by L. A. Banks
“Wait,” Wil said, slack-jawed. “You’re saying Sarah can lead Reapers? Guys like you?”
She wanted to die.
“Of course. We’re a phylum of the angels, and all angels are meant to serve humankind. Haven’t you read your cosmic history? That’s what started the first big war. One angel in particular—the best of the best, aka Lucifer—had issues with taking a direct order from On High and had his ass fried for his trouble. Seems dude couldn’t get it through his head that his orders from the Big Boss were to serve humans. Suffice to say that they didn’t see eye-to-eye on the subject because old Lu didn’t want to bow to mortals or serve them, and that led to that very prominent angel’s fall. Stupid move, if you ask me. Who argues with the General? It was a pure violation of the chain of command, something any newbie angel learns the moment you get your wings. Anyway, from that point on, he’s been a pure bitch to contend with—so listen up. His legions are no joke.”
The professor walked back toward the furnace, stepping through the ashes on the floor, now that his metal desk was gone. He peered into the fire, speaking toward the flames as though talking to himself. “The Light Corps report to Neterus. Reapers report specifically to Shadow Walkers. The other Rivera kid will probably be this millennium’s Light Neteru, which is why the little snot is so cocky—and why he’s not in my class. I’d probably stomp him into a demon puddle, but that’s a subject for another time. All I know for certain is that this one is my Shadow Walker. She is much stronger than her brother and doesn’t even know it. That’s the irony of it all.”
“But I’m not some kind of superhero warrior angel or a battalion leader,” Sarah said in a small voice. “Be serious.”
“Only a mortal with a soul and human free will can direct angels—well, along with the One. Angels, by direct edict, report to humans and the Light. Everything in the heavens is very organized—it’s called divine order.” He closed the furnace door, turned and looked at the stunned faces before him.
“Now that you know who some of your classmates are and what talents they have, don’t be stupid and squander them like some of your fellow students have. Study hard and brush up on your skills, because when you come back to class after the current crisis, you’ll think you’re doing drills in Hell.”
He sent a withering gaze around the room. “I don’t give a damn what they teach you in the other divisions you hail from. In Shadows, all my war games are live, and our search-and-rescue missions are real. It burns my ass that until this situation is resolved, I cannot begin to properly teach you. What the hell can you learn sitting behind a desk? We need to be out in the field!” He nodded toward the shield Jim had made. “Keep your noses clean, and don’t wind up a foolish waste of resources.”
The room was so quiet that the only sounds were the students breathing, the dull roar of the furnace and the ticking wall clock.
“Class dismissed.”
All the students jumped up simultaneously, ready to bolt. But Professor Razor instantly intercepted Sarah like the supernatural he was, his gaze bearing down on hers.
“Stay,” he commanded in a low rumble and then pointed to her seat. “Sit.”
Wil gave her an empathy-filled glance and then left when the professor glared at him.
Razor circled her desk like a huge bird of prey, waiting for the heavy metal door to slam shut behind Wil.
“I heard you were out of your room with friends last night trying to hunt, trying to set up a sting,” he said, walking and talking in a dizzying circle.
“Prof—”
“I know all about it,” he said, cutting her off. “I’m not here to chastise you or to baby you like some of the other professors might.” He stopped walking and stared down at her. “You are a Shadow Walker Neteru—one of the most elite Neteru there are. Your own mother, who is a Powers Angel Neteru, didn’t even have what you have at your age. She manipulates the Light the way you will soon learn to manipulate the shadows in service of the Light.” He paused, then made her jump when he shouted, “You are supposed to hunt!”
She could only stare at him.
“The Dark Realms rue the day you were born,” he said with eerie satisfaction gleaming in his supernatural eyes. “When you sense evil, you go after it. Your blood is impervious to contagion. You can call your Collectors to fend off an attacker. And if whatever you catch by the tail is stronger than you,” he added with a sinister smile, “that’s when you call me.”
“You really don’t care if I investigate?” she said in a rasp of disbelief.
