Academy of the Devi- the Complete Collection

by Eva Brandt

  Beelzebub flew away from me, putting some distance between the two of us. “Oh, this is interesting,” he said. “It looks like it might be time for us to pay The Academy of the Devil a visit.”

  Before I could figure out what that meant, Beelzebub snapped his fingers. A portal manifested in front of us and he disappeared through it. I tried to follow, but the gateway closed before I could do so. Asmodai shot me a smug smirk and then disappeared as well.

  Leviathan let out a frustrated bellow. “What the hell, Lucifer?”

  A brief glimpse his way told me Belphegor and Mammon had vanished too. What was going on? Why were we feeling such reverberations of dark magic? What had the idiots done?

  I was almost afraid to find out, because it was becoming obvious that my precautions hadn’t been enough to protect Lyssa. But no matter what had happened, I would fix it. I’d never been afraid of owning up to my mistakes, even those too serious to do anything about. I had to believe that with Lyssa, there was still time.

  With a thought, I tried to mimic the other princes and travel to the academy. Much to my shock, a strange disturbance was blocking my magic, tapping into the shields around the school to prevent my access. The culprit could only be one person—Satan.

  I couldn’t fix this from the distance, so with a frustrated growl, I willed my magic to carry me outside the shields. I appeared over the dark waters of the ocean, my glowing body lighting up the sky brighter than the moon. Somewhere in the distance, I caught a glimpse of a human vessel. I should’ve probably cared more that they’d seen me, but I had other priorities.

  The invisible wards around the island loomed in front of me, a barrier that had protected the academy for centuries. I didn’t hesitate. Retrieving my first sword, I slammed it down against the shield.

  At first, I was predictably repelled. I might be one of the most powerful angels on Earth, but I wasn’t omnipotent. Still, the shield was already faltering because it had been tampered with by external powers. I tried again, and after the third blow, the ward cracked like an egg, sending reverberations of powerful magic through the ocean.

  Paying no heed to the chaos I left behind in my wake, I flew past the cracked wards and headed toward the academy. My wings and my heart unerringly guided me to where I needed to go, but by the time I reached my destination, it was already too late.

  Lyssa’s body had been possessed by some kind of necromancer. Worse still, Beelzebub had captured her soul, and he took great pleasure in taunting me with this accomplishment.

  “Tell me. What are you willing to do to get your little Sacrifice back?” he asked as soon as he saw me.

  “I think you already know the answer to that question, Beel. Let her go.”

  It was a useless request, since I could already tell he had no intention of releasing Alyssa. When Mammon, Asmodai, and Belphegor showed up and started bickering with Satan, that suspicion was confirmed.

  I considered the situation carefully, already coming up with a tentative plan. “Haven’t we had enough of this nonsense for the day?” I asked, my reasonable question imbued with a magic they couldn’t feel. “You can’t win against me. You never could.”

  “I don’t think you understand your situation, Brightest Star,” Asmodai said. “We’re holding all the cards now. You’re the one who’s going to have to surrender, kneel and earn our generosity.”

  I’d never been all that great at kneeling or surrendering. Even with my divine father, I’d been inclined to disobey. But contrary to popular belief, I wasn’t always blinded by my pride. I might have made an exception in this case had I actually believed it would make a difference.

  It wouldn’t. Our path was already set and had been established a long time ago. A part of me didn’t want to do this, but at the same time, I knew I should’ve taken this step sooner. “Okay, then. If that’s the way you want it to go… But I hope you’ll remember I warned you.”

  Without further hesitation, I pulled out my second sword from its sheath. Just holding it felt wrong and alien, but I didn’t have a choice.

  This particular blade hadn’t always been a sword. It was a fragment from The Gateway to Heaven, one that had broken off during my fall. I’d have deemed it symbolic if I hadn’t known any better. Everything had a purpose when it came to The Supreme Being. I had no doubt that he’d left the fragment in my possession for some obscure reason I couldn’t identify.

