by Eva Brandt
His apology was just as worthless as Lilith’s unspoken one, but I still found a tiny measure of comfort in his warmth. As soon as that thought processed, I realized what I was doing and thinking.
For all I knew, he might’ve been the one to murder Shiro. He’d told me time and again to leave the academy and it would’ve certainly been in his power to attack my poor dog.
Hell, Lilith might’ve been the one to plan it all. She’d outright stated that she’d deemed me unworthy of having a familiar as amazing as Shiro. Maybe she’d believed she was supposed to punish him for having chosen me, even if I was an inferior form of life.
I screeched and started struggling against Stefan, clawing at his face, trying to hurt him like he’d hurt me. “How could you? How could you kill him? He was only a puppy. I loved him! How could you be so cruel?”
He didn’t deny his culpability and that made me even angrier. And then, a wave of familiar power settled over me, forcibly calming me down. I hated it, because I didn’t want to stay calm, damn it. I wanted to be angry, to feel the grief of this loss, of this horrible crime.
If I didn’t, I was afraid that I’d fade away into nothing, or worse—forget that I was just as responsible for this outcome as they were.
But Callum refused to allow that. At one point, he’d shown up by our side to help his own familiar control me. “Breathe,” he said, taking my hand and squeezing it tightly. “Breathe, Alyssa. Stay calm. We’ve got you.”
“No, you don’t,” I answered, wanting nothing more than to skin him alive. “You don’t have me. You don’t have anything, a life, a soul, nothing that matters.”
Since Stefan was still keeping me trapped in his arms, I couldn’t do anything except speak, but my words still made Callum flinch.
“You’re right. We don’t have much. And that’s why… That’s why we’ve always tried to protect what little we do have. But we didn’t see… We didn’t see that while doing so, we lost track of something just as precious.”
“I won’t play this game with you, not now,” I replied, shaking with frustration and outrage. “Maybe once, I would’ve believed your fairytales. Now, I couldn’t care less about what you say. Do you really think I’ll fall at your feet and spread my legs just because you say you’re sorry? Now of all times?”
“No, of course not. But this isn’t about us, not really.” Callum leaned in a little more closely and pressed his lips to my forehead. “Listen, Alyssa, we don’t have time to explain. We’re not supposed to be here at all. If—or when—anyone figures out what we’re doing, we’re going to be in a lot of trouble. So, please, just this once, I beg you to trust us. I know I don’t have the right to ask for that, but we can still save Shiro.”
His words made my anger deflate. “Save Shiro?” I repeated like an automaton. “How?”
“It’s complicated,” Stefan replied, clenching his jaw. “Not here.”
After everything that had happened, it was foolish to hope. I didn’t trust them, not at all. But if there was even the slightest chance that I could get Shiro back, I’d do anything they wanted.
Besides, they were powerful. Polyphemus himself had said that one of them was supposed to become the next Satan. They were upper years, and I’d heard that they’d studied Necromancy. Maybe it was possible for them to save my familiar.
I nodded and stopped fighting them. “Okay. What do you need me to do?”
“For the moment, just keep your voice down. We have to take this elsewhere so we’re not caught before we finish the working.” He paused and shot me a small, bitter smile. “And if you believe in God and think that the Supreme Being can help us, by all means, pray.”
The sheer notion was outrageous. Demons hated everything related to the divine. Callum himself had pointed that out, during our first meeting.
Something was wrong, something beyond Shiro’s death, that is. “Callum? What’s going on? What are we going to do?”
“What we have to,” Callum replied. “Don’t worry about that. And no matter what happens, remember one thing. This is our choice.”
That sounded very ominous, but they didn’t give me the chance to ask any further questions. Stefan carried me out of the bed, and together, we left the infirmary. I didn’t know what was waiting for me beyond its walls, but I had a feeling it wasn’t anything good.