“My teaching style vastly differs from this administration’s preferred methodology. I just ask that you promise me one thing if your curiosity finally gets the better of you.”
She stared up into his midnight-blue eyes, not sure she was ready to take the bait of freedom he was dangling before her. “What?” she finally murmured.
“No good leader takes the unprepared into battle with them. There’s not a student in this school ready to do what you can do naturally. Got that?”
Sarah nodded. “But I’m not ready, either. I’m trying to get people not to do anything crazy.”
“So I’ve heard, and yes, the walls do talk. We angels are a part of nature, so the murals speak to us.” He let out a breath, shooing her away with a dismissive wave of his huge hand. “One day, Shadow Walker, you’ll keep us busy, but maybe your grandmother and father are right. I could be pushing you too hard too soon. You may go.”
She ran to her room, changed clothes after a quick shower, and made it to the caf just in time to catch up with her friends, who were dawdling and waiting for her return from Razor’s class. The lunch tables were mostly back to their normal factional divisions. Wil had found a group of neutral guys, but had a somber expression each time he glanced at Sarah. The Neteru compound guys were off in their own war party huddle. There was a table of Blends that consisted of Jess and some girls Sarah didn’t know. The compound girls sat together, minus Ayana and Hyacinth. The big difference was that Aaron and Jim had taken up residence in their normally all-female space.
She could feel something in the air. People smiled at her who normally acted like they didn’t know she existed. Kids made way for her as she went to get her food. No one assumed she was going to sit with them, but everyone made it clear by their eager expressions that it was okay with them if she chose to sit at their table.
It was like she’d suddenly become a celebrity, and it felt weird. The word was obviously out about what had gone down in Razor’s class. She just wanted to remain neutral about everything while she tried to process her very formidable destiny.
Sarah tried not to look in Val’s direction, or Wil’s. That was next to impossible, but she kept her gaze secretive and as unreadable as possible. She sat with her friends, which felt the safest and most familiar, but at the same time, that only made her miss Hyacinth and Ayana more.
Still, every now and then, in between bites of lunch, her mind would drift, and so would her gaze, and she’d catch a sidelong glimpse of Val, and he’d catch one of her. It was so crazy, so inopportune. Then she’d glance at Wil, and guilt would churn her insides.
“So where did you and Val go?” Allie leaned in and whispered.
“Where do ya think?” Tami said, scraping the sides of her yogurt container. “Don’t be such a—”
“After Miss Tittle flamed, I had to get out of here,” Sarah said firmly, ignoring Tami’s knowing smile. “Val came after me to make sure I was okay, and we asked Titan Troy to let us out so I could show Val the stables. I wanted to show him the Pegasus horses—just get my head out of this place for a minute.”
“Okaaay, if you say so,” Tami drawled skeptically. “The Titan let you and Val out while the entire school is in emergency lockdown to see the Pegasus horses.”
“Why are you like this all the time, Tami?” Sarah snapped. “That’s what happened.” She flung her wet ponytail over her shoulder. “Period!”
“Keep your voice dow
n and don’t be so touchy,” Tami said with a smirk. “I understand, and your secret is safe with me.”
Sarah stood up. “Why do you always have to make everything sound so, so… You’re doing it again. Trying to bring me down a peg, right, Tam? Trying to make me feel awkward and silly and insignificant. The resentment you felt before what happened by the pool hasn’t gone away—it’s just morphed into this. Well, get over yourself, Tamara Rider! Even as your best friend, I can’t keep making myself small so you can look big.”
Sarah got up and walked away as words failed her. What happened out by the stables hadn’t been anything like what Tami was making it out to be, and the fact that Tami’s resentment of her was still so palpable, even with everything else that was going on, just tore her up inside.
“Why do you do stuff like this, Tami?” Allie said loudly enough for Sarah to hear, then ran after her.
“Hey, wait up!” Allie called. “You know how Tami is.”
Sarah slammed her tray on the conveyor belt, then whirled on Allie. “It wasn’t like she said! We went to the stables, then I had class with Wil—special Shadows class, called by Razor—and then I took a shower to get stable smell off me and came to eat.”
