Transcend (Celestial Academy Book 3): A Reverse Harem Romance

by Maya Nicole

Betty started walking towards her building after we landed. I was still surprised she hadn't ditched me at Blue Wave.

  "Betty." She turned back. "Thanks for helping me."

  She sighed and took a step back in my direction. "Lilith is your mom, isn't she?"

  She was smart, I'd give her that. I probably wouldn't have been able to connect the dots if it was me in her position.

  I didn't answer.

  "I wish I would have had the strength to kill my father before he killed me." She swallowed hard. "Don't let us down."

  I made my way into the building, mulling over her words. I wasn't a killer. Even if my mother needed to die, the thought of having to end her life made me feel sick to my stomach.

  The faculty building was eerily quiet. Everyone should have been back by now. I ran up the stairs and down the hall to my room.

  The room was dark, but I could make out forms lying on the floor. I turned on my cell phone screen for light and smiled, seeing they had pushed furniture against the walls and dragged the mattress to the floor. It looked like a second mattress was right next to mine.

  I took off my clothes, leaving only my panties on, and slid in the middle. Arms wrapped around me.

  "Where were you?" Reve's voice came from the end of the mattresses, and I felt the mattress dip by my feet.

  I rolled onto my back, and he moved one of my legs so he could settle between them. He rested his head on my stomach.

  "Ava needed help. A vampire attacked her."

  "Vampire?" Asher mumbled next to me. He grabbed my hand. "How'd you get there?"

  "Betty. What'd you say to her?"

  "I told her to stop being a fucking bitch because you were about to save the world." He kissed my shoulder and snuggled closer to me. "I may have said a few other things that don't need repeating."

  "How did everything go?"

  I felt Tobias's beard against my other shoulder as he moved in closer. He and Olly had been quiet so far. Olly sounded like he was sleeping.

  "We lost five. Ferguson and Nguyen are gone." Tobias's voice was sad, and I felt a tear hit my shoulder.

  "Coach Ferguson?" There was no other Ferguson that I knew of. Sadness washed over me. Sure he hadn't been the nicest in the world to me, but over the past several weeks, he had been indifferent towards me.

  I felt Tobias nod. I slid my hand into his and gave it a squeeze. I didn't quite know what to say to ease his grief, so I just laid there quietly, letting him rub his beard against my skin and squeeze my hand.

  Sometimes just being there for someone was enough.

  Chapter Eight

  When an angel dies, their body is taken back to Heaven so their soul can be saved. No one was quite clear on the details when I had asked. Did the souls just float around like Asher's had? Did they get a second chance at being an angel?

  There was a memorial on the football field the next night. The entire school plus several angels from outside the school showed up to light candles and tell stories about the angels that died.

  I stood at the back of the crowd with Reve, both of us feeling out of place among the angels. He held my hand as we looked on.

  Since I had woken up that morning, a feeling of dread had encompassed my every move. One of the dead angels could have been one of my angels. Every time there was a demon attack, the risk of losing one of them increased.

  I couldn't handle the thought of one of them dying.

  Asher's death had shaken me to my core. I couldn't go through that again.

  After the service, we decided to take a case of beer to one of our favorite spots on campus. On the other side of the parking lot was a copse of trees that had a small clearing in the middle. Over the summer, we had set up Adirondack chairs and a fire-pit.

  Tobias started up the fire while I passed beers around. I downed half the bottle before the others had even opened theirs.

  "Whoa there, fish lips." Asher chuckled, popping the cap off of his. He took a long pull from it before setting it on the arm of his chair. "You've been quiet all day."

  "Just have a lot on my mind." I finished the bottle and burped. A small price to pay for drinking it so fast.

  I felt my cheeks flush with heat as the fire sprang to life in front of me, and the beer hit my blood. I reached forward and grabbed another bottle.

  "Tell me about it." He watched as I took a much more reasonable swig.

  "Did you know that John Adamson's body was found in an abandoned warehouse?" I tapped my finger on the side of the bottle and then started to pick at the label.