Sacrifice
Throughout my time at The Academy of the Devil, I hadn’t gotten the chance to do much exploring. I’d been around the campus several times, but since I’d entered it, I hadn’t headed past the gates, into the village, or toward the transport point. The sole exception was, ironically, the brief moments I’d shared with Stefan, Callum, and Mikael, late last year, inside the ruins of the Scholomance. As it turned out, that wasn’t just because I’d gotten distracted with schoolwork.
“This whole place is full of spatial distortions,” Stefan explained as we left the infirmary. “We can escape through there.”
I’d already noticed the spatial anomalies of the school, but I suspected Stefan was referring to something that was on an entirely different level. He was still carrying me, something which I appreciated, even if I’d never say it. “Escape to where, exactly?” I asked, my heart hammering with a mix of anticipation and dread. “I understand that you can’t tell me everything, but you’re being much too vague for my liking.”
“Sorry about that. You’ll see, in just a little while.” He ran around one of the gravity-defying buildings in the courtyard and hissed in frustration when a wall popped up into his path. “Satan help us. It looks like someone might have caught on already.”
“Dean Mephistopheles, most likely,” Callum said. “He’s the only one who’d think to do this.” His eyes lit up with power and the wall vanished. “If you’re watching this, Sir, we do appreciate the concern, but we’ve made our choice.”
This was all so strange, but I decided questioning them further wouldn’t help me. If the dean was watching and we were about to do something that was against the rules the staff at the school so liberally interpreted, it was better to move our asses and worry about the details later.
“Close your eyes, Alyssa,” Stefan told me. “This probably won’t be easy if the dean will try to keep us here.”
I hadn’t closed my eyes when my Shiro had died. I certainly wouldn’t turn away now. “I’ll be fine. I’m not doing anything, remember?”
“You’re doing more than you know,” Callum offered, his magic curling around us in warm, seductive waves.
Up ahead, I caught sight of a flash of crimson. A memory of the incident on the beach exploded through my mind and I went rigid in Stefan’s embrace.
The bolt of magic never touched Callum, not like it had Shiro. He batted it away, as if it was nothing. “He might not have figured out the whole thing,” he mused. “He’d be trying a little harder if he knew.”
To my right, the amorphous black mass of the building that hid the Scholomance cracked open and started spawning shadowy, demonic beings. The grotesque sight reminded me of a twisted way of giving birth. Giving birth was, in general, a pretty messy, painful process, but there was something about the emergence of the demons that looked alien and wrong. Maybe it wasn’t the process itself, but the creatures that appeared because of it. Their deformed bodies couldn’t even be called monstrous, because any monster I’d read about or seen on TV had a head or limbs. These particular creations looked more like accumulations of energy that kept shifting shape, turning from one thing to another as I stared at them.
“I told you not to look,” Stefan said, his voice holding a small dose of amusement. “Mephistopheles likes to play games. His demons are always like this and they can break a mortal’s mind simply through their presence.”
“They’re welcome to try. If my mind isn’t broken yet, after everything that’s happened, I think I’m good with sneaking a peek.”
“Be careful what you wish for, little human,” one of the strange demons said from above us
. “You might get it, one day.”
Callum let out a vicious curse and twisted his fingers in a complicated pattern. The air in front of us began to blur, as if it was changing substance. I didn’t understand what Callum was doing, but Mephistopheles obviously did. “No!” I heard the things cry out, now in the dean’s voice. “Don’t be stupid!”
Callum and Stefan weren’t listening. Summoned by Callum’s magic, a portal appeared in front of us. This one was far more appealing than the weird, creature-spawning monstrosity, and when we stumbled through it, I didn’t bother hiding my relief. “Well, that was a close call,” I said as the gateway closed behind us. “Can’t he hunt us down?”
“Of course he can, and he will. But he won’t catch us, not in time.” Stefan slowly set me down and passed a hand through his hair. “Or at least, I hope not.”
“Oh, ye, of little faith,” Callum shot back. “We can do this, Stefan. You’ll see.”
Stefan clenched his jaw, not looking very confident. “Part of it, yes. The rest, I’m not so sure about.”
