by Lan Chan
Rising up in the air behind the circle of light was a being that sucked the happiness from my soul. Lucifer’s blazing white wings were usually a spectacle that forced the eyes to focus on them. But today, they were overshadowed by the orb of blistering blue that manifested around me. My circles were usually a ring of colour that lit up the ground and created an invisible force that couldn’t be breached. This circle was an opaque dome that crackled with gold and silver sparks. Lightning streaked through the circle.
Static electricity caused the wisps of hair that escaped the braid to halo around my head.
What frightened me more than anything were my eyes. I stared straight ahead unseeing. While the procession of shifters shuffled towards me, I didn’t move an inch. And then it happened. The inevitable flash of bright green that heralded Kai’s presence. He appeared in the sky facing Lucifer wearing Bloodline sweats. Where was his armour? One by one, the Nephilim blinked into existence. Astrid on Kai’s left. Adam on his right. Bradley with a swarm of guards at his back. On and on it went until there was barely any free aerial space.
Still there was just Lucifer and me on this side of the divide. The fallen seraph glided through the air. He came to a soft landing just to my left.
“Nice try,” Lucifer scoffed at the forces of the supernaturals. His angel blade appeared in the grip of his hand. “Alessia. Let’s show them why this is pointless.”
He rolled his wrist in a slow circle. Kai had just enough time to draw his own blade before Lucifer whipped his sword. But it didn’t slice through the air between them. Instead, it pierced the arcane circle around me and embedded in my chest.
The lack of reaction from the me of the vision caused all the warmth to bleed away. Vision me coughed. Blood spouted from my mouth and nostrils. It trickled in crimson tears out of the ducts in my eyes.
A rumble ripped through the clearing as the circle lost its structural integrity. Kai shouted and tried to throw angelfire at the crumbling circle, but it was too late. My magic exploded in rippling waves of power. It roared over the supernaturals, stripping the skin from their bones and crushing them to dust.
Both versions of me fell to our knees. A warm hand clasped my shoulder and shook me violently. I blinked and looked up into Sophie’s concerned brown eyes. Pink flared around the palm she had pressed to my chest.
“Hey,” she said, helping me to my feet. “Breathe. You’re okay.”
The thin set of her lips sent me the opposite message. Trey loomed up behind her on the left and Sasha on the right. Their broad shoulders blocked out most of the rest of the assembly, but I caught glimpses of terrified faces staring back at me.
Somebody was sobbing uncontrollably. My legs threatened to buckle again at the rumble of Kai’s low murmur. Diana weaved her arm under my lower back. The trembling of her fingers only served to amplify my unease. They’d seen it too.
“That’s enough,” Jacqueline ordered. “Everybody to class.” They only started moving when she threw them a skin-peeling glare. “Take them both to the infirmary.”
Sophie refused to be dislodged by a new Nephilim guard who attempted to reach past the wall of my friends.
“You heard what the headmistress said.” He was young, barely graduated I bet, with the kind of sickening fervour of somebody out to prove themselves.
“Touch her and you’re going to be eating the rest of your meals through a straw,” a deep voice snarled. It would have been menacing if it didn’t break at the last second, pushing the register up an octave.
Breaking voice or not, Charles sprouted from behind the Nephilim. The sight of him towering over a fully grown Nephilim shocked me into speech. “Seriously, is your mum giving you growth potions or something?”
His chuckled laughter was both throaty and thin. Puberty at its worst. He shoved the Nephilim guard aside with his shoulder. By now I was standing on my own.
Charles shrugged. “You would have known if you weren’t avoiding the rest of the Reserve like a human plague.”
“Maybe if your brother wasn’t such an overbearing jerk,” I shot back. He threw his hands up in a surrender gesture.
“Hopefully once he’s inducted to the elite guard, Durin will ship him far, far away.” A flash of something cold shot through my chest at the thought of Max. It was gone a second later, but it left behind a kernel of foreboding. Great. Now I was having prophetic flashes of my own.