  Olly sat down on the arm of Asher's chair. Asher looked up at him and then back at me. "We heard about it."

  "You didn't tell me." A long strip of the beer label came off. I rolled it into a ball and then threw it into the fire. "What else haven't you told me?"

  "There was no point in telling you." Tobias grabbed my hand and yanked me up before sitting in my seat. He pulled me into his lap.

  I protested with a grunt, but he had already secured an arm around my waist.

  "What happened to no secrets?" I frowned at him as he grabbed my beer and took a drink. "That's mine."

  I snatched it from him. John dying seemed like a mighty big secret to keep from me. What else weren't they telling me?

  "You're stressed enough as it is." Reve joined us and grabbed a beer. "Your nightmares are just now starting to lessen. We felt it was in your best interest to keep it to ourselves."

  "My whole life is a nightmare, Reve." I leaned back against Tobias. I was still mad, but not enough to deny myself the comfort he brought me. "What else?"

  They hadn't answered it the first time I asked. Maybe they thought I would forget..

  They all went silent, the only sounds the crackling of the fire and the chirps of crickets.

  "Tobias?"

  He sighed. "Michael is planning a mission to Inferna. He wants us to go. You included."

  "I can't go to hell. My body can't handle it." The thought had already crossed my mind. How were we supposed to save my father if he was there and we were here?

  "Rafael thinks that was because you went before you had matured. He thinks you could handle it now." He cleared his throat. "He also already took a blood sample there to see how it would react."

  I made a disapproving sound in my throat. Everyone was always fucking with my blood. I was one big walking, talking science experiment.

  "Then what are we waiting for?" I looked amongst them. "If we don't stop her, we're all going to die."

  "That's an overly dramatic way of looking at it." Asher finished his beer, and Olly grabbed him another. We all needed the booze after the last two days we'd had.

  I looked down at my beer bottle. "What if one of you dies trying to protect me?"

  Tobias put his chin on my shoulder. "We know what we signed up for. As guardian angels, it's our job to protect and defend from the darkness."

  "And my job as a has-been prince is to keep my people at peace." We all looked over at him. It was the first time he had referred to himself as a prince. "Plus, to protect you."

  "I don't know if I can live with myself if one of you..." I choked on my words and squeezed my eyes shut.

  "Dani. Our job is to make sure you're safe. We know what might be in store for us. If we weren't willing to make that sacrifice, we wouldn't be here with you." Asher reached across the gap in the chairs and took my free hand.

  A tear slid down my cheek, and I wiped it away. No one spoke again for several minutes.

  "I let Asher stick it in my ass," Olly said nonchalantly.

  My eyes popped open and went wide. Reve choked on his beer and spit it out onto the dirt. A laugh bubbled out of me. It shouldn't have been funny, but Olly's delivery was perfect timing. For a moment, I forgot what I was so sad about.

  "Jesus Christ. That was information I didn't need to know." Tobias's chest shook against me as he laughed. "Not that I think there's anything wrong with it."

  "You should try it." Olly grinned
as Tobias shook his head vigorously. "Come on. I'm sure Reve is willing."

  "Reve is not willing." Reve stood and dumped the rest of his beer in the fire. He wasn't that big of a drinker. He looked at Tobias. "Want to finish up your tattoo tonight, since we might be going to hell soon?"

  Tobias moved me off his lap. "Let's do it."

  "Danica, want a tattoo? I brought all my stuff." Reve looked down at me from next to the fire. The flames behind him made him look scary as fuck, and my heart sped up a little. He looked like he was going to eat me alive.

  I scrunched my nose. I had no desire to get stabbed repeatedly by a needle. I didn't know how Tobias could tolerate the pain of repeated tattooing sessions.

  We stayed outside a little longer and then went back to my room. It was a tight squeeze having two mattresses on the floor, but with tomorrow being a big fat question mark, we all wanted to be near each other.

  I really couldn't explain the desire to be close. It was what it was. Now, it felt even more vital.