For the first time, I realized we were on the same cliff side where I’d often come to visit Redrum. My patience ran out. “Guys, if you’re done bickering, I’d appreciate it if you could tell me what the fuck is happening. Right now would be good.”
I still remembered Lilith’s horrible revelation, the fact that the people at the academy had fed Shiro to the dragon. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that might be why we were here. But how were we supposed to retrieve Shiro from Redrum’s digestive system? If he had a lair, I doubted we could break inside before the dean found us and forced us to go back.
Also, could Stefan and Callum fight off a dragon? I had no idea, but the prospect didn’t fill me with too much optimism.
As it turned out, I’d completely misinterpreted the situation. Before the guys could provide me with the explanation I’d requested, Redrum flew up from beyond the cliff, with Mikael on top of him.
It was just like the day of my first Familiar Bonding class, only this time, I didn’t feel the same level of wonder. It was hard to get excited about anything or anyone when acknowledging that person had had a hand, no matter how small, in the loss of your familiar. Redrum was not responsible for Shiro’s death, but I still begrudged him for having stolen Shiro’s body from me.
The dragon landed a few feet away from us. “There you are,” Mikael said from on top of him. “I thought you’d never get here.”
“We got delayed at the infirmary,” Callum explained. “Mephistopheles was being a dick.”
Mikael grimaced and leaped off the dragon. “It’s a miracle he didn’t figure it out sooner. We always knew there was a chance it might happen.”
Stefan turned away, almost as if he was physically incapable of looking at Mikael. “Let’s just hurry. If we stand around chatting for much longer, it’ll all be for nothing.”
Following Stefan’s request, Redrum lifted his wing and revealed a bag strapped to its underside. Even without seeing its contents, I knew what it was. “Shiro.”
“What we could salvage of him, yes,” Mikael replied. “I admit, Alyssa, it’s not pretty. Between the original wound, the passage of time, and the effect of the dark magic, it’s a pretty grizzly sight. But we need you for this. We can’t do it without you.”
Redrum gently placed the bag down, his golden eyes shining with regret. “I am sorry. I could do no more for him. I tried to keep the body as intact as possible in my lair, but it was difficult. My powers don’t lie in such fields. And by the time they even brought him to me, it had already received a lot of damage.”
Anger, grief, and gratitude flooded my chest, and my eyes filled with tears. “No, Redrum, this is… This is fine,” I somehow managed to say. “I’m sorry too. I thought you’d eaten him. I should’ve known better.”
It wasn’t fine, but I’d still been wrong to blame Redrum for Shiro’s fate. Once this was all over, though, I’d find out who’d been the mastermind of this, who’d taken my familiar from me.
Redrum remained silent, but Mikael replied in his stead. “You were right to doubt me, to doubt all of us. This is our fault, because we didn’t act sooner. We will fix it, together. Now… Are you ready?”
I wasn’t, but even so, there was nothing I wouldn’t do, as long as it meant getting Shiro back. “As ready as I’ll ever be. Let’s do this thing.”
* * *
Mikael and Redrum had been right. Shiro’s dead body was a grizzly sight. In its advanced state of decomposition, it barely looked like my beloved familiar at all. But despite the blackened blood, the ripped flesh, the shattered bone, the missing limbs, the parasites consuming what little was left, I still recognized him. For a few seconds, I thought I’d keel over and lose consciousness once again.
I didn’t. A spark of defiant hope had reignited inside me. Yes, things might look horrible now, but this was better than not having Shiro at all. More importantly, I had a chance to save him. This ugly, distorted corpse was a gift, and I had to see it as such.
And so, I didn’t faint. I didn’t throw up. I didn’t even look away. Instead, I knelt next to the body and took Shiro’s paw again, just like I had the day he’d died. His skin felt so wrong underneath my touch now, but I didn’t allow it to get to me. Our story wouldn’t end like this.
“Okay,” I told Mikael, Stefan, and Callum. “What now?”
