felled angels. “Alyssa,” he greeted me with a warmth I didn’t trust for a moment. “I hope you’re having fun tonight.”
“I am, thank you,” I replied.
“Well, it doesn’t look like it,” Mikael pointed out. From her place around his neck, TB nodded her serpentine head. “You’ve barely touched your food and your drink.”
“Is there anything wrong with the refreshments?” Stefan inquired. “Is the feast not to your liking?”
The feast was fine. The problem was with me. But I couldn’t say that, so instead, I stayed silent.
Callum was not discouraged. “Come now, little mortal,” he said. “Drink. Or is alcohol against your... morality?”
The latter word sounded like both an insult and a caress when coming from Callum’s stupidly beautiful mouth. I didn’t know how he managed it. Probably another of his incubus superpowers. Talents. What-the-fuck ever. I didn’t really care about being politically correct with an incubus right now.
Anyone else might’ve been tempted. I knew better. One sip of that drink and I’d collapse in a seizing pile of limbs and misery to the floor. I had no desire to let anyone at the academy know about my condition.
“Well?” Mikael drawled, his eyes lighting up with demonic fire. “Are you really not going to take us up on our invitation?”
Defiance surged inside me. There was only one rule I had to follow while at The Academy of the Devil. I couldn’t afford to be weak. When in doubt, fight back. “Thank you, but no,” I answered coldly. “Alcohol is for the weak.”
Mikael’s mouth dropped open in shock. Stefan went rigid. Callum took a step back, as if I’d physically hit him.
Their reaction would’ve been satisfying had I not realized I’d just insulted ninety-nine percent of the school.
Oh shit.
I hadn’t intended to do it. By now, I’d had it drilled into my head that weakness was a no-no here, and every single one of these students had been drinking tonight.
I had no real problem with alcohol, as long as it was done in moderation. It was just a classic moment of open mouth, insert foot. I immediately wanted to take it back, but it was much too late and if I tried, I’d just make it worse.
But maybe some kind of deity was watching over me, because instead of being offended, the other students seemed to found my comment hilarious. Stefan started to laugh first. “Oh, touché. Nice one, little human. I can’t argue with you there. Personally, I prefer to get drunk on other things.”
Without bothering to ask for permission, he unceremoniously picked Darling up and slid into the place she’d once occupied. “How do you feel about helping me with that?”
Befuddled by this behavior, I didn’t reply. Mikael didn’t react well to it, though. TB let out a threatening hiss, while her companion’s hands began to glow with malicious power. “I advise you to move away from Alyssa, or else.”
“Or else what?” Stefan drawled, his eyes glinting darkly. “Do you think I’m afraid of you?
“You should be. I’ve had quite enough of your bestial behavior.”
“Stefan, we talked about this,” Callum said. “I told you I wanted you to keep your distance from her.”
“And yet, here I am, disobeying. You’d think that I have my own mind and ability for rational thought. Imagine that.”
He turned toward me, and even if he made no attempt to touch me, I could still somehow feel his heat. “You know, Alyssa, I’ve never had a problem with those two thinking they’re better than everyone. But lately, I think that’s changed. Lately, I find myself with the desire to rip their faces off. What do you think about that?”