  I’d never used its power before, although I had tried, once, after The Battle of the Watchers. At the time, it hadn’t helped me. I hoped that now, it would be different.

  Praying this would work, I thrust the blade into the ground.

  Bright light exploded around us, consuming everything and everyone in its path. The sword cracked in my hand and for a few seconds, it seemed like I was shattered into pieces too.

  Distant memories flashed through my mind like star dust. I saw myself standing in front of the gates of Heaven, facing off against The Supreme Being. I remembered falling, my white light fading into something crueler and fiercer. I remembered all the other lights that had joined me, a small universe of souls and people who had believed in me.

  I recalled all the brutal battles we’d fought together, side by side, until we’d been unable to fight any longer.

  They came to me today just like they had in the past, even if my request was just as cruel as it had been then. They looked just like I remembered them, no longer twisted by the dark magic I’d used to give them a form in this world.

  As soon as he saw me, Yeqon slapped me in the side. “We’ve been waiting for you to come talk to us for ages. How mean of you to ignore us.”

  “It was on my to-do list,” I defended myself. It was true. I’d fully intended to drop by The Watcher Obelisks. I’d just ended up getting distracted by everything that had happened with Lyssa.

  My friends didn’t seem convinced. “U-huh,” Sariel said. “You’re a good liar, Morningstar, but not that good. You don’t fool us, even when you’re trying to fool yourself.”

  “We all stopped blaming you long ago, Lucifer,” Azazel added. “Well, mostly. Beel’s still pissed. But he was always a dick.

  “We made our own decisions. You didn’t force us to come with you or fight the war against The Celestial Realm.”

  “I could’ve done more to help you after that,” I protested.

  Sariel shrugged. “It wasn’t so bad to be a gigantic eyeball. I caught up on my reading. Do you know how many books humans write on a regular basis? It’s insane!”

  “Also, your little academy provided us with constant entertainment,” Yeqon pointed out with a tiny, wicked grin.

  I rolled my eyes at him. Of course it had, because he was a total and unrepentant pervert.

  “In any case,” Azazel piped up, “that brings us to you and your lovely human. I admit I never expected you falling in love with anyone, but we’re behind you, all the way.”

  Their words lifted a heavy burden off my shoulders. I might’ve been capable of fighting off the other Princes of Hell, but doing that and keeping Alyssa’s soul safe would’ve been far tougher. “Thanks. I know I had no right to summon you—”

  “Don’t be stupid,” Yeqon cut me off. “We’ll distract those idiots. You get your girl’s soul and make sure it goes back to where it’s supposed to be.”

  “I’m going to grab her body and extract Berta Bones from inside,” Sariel offered. “This has gone on long enough.”

  So it was Berta Bones who’d possessed Lyssa. That explained the powerful necromantic energies swirling around Lyssa’s body. I’d caught glimpses of her when I’d been watching Lyssa in her first year. She’d meddled with the wrong thing this time around.

  “All right. I like that plan. I’ll take Beel down and then provide support for everyone else.”

  We didn’t have time to make any further arrangements or plans, because the light was already starting to dim. When it faded altogether, the first thing I saw was the host of angels hovering ab
ove me. They were Watchers—my army, my brethren, my people, and they’d come here to help me, just like they’d said they would.

  We followed our plan to the letter. The light from my sword had left the rest of those present dazed and we shamelessly took advantage of that. Sariel lunged toward Lyssa’s body. I went for her soul.

  By the time Beel recovered, I’d already cut off his arm and freed Lyssa from him. He roared in anger and frustration. I roared right back and threw a blast of divine magic at him. “Shut the fuck up! You only have yourself to blame for this.”

  I threw a glance toward Lyssa’s soul. “Stay behind me, all right, Lyssa? I’ll keep you safe.”

  She nodded in silent agreement. I’d have been more satisfied with her compliance had her figure not been so blurry and see-through.

  As I secured Lyssa’s soul, the rest of the Watchers were already converging upon Satan. They might not have been as massive as he was, but they didn’t need to be. There was always strength in numbers. This particular creature held the power of the Lord of Wrath, but he was still a newbie at using it.

