by Eva Brandt
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 thing 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.”
“You do realize I’m an epileptic, right?”
“Yes, yes. Details. It’s not that relevant.”
Not that relevant. I wasn’t sure if I found his attitude refreshing or infuriating. On one hand, I agreed that having a disability shouldn’t matter for the respect I received. On the other, not acknowledging that I had it wasn’t an option either. That was just stupid and reckless, and I liked to think I had enough self-preservation to avoid such mistakes.
In any case, the whole thing gave me a very bad feeling. “Why am I here, Sir? Why did you sent the snake after me? I know you said you care about Mikael, but I doubt your intention was to give me a shovel talk or something.�
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“Oh, of course that isn’t it. You’re welcome to be with Mikael if you so desire. This isn’t about that. We just had to extract you from The Academy of the Devil, before it did too much damage to you.”
“To extract me?” I was beginning to sound like a parrot, but I didn’t care. “I don’t understand. You’re the ones who hurt me most.”
That wasn’t completely true, since the snake bite couldn’t compare to the pain I’d experienced when I’d lost Shiro. But I had a feeling Michael wasn’t referring to emotional and mental damage.
“The wards around the island are… complicated to work around and it wasn’t possible to reach you in a different way,” Michael said. “Thus the snake.”
“Okay, but why did you even bother to do that?” I remembered that once, Callum had mentioned something about celestial beings abandoning the bloodlines bound into demonic contracts, leading the innocent people involved—like me—to not receive any aid from Guardian Angels. “If you’re supposed to be my Guardian Angel, you’re about a decade too late.”
“I’m not a Guardian Angel, I’m an archangel. And maybe you’re right, and it is too late. That’s not going to make us give up.”
That was an admirable sentiment, but I still wasn’t sure it had led to the results the archangel had expected. “I appreciate you not giving up hope and trying to help me,” I said, “but siccing a snake on me and having him almost kill me seems a little extreme if that’s what you were going for.”
“I won’t deny that,” Michael replied with a nod. “I won’t even try to apologize for it. All I will say is that we had our reasons for acting the way we did. If there had been another way, we wouldn’t have turned to something so violent. Since there wasn’t, we were forced to go with this option.
“Fortunately, the worst is over now. You can join me in The Heavens and all will be well.”
I stared at him in disbelief. My awe with him had long ago vanished, but it was now beginning to turn into outright distaste, maybe even hatred. “Are you really asking me to celebrate my own death? Because I’m sorry to say I can’t do that.
“I have people out there who love me, who need me. I can’t just abandon them like this.”
“We’re aware,” Michael answered. “There’s just one small issue. They’ve taken from you far more than you realize. They don’t deserve you.”
“I’ll be the judge of that, thanks. And I think we make a great couple. Foursome. Whatever.”
Was Michael’s issue the fact that I was involved in a polyandrous relationship? That didn’t seem like it, but what did I know? Perhaps he disliked me sleeping with Callum and Stefan while I was involved with Mikael. But if that was the case, why not say so outright?
My head hurt.
“Look. I don’t know what you’re trying to do here, if you want to help me, if you hate me for not being a better girlfriend to your son, or if you don’t like me because my ancestor made a deal with the devil. But—”
“Sébastien’s contract was never the issue, little one,” Michael cut me off. “It’s true that his bloodline was cursed because of his decision to join forces with Lucifer’s little band. But that’s not what landed you in the academy, and in the situation you’re currently in.”
His voice softened and he brushed his fingers over my temples. “You were robbed of your memories, of your truth, and of what really happened.”
He looked so much like Mikael and his hands were so warm that I didn’t pull away. Perhaps I should have. “You need to see the truth, Alyssa,” he added. “And we’ll start by revealing what you should’ve never forgotten.”
All of a sudden, the space around us shifted, and I found myself standing next to the wreckage of a burning car. Another version of me was on her knees on the ground, holding a badly injured Shiro. Inside the car, I could hear my parents screaming.
Lucifer was standing in front of my other self, in his terrifying, four-faced form. “It’s time for a mortal to become Satan,” he told the second Alyssa.
“Wait… I thought you were Satan,” she protested, echoing my current thoughts.
“I used to be,” he said. “I gave it up. It’s very boring to watch over the souls of the damned. ”
He launched himself in an explanation of what he needed me to do—be a mortal Satan—and naturally, my other self wasn’t happy with the idea. Lucifer didn’t give me any clear reasons for his actions beyond saying I was special. In the end, he didn’t have to because he had the perfect argument to convince me and make me throw all caution to the wind. “This will give you back your family.”
“All right,” my other self said. “I’ll do it.”