Two other supernatural weeds drew up beside Charles, wedging the guard out completely. Luther gave me an enthusiastic thumbs-up. “Hey, Lex. Way to make an entrance.”
True to his placid nature, Luther was taking to his growth spurt at a more sedate pace. Ironically, the mage rather than the shifter was the one who was sprouting coarse hairs on his chin.
Cassie was still Cassie. Much taller now too and growing splendidly into the bone structure that had always caused her to feel awkward. Her angles were softening, giving her a dewy appearance. In a couple of years, Kai would have to quit the elite guard for a full-time job killing all the boys who tried to come near her. If Charles didn’t get to them first.
Cassie was the only one of the three of them I’d kept in contact with over the summer. The shifters in the Reserve had been insufferable about the bond. It was the equivalent of their mating link and they were obsessive about me claiming it. Thanks to their heightened senses, they gave zero shits about my refusal to accept the bond because they could feel in my aura how much I wanted it. By the time Max went on holiday, I was giving the whole Reserve the silent treatment.
Cassie had more tenacity than a shifter. She called me every second day to know if I had reconsidered Kai’s maybe proposal. It was like they were pretending the whole unable to procreate thing wasn’t happening.
“Lex,” Jacqueline called. The severe downturn of her lips snapped me back into the present. Sophie tried to file out with me. “Alone, please.”
Sophie’s back became ramrod straight. Her mouth opened like she was going to argue but then Nora held up a warning finger and Sophie deflated.
“I’ll be okay,” I told her before following Jacqueline out the door. Nora took up the position of rear guard. The headmistresses inspected me as we exited the assembly hall.
“Do you need the infirmary?”All of my limbs seemed to be intact. Internally, the pools of magic were behaving accordingly.
“No, I’m fine.”
“What was that?” Nora piped up.
“Beats me! I thought the elite guard said she had no powers!”
“Clearly they were mistaken.”
What else were they wrong about? We lapsed into silence as the infirmary came into view. It had been shifted farther afield to accommodate the junior Academy.
As we pulled up closer, somebody inside shrieked. The rich nectar of Arcana fruit clung to the air. I almost dry-retched. Well, that was Arcana ruined for me. Yet another thing Lucifer had stolen.
Sandra, one of the dwarf nurses, bustled out of the private wing with Doctor Thorne and Tyler. Something impassive passed over Tyler’s face.
“Emily?” Jacqueline asked.
“Inside,” Doctor Thorne said. “She had a little fright when she woke and I was there, and she won’t let anyone besides Malachi near her.” My lips pursed before I caught myself.
“Stay put.” With that order, Jacqueline and Nora entered the private wing.
Doctor Thorne’s reptilian mouth shaped into a smile. “At least you’re on the other side of it this time. Come here and let me have a look at you.”
“I don’t know if being the one to cause injury is better than being the one injured,” I told him. Tyler’s attention rested on me as I subjected myself to Doctor Thorne’s ministrations in the communal recovery area.
The rest of the place was empty. Now that the other Academies were no longer here to play pranks on each other, the place had gone back to its usual quiet calmness. Soft whimpering filtered out from the private wing.
“Draw a circle for me,” Doctor Tho
rne said. His wish was my command. One magic circle traced itself in blue around the infirmary bed. He nodded. “At least that’s under control. I heard you’re having trouble containing the magic.”
“Para-humans are the worst gossips.” I hopped up onto the bed. My legs dangled over the side. Doctor Thorne rapped on my kneecap and I kicked out at thin air.
“Well, when you’re the oldest race, you have to find something to do to pass the time.” His rough chuckle was almost soothing compared to Emily’s constant bleating. My face must have displayed the direction of my thoughts.
“Don’t be like that.” Doctor Thorne tapped my forehead with a clawed finger. “Most humans have a terrible time when they learn of the supernatural world. Present company excluded.”