  One of my fellow angels grabbed the girl standing on Satan’s shoulder. I recognized her as the nephilim Darling Masters. Looking between her and Satan, I kicked myself for not monitoring the school a little more closely and realizing the truth sooner.

  If Jax hadn’t been killed so stupidly in Lyssa’s first year, it might’ve occurred to me to pay a little more attention to him and Darling. But it hadn’t and it looked like now, I was paying the price. She must’ve been the one who’d grabbed Lyssa, since my wards wouldn’t have kept nephilim out.

  My epiphany infuriated me even further. I sent another blast of divine magic toward the swarm of demons that had accompanied the other princes here. Those who survived being carbonized by heavenly fire started to scatter. Beel managed to dodge the blows and used the respite to cauterize his wound. “Is this how you really want it to end?” he asked as his amputated arm stopped bleeding.

  “I already asked that question,” I told him, “and you’re the one who provided the reply. Don’t tell me you regret it now, because it makes no difference.”

  Shards of light emerged from my wings and unerringly flew toward my former friend. He avoided a few and repelled three others. The last two hit him, and despite being divine in nature, they did a lot of damage.

  Beel’s shoulder exploded, the force of the blast taking away a good portion of his wing. Beel cried out and staggered back. I grinned savagely at him. “It seems you’ve forgotten something very important, my old friend. I might be Lord of Pride now, but I was once Satan too. I no longer carry that title, but I’m still Lord of Wrath at heart.”

  As I unleashed my anger and frustration on Beel, I caught sight of Mikael and Meph joining Sariel in pinning Lyssa’s body down. Berta was putting up more of a fight than I’d expected, necromantic power swirling angrily around her.

  “You won’t tame me so easily!” she screeched. “I deserve to have a life. I deserve to have my brother back.”

  She was crying and up to a point, I could understand her grief and fury. That didn’t mean I cared about it.

  Callum was the one who ended her struggles. He and Stefan made their way to Lyssa’s side. Callum knelt next to the struggling necromancer and pressed his hand to her chest. Just like that, Lyssa’s body went limp.

  Callum’s breathing escalated and lines of strain appeared on his face. Still, his help would make a big difference in ending this.

  “Lyssa, we have to take advantage of this opportunity. While Callum is holding the necromancer down, you need to take your body back.”

  She hesitated, looking from me to her unconscious form. I half-expected her to refuse. She’d always been somewhat uncomfortable with using her powers and learning the truth about them had made that tendency worse.

  But she was also braver than she realized, and this time, she didn’t allow anything to get in her way. “All right,” she said. “I will. Thanks.”

  Slowly, carefully, she glided toward her body. Instead of touching it outright, she placed her hand on Callum’s shoulder.

  Callum’s eyes widened and his eyes lit up from within. It was only for a second and then Lyssa’s body started to convulse, as if she was in the throes of another of her seizures.

  Mikael and Callum quickly focused their magic on stopping the inconsistent brainwaves that were doubtlessly making Lyssa ill. With a flick of my wrist, I knocked Beel out and joined them, knowing my healing powers would come in handy.

  They did. When I took Lyssa’s hand, her convulsions stopped. With a thought, I reached into her tormented body and healed all the damage I found.

  It was more extensive than I’d originally realized. She’d died cleanly, through decapitation. The corpse had been stolen shortly after that. The organs hadn’t been too damaged in the process. But the necromantic magic had left its traces. Worse still, there was a pregnancy to consider, something that was beyond my skill.

  I did my best to protect the spark of life still flickering inside Lyssa, and then pulled away. By now, Berta had succumbed to the unavoidable. Her soul had slid out of Lyssa’s body, and she was hovering above us, looking a little frayed around the edges.

  “You’ll pay for—”

  “I think not,” Grim cut her off. His scythe swept through the air and through her body. In the blink of an eye, she was gone.

  In the wake of her disappearance, the necromantic constructs in the courtyard crashed. It didn’t slow down the battle between The Watchers and the forces of The Princes of Hell, but that didn’t worry me.