“I know,” Allie said in a soothing voice. “Okay? I know.”
Sarah sighed hard. “She works my last nerve, just says stuff that turns everything that could be beautiful into something that feels grimy. I hate when she gets like that.”
Allie set down her own tray calmly and threaded her arm around Sarah’s waist. “Everybody knows that’s Tami’s defense mechanism—open mouth, insert foot disease—when she’s feeling insecure. You’re all of a sudden a school star, she’s not. You have two fantastic hunks vying for your attention. She has Al, but also Stefan, an outlaw werewolf, so you’ve trumped her again.”
“I wasn’t trying to trump her,” Sarah said, squeezing her eyes shut. “This isn’t some kind of competition. Stuff just keeps happening—it’s not like I’m trying to do anything to her. I’m just living my life!”
“I know…and that’s what’s making her eat her heart out,” Allie said in a calm, quiet voice. “You’ve beaten her at everything that’s important to her without even trying, and it’s really hard for a competitive girl like Tami to live with that, even though she really does love you, Sarah.”
Sarah let out a long breath and stared at Allie, knowing that what her friend said was true. She’d known that all her life about Tami, but when they were at home it was so much easier to endure her teasing, take Tami’s digs and be the butt of Tami’s jokes just to keep the peace. However, more often than not, at home, Tami showed her soft side to her best friend and turned the blade of her tongue against everyone else. Thinking about that made Sarah very sad. Maybe the pressures of school and Tami’s insecurities were making her lash out. But this time, Sarah didn’t feel like backing down to keep the peace. Why did she always have to take Tami’s crap and apologize to keep their friendship alive? Here, at the Academy, that routine had gotten old.
Allie touched Sarah’s arm. “You know how Tami is. Let it go. Plus, right now she’s prone to saying all kinds of stupid stuff because she’s quietly bugging out about things with your brother, especially after things got really close with Stefan, but not all the way, you follow? She doesn’t have Ayana to turn to. She’s feeling that loss, too, like we all are. Like, who else is she gonna tell about whatever went on with her and Al making out, you know?”
“TMI, TMI, waaay too much information,” Sarah said, trying to rush away from Allie’s side.
Allie gave chase down the hall. “Tami’s just scared and she wants company, so she was trying to pull you into the same club. I’d be scared, too, if I was with Al—no offense, but your brother doesn’t exactly treat girls nice all the time, you know? He’s kind of self-centered and all. I feel sorry for her. Get past the words. Tami is a marshmallow inside, and you know it. Everything happened so fast because she was so upset about people saying she was getting played by Stefan to upset Melissa. People saw them leaving the hall together after the luau, and word travelled fast. Al probably told her what people were saying, if I know your brother, and worked that to his advantage. What happened definitely shouldn’t have gone down the way it did—are you hearing me, Sarah?”
The question made Sarah stop and close her eyes. She hated this predicament, and what Allie said was true. Stefan had been alone with Melissa. She’d seen that with her own eyes and tried to tell Tami, but Tami wouldn’t listen. Al had no doubt added his own spin to the story. Then again, Tami wielded more power over her brother than she realized, which meant Al could get hurt bad—which was the way it always worked, the biggest dogs, once they fell, they fell hard. But Tami was definitely hurting, and they hadn’t been able to really talk because things had been so chaotic.
“I think you see my point,” Allie said patiently when Sarah opened her eyes. “I’m pretty sure more happened with Al and Tami than—”
Sarah held up her hand. “I don’t want to hear about that. I just can’t process it in my mind.” She shivered and closed her eyes, hugging herself. “That’s my brother and my home girl, and I cannot hear all the details, all right?” Sarah stared at Allie. “The whole thing is beyond awkward. I just hope they treat each other right.”
“And while she’s with Al, you’ve lost her as a confidante because Al is Val’s best friend, which I guess leaves me,” Allie said and let out a sigh.
“Why would you say it like that, Allie?” Sarah held Allie’s arm, forcing her friend to stop and meet her eyes.
