by G. Bailey
“The Lucifer brothers, of course. Tell me you’ve heard of them,” she asks.
“Just a little bit about them,” I mutter back just as I hear the clanging of metal that draws my attention to Claus and Mr. Morganach who are literally beating the shit out of each other with swords. Blood sprays around them as they nip each other’s skin and effectively block any attacks which would kill them. It’s clear these two have battled against each other before as they seem to know each other’s next move before they have done it. Mr. Morganach swiftly spins, locking his sword with Claus, and lifts him into the air before swinging him around and letting go. We all duck as Claus flies over us, crashing into the students right behind me.
“I won. Who is next?” Mr. Morganach says, and I turn around to see Claus clawing to his feet, coughing blood out onto the bleachers as people move away from him. He sits up, and his eyes meet mine, both of us just staring at each other. “You looked scared, Luke. Come on,” I hear Mr. Morganach saying in the background, but everything other than Claus’s swirly purple and green eyes seems to be real.
“New girl, we meet once again,” he muses with a cheeky grin. “Alexandria Cameron, correct?”
“Correct,” I repeat like a total loser. He smirks as he ever so slightly moves closer to me, his warm breath brushing against my lips.
“I don’t know why your parents bothered hiding you. You are nothing but a lower demon with empty-looking doll eyes that are going to get her killed,” he tells me. “But I will kill you myself if you tell anyone about when we first met.”
“You’re a real charmer, Claus Lucifer. Do all the girls fall for your smart-ass comments, or is it just your looks that draw them in? Because honestly, I’ve seen prettier guys than you,” I say, which is kind of true. I’m sticking with using humour instead of being terrified. Something about him scares me and attracts me all at the same time.
Mr. Morganach is attractive in a crazy way.
Javier is handsome in a wild way.
And that guy, Luc, I had a brief date with was super appealing.
“Hot guys are easy to come by in this world. What makes you so different, Claus?”
“Shut up,” Lela mutters to me, but I really don’t want to.
“When I’m inches away from killing you, you can say sorry for that shit you just said,” he warns me.
“No.”
“No?” another voice asks, and I look up to see Nikoli standing over us. He leans down, putting our faces inches away as his hand snakes out to grab my chin. “Who the fuck do you think you are saying no to?”
“Your brother—”
“I don’t care. Learn your place, lower demon, before we make you learn it,” Nikoli tells me before letting me go, and I drop to the bleachers, holding my sore chin as Nikoli walks away, followed by Claus.
“Will Alexandria Cameron come to the headmaster’s office immediately?” a Heller shouts, quieting all of us just as Mr. Morganach knocks out that poor guy, Luke, he was fighting. I stand up straightaway, walking down the steps as I hear all the whispers of the other students filling my ears.
Claus looks up at me as I pass him, and he winks at me like that was all some kind of joke.
One thing is decided: I really hate the guys of DA.
Chapter 12
There are more demons in the past than the present
I knock on the headmaster’s door three times before lowering my hand and listening for a second until I hear him shout me in. Pushing the door open, I meet the familiar looking eyes of a strange woman. She looks about my mother’s age, possibly younger, with long dark brown hair and strange yellow eyes. Her black dress is more revealing than it needs to be with a long slit down the middle, and her red lips pull up into a big smile as we stare at each other.
“Alexandria,” she says, her voice making her sound a lot older than she currently looks. So do her eyes, the more I stare at them.
“Please shut the door,” Mr. Bisgaard instructs, and I push it closed, crossing my arms as the woman walks right up to me. She is a little shorter than me, not by much, and she moves her hand to cup my cheek.
“I always hoped my Leo would have a child and continue our family line, and here you are,” she tells me, shocking me silent for a long time as I can only gaze at her. She is my grandmother? No flipping way.
“You can’t be my dad’s mum. You look the same age as him!” I say, shaking my head.
“You do remember we are immortal, Alexandria,” she says, tears falling down her cheeks as she looks at me. “You belong to the Cameron family now, Alexandria. We are honoured to have you.”
“Right,” I say, stepping back out of her reach as Dad’s words replay over and over in mind. He told me to remember that I don’t belong to anyone. Why didn’t he tell me about his mother living? I just don’t understand why he wouldn’t tell me. It was focused on me not belonging to anyone.
Maybe he meant his own family in that warning too.
“You don’t look happy to meet me,” she points out.
“You haven’t even told me your name,” I say.
“Egeria Cameron. Did Leo not tell you about me?” she asks.
“Both my dad and mum told me they had no living family,” I explain to her.
“That was a lie, one of many they told you, it seems, Alexandria. This is your grandmother, and you have an uncle on your mother’s side. Your uncle is staying at the Demon Star to keep an eye on your parents before the trial,” he explains to me. “He does send his apologies for not being able to meet you yet.”
“Why aren’t you with my parents, fighting for them to be free?” I ask her.
“Do you want the honest answer?” she asks, and I nod. “They killed five very important higher demons and destroyed their souls. Our line is not one of a higher family, and there is zero chance of them being freed. I am more interested in the child they will be leaving behind.”
“No!” I say, stepping back and looking to Mr. Bisgaard. “Are they going to be killed? Really?”
“There will be a fair trial, and they have called you as their only witness. You tell us if they will be killed?” he asks me. “What do you remember?”
“Why would they ask for me to be a witness?” I ask. “I don’t know anything.”
“You would have been about six or seven when the murder happened. Did you see anything?” he asks me. “Remember anything before that?”
“N-no,” I say, my voice catching as I remember something I pushed to the back of my mind. A room that was full of death, my mum’s hand plastered across my mouth to keep me from crying. I don’t remember enough to be useful; I barely can remember those details without my head hurting. My hands go to my head when I try to remember the rest of that day, to remember anything. I cry out as pain like no other slams into my head, and I drop to my knees as they buckle under me.
Mine. Let me control, and I will save our parents. It was me. It was us.
“Alexandria!” I hear Egeria shout over the woman’s voice in my head, and it hurts so much to open my eyes. The woman’s voice fades, but her words seem like they will never leave my mind. What the hell did that voice mean? I don’t understand any of this.
“Her demon is fighting her. You know the odds, Egeria,” Mr. Bisgaard says in the distance.
“Screw the odds,” she harshly snaps back as I feel hands on my shoulders. “You fight your way through this, Alexandria Cameron. Whatever is hidden by your demon, you must let it go for now until you are stronger.” I try to follow her words as another voice vibrates in my head; only five words are remotely understandable.
We belong to only death. A cry escapes my wet lips as suddenly the room comes back, including the fact I’m on Egeria’s lap, and she is stroking my hair. Mr. Bisgaard is by the door, his arms crossed, and his frown turns into a big smile when his eyes meet mine.
“She survived the first contact! Oh, that is good to see!” Mr. Bisgaard states, and I groan as I turn my head and throw up all
over his white tiled floor. “They are always sick. I’m going to get my wolf slave to clean this up.” Mr. Bisgaard leaves the room as I sit up, and Egeria hands me some tissues from the table before helping me stand up, and we move toward the door, away from where I was sick.
“The transition to becoming your true demon is always difficult. I saw horns and black fingers for a second,” she says and smiles at me as I wipe my lips with the tissue. “I’m so proud, and your dad would be too.”
“I get the impression you don’t like my mother,” I say because I don’t want to talk about whatever just happened.
“It’s not that I don’t like her, I just don’t like her secretive nature,” she says, sinking into the chair behind her, and I rest against the desk, my whole body still shaking as I focus on the story Egeria has decided to tell me. “Your mother and her brother were full-blooded demons left outside a church in West Virginia. There was no note, nothing but a blanket between them to share was left. There are only ten months between your mother and uncle, but they almost look like twins now. I hate that she dragged my son and granddaughter into this secretive life and never asked for my help. I would have and still would do anything for my family, but she never treated me as such. Now I might lose my son because of these secrets,” she tells me.
“I love my mum and dad. I know my mum would have only kept secrets to keep us alive,” I say.
“What if these secrets were too much for even your mum to hide?” she asks, shaking her head. “Something bad happened, and I never once thought Leo or Irene killed all those people and took their souls. We may be demons, but we respect our own, and most of all, we respect death. The five people killed were close friends of Leo and Irene. They would never have wanted them to lose their souls and die the way they did,” she tells me. It makes me feel a little bit better because finally, someone thinks the same way that I do. My parents did not do this.
“I was seven when we left our home, and I don’t ever remember leaving the house. I was homeschooled until the move and lonely. Really lonely to be honest,” I say, biting on my lip. “I used to play dolls and pretend I had friends and more family. Including a grandmother.”
She smiles at me, a real smile. “They never told a soul about you, and that makes no sense. Can you think of any reason, anything at all, why they would do that?” she asks.
“No,” I honestly tell her.
“One day, you will see I’m not the bad guy and you can trust me. I will be leaving now; I want to go and see my son,” she tells me.
“Can I see him with you? Please?” I ask.
“Witnesses can’t see the accused until after the trial so as not to tamper the evidence you give,” she explains to me, stepping closer as I look down at the floor. For a second, I thought I had a chance of seeing them once again. Turns out that was wrong. “But I will pass along any message you want.”
“Just—” I pause because there is so much I want to say, but I don’t want it to be a passed along message. “Just tell him I love him, and I’m doing well. Don’t tell him about the demon thing and being sick. He will just worry,” I say, and she nods, walking to the door, stepping over the sick. She pauses with her hand on the handle and looks back at me.
“You belong to my family now, and that means if you need help, you only have to ask for me. Call my name into any fire, and I will appear for you. I may live in hell, but there are always ways of contacting Earth,” she tells me.
“I don’t belong to anyone,” I whisper.
“We all belong to one person, Alexandria. His name is Lucifer, and one day you will meet him and bow, pledging your undying allegiance to him before you even realise what you said. All those who meet our king fall to their knees. You will not be different, Alexandria,” she warns me, her tone much more serious than ever before.
“We will see,” I mutter, and she smiles at me like I’m a sad child who knows nothing. She might be right.
Chapter 13
Who would want a monster for a soul mate?
“You’re back early,” Sera notes as I walk into the apartment, kicking the door shut behind me.
“Mr. Morganach cancelled on me for the weekend. Said he had other things to do and that I should amuse myself,” I explain to her. “Amuse myself? Who does he think he is?”
“Did you actually speak to him, or are you still carrying on with the silent treatment?” she asks with a small smile.
“Silent treatment for the win,” I say, dropping into one of the leather chairs, eyeing Amethyst fast asleep on the other chair. “It’s amusing to see his frustration building every time I never reply when he is talking to me.”
“You do realise dark angels aren’t all holy and can actually kill you?” she warns. I get the feeling he really wants to kill me, but he can’t for whatever reason.
“I know,” I say. “But everything at this academy is trying to kill me. Why not have some fun with it?”
“You’re crazy, that’s all I’m saying,” she replies. I run my gaze to the window, including the wooden planks across the one section that Javier fitted. Luckily, no one but Sera and I come into the apartment, so no one has asked questions about why there is a broken window with panels across it that can be moved so Javier can come back in without breaking anything.
“But you like me,” I say with a chuckle just as someone knocks on the door. Sera walks to the door and opens it as I stand up, seeing Amethyst stretching herself awake in the corner of my eye.
“A gift for Alexandria Cameron,” I hear a man say, but the door angle hides him. “Good day to you both.”
“Who was it?” I ask as Sera closes the door and walks over to me holding a small red box.
“It was a Heller, and he said this is a gift for you. Do you have some secret admirers you need to tell me about?” she asks.
“Doubtful. Every guy I’ve been attracted to in this academy has threatened to kill me. I’m starting to wonder if that is my secret—and quite terrible—flirtatious charm,” I say, and at least Sera laughs. I’m not joking, but okay. Sera hands me the red box that is about the size of an orange, and I undo the bow before pushing it open. A white handwritten note on the shiny red card is resting on top of a necklace, hiding everything but the chain. I pick the note up, reading it out loud.
For my niece, how I am in deep sorrow that I cannot visit you.
This gift is a protection charm, straight from the fires of hell. Shall it protect your young demon life.
Your parents’ trial has been moved to three months away, on the count they are looking for a lost witness. I am sorry to bring you such news.
Be careful in the academy.
Enemies of our family are closer than you could ever know.
Your uncle,
Harry Snowen
“I’m so sorry about your parents’ trial, Lexi. What did he mean by that comment about the academy?” Sera asks, and I shrug at her as I put the note down to look at the charm necklace in the box. The charm is delicate gold bands like a cage surrounding a glowing and moving red sphere in the middle. I unclip the necklace from the box and hold it up in the light, seeing how incredible it really is. I try not to think about my parents being locked in that place much longer than they need to be. I can’t think about not seeing them for a long time. It’s always been just them and me, and now I can’t even call them to say hello.
I really miss their voices. I miss my mum’s sarcasm and my dad’s cheesy jokes. I even miss their arguments over which film to watch on a Saturday night.
“I don’t know, Sera,” I answer her.
“I’ve never seen or heard of anything like it before,” Sera comments, her eyes on the necklace.
“It’s beautiful though, right?” I ask.
“Very,” Sera agrees.
“Will you help me put it on?” I ask her, and she nods, carefully taking the necklace from me. I move my hair out of the way, and she clips the necklace on. It falls quite low on my chest, which will make it
easy to hide.
“It suits you, Lexi,” she says when she steps back, and I let my hair fall around me.
“Want to go for a walk? I don’t want to stay in the apartment all day,” I suggest.
“Sounds lovely. I saw this garden on the other side of the building. The second years were practicing fencing in it the other day.”
“Fencing?” I muse. “Funny enough, my dad took me to fencing classes every other Sunday since I was a kid. Though it’s not funny if you think about it too long. It was just their way of getting me ready for this place without telling me.”
“Lexi—”
“I’m okay. Let’s go,” I say, walking to the door before she can see my emotions so clearly in my eyes. I don’t want to let her into my head right now; it’s not a nice place to be. Sera follows me out of the apartment and closes the door behind us before moving to walk right in front of me like she always does. Heaven forbid we walk side by side.
“So where do wolf shifters live?” I ask. “As demons are in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean where it’s damn cold.”
“There are over twenty packs in the world. Most live in towns, and they don’t bother anyone. The biggest pack, the one I am from, is in Norway. The entire town is made of little red houses, surrounded by tall mountains and beautiful lakes.”
“It sounds magical. Do you speak Norwegian then?”
“Yes. And French and German. I tried to learn Mandarin, but it’s a hard language, so I gave up. Our pack mostly speak English unless local humans or tourists are around.”
“Look who it is.”
“Hello again,” I mutter, hating a part of me that is happy to see Claus. He leans against the wall, his arms crossed and his hair pulled back in a messy man bun, which only adds to his attraction. He could pull anything off, including the standard uniform he has on.
“Come on in, Alexandria. We won’t bite,” he says, waving a hand at the open door next to him.