There was a flash, and a seal settled on my heart. Seconds later, it disappeared underneath my skin. The next thing I knew, the wreckage was gone. Lucifer had retrieved my parents from inside the burning car. They were still alive, but their injuries were obviously lethal. Lucifer just waved a hand over their bodies, and just like that, all the burns and lesions vanished.
The car was next. A simple look from Lucifer extinguished the fire and when he snapped his fingers, it was back on the road, in one piece. “I’ll come for you, dearest,” he said, winking. “In the meantime, have fun.”
The image faded into the memories I actually had, that of my parents and I going to the picnic together. I stood there and tried to process the true meaning of these revelations.
It wasn’t the fact that I’d forgotten about my deal with the devil that bugged me. But my parents… I’d forgotten about my parents.
Granted, there had been moments when memories of them had drifted into my mind. But they’d faded quickly, and never had I given them much thought. I hadn’t spoken to my parents at all since I’d come to the school. No matter how much I’d have liked to deny it, that just wasn’t normal.
“Did they… Did they all know about this?” I forced myself to ask the archangel. “About the contract?”
“Mikael and the others? I doubt it. But they would’ve felt Lucifer’s touch on you. Even if they might not be aware of the specifics, they’d have still sensed something was wrong.”
“But they didn’t say anything!” I protested. “I asked Dean Mephistopheles about it outright, and he claimed I shouldn’t be worried about Lucifer’s interest in me.”
“They’re demons, Alyssa. They won’t always be truthful, and Mephistopheles is in a difficult position because of his connection with Lucifer.” The archangel sighed. “That being said, you still don’t understand the biggest issue. I don’t expect you to accept this easily, but the truth of the matter is this. Your mind and your brain are both very vulnerable, for two different reasons. You’re human, and you’re an epileptic. This makes you an easy target for people like Callum and Mikael. The powers they wield affect the nervous system.”
His words made something inside me turn to ice. “What are you trying to say? They’d never hurt me!”
“Sexual arousal doesn’t exist in a vacuum. You know that, Alyssa. You feel the way you do because of the hormones your body produces, a process which is regulated by the brain. This is something an incubus can tap into and control. An incubus’s aura isn’t a magic spell of instant lust, no matter how humans might see it. It’s a way of twisting a human’s own brain against him or her.”
I wanted to deny it, but it made far too much sense. If Callum and Mikael’s powers affected the hormonal output and electrical impulses of the brain, it stood to reason that they could stop my seizures.
In my heart, I’d always found incubus magic unsettling, but it had never occurred to me to look at it a little more closely. Some of the changes in my life began to make sense. “Is that the real reason why I stopped having seizures after I accepted having a relationship with them?”
Michael nodded glumly. “That’s why. They’re doing it. They could’ve done it all along. They’ve been keeping your seizures in check, but they never bothered before.”
I didn’t want to believe
it, but I’d noticed them step in so many times. I remembered the way they’d sometimes touch my forehead while we were having sex and I started to shake. They’d promised me they’d keep me safe, and I’d embraced that. They’d said I belonged to them, and I’d loved it. But now, I realized their words had never been as harmless as I’d deemed them.
“You came very close to remembering what happened during the familiar ritual. But you were still unwell, and Callum’s allure was much too powerful.”
I took a deep breath and struggled to control my rampant emotions. My seizures weren’t the biggest issue here. “Sir, did Callum and Mikael deliberately manipulate my memories of my parents?”
The archangel hesitated. “I don’t have a real answer for you, Alyssa. The truth is I don’t know. But looking at the facts… You did discard your family as irrelevant. You wouldn’t have done so normally, and Lucifer couldn’t have caused the issue, since your contract with him relied on their well-being.”
I felt numb. I couldn’t believe my lovers would do such a dreadful thing to me, that they’d steal something so precious to me, my own past, my own life. God, how could I have forgotten them? What had my poor parents gone through in my absence? “Sir? What about my mom and dad? Are they okay?”
“They are part of the reason why we were able to interfere the way we did at the academy, with the snake, and why there was no real risk to you while doing this. Since you are contracted to Lucifer, we couldn’t have reached you, especially not on the island. But they’ve been looking into ancient texts of the Michaelis line, and that helped us go through with this plan.
“Listen closely, Alyssa. The neurotoxin from the snake bite killed you, but only for a few moments. Your contract with Lucifer stands on the brink of collapse. I can take you away from there. Just say the word, and you’ll be back home, with your parents, where you belong.”
It should’ve been an easy choice. A simple ‘yes’ would free me from the burdens I’d been carrying at the academy.