  Reve set up his tattoo equipment and ink on the kitchen table, and Tobias sat in a chair. He already had most of his tattoo redone, but still needed to have Margie's face tattooed. The process required Reve to go over the same spot several times.

  Olly hooked up his gaming system, and he and Asher started playing some game involving zombies. I was just glad they hadn't put on Fortnite.

  "Do you think with everything going on, they're going to lessen our workload?" I pulled one of my notebooks out that was filled with notes. I had to review what I wrote after classes because I tended to mindlessly take notes.

  "Probably." Tobias took his shirt off and nodded to the chair opposite him. I moved from my desk to the table with my notebook. "Not that I would know."

  "I'm sorry." Guilt twisted in my stomach. I felt partly to blame for his suspension. If it had been any other student, Sue Whittaker wouldn't have come down so harshly on him.

  "You don't need to apologize." Tobias winced as Reve started working on his tattoo. "Maybe it's time for a change."

  "You can come work for me." Asher somehow managed to pay attention to our conversation and stab a zombie without looking away from the screen.

  Tobias grunted and shook his head. "I was thinking of writing a book."

  I opened my notebook and looked down at my chicken-scratch handwriting. Half the battle was reading my notes. The teachers talked so fast I had to sacrifice legibility for something that looked like a doctor wrote it.

  "A book would take you like what? A week?" I started underlining and circling parts of my notes with a Flair pen. I'd rewrite what was most important.

  "I think a book takes a little longer than that to write. What would you write a book about?" Reve didn't take his eyes from the face he was drawing onto Tobias's skin.

  "Love. Loss. Friendship. I don't know. It was just an idea. It's not like I'm doing anything else at the moment."

  I looked up, and Tobias was watching me. I smiled and put down my pen. "You could be my professional tutor."

  "Tutors are paid good money. When I was a kid, my parents paid for tutors since going to school was out of the question." Reve put his tattoo gun down and swapped out the ink.

  "There are schools in hell?" I wanted to know so much more about it but had never felt it was the right time to bring it up. "Like here?"

  "Similar to here for the most part. Most demons live in villages with demons similar to them. Some don't go to school at all. The more human-like the demon, the more human things they do." Reve started to work again, never glancing up. "It's a little crazy how similar Inferna is to Earth. Well, at least for some things."

  "Were you really a prince?" Leave it to Asher to ask the uncomfortable question. We had all been wondering if he was just yanking our chains.

  "Yes. I suppose now, I am the king. Not that I would even want that job if I had the chance. I never wanted to be a king." He went back to tattooing.

  "What about your siblings?"

  "Even if they were willing, the first-born male heir to the throne always develops the gift of visions and a phantom form. The females have no special abilities, not even to produce nightmares. Dream demons have exclusively been the sole demon race on the throne because we can control others to an extent. Having a phantom form also prevents assassinations." He cleared his throat. "That is until Lilith."

  Reve finished Tobias's tattoo and wrapped his arm in plastic wrap. The portrait of his family looked even better than it had before.

  "Thanks, man. Maybe I will stop giving you so much shit about the Giants and Raiders."

  "No problem. I definitely won't stop giving you shit over your teams." Reve put his gear away.

  My phone rang, and I flipped it over to see who was calling. Why on earth would Michael be calling me? He never called me, opting to go through Tobias.

  "It's Michael." I accepted the call. "Hello?"

  "Danica." His voice was serious, not that he had any other tone. "I have some news about your father."

  I gripped the table with my free hand and tried not to let the pounding of my heart consume me. Michael was quiet on the other end, waiting for me to respond. "Tell me."

  "I was able to have a talk with that demon at Blue Wave. He told me much of the same information he told you." I wished he would get to the point. "Lilith is using the Holy Grail to perform a ritual with your father's blood and weaken the barrier."

  "What are we going to do? How long can he...." Live. I didn't let myself speak it out loud. He could live forever, couldn't he? But what if one time she took too much?

  "We leave tomorrow at sunrise."

  "We?" The others gathered around the table.

