Academy of the Devi- the Complete Collection

by Eva Brandt

  “Of course, Ms. Grimm,” Morrigan answered. “You can do whatever you please.”

  She didn’t tell Gemma to not kill the other student. Maybe the rule Callum had mentioned didn’t apply here. Wonderful.

  Morrigan stepped out of the circle and clapped her hands. The megaliths lit up, just like they had during my battle with her monsters. “Begin!”

  Instantly, the Oleander guy rushed toward Gemma. Instead of meeting him half-way, Gemma launched herself in the air.

  She didn’t have wings like Mikael did, but she didn’t need them. Her dark magic helped her stay aloft, just like it had once carried my trolley, the day I’d arrived here.

  Truth be told, I’d never actually seen Gemma fight. Shiro had attacked her on more than one occasion, but she’d never retaliated with her full strength. This was probably a good thing, because I didn’t know what would’ve happened to my familiar had she chosen to harm him. It likely wouldn’t have ended well, for any of us.

  The moment Oleander was within her reach, Gemma shot into action. When he threw a blast of fire magic at her, she easily dodged and responded with one of her own. A few students let out gasps of admiration. “That’s amazing.”

  “I didn’t realize she was so good at it.”

  “Yeah, me neither.”

  I didn’t understand their shock, since she was among the most powerful students at the school. Callum leaned a little closer to me and provided me with the explanation. “Vampires are usually pretty terrible at fire magic. That’s why you won’t see a lot of them at The Academy of the Devil. As far as I know, right now, there’s only Gemma and the Byte heir. So the fact that Gemma can wield fire magic of such power is a bit of an anomaly. She’s very skilled at it.”

  “Yes, I can see that.”

  In fact, I couldn’t help but be jealous of the effortless way she moved and wielded her magic. Would I ever be capable of gaining such mastery over my strange skills? Right now, it didn’t seem like it.

  Naturally, Oleander didn’t give up. Wrapping himself in a shield of shadow, he vanished from Gemma’s view. There must’ve been something dangerous about that shield, because she didn’t try to break through it, instead flying back and eyeing her opponent with care.

  When the fog disappeared, the humanoid student was gone and a massive reptilian creature had appeared where he’d been standing before. Oleander was a shape-shifter.

  I couldn’t identify his exact species. It wasn’t something I recognized. It didn’t look that scary, reminding me a little of a cross between a big dog and an iguana. Even so, Gemma didn’t attack Oleander at once. Every student in the grove seemed to be holding his or her breath as we waited for the confrontation to continue.

  “What’s going on?” I asked my lovers. “Why is she afraid?”

  “She’s not afraid,” Mikael corrected me. “She’s wary, and rightly so. Dragons aren’t shape-shifters, but some families carry dragon blessings because of contracts they’ve made with dragon bloodlines. I didn’t realize Oleander was one of them. It might be something new.”

  Interesting. That was yet another thing I needed to look into—assuming, of course, that I survived this class unscathed.

  In the end, it was Oleander who lost his patience first. He opened his snout and a blast of fire emerged from his throat. It wasn’t as powerful as the stream of molten lava Redrum had once thrown at Mephistopheles, but I could hardly expect it to be.

  It was also different from a simple spell, since even if Gemma tried to dodge it like the first time, she failed. The fire curled mid-air, as if it was alive, chasing her. Gemma hissed in displeasure and quickly threw up some kind of shield around herself, but the blaze still grazed her.

  After that, all bets were off. Gemma lashed out at Oleander with an enormous accumulation of telekinetic energy. It clashed against Oleander’s following spell and did some damage to him, but not as much as I’d expected. It soon became obvious that it wasn’t easy for her to use spells of this magnitude while she was in flight, which left her at a disadvantage. Oleander’s skin seemed to have a degree of immunity to magic, which again, made it tough for her to deliver a decisive attack.

  But Gemma was nothing if not determined. She abandoned all subtlety and dropped down from the sky, straight on top of him.

  “Oh, this is going to be nasty,” Callum commented. “She’s pissed.”

  Before I could ask him what he meant, Gemma pressed her hands to the reptile’s head and a glow of dark magic manifested underneath her palms. Oleander screeched, a sound of agonizing pain that echoed all the way into my soul. He started flailing, his body overheating as he tried to throw her off. The flesh of Gemma’s hands and knees was completely scorched off, to the point that I could see bone. But even so, she didn’t let go, not for a moment.

  The whole thing lasted for a minute, if that, and then, Oleander collapsed and shifted back into his humanoid form. He was still twitching and moaning in pain, and the sight made a memory flash through my mind. I’d done something similar to those upperclassmen who’d attacked Mikael, hadn’t I?

  My restlessness and confusion must’ve been obvious, because Callum provided me with an explanation without me having to ask. “She used Psyche Manipulation. It’s an advanced form of Mind Magic, an elective only certain species can take. Vampires are very good at it, and so are incubi.”

  “I take it humans can’t do it.”

  “Not really, no, and even if they could, it would be unadvisable for you to try. You already have enough on your plate without adding electives.”

  Mikael stayed silent. He’d undoubtedly realized what had unsettled me and didn’t want to point out the troublesome situation in such problematic company.

  In the end, it all turned out to be a moot point, since after Gemma defeated Oleander, it was time for the rest of us to join the fight. The megaliths pulsed with light, and the space around us expanded, engulfing every single student in the school.

  “All right,” Morrigan said. “Now that you’ve seen the demonstration, fight.”

  She had to be joking. Oh, who was I fooling? This was The Academy of the Devil. Of course she wasn’t joking.

  My lovers clustered around me, with Stefan shielding me with his own, larger body while the others faced the rest of the students.

  I wanted to point out I could defend myself, as I’d already done, countless times in the past. But it would’ve been stupid, since powerful or not, I was no warrior and I still didn’t understand my magic. I’d take whatever help I could get.

  “Just stay behind us, all right, princess?” Callum told me. “You’re safe with us.”

  The irony was that it was perfectly true. They hadn’t been called the princes of the school for nothing. Several groups of students tried to come at us, but after the first two were almost eviscerated and turned to ash, they quickly backtracked and decided it wasn’t such a great plan after all.

  I was beginning to think the class would end without any incident of significance when it happened. Something slid under my gown, and a sharp sting erupted through my thigh. I cried out in pain, tripping and clutching my wounded leg. As I fell, a snake emerged from beneath my dress, its fangs dripping with venom.

  It wasn’t TB. This snake was different, white, with crimson eyes that reminded me a little of Mephistopheles. It was also far more hostile than Mikael’s familiar and the dean, as I was already going into shock.

  I collapsed against Callum and he caught me. He cursed viciously under his breath when he noticed the intruder. “What the fuck is that?”

  The others had already taken note of the problem. TB hissed and lunged at the second snake. Shiro got to it first and within seconds, he brutally tore it apart. It was too late.

  I couldn’t feel my leg. Spots started to dance in front of my eyes. The world was spinning, and I couldn’t feel Callum’s warmth anymore.

  In the background, I could hear Shiro furiously barking, the way he always did when he sensed a sei
zure. “Callum!” Stefan shouted. “Do something!”

  “I can’t! I’m no healer! I can only stop her seizures.”

  “Fuck. Move over.”

  Mikael pressed his hand to my forehead, his magic already flowing over me, bright, warm, and familiar. “He’s using divine powers!” another student snarled in the background.

  Stefan and Callum didn’t take it well. “Fuck off.”

  “If you have a problem with that, you’re going to have to go through us.”

  That would’ve been very comforting, except for the fact that I could suddenly no longer feel Mikael at all. Instead, distant phantoms floated around me, reaching for me with transparent fingers.

  It was just like the time I’d gone to the Scholomance ruins with my lovers, only now, it was much worse. I could distinguish their faces, their voices, and more than that, their desperation. “Give it to us.”

  “Come to us.”

  “We fought for it.”

  “You belong to us.”

  I had no idea what they were talking about, but whatever it was, they wanted it very badly. They seemed to think I belonged to them and they were much too close for my comfort. “No!” I tried to say. “Leave me alone!”

  The ghosts didn’t listen and floated above my head like malevolent shadows. “You’re ours,” they insisted. “Come to us. Give it to us.”

  They seemed seconds away from going straight through Mikael to reach me.

  Fortunately, the staff at the school wasn’t useless, and this time, someone intervened before disaster could strike again. A crow flew toward us and landed on Mikael’s shoulder. The ghosts scattered with terrified screeches.

  The crow shifted back into her regular form, that of my Battle Magic teacher. “This was an admirable effort, but it won’t heal her.” Morrigan’s soft hand landed in my hair, and some of the pain and wooziness vanished. “She’s stable now, but that might change soon. We need to get her to the academy, at once.

  “Mr. Schwarz, Mr. Adamson, Mr. Lost, keep an eye on the class while I do this.”

  “W-What?” Mikael stammered. “But we’re supposed to be with her.”

  “Not right now, you aren’t. Right now I’ll need to focus on Ms. Michaelis, and not on you. You will stay here and you will like it.”

  Shiro growled and draped himself over my stomach, refusing to be turned away as well. “Okay, fine,” Morrigan said, “but just you. Now, step back.”

  Even with my eyes closed and my consciousness drifting away, I could still sense my lovers’ agitation and dread. But for whatever reason, they decided to not oppose the goddess. They moved away from me, and I immediately felt the loss of their presence, their magic, and their touches.

  Morrigan took my hand and squeezed it. “Don’t worry, Ms. Michaelis. You’re going to be just fine. You’re too important to die.”

  I didn’t know if I believed her. I still didn’t feel all that special. But in the end, my opinion didn’t count. A surge of magic engulfed me and my world went black.

  Divine Families

  The thing about being an epileptic was that when you fell unconscious, three-quarters of the time, you presumed it was because of a seizure. Sometimes, it was true, and sometimes it wasn’t. On occasion, especially if you were alone, the only thing you had as a guideline was the state of your own tongue—whether you’d bitten it or not—or that of your underwear. But there were times when you couldn’t be sure, so too often, you were left in a weird limbo, torn between relief and terror.

  Life at The Academy of the Devil had been very much like that, but I’d gotten more or less used to its ups and downs. The confusion and dread returned with a vengeance when I woke up again, having very little memory of what had happened to me. I vaguely recalled that something had gone very wrong in the Battle Magic class, but beyond that, everything was a blur.

  The room I was in, while comfortable and warm, was completely unfamiliar to me. The elegant, but stern, lines of the furniture clashed with my memories of my dorm’s lavish and chaotic extravagance. The air itself held a hint of something mellow, but fierce, very different from the occasionally overwhelming, sharp scent of the academy. Even the quilt underneath my fingers felt different, although not because of its material. There was just something about this place that both intrigued me and filled me with restlessness.

  Deciding to investigate, I pushed the quilt off and slid out of the bed. I half-expected to lose my balance, but I needn’t have worried. I felt fine and I managed to make my way to the window with next to no issue. When I stole a glimpse outside, though, I instantly grew light-headed.

  I was in some kind of tall tower surrounded by currents of energy that bore a slight resemblance to clouds. Upon closer inspection, I decided they reminded me more of the creatures Mephistopheles had summoned to do his bidding when I’d fled the infirmary with my lovers and when he’d disciplined me in his office. I tried very hard to not think about that latter comparison, and ended up finding an excellent distraction in the stream of light that flowed past my tower. It was so blindingly bright I almost feared looking at it would trigger a seizure, but the splendor was worth taking a chance.

  It also made my current location pretty obvious. I was in The Celestial Realm. Shit. This couldn’t be good.

  A massive male figure popped into my line of sight, his giant, luminescent wings cutting off my view of the scenery. “Oh, Ms. Michaelis,” he greeted me. “I see you’ve awakened. Excellent. How do you feel?”

  The light made it hard for me to distinguish his features, but even so, I had no trouble identifying him. I stared into a pair of familiar, glowing blue eyes and gulped. “Fine. I guess? Yes, I’m fine.”

