Academy of the Devi- the Complete Collection

by Eva Brandt

  Mikael buried his face in my shoulder and shook his head. “Don’t apologize. None of it is your fault. I made my own choices, remember?”

  “Maybe, but that doesn’t mean I’m not responsible for this anyway.”

  “You’re really not,” he protested. “After the way we treated you when you were ill—”

  I covered his mouth with my hand, stopping him from finishing that sentence. It was stupid to linger on past slights when it was all over and done with.

  “You and the others didn’t owe me anything when I first showed up,” I said. “I was just a stranger who intruded on your territory. I understand that. What matters most is the fact that you stood up for me when it counted. You sacrificed your secrets for my sake. That’s pretty amazing.”

  Mikael lifted his head and cupped my face between his hands. He was so close to me now that I could feel his breath on my lips. “Some days, I hate you, Lyssa,” he whispered. “I hate you because you make caring and forgiveness so effortless. I never had that. The Heavens are just as ruthless as The Infernal Realm, and even when angels proclaim acceptance, they would never forgive me for daring to be the child of a demon. And I hated them for it too, for turning me into something that was trapped between two worlds and would never belong.

  “I found refuge here, at the academy, through Mephistopheles, Stefan, and Mikael. But it was a shelter, not a home. And I thought if I tried hard enough, if I could claim the Hells for myself, I’d finally have a place where I belonged. After all, Lucifer could do it, and as you pointed out, he was divine in nature.

  “I don’t know what I want any longer. It was so much easier before, so much easier to never ask myself any questions and just fight for power. And that’s why I hate you.”

  “It’s okay,” I told him. “There’s nothing wrong with your feelings, remember? And I can love enough for the both of us.”

  It was a little funny, because a few days ago, before Necromancy, we’d had a conversation that had been the exact opposite. But I realized now that he was nowhere near as confident as he was trying to appear. How could he be, when he was struggling with something far greater than I could hope to comprehend?

  A single tear flowed down his cheek and he collapsed on top of me, shaking. “I’m trash, Lyssa. Those students were right. I don’t belong here. I don’t belong anywhere. I shouldn’t exist.”

  He was hyperventilating, and I hated that I couldn’t help him more, that I couldn’t just magically wipe away the years of self-hatred torturing him. But even demonic magic had its limits and at the end of the day, I was still just a human pretending I could handle a world I had no business being in.

  “You’re not trash,” I told him. “And you’ll always have a home by my side. In the meantime, let’s try to stick together, okay? Like we planned. You keep telling me to not run off on my own, but then, you go and make the same mistakes I do.”

  Mikael didn’t reply. He just held me tighter, as if he was afraid that I’d disappear or escape him.

  In his painting, Leviathan wriggled around, restless. And not for the first time, I wondered if maybe I was looking for my answers in the wrong place.

  I had made my choice already, and that was to start this crazy relationship with the princes of the school. Backtracking now would not help me. There was only going forward. But if that was the case, I had to pinpoint the right path, for all of us.

  At the rate we were going, we might find that The Academy of the Devil wasn’t a place we could stay for much longer.

  * * *

  I never did go back to my classes that day, which, naturally, didn’t end well. Ironically, it wasn’t a teacher who came to see me. It was Callum and Stefan. They burst into the dorm room I shared with Mikael like they owned the place, completely ignoring the fact that this wasn’t their house.

  “Lyssa, we heard what happened. Are you…”

  Callum trailed off when he caught sight of what I was doing. Stefan’s eyes went wide. Their reaction would’ve been almost laughable if not for the seriousness of the circumstances.

  I continued grooming Mikael’s feathers and answered, “We’re both fine, although I’m pretty sure those upperclassmen who attacked Mikael might not be. How did you even hear about the whole thing?”

  “Polyphemus caught a glimpse of the scene. Apparently, he intended to intervene, but you made that unnecessary. I heard he notified several teachers that your familiar had been injured, so you’re officially excused for the day. But he wasn’t very clear on what had happened to either of you.”

  “It was just a very powerful Revelatio potion,” Mikael replied. “It should wear off in a couple of days.”

  I decided not to mention his earlier breakdown, since that hadn’t been a physical injury. It was more related to his mental state, and that was a secret I would keep for Mikael, even from Stefan and Callum.

  “So, I take it now you have to wander around with your wings visible?” Stefan asked. “That’s unfortunate.”

  “That’s one way of putting it, yeah,” Mikael replied.

  “Having angel wings isn’t unfortunate,” I said at the same time. “It’s not a handicap. And even if it were, Mikael shouldn’t be treated as a lesser being because of it.”

  “We know that,” Callum offered calmly. “But you have to see that this will make matters worse for Mikael in the school. It’s not like he can hide in the dorms. And that’ll affect you, in turn.”

  “I honestly don’t care about myself that much right now,” I answered. “We all need to take a step back and reassess, because what we’re doing isn’t working.”

  As I spoke, I rubbed the base of Mikael’s wing. He let out a small moan of pleasure, which made Stefan shift restlessly in his spot. “I don’t think you petting Mikael like that is conducive to having a coherent conversation, Lyssa.”

  He was right, but now that I’d started, I couldn’t stop. And Mikael did need to relax a bit. I’d well and utterly fucked up everything else, but this, at least, I could do.

  “You know, you can make a nephilim come simply by rubbing his wings,” Callum piped up, as if guessing my thoughts. “The nerve endings in their spines and on the wings themselves are very sensitive.”

  I chose to not address the obvious question of how the fuck he even knew that. By now, it was pretty obvious that he and Mikael were more than friends too, so this didn’t come as a big surprise.

  Instead, I decided to put the information to good use and started a massage that was a little more insistent. Callum smiled at me and sat on the edge of the bed, while Stefan just stood there, staring, as if not knowing what to do.

  Mikael responded beautifully to my touch. His eyes drifted shut and all lingering tension faded from his frame. “You know, maybe it’s not so bad to have wings after all,” he said lazily. “This is pretty great.”

  “I’m sure it is,” Stefan rumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

  Was he pouting? That was a little adorable. Did he want to be groomed too? He didn’t have wings, so that would be a little difficult, but we could figure something else out if he was so interested.

  If Callum felt the same, he didn’t show it. Instead, he reached for my hand and guided it slowly, showing me how to touch Mikael in the best way. Mikael grunted and slumped against Callum. “You’re a terrible person, you know that, incubus?”

  Callum chuckled silently. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

  “And it’s not?”

  “In this case, it isn’t.”

  Stefan abandoned his resistance and joined us in bed as well. “Come on, Mikael. Face it. You know he’s never going to let you have Lyssa to yourself, no matter what the circumstances might be.”

  I’d sort of realized that was what Callum was doing, but before I could toss something at Callum’s head for turning this into another gigantic dick measuring contest, Stefan crushed his mouth to Mikael’s. Mikael tensed, but only for a moment.

  He then started to r
espond with far more enthusiasm than I’d expected. His spine began to grow even hotter beneath my fingertips and a jolt of energy coursed over me. And that was when everything went horribly wrong.

  Stefan jerked Mikael away from me and Callum so abruptly we ended up ripping out some feathers. “You don’t fool me,” he said. “Don’t play this game, angel. It doesn’t suit you.”

  Mikael landed a few feet away from the bed. He steadied himself with ease and straightened his back. He extended his wings and the black feathers glowed like threatening, onyx daggers. “Doesn’t it? And here I thought I understood myself better than you did, animal.”

  Stefan bared his fangs at Mikael. “You understand nothing. You know nothing.”

  What was happening here? Why were they fighting now of all times?

  “Hey, wait! Stop! What are you—?”

  Callum grabbed my wrist and shook his head. “Don’t. Don’t intervene.”

  “What?” I asked him, a feeling of betrayal rushing over me. “But Callum, why?” I’d been trying to help Mikael, to relax him. What could warrant this behavior?

  “Trust me on this one,” Callum said. “Mikael needs to be reminded who he is. He needs to understand that he’s an angel and a demon at the same time.

  “Right now, he’s afraid. There is a pressure building inside him. He needs to exorcise it. And unfortunately, if he tried to fight other students at the school, he’d get you in trouble. Stefan is the best option. There’s almost no injury he can’t heal from.”

  I could understand Callum’s logic. This was one of those moments when I had to accept that my lovers were demons and they occasionally needed things I couldn’t grasp or provide.

  Callum wrapped his arms around me, immobilizing me and keeping me from trying to do anything stupid like jumping between the two men. As I watched Stefan and Mikael leap toward one another, I considered my options and alternatives.

  They were using their claws and elemental fire magic. At first, I was alarmed, but I’d seen them fight far more seriously. It soon became obvious that they weren’t trying to hurt each other, not permanently, at least. Stefan made no attempt to shift or lunge for Mikael’s throat like he had in the past. He raked his claws over Mikael’s chest, and even if Mikael did try to dodge, the attack still hit him, leaving behind thin, bloody scratches. The injury was ugly, but not serious enough to incapacitate or slow Mikael down.

  Something dark fleeted over Mikael’s face, and his eyes lit up with an ominous glow. “It looks like I’ve been a little careless lately, puppy. Have you been missing your training lessons?”

  “You could never train me,” Stefan rumbled. “I’m not yours to train.”

  “You’re nothing more than a beast. You belong to anyone who can fuck you hard enough to make you kneel. I’m sure I can qualify.”

  “That’s highly unlikely.”

  Fire bloomed around Stefan, although it was far less intense than it had been that time, in the courtyard. Callum pulled me in his lap, and the heat didn’t reach me at all, not anymore.

  When the first blast struck Mikael, a shield formed around him, and the spell dissipated harmlessly. Dark magic lashed out at Stefan in turn, and Stefan didn’t bother trying to avoid it. It struck his cheek and chest like a whip, narrowly missing his eye. Stefan took it in stride. “Is that the best you can do? Come on. I’ve had vampire fledglings hitting me harder than that.”

  Being compared to a vampire fledgling must’ve been pretty insulting. Or maybe at this point, Mikael didn’t care if he was being baited or not and he simply wanted to destroy something. In any case, the conversation died altogether as Mikael retaliated. Within seconds, he and Stefan were so focused on kicking each other’s asses they seemed to have forgotten anyone else was present.

  “It’s kind of hot, isn’t it?” Callum whispered in my ear as we watched. “It’s sexy, even if they’re causing each other pain.”

  It was, and at that moment, a fierce need grew in my chest. I wanted to be the one to give them whatever they wanted, even if it was pain and violence. I wanted them to know that they never had to hide what they needed from me. But realistically, I knew I didn’t have the strength to support the like this, not on my own, so instead, I leaned against Callum’s chest. I spread my legs, took his hand and brought it to my groin.

  I didn’t consider myself much of a seductress and in truth, I didn’t plan to seduce my lovers either. All I wanted was to point out that I was here for them, that I was theirs, no matter what.

  Our lives might have become a huge mess, but that didn’t mean I was willing to give up. And maybe it was stupid to not acknowledge everything else that was wrong, but by the same token, it was stupid to not understand how lucky I was to have found people who cared about me.

  I wanted to show them the same thing, that no matter what people said about them, they’d always have me, and I’d always care about them. And if my words weren’t convincing enough, I would do it with my body.

  Callum easily got the message, just like I’d known he would. A zing of energy shot over me, through the material of my gown and panties, straight into my clit. All my good intentions flew out the window and turned into a very simple, carnal urge—the need to be fucked.

  “Please, Callum. Please… More.”

  “Your wish is my command, princess,” he murmured in my ear. He was already lowering the straps of my gown and freeing my breasts from the black silk. His talented fingers zeroed in on my nipples, and I arched against him as he pinched and teased the pebbled nubs, making echoes of fiery pleasure surge through my body.

  It took less than ten seconds for Mikael and Stefan to lose interest in goring one another and become completely focused on me. “You know, my darkling, that’s not playing fair,” Mikael said, his voice husky with lust. “How am I supposed to stay angry with the hell hound when I’m distracted by your beauty?”

  “I think that’s the whole point, Mikael,” Callum replied, in my stead “Fighting is a waste of time. We’re better off fucking.”

