Academy of the Devi- the Complete Collection

by Eva Brandt

  Too late did I realize that love could be just as destructive as hatred, if not more so, and a demon’s love was just as dangerous as his enmity.

  Private Lesson

  “Ms. Michaelis! If you can’t pay attention to what you’re being taught, perhaps I should stop trying altogether.”

  I flinched as Dean Mephistopheles leaned into my space, his magic sweeping over me like a sharp, palpable touch. He didn’t sound angry. His voice was calm and sedate, but the bright light in his fierce crimson eyes spoke volumes of his true feelings.

  “My apologies,” I said quickly. “I was paying attention.”

  “Is that a fact?” he drawled. “Then, by all means, why don’t you go over what we were discussing?”

  My mind went blank at the inquiry. I had no idea what he’d been talking about for the past five minutes or so. This time around, I suspected it had nothing to do with epilepsy. Instead, it was related to my increasing inability to focus on anything except the hot guys who were, for some strange reason, interested in me.

  I’d originally intended to return home when my first year had ended. However, this had become impossible due to my new relationship with Mikael and my plan to fast-forward through my studies. Instead, I’d ended up sharing a dorm room with Mikael and being privately tutored by him and the others, as well as the teachers who’d volunteered to help me.

  Unfortunately, Mikael’s new status as my familiar meant that, like Shiro, he had to participate in my lessons. Even now, the asshole stood by my side, smirking knowingly, well aware that his sole presence was distracting me.

  I gritted my teeth and forced back the surge of irritation that erupted through me. This was my fault, because I hadn’t been able to protect Shiro myself, and I’d been forced to turn to someone else to do it. I could hardly expect Mikael to change personalities because he’d revealed his secret for my sake. And if I couldn’t handle it and still be coherent in class, that was also something that I was responsible for.

  Dean Mephistopheles didn’t seem to completely agree. “I see,” he said, with a tight, unpleasant smile. “Perhaps I should’ve asked you a different question. List the different types of angels.”

  That was basic information, and among the first things we’d learned in Angelic Defense Arts. Still, the way Mikael tensed by my side kept me from providing a complete answer. “Seraphim,” I started. “Cherubim. Thrones. Dominions. Virtues. Powers. Princes. Archangels. Guardian Angels.”

  Mephistopheles nodded, but he wasn’t satisfied with my reply. “Yes, and?”

  “Nephilim,” I finished, suddenly shaking in my seat.

  “Very good, Ms. Michaelis. Now, let’s go over why this is important, because you’ve clearly forgotten. Each type of angel has different priorities and different power levels. Some are more likely to fall into temptation than others. And there are specific angels, like Powers, which you need to avoid.

  “But most importantly, not all angels have wings, and when they do, said appendages aren’t corporeal. They’re much too powerful to require anything physical to sustain them. They defy all rules of reality, and gravity is no different.

  “The cherubim are among the exceptions to this rule. They possess two pairs of wings, one of which was meant for protection. However, they can fly just as easily as the rest of their brethren. Can you guess what the other wings are meant for?”

  I shook my head. This wasn’t something we’d discussed in class and I hadn’t found out anything about it in my readings. “Of course you can’t,” Dean Mephistopheles said, not seeming disappointed in my failure. “Make a note of it. I expect you to find out, by our next class.

  “That brings us to the nephilim. Half-demon, half-angel, they possess flesh and bone wings they make use of to fly. They are trapped between two worlds, and that makes them vulnerable.

  “It would be very foolish of you to forget that, Ms. Michaelis. You and your familiar do not have many friends at The Academy of the Devil, and if you lack focus, your problems will only increase.” He turned his gaze onto Mikael. “And you. You might know everything I’m trying to teach her, but don’t forget that, through your rash actions, you’ve exposed yourself and her to great public scrutiny and opprobrium. If you thought you had it bad before, you’ll find it’ll be even tougher when the school year begins again. And I won’t be able to protect either of you.”