  Maybe it was better this way. I wanted to make them all bleed, to hurt them just like they had hurt Lyssa.

  Leviathan arrived just in time and he brought reinforcements. Sunrefni was with him, this time in her dragon form.

  “You’re late,” I told them. “What took you so long?”

  “Do you have any idea what kind of mess you left behind in The Infernal Realm? I had hundreds of panicked demons to deal with. I swear, when this is all over, we’re going to have a long discussion about responsible leadership.”

  We needed to have a long discussion about everything including the future of The Infernal Realm. But not yet. First, we needed to wrap up all loose ends—the lives of the demons who had betrayed me.

  Sunrefni seemed to agree. “Can I take Asmodai? I want to eat him.”

  “Knock yourself out. Satan’s mine, though.”

  Sunrefni did a happy dance through the air. She and Redrum launched themselves over Asmodai’s remaining legions, and I knew she would keep her promise and get rid of the Lord of Lust for me.

  The Watchers gave them room to fight, not wanting to get in the way of an angry, demonic dragon. With Leviathan by my side, I led my army of Watchers against the princes.

  Just like I’d told Sunrefni, I was the one to deliver the final blow on Satan. His power succumbed to mine, and as I drove my blade through his heart, his large body started to melt away, turning humanoid once again.

  He wasn’t dead yet. Instead, he was in his weaker, Jax Masters form. “You think you’ve won, don’t you?” he asked, grinning at me with bloodied teeth. “You know nothing. Your battle was always foolish. You place such trust in humanity, but they are nothing but ants.”

  “And yet, you crave their power so. It’s not your place to tell me what to think, feel, or do.”

  When I crushed his skull under my boot, I felt nothing but brutal satisfaction. The feeling turned into irritation as Satan’s power slid back into me.

  I hadn’t wanted this, but I should’ve seen it coming. The Infernal Realm could exist without its other leaders, but a Satan was always necessary. I’d carried this burden after I’d killed the first ruler of Hell. I’d have to do it again.

  The simple thought filled me with exhaustion and dread, so I shelved it and decided to focus on what mattered more to me right now.

  I returned to Lyssa’s side and as expected, I fo
und her in Callum’s arms. “What am I supposed to do now?” she asked as I approached.

  “Don’t be afraid, princess,” he replied. “We made you a promise, remember? We’ll keep it. We will protect you.”

  “Mr. Adamson is right,” I added. “What happened today will not repeat itself. Not ever.”

  Lyssa looked up at me and in her eyes, I saw the lingering shadows of death, loss, and grief. “It might,” she answered, her voice shaking. “How can it not?”

  Mephistopheles knelt next to Lyssa and wrapped his wings around her. “Because we won’t make the same mistakes again.”

  She buried his face in his chest and cried. I shared a look with her lovers and at that moment, we made a silent pact.

  We might not get along and we might disagree with one another all the time. Even so, we had to work together to support her. I didn’t know what was waiting for us in the future, but whatever it was, we’d face it, together.

  Aftermath

  Stefan’s pack arrived a little over an hour after the whole thing was over. They’d tried to come the moment Shiro had alerted them of Darling’s words, but the shields around the island had blocked them.

  Shiro was in a panic. He’d sensed my death, but he’d also known I wasn’t completely gone. “I’m sorry,” he said, licking my hands and my face, shaking agitation. “I shouldn’t have let you leave on your own. I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t be,” I told him. “You couldn’t have done anything, even if you had come with me. Satan would’ve just killed you, and I’m not sure anyone would’ve been able to bring you back if that had happened.”

  I was shuffled into the infirmary, feeling numb and dazed after everything that had happened. My memories were hazy, but I did recall that my lovers had said I was pregnant.

  Had the unborn baby survived all that? I didn’t know, but I desperately needed to find out.

  In the past, Morrigan or Professor Faust had been the ones to provide me with medical assistance. Sometimes, Meph had helped them or given me potions. Lucifer had once helped me wake up from a coma.