  The archangel Michael nodded, as if he’d expected this reply. Perhaps he had. Meanwhile, I just stood there, watching him hover outside my window, and struggled to not hyperventilate.

  This was Mikael’s father, the same man—divine being—whom Mikael so clearly resented. There were so many things I’d have liked to ask him. Why had he abandoned his son? Did he care about Mikael at all? Why hadn’t he made sure Mikael was happy in the Heavens? And what about me? What had happened at the academy? Was I dead? God, I hoped not. I didn’t want to leave my lovers and Shiro behind.

  Fortunately, Michael took pity on me and saved me from my misery. “I imagine you must be very confused right now,” he said as he flew into the room. “It’s why I requested permission to speak to you first. You are one of mine, so it is my role to guide you.”

  His words finally snapped me out of my shocked trance. “One of yours? What do you mean?”

  Michael smiled, not unkindly. “Did you never wonder about the origin of the name Michaelis? It is related to my own name, of course.”

  Great. How many children did archangels have anyway? They had decidedly far more lustful libidos than I’d been led to believe.

  More importantly, did that mean Mikael and I were related? I wasn’t sure how I felt about that idea. It would be weird, but at the same time, I doubted it would change how I felt about him, romantically. “Mikael isn’t my… uncle, or my cousin, or something like that, is he?” I asked the archangel.

  “No, of course not,” he replied, his eyes widening. “I misspoke. You come from a line that has long ago followed my dictates, and I consider you mine because of that. Mikael is the only child born out of my flesh and blood. A small indiscretion, I’m afraid, but—”

  “Mikael is not an indiscretion!” I cut him off. “He’s a person. No wonder he hated it here if his own father treated him like a pathetic, trashy accident.”

  The archangel’s expression darkened, the ice blue of his eyes turning stormy. “Do not put words in my mouth, young Alyssa. As I was about to say, he is the result of an indiscretion, but I consider him a blessing nonetheless.”

  “A blessing? When did you even speak to him last?” I shook my head, pushing back my natural aversion toward Mikael’s less than ideal father. “You know what? Never mind. Let’
s set that aside for now.”

  As much as I wanted to chew him out for being a shitty parent, the fact remained that I was in a place I didn’t know and my last memories weren’t too encouraging. I needed to prioritize that and hopefully be able to make my way back to the academy and my lovers. “Why am I here? Did you rescue me from something? I think… I think I remember a snake.”

  Michael embraced the change in topic. “Oh yes. The snake. A charming creature it was. Unfortunately, your hellhound destroyed his temporary physical form, but I’ll introduce you as soon as I can retrieve him.”

  Wait, what? He couldn’t possibly mean what I thought he meant.

  “You sent the snake?”

  “Well, not me personally,” the archangel replied. “It was more like a… overall decision of the Archangel Corps. Surprised?”

  Hell yes, I was surprised. My idea of angels didn’t include them siccing snakes on people who’d done nothing wrong. But then again, I’d already learned in Demonology and ADA that angels were far more complex than our myths suggested and nothing was ever just black and white. “I suppose I’m shocked you of all people would turn to a snake for aid,” I settled on saying. “I mean, considering the background.”

  Michael shot me an indulgent smile. “It’s true that my fallen brother chose this form repeatedly during his foolish quest, but that doesn’t mean we angels spurn such creatures. They are animals like any others. Besides, I find myself amused with taming them, especially when they are similar to Lucifer.”

  Okay, I wasn’t touching that one with a ten-foot pole. Sigmund Freud would’ve had a field day with divine families. Or maybe they all belonged in a soap opera, rather than a psychology manual. Did you think nothing could get more dramatic than The Young and the Restless? Think again. Tune in next Saturday, for another episode of Divine Families.

  For fuck’s sake, I was really losing it.

  “That still doesn’t answer any of my questions. Why did you try to kill me?”

  “I didn’t,” Michael replied, bristling. He had the nerve to sound upset. “A minor snake bite is hardly a lethal injury and the neurotoxin in the venom isn’t enough to kill you.”