  The more Mephistopheles spoke, the darker Mikael’s expression grew. I didn’t want that to happen. I didn’t want him to blame himself for something that wasn’t his fault.

  “There’s nothing wrong with being a nephilim, Sir,” I said, interrupting the dean’s little speech. “I know that people here hate it. You pointed it out eloquently at the end of my first year. But I’m going to prove all of them wrong. If Mikael is at this school, he belongs here, and that’s all there is to it.”

  The dean let out a long-suffering sigh. “You are too kind sometimes, Alyssa. And too stubborn.” He looked between me and Mikael and whatever he saw on our faces made him abandon the battle. “I’ll let this go for now. You’re dismissed for today. But don’t forget your homework. And for Satan’s sake, be more careful. I know it’s not easy to have a person as a familiar, but when I say that you can’t allow it to distract you, I mean it.”

  I thanked him politely for his advice and started to gather my things. Mikael was faster. He grabbed my bag and smoothly slipped my books, manuals, and pens inside. He then shouldered it and guided me toward the door.

  He’d been doing this a lot as of late, insisting to perform all kinds of menial tasks for me. I allowed it because he seemed to enjoy it, but it confused me and it was beginning to make me uncomfortable. I kept trying to figure out how to talk to him about it, but I’d set it aside in favor of more important things, like survival.

  Besides, I owed him a bit of an apology because of the episode during Mephistopheles’s lesson. As we left the classroom, I considered how to approach it and eventually decided to just be honest.

  “I’m sorry about that,” I told him. “If I weren’t so easily distracted by the shiny, Dean Mephistopheles wouldn’t have lashed out at you.”

  “It’s not your fault. I should be more supportive instead of just sitting there, being an annoyance.” He let out a deep sigh. “This whole familiar thing is new to me. We promised to help you with your classes, but we haven’t helped you very much so far.”

  I opened my mouth, intending to automatically defend him. He arched a brow at me, as if in a challenge, and I finally admitted that he did have a point. Even so, I refused to give up. “Not everything I do is your responsibility,” I said. “You might’ve made that offer, yes, but at the end of the day, I’m the one who has to learn and take advantage of it. If I’m not capable of it, you’re not to blame.”

  Mikael stared at me with a strange expression on his face. “You’re many things, Lyssa, but incapable isn’t one of them.” He threaded his fingers through mine and gently pulled me toward the exit of the building. “Come on. Let’s take a breath of fresh air and then I’ll walk you through what you were supposed to learn today from the dean.”

  We took refuge outside, in the garden, underneath one of the largest apple trees. A pleasant breeze was blowing, and I sat down on the grass, leaning against the tree trunk. “As much as I hate to admit it, this place is really beautiful. At least when there aren’t a lot of people around to spoil it.”

  Mikael laughed. “The whole planet is like that, Lyssa. There are countless of amazing places that are simply unbearable, just because of their inhabitants. You think the academy is bad? You haven’t seen The Heavens.”

  This was the first time Mikael had mentioned anything regarding his divine background. For obvious reasons, it was a sore subject, and I hadn’t wanted to push him. I had, of course, wondered what could have determined him to come here, where his existence was a crime, but the idea of asking him had seemed tactless. “I didn’t know you’d ever been there.”

  �
��I visited once. My beloved father took me.” His lower lip curled in clear distaste. “The thing you have to remember about angels, Lyssa, is that when it comes to them, nothing is really what it seems. Demons are pretty honest. They might lie and try to kill you, but there are rarely expectations to be anything different than what you are. It’s not like that in Heaven.”

  “They hated you there, didn’t they?” I whispered.

  “You could say that, yeah. But that’s not anything new.” Mikael shook his head as if physically trying to dispel a thought. “Anyway, I don’t want to talk about that. It’s not worth it. Why don’t we do something else? Something fun?”

  “I thought you were going to teach me the lesson I just missed,” I said.

  “And I will, but we have plenty of time.” He leaned in a little more closely, cupping my cheek with a warm hand. “Tell me something, Lyssa. How much longer do I have to wait?”

  My mouth went dry and my heart started to race. This was it, part of the reason why I was having so much trouble with my studies. I couldn’t focus on learning Angelic Defense Arts when I still had trouble defining my feelings for Mikael and the others.

  “Do you still distrust me?” Mikael murmured against my lips. “We have a familiar bond now. We’ll be together always, remember?”

  “I remember,” I answered, “and it’s not that I don’t trust you. I just… I don’t understand how I feel.”

  Everything had happened so fast. I had no experience with men, and all of a sudden, I was thrust into a relationship with three hot guys who sometimes hated me, sometimes loved me, and sometimes sacrificed themselves to help me. It was all so confusing.

  “Is it because you’re a virgin?” Mikael asked. “Because there’s no shame in it, you know. We understand that you’re human and you need to take your time with these things. It’s okay.”

  Uh… What?

  “Sorry, you’ve lost me again. Don’t tell me there’s a stigma attached to virginity.” Also, how had he even found out about it? Was there a sign of Warning: Virgin stapled to my forehead?

  In hindsight, it might have been pretty obvious. Gemma must’ve guessed something since she’d sort of mentioned it during one of our conversations. And considering how much sex these people were having, my attitude was undoubtedly something unusual.

  Mikael laughed. “Of course not. There are all types of demons, and some don’t even like sex at all. It’s just that the passionate ones tend to be more visible. And since there are no rules about having sex here, they fuck wherever they want.

  “That’s the whole point. I get that you might not be completely comfortable taking our relationship to the next level, but I also don’t want you to feel bad because of that. Does that make sense?”

  It did, and it was sweet of him to say. It was a shame that I didn’t believe him. He might not be a cambion like he’d originally claimed, but I was pretty sure he was still half-incubus, and therefore, a very sexual creature. While he might not look down on me for my personal choices, it wasn’t what he wanted.

  “I don’t have an answer for you,” I told him. “I think right now, we should follow Dean Mephistopheles’s advice and prepare for our next year. I’m sure that when it starts, things will get even tougher.”

  Mikael shrugged and waved a hand, dismissing my words. “I’m not worried. I’m prepared for that.”

  I wasn’t. I had no desire to see him suffer because he’d helped me. Last year had been bad enough. It was too easy to remember the way the teachers had turned on him, his pallor as he’d faced Professor Jones’s enchantment, the utter resignation on his face when he’d told them he would pay the price for his existence. The students hadn’t gotten the chance to do too much damage, but as Dean Mephistopheles had said, it would happen.

  “Somehow, I’m not sure that’s true,” I told him.

  Mikael shook his head in exasperation. “Seriously, Lyssa, stop being so concerned. I’ve lived at The Academy of the Devil for years. I know how the people here are like. I understand they’ll try to hurt me. But I’m not helpless, and my status as your familiar does give me some protection.”

  “Yes, but I’m not exactly popular either, you know.”

  “That’ll change,” Mikael answered, his voice as sharp and fierce as the blue of his eyes. “You’re a very powerful woman, Lyssa. The students at the academy respect that. After the episode with Professor Jones, they won’t risk pissing you off.”

  “Gemma did,” I muttered, remembering our last confrontation. “She tried to attack you.”

  “Yes, but it didn’t work out too well for her, did it? Relax.”

  As he spoke, TB crawled from underneath his sleeve and slid down onto the ground, disappearing into the tall grass. Shiro padded after her, although he seemed to be more concerned with the butterflies flying around his head than the magical snake on the hunt.

  There was something truly peaceful and comfortable about watching our familiars play and interact like this. I hadn’t forgotten those dreadful hours when I’d thought Shiro was forever lost to me, and that made the tranquility of these moments even more perfect.

  It was Mikael who shattered the silence. “Lyssa, I have a curiosity. It’s important and while I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, I’d appreciate it if we could address it.”

  That sounded alarmingly serious. “Sure, Mikael. What is it?”

  He took my hand and threaded our fingers together. “Tell me something, Lyssa. You and the dean seem uncommonly close. I mean, I can’t help but notice that he pays a lot of attention to you.”