Mikael joined me, sitting down on Shiro’s other side. “You just need to hold onto him, for now,” he replied. “It won’t be easy. Stefan and Callum will keep the demonic power inside him from attacking us, but it might still find you vulnerable. No matter what happens, don’t give up.”
“Of course I won’t. I’m the one who most wants this to work. But what about you?”
Mikael smiled at me, but the expression held no humor. “I’ll do most of it. But you have to promise not to panic, all right?”
“And why would I panic?”
Mikael ignored the question, and despite having claimed they would explain, Stefan and Callum did the same. Mikael tossed them two glowing vials and the duo started creating a tight circle around Shiro, me, and the cambion.
Even with my limited magical abilities, I could sense the power that emanated from the liquid inside. “What is that thing?”
“A very advanced shielding potion,” Mikael replied. “We didn’t have the time to do the ritual the regular way, so we’ll need to take the shortcut. We were in luck and we had a dragon who was more than willing to help.”
I had no idea how Redrum fit into this whole tale. Maybe he’d provided some of the ingredients required for the potion. In any case, that exact details didn’t matter that much, but what did frustrate me was Mikael’s continuing vagueness.
“You realize that you being tight-lipped like this doesn’t fill me with much confidence, right?”
“I know,” Mikael replied, “but I promise I have my reasons. And this will work. I’m sure of it.”
In front of us, Redrum started to pace anxiously. “They are approaching. We must make haste.”
“Right.” Mikael took a deep breath, looking like he was bracing himself for something very difficult. “Can you buy us some time, my friend?”
“I will do my best.”
Redrum launched himself into the air, his massive wings carrying him in the direction of the academy. I watched him go and something inside me twisted and clenched. “He didn’t sound very optimistic about his chances.”
“They won’t kill him if that’s what you’re worried about,” Stefan replied, somewhere to my right. “Dragons are a protected species, so even if he breaks the rules, the most he’ll get is imprisonment.”
By now, he and Callum had completed their task and were kneeling on the ground, their hands hovering above the edge of the glowing circle. In the light the potion emanated, Stefan’s usually tan skin looked as white as a corpse.
A shiver went down my spine at the sight and at his words. “And what about you? W
hat will they do to you?”
“I suppose we’ll find out,” Mikael replied with a laugh that sliced straight into my soul. “Come on now, Ms. Michaelis. Focus on your Shiro, not on us. You don’t even like us, remember?”
I didn’t appreciate the reminder and the attempt at manipulation, but he was right. We had to prioritize.
Besides, Mikael, Stefan, and Callum were the princes of the school. I doubted they were in real danger. They might lose face for helping a piece of trash like me, but it wouldn’t be risky.
Satisfied with this conclusion, I abandoned all attempts for conversation. A part of me still feared that this was some kind of trap, another way these men would use to hurt me. But they had no real reason to jump through all these hoops just for that. They could’ve exploited Shiro’s death in countless other ways that wouldn’t have required such an elaborate setup. No, this would work. It had to.
Mikael placed his hand over mine, and my tension began to drift away. His eyes didn’t look as cold anymore. In fact, they held so much warmth that I wondered how I’d ever deemed them icy, to begin with.
He didn’t say a word. Instead, he leaned over and brushed his lips over mine.
The kiss didn’t hold much passion. How could it, when we were sitting next to the dead body of my Shiro? Even so, it was my first kiss and it made my heart flutter in my chest.
I was torn between pushing him away and responding. Before I could decide, he broke the lip-lock, all the while tightening his hold on my hand. My skin began to tingle where we were making contact. A beautiful, white light emerged from his fingertips, only this time, it wasn’t the power he’d summoned during the battle with Stefan.
That magic had been dark and demonic. This was of a different nature. It was almost painfully bright, like staring at the sun for too long. It also felt familiar, but I couldn’t for the life of me recall why.
Mikael hissed in discomfort. His claws emerged, and then disappeared once again. TB wrapped her serpentine body around him and hissed back. In that sound, I heard encouragement.