“Because when it’s a big adventure or some crazy thing’s going to happen, normally you and Tami just shunt me and ‘Cinth aside to rush in where angels fear to tread.” Allie yanked her arm away from Sarah, her voice hitching. “Why do you think Hyacinth ran into the Shady Path with the other girls, even though she was scared to death that first time, huh? She wanted to impress you—for once not to be a third or fourth wheel, Sarah!”
“Oh, God, Allie…” Sarah hugged her, even though Allie stiffened. “Don’t you understand that most of the time it’s not like that?”
Sarah pulled back and stared at Allie. “Everybody has a role. I run after Tami because she’s nuts.” That comment drew a smile from Allie at last. “The last thing I want to do is drag you guys into some mess that Tami’s rushed into. But who do I always come back to when it’s time to share the serious stuff?”
Allie looked down sheepishly, and Sarah hugged her again.
“I can’t say certain things to Tam,” Sarah admitted. “She always makes me feel stupid for caring about the people I care about or the things I believe in. And ‘Cinth, God bless her, she’s the voice of fairness and reason when I forget about being rational.”
“It’s kinda crazy, isn’t it?” Allie said with a sniff. “It’s like Tami is your adrenaline partner, I’m your confessional, and ‘Cinth is your inner voice of reason. But Yaya was all of our big sister seer.”
“Yeah,” Sara said, slinging her arm over Allie’s shoulder and heading farther away from the cafeteria, the mention of Ayana making silence settle between them for a little while.
Then Allie stopped walking as they neared the lounge. “So confess me this,” she said. “You like Val—a lot—don’t you?”
Sarah looked down at her sneakers. “Yeah. A lot.”
“I knew it,” Allie softly squealed. “I think he likes you a lot, too.”
Sarah nodded. “But then there’s Wil….”
Allie’s eyes got big. “What are you going to do? Do they know about each other? And how you feel about each of them?”
Sarah hugged herself. “I don’t know—and I don’t know what I’m going to do. They’re both…”
“Spill!”
Sarah closed her eyes for a moment. “It was so… magical.”
“You did it?” Allie squeaked. “Ohmigod! With which one?”
“No!”
Allie clutched her chest, feign
ing a heart attack, and making them both laugh.
“Val went with me to the stables and I got to show him the horses.”
“You two got to go out unescorted?”
“No such luck,” Sarah said, waving her hand as they walked along arm and arm. “Titan Troy took us.”
“Oh, then I know nothing happened. Tami is tripping.”
“Right. And wrong,” Sarah said, finding a couple of free computers in the sparsely occupied lounge. She sat down and waited for Allie to settle herself beside her, bursting to share the wonderful experience that had been bottled up inside her.
“Soooo?” Allie asked, her eyes alight with excitement.
“Mr. Milton is the nicest man. He let us take Peggi—she’s half Pegasus, half unicorn—out for a flight…and Val…you should have seen him. He took off his shirt and went running in a circle with his arms stretched out like we’d do when we were kids, and the most magnificent wings came out of his shoulders. I’ve seen them before, but today, seeing him like that…it was different. Do you know what I mean?”
Sarah smiled, knowing Allie didn’t fully understand, even when she said that she did, but that was okay. She also decided not to discuss her first real kiss with Wil, or the way the ones she’d shared with Val took her breath away, and she was glad that Allie didn’t pry. Good sister-confessors were like that—they let you tell as much as you wanted and no more, and never leaked a thing about anything you’d said. There was something so personal and private about everything she and Val had shared that morning that Sarah only shared a little off the top and tucked the rest of the deliciously wonderful feeling way down deep in her soul for safe keeping.
She felt differently about the stables now, too. They were her oasis and Val’s now. She didn’t even want to share the place with her friends just yet. It was a place of light…and where she’d been in the alcove wasn’t, and yet that was equally special. The best thing about it was Beep and Bop hadn’t come out and scared her either time. It seemed they were willing to grant her some privacy, thank heavens.