  “Does he?” I remembered the first meeting between me and Mephistopheles and felt my face heat. I tried to push back the memory and forced a smile. “I don’t think he treats me that differently. The circumstances are unusual, that’s all.”

  Mikael narrowed his eyes at me, and I knew without being told that he didn’t believe me. “Is that a fact? You know, it’s not unusual for a teacher to fuck a student. But Mephistopheles is a High Lord of Hell. You don’t want to get involved with him.”

  I wanted to tell him that I didn’t intend to get involved with any teacher—Mephistopheles included—but Mikael didn’t give me the chance. He slid his hand underneath my dress, over my leg. “All you need to do is ask, and I’ll give you everything you need. We don’t have to go all the way if you’re not ready. I’ve been told I’m very good with my mouth.”

  He licked his lips and heat coiled in my stomach. Arousal surged through me and I wanted to scream at my inability to maintain the slightest amount of control.

  Mikael wasn’t only bad for my state of mind, but also for my panties. Ninety-nine percent of the time, I was constantly wet around him. Today wasn’t an exception, even if we’d both decided we’d try to cover the material I’d missed while day-dreaming in Mephistopheles’s class.

  It was so tempting to succumb to his seduction, but somehow, I refrained. Shaking myself, I pulled my leg out of Mikael’s reach. “Mikael, no. I need to learn this. I owe it to you and Shiro to do better.”

  I still had no idea who’d attacked Shiro and tracking the spell down to its source seemed impossible. If Dean Mephistopheles knew the identity of the culprit, he’d refused to share it with me. But I couldn’t let the matter go, not when I’d come so close to losing Shiro. And if the person had attacked my canine familiar once, it stood to reason that he or she was still dangerous and might make a second attempt in the future.

  Mephistopheles might’ve let Mikael get away with using his angelic abilities during the first incident, but I couldn’t rely on that.

  Mikael scowled but didn’t push me. He released my hand and pulled away. “I can’t argue with you there. Sorry. I just can’t seem to control myself when I’m around you.”

  “It’s fine,” I replied. I couldn’t hold his insistence against him, not when I wanted the same things he did and would’ve happily spread my legs for him under any other circumstances. “I promise I’ll give this a lit
tle more thought, once I’m done with a couple more lessons.”

  The sound of female laughter interrupted our conversation. My gaze shot toward the source of the sound, and I gaped when I realized that, at one point when I hadn’t been paying attention, a strange woman had appeared next to the apple tree.

  She wasn’t wearing much at all. Her breasts were shielded from view by a mild scattering of feathers, but I couldn’t tell if they were an item of clothing or something her body grew naturally. Her abdomen was exposed, but a short long black skirt shielded her nether regions. She was barefoot, and she had a sword strapped to her waist.

  None of this was surprising in itself. I’d seen plenty of strange people at the academy, and after witnessing two of my teachers screw fellow students, I’d learn to take almost everything in stride. It was the fact that I couldn’t quite focus on her that took me aback. Her face kept flickering as if it was a poorly transmitted video signal, cut off by electrical interference.

  I rubbed my eyes, and she completely solidified into something I could process without getting a headache. Her long black hair matched the feathers that covered her chest and when she looked at me, her dark gaze made me feel like prey, like a lamb facing a wolf. “Well, well,” she drawled slowly. “I never thought I’d see the day when the ice-cold prince Mikael knelt in front of someone. How the mighty have fallen.”

  Mikael got up and bowed, and the tension in his stance alarmed me. “Lady Morrigan,” he said, “I didn’t know you’d be back this year.”

  Morrigan? As in the Celtic Goddess of war, birth, and death? She’d be an interesting addition to the school staff, assuming that was, of course, the reason for her presence.

  She glided closer to us on silent footsteps, and the grass gained an almost metallic sheen where she touched it. “I couldn’t have possibly stayed away, darling,” she replied. “I happened to hear what happened. A nephilim, eh? How unfortunate.”