  “I can’t argue with your logic,” Mikael answered, kneeling in front of me. His hand slid under my gown, caressing my leg. “Then again, I am still pretty pissed. You’re wearing too much, Lyssa. Your dress offends me because it covers you up.”

  “That’s an easy enough problem to fix,” Stefan offered.

  Joining Callum and me on the bed, he slashed through my dress with his claws. The sharp tips brushed my skin ever so slightly, but didn’t hurt me. My already oversensitive nerve endings tingled in response to the threatening, yet addicting touch. “There we go,” Stefan growled as he and Callum discarded the material on the floor. “Much better.”

  “I concur,” Callum added. “You were born for this, to spread your legs for us, to be ours.”

  I couldn’t reply through words, so I just nodded and did exactly that, spread my legs even wider. From his spot in front of me, Mikael chuckled darkly. He reached upwards and with one flick of his fingers, ripped my panties right off. “Look at that sweet pussy,” he murmured. “Already so wet. You’re just begging for it, aren’t you?”

  “Well, it would be bad form to leave our princess waiting.” Callum’s zipper seemed to lower of its own accord and his bare cock nudged my wet folds. In one single, smooth thrust, he shoved his dick inside me.

  I cried out, the feel of his thick prick invading my body threatening to shatter me. Worse still, Callum had to go and prove that he was utterly evil and he didn’t start fucking me like I had wanted. Instead, he let his hands roam over my body again, toying with every part of me he could reach, but still not doing anything to fulfill my direst need. “Go on,” he told me. “Take what you want.”

  “You’re… You’re a demon,” I somehow managed to gasp out.

  Just because I could, I clenched my inner muscles around his dick and was rewarded with a sharp hiss. Still, he didn’t abandon his torturous strategy. “Yes, I am,” he replied instead. “But you already knew that, Lyssa.”<
br />
  Of course I’d known, just like I knew the asshole was completely determined to have things done his way. Well, if he wanted me to use him as my own personal dildo, that was what I’d do. I wasn’t in the best shape and I didn’t have anything to brace myself, but whatever. I’d get by.

  Desperate for more of the penetration, I started moving up and down Callum’s prick. The glide of his penis inside my channel sent a renewed wave of lust through me, and I reached down to play with my clit. “None of that, my little bitch,” Stefan said. “You only get his cock. The rest of you is ours.”

  I understood what he meant when Mikael got up and unzipped his own pants. Stefan did the same, and their cocks appeared in my line of sight, thick and swollen, begging for attention.

  Mikael buried his hand in my hair and guided my mouth to his dick. I happily parted my lips and he didn’t need a second invitation. He thrust inside my wet cavern, and the flavor of his precum exploded on my taste buds, making my whole body tingle.

  I was still inexperienced, so I always choked and had trouble breathing. This time was no different. Mikael was a little gentler than Stefan, but not by much, and his dick still nudged my throat when he started fucking my mouth.

  Since I couldn’t take all of him like that, I resorted to using my hands, just like they had not so subtly suggested. I did my best to continue with the suction while massaging the wrinkled sac. It was a little tough, since I still had to focus on impaling myself on Callum’s dick. Fortunately, Callum took pity on me and relieved me of that particular task. He placed his hands on my hips, steadying me, and started thrusting up into my greedy pussy.

  I barely got the chance to feel relieved at that, because Stefan pulled my mouth off Mikael’s cock and shoved his own dick inside. His balls slapped against my chin as he fucked my face. I loved this so much, loved the way they branded me with their demonic strength and virility. They were all still half-dressed, whereas I was naked, but that just made everything better. There was something perfect, honest, and liberating about the simple carnality of the moment. I let myself fall into it, allowing them to guide me. Mikael and Callum’s incubus magic danced over my naked body, entwined with the demonic flame Stefan emanated. It wasn’t all painless, but I didn’t mind it. If Callum squeezed my hips a little too tightly, it was just another testament of how much he wanted me. If Stefan almost choked me with his cock, it was because he needed to claim me. If Mikael pulled on my hair a little too hard, it was because he had to ascertain I was truly there for him.