  "You five. I'll take you there, but then you'll have to go find him. We can't risk Lilith capturing any other original archangels or a large group of angels."

  That left me with even more questions, but I was starting to realize that sometimes I didn't need an explanation for every single little thing. Some things were better left without an answer.

  I let the phone drop to the table after ending the call and looked up. "I'm going to hell to look for my dad. I'll understand if you don't want to-"

  "We're in this together." Tobias took my hand and then pulled me to him. "Stop questioning our devotion to you. We're all still here, aren't we?"

  I bit my lip and searched his eyes. It's not that I was insecure, but I still had a hard time believing I had four men in my corner.

  "We'll find him." Reve moved behind me and brushed my hair over my shoulder. "Even if it's the last thing we do."

  I shut my eyes as he kissed the back of my neck. It's like they knew when I was about to freak out and how to distract me from my thoughts.

  "Let's take your mind off things for a bit." Tobias leaned forward and brushed his lips over mine. "I know exactly what will help us have a good night's sleep tonight."

  My lips parted as Reve's hands slid around to the clasp on my jeans. Tobias's beard scraped along my jaw, and his lips brushed against my ear. My knees felt like they were about to give out on me.

  I moaned as Reve popped the button on my jeans and pulled down the zipper. His hand slid into my jeans and found my clit through my panties. I whimpered.

  I opened my eyes just in time to see Olly grab Asher by the belt loops and pull him towards him. He looked over at me and winked.

  So this was actually going to happen. The night before we might all die. We were going to finally all have sex. Together. At least I thought that's what was about to happen.

  I'd be lying if I said I hadn't done an internet search for how to be with four men at once. The results had left me wishing I would have brought my box of Barbies. You know, to see if it was actually possible.

  Tobias grabbed my chin and brought my gaze back to his. He looked at my lips, and then kissed me. It was a kiss that told me to stop overthinking things and let myself go.

  Reve was working my pants and panties down my legs while Tobias lifted my s
hirt over my head and unclasped my bra. I stood before them, baring everything. Four sets of eyes took me in. I shivered with desire, and my nipples tightened.

  "Get on the bed." Tobias's voice had dropped a considerable amount. It was the lowest I'd heard it, laced with desire.

  I crawled onto the mattress and laid on my back, sitting up slightly on my forearms. "Are you just going to stand there and stare at me or are you going to take your clothes off?" I looked at each of them, and they looked at each other.

  I bit my lip and moved my hand down my body and spread my legs. Something about being naked in front of them all made me feel empowered. Like I could take on the world.

  "I mean, you don't have to." I slid my hand between my legs. "I think I have my vibrator somewhere."

  Clothes went flying, and I laughed at their haste. I wasn't sure what was about to happen, but the wetness and heat between my legs told me it could only work out favorably for me.

  Asher was the first to make it to me and kissed me hard before moving his mouth to a nipple. He swirled his tongue around the tight bud and moaned as Olly moved behind him to kiss his shoulders.

  I shut my eyes and turned off my brain. I arched into Asher as Olly leaned over him to kiss me. A pair of lips trailed up my leg until they reached the apex and flicked my clit. I wasn't going to last long with four of them touching me at once.

  I opened my eyes as the bed dipped, and Tobias laid on the other side of me. He stroked my hair and then ran the back of his hand up and down my side. Goosebumps spread across my skin, and he smirked.

  "Want to know something funny?" Tobias's finger drew circles around the nipple that Asher wasn't flicking with his tongue.

  I moaned, and my mouth opened in a pant. I didn't think it was the time or place to be talking but nodded my head anyway. It was hard to stay focused on any of them when Reve was swirling his tongue in the most sinful way.

  "Olly went to Ikea and bought those little wooden artist dolls. He glued our faces on them and has been showing us different positions."

  My laugh morphed into a moan. I moved my hips up to meet Reve's tongue as the pressure continued to build. I heard a bottle open, and then Asher moaned against my skin. Whatever Olly was doing behind him, he was enjoying, if his erection working against my leg was any indication.