by G. Bailey
“It’s normal for your demon to be aggressive when it is new. It’s like an animal being locked in, caged its whole life, and it’s suddenly let free. I’m surprised you both have an understanding already. I was in a coma state for two weeks until my demon gave me control back,” he admits to be, rubbing the back of his neck, clearly wishing he could forget that time.
“I’m sorry, but what is a coma state?” I question.
“When your demon takes over and you have no control. They can only do it without your permission at the start, and then you will become one. Your strength will be like hers when you want it to,” he explains to me. We are both silent and tense for a long moment.
“Right. Claus…” I start to change the subject to the elephant in the room.
“Want to talk about how you are apparently my dad’s mate?” he asks.
“I don’t belong to him,” I reply. “I never, ever will. I’d rather die, to be quite honest.”
“You do, and you can’t belong to us anymore,” he says, climbing out of the bed and walking to my bedroom door. “It’s best you accept your fate like all of us have to.”
“Wait,” I call him, and he pauses, his back tense. “Do you want me to belong to you?”
“More than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life,” he softly says, though he doesn’t look at me. “But what we want is not what we can get. My dad would kill me in an instant and kill anyone who comes near you. I will always protect you, Lexi. Always. Even if it means never being anything more than a stranger to you. I came here to say goodbye. A real goodbye.”
“I don’t want to say goodbye, Claus!” I shout at him, sliding off the bed and standing up. “Look at me, please.”
“You are not mine, and I am not yours, Lexi! You need to accept this shit and let me go!” he shouts at me, and I stumble back, feeling like he just stabbed me a few times in my heart. He has given up.
“You should leave then…and please don’t make this harder by coming back. Tell Nikoli the same,” I just about manage to say, my voice cracking with the emotions I’m holding back.
“Nikoli isn’t smart, and he won’t stay away,” Claus comments, taking another step forward, almost looking regretful as he looks back once. “I fucking wish I wasn’t smart too.” I stay silent as he walks away from me and out of my apartment. I rub my chest from the sharp, dull pain I feel there as I wipe away tears.
I didn’t want them as my mates anyway; at least that’s what I tell myself, because the truth hurts way too much.
Why the hell should I care? Why shouldn’t I just move on? I shake my head as my tummy rumbles, and I try to think back to the last time I ate. I can’t even remember. I slide out of bed and walk to the door just as I hear a familiar voice.
“I have not been fed in hours since you passed out,” Amethyst grumbles, and I walk around the corridor to see her sitting on the counter near where Sera kept the packets of food.
“I’m sorry. It’s been a long day, Amethyst,” I tell her, expecting her to be the judgemental little cow she usually is, but instead she walks to me and rests her head on my chest. I pick her up and hug her as all the emotions I’ve been holding in burst out in a wave, and I can’t stop the tears as sobs leave my lips. I sink down onto the floor, holding Amethyst to me as I try to calm down, and she purrs softly.
“Don’t let anything beat you down, Lexi. You are a goddess in a dark world, and you are just starting to be who you need to be,” she tells me, sounding old and wise way beyond her years.
“What self-help books have you been reading?” I chuckle around a sob, wiping my cheeks with the side of my hand.
“All of them. I believe in the art of meditation to soothe the soul,” she remarks.
“My soul needs more than soothing, Amethyst. I don’t know what to do, and all I want to do is run to my parents and have them tell me what to do,” I admit. I need my mum to hug me and tell me the twins are stupid idiots, and then for my dad to suggest ways to make them pay, while making me laugh.
They always fixed everything, and I feel like I’m constantly free falling through life since I got here and they aren’t here to catch me.
“It’s normal for a bird to be scared of falling off the nest. Only when you fall do you learn how to fly,” she tells me, rubbing her head against my chin to lift it up.
“Actually, that is pretty good advice…you know, from a cat,” I say.
“I’m a smart cat,” she purrs.
“That you are,” I say, lifting her up in my arms and looking into her purple eyes. What would I do without my talking cat?
Chapter 5
Someone needs coffee in the morning
“You didn’t come to training,” Morgan snaps as I walk out of my room, and he nearly makes me jump out of my skin. Has no one ever told him shouting at people when they walk out of their apartment is rude? “I thought something fucking happened to you.” I take a deep breath and close the door, turning to face my grumpy angel.
“I got a note saying I have to come to The Choosing class half an hour early and that I was to miss training. I can get the note if you want it,” I say. “Trust me, I’d rather be in training with you.” Which is true. I’ve grown to like my time alone with Morgan and his teasing and just everything about him.
I’m getting obsessed with my teacher, and I have no intention of stopping. I’m thinking he is just as obsessed with me. At least I’m hoping. Though he hasn’t kissed me or said anything to make me think he likes me since the ball. Maybe his feelings have changed? I just can’t tell with Morgan anymore. He is so possessive and protective, but that is his nature.