Tyler leaned against the wall beside the door. “Why was that?”
I shrugged. “Who knows? I ate a bunch of Arcana fruit but that’s about all that happened. Doesn’t seem to be helping Emily much. Maybe I’m just crazier than she is so I was always more inclined to accept this world.”
Doctor Thorne made a sound like he was coughing in agreement. Jacqueline stalked out of the private wing. She waylaid one of the nurses as the dwarf bustled by. “Can you have Isla Hess contacted?”
“Problem?” I asked.
Jacqueline scrunched her hair like she wanted to yank it out. “She’s inconsolable and refusing to remain here if you’re here.”
“Eh?” I gaped like a goldfish. “What did I do?”
Declan exited the private wing also. I hadn’t known he was even there. “All her visions involve you.” His voice was stern. My feathers would have been ruffled if it was directed at me. Luckily, Jacqueline was the unhappy recipient. “We can’t let her leave.”
“We can’t very well force her to stay.”
Isla strolled into the infirmary and levelled me with her best resting bitch face. “What did you do this time?”
I lay back down on the bed and groaned.
“Come with me.” Jacqueline signed for Isla to follow her inside the private wing. If only walls could talk. Even straining, the best I could decipher was slightly raised voices and low rumbling. Para-human hearing wasn’t all that crash hot either.
I propped myself up on my elbows. “I don’t suppose the mage half of you can tell what they’re saying,” I asked Tyler.
He broke out in an uncharacteristic smile. Funny. It never occurred to me that elite guards could have a sense of humour. “You’re out of luck.”
I blew out a breath. “Figures.”
“You shouldn’t be eavesdropping.” Doctor Thorne tried to hand me a glass of green sludge.
“You’re dreaming.” I buried my nose in the crook of my elbow and turned away.
“It’s like trying to help a demon baby.” He shook his head and did away with the awful concoction.
That reminded me! “Speaking of babies. Was that your name I saw on my timetable for Supernatural Sex Ed?”
His tail reared up and made a rattling sound that had my eyes widening. Cool. “It is not sexual education.”
“Uh huh. And I’m not Lucifer’s scion. Can I get a pass on account of not being able to have kids?” Being barren was like a sympathy get out of a jail free card. Sadly, it might have expired.
Doctor Thorne sighed. It sounded very much like a snake hissing. “Your situation is tragic. But that doesn’t change the fact that you need to learn about supernatural lineage.”
“Why? So I can get a participation certificate?”
Tyler shifted from a casual lean to a menacing standover. “Because bloodlines are everything in our world. A good bloodline means power. That’s all we’ve ever known.” He absently traced the scaled skin at his wrist.
Foot meet mouth. I had completely forgotten his lineage. By the sound of it, the mage side did not make up for the para-human side. I was just about to apologise when the door opened again. Declan strutted out. If he had plumed tail feathers, they would have been fanning. Nora and Jacqueline rushed after him. “Emily has agreed to stay. But on the condition that you keep away from her as much as possible.”
“What the hell? I haven’t done anything to her.” Aside from saving her life.
“She’s terrified of you.” Nora walked over and sat down next to me on the bed. “She has visions. The day you walked into Terran Hospital, she thought it might have been the end of days. That’s probably the reason why Hell wants her. If they can predict the future, they can control the present.”
“A bunch of supernaturals have seen some version of a prophecy!” I wanted to kick something. “Why would the demons want her?”
“A supernatural vision is worth less than a human one. The last time they let a human slip through their fingers, it was you.”
“We’ve arranged for Isla to be her escort.” Jacqueline wrote something down on a notepad Doctor Thorne had stashed on the side table. “Is that okay with you?”
It should have been okay. It would free up a good portion of my time. But it was hard not to be mortally offended. Now the humans were shunning me too.
Heaviness settled into my bones. “Fine. Can I go now? I’m late to class.”
I couldn’t believe I was using school as an escape route. What was this world coming to?
11
I missed half of Herbology but managed to fly by the seat of my pants. Chalk that up to a summer of nothing but studying. If anyone asked, there was no plant that repelled Nephilim bonds. Unless you could do it with the stench of rotting flesh, and then it was the Titan arum all the way.
I dragged my feet to Potions. Snagging the best desk was a hollow victory without Sophie to celebrate with. At least I had a few minutes to hang out with Puff before the hard work began.
When Isla and co. traipsed into Potions with Emily trailing behind, I groaned inwardly and ripped open a bag of salted black lava. Isla pumped her brows at me. It took me a second to understand that she wanted me to move from my desk in the middle of the room in keeping with my mandate to stay away from Emily.
This was not happening. Isla stared me down until I couldn’t be bothered and moved to the desk in the back corner of the room. This was the dodgy corner. It was the farthest away from where Professor McKenna left the ingredients trolley. By the time I jostled with everyone to get my things, all the best specimens were taken.
As a result, Puff was allowed to eat most of the black lava before I bothered coaxing him to light up my cauldron. What can I say? I was an emotional feeder.
The wyvern scale I dropped into my rejuvenation potion let off a rancid stench. It clung to the back of my throat. “What the hell?”
Professor McKenna appeared like an apparition. “What happened?”
My response was muffled through my hands. “I did everything exactly as the potion demanded!”
Not being naturally gifted in potionmaking, I followed every recipe to the exact measurement. The professor leaned over to inspect Puff. “Your salamander is being ill on the table.”
Heaven have mercy. Puff made sick retching noises. With each heave, his skin tone changed in putrid shades of grey and brown. It was a nice complement to the black bile spitting out his mouth. As a result, he was only intermittently spewing fire, so the potion wasn’t hot enough and the ingredients weren’t being broken down into soluble form.
“I’m so sorry.” The rest of the class was spent stroking his belly and cleaning and fumigating my section.
Lunch was no picnic. “Why are you sitting by yourself?” Sasha got within two metres of me and halted. He grimaced. “You stink.”
“Thanks.”
“Is this your latest attempt at keeping Malachi at a distance?” Astrid’s voice piped up from behind me.
My forehead met the table. “I’m going to have a shower.”
Said shower resulted in me being slightly late to Weaponry and Combat. Let’s face it, I wasn’t exactly itching to be there in the first place. Even though Professor Eldridge intimidated the heck
out of me, knowing she was no longer at the Academy made me feel solemn. Stockholm syndrome was probably the clinical diagnosis.
When I arrived, everyone was huddled around in a mass close to the doorway. “What gives?”
I jostled my way to the front of the gathering with the assistance of Diana and her crowd-clearing elbow jabs.
The reason for their heightened interest was leaning against the weapons cage talking to Tyler. Kai could do more devastation with a single bicep curl than his angel blade. The gut-punch sensation was visceral. Long ago I’d resigned myself to the fact that it would never get easier seeing him. Sometimes I wondered if the bond lay dormant until the last second just so it could knock the wind out of my sails when he got close.
Our new instructors nodded at each other and then Kai picked up one of the punching bags like it weighed nothing. The effort caused the muscles in his arms to bulge beneath his Bloodline T-shirt. The shifter beside me sighed.
I tried to back-step into the small space between us, but Diana refused to budge. Kai tossed the punching bag onto the pile set up in the middle of the room. He turned, spotted me, and gave me his back. My stomach felt like it had dropped out.
Sly, hopeful smiles appeared on the faces of the girls around me. But they were drowned out by the thudding that transmitted through to me from the bond. Kai’s pulse was like a slow drum beat of anticipation. It pumped hard and sent fire shooting through my veins. A fraction of a second was all it would take. Just a moment of lost self-control and he would grab me, and it would be all over. Sweat gathered on my brow as the stark reality of what it took for him to stay away from me blanketed my senses. I tried to take a breath but there was suddenly not enough air in the room.