“No. Let’s just go,” he grumbles, not waiting as he storms off down the corridor and past the statue.
“Do you drink coffee in the morning? I’m just thinking it might make you more of a morning person than you currently are,” I say when I jog to his side, my arm brushing against his. I almost stop in my tracks from the tiny amount of contact.
“I don’t drink coffee. Water is better for you,” he sourly replies as we pass three students, all of whom bow their heads at me and nervously move out of the way.
“No wonder you are so moody,” I remark.
“You’re a pain in my ass, Miss Cameron,” he replies with a bit of snark in his tone. It’s playful though and teasing.
“But you like it, Mr. Morganach,” I smoothly reply, flirting just a little, and he shakes his head, even though I see the little turn up of his lips. I nearly scream as he quickly pulls me into a closet we pass and shuts the door behind me. Before I can even ask what he is doing, he kisses me.
Holy shit, Morgan is kissing me. I lean into him as he gently parts my lips, softly applying pressure as he presses me into the wall, his hard body pushed against mine. Every soft brush of his lips makes me want more, lures me into him like a siren singing to the sea. Just as I slide my hands up his neck, he pulls back, his face hidden in the shadows. I almost flipping whimper. Whimper. That’s what he has brought me to.
“I wasn’t planning to do that. You are too addictive, Alexandria,” he mutters, sounding more frustrated and lust driven than I expected. It wasn’t just me that felt that then. The draw between us, the almost bond tugging us together. It felt right and natural to kiss him; it felt like something I’ve always been looking for.
“I, err, wasn’t planning to kiss you back either. But I’m totally happy to do that again,” I suggest, and I can almost see the amusement in his eyes, even in the dark closet that smells of bleach and dust. It reminds me of a dusty closet I was in once as a kid…but why was I in a closet?
“We will talk about this later, but I did need to tell you something in private today,” he says, placing his hands on the wall on either side of my head and leaning in closer. We both breathlessly stare at each other, neither one of us moving until I go to lean forward, but a broom falls off the wall, whacking Morgan in the arm, and we both jump away from each other. I don’t know who laughs first, but the
next second we are both laughing as Morgan picks the broom up. He has a deep laugh, one I never expected to love as much as I do. I’m sad when we both stop, and I remember what he even said in the first place.
“What is it you need to tell me?” I ask.
“Do you remember the professor I told you about, the one I want you to see about our secret?” he quietly asks, not actually saying the words “angel blessed” in case someone is listening in. So far, it is our little secret. Our deadly secret, because if anyone found out, there would be trouble.
“Yes, I remember,” I reply.
“We go tonight,” he informs me.
“Go where?” I question with a frown.
“To the Angel Academy where he works, of course. I have made plans, be ready at midnight,” he tells me, and without a reply, he walks out the closet, leaving me alone in here. I wait a few seconds, my fingers resting on my lips, knowing I’m never going to forget that kiss, before leaving the closet and walking into the crowd of students like nothing happened at all.
I knock on the closed classroom door before going inside, where Lucifer and Mr. Johan are leaning against the desk, laughing like they are college roommates who are just reunited. Instead of the real truth. The King of Hell’s laugh is not as scary as it damn well should be, not to me anyway. He turns to me as I pull the door shut and cross my arms, waiting for them to say something.
“I remember that time well, old friend. I wish for you to come back to hell soon and we can test our theory on the dawn pixies,” Lucifer says, and they both laugh once more. Mr. Johan finally seems to get some sense and leans forward, bowing his head before looking towards me.
“Miss Cameron, it is good to see you as always. As The Choosing class is a preparational class for choosing a future, I’m afraid it is no use to you. The stone has already chosen you as its queen,” he reminds me.
“So this lesson will be our time. There is much you do not know of hell, heaven and earth. I will be playing teacher, considering Mr. Johan tells me how much you seem to like your teachers,” Lucifer states, and I feel like my lips are burning with Mr Morganach’s kiss. He can’t know that. It was our secret.
“The teachers here are different than any I have had before,” I comment, leaving out how nearly all of them are bat shit crazy and deadlier than anything I’ve ever known. There is one teacher that is different, but as he told me once, he is a fucking bad teacher.
“So am I. Now sit if you will,” Lucifer asks, waving a hand at the desk. Mr. Johan bows his head at me as he passes and leaves the room. I sit in the desk, crossing my arms again as my demon ever so gently presses into my mind. Lucifer’s calm collected image suddenly changes into one of deep interest, but then my demon vanishes once more, and he clears his throat.
“I brought you something. A gift unlike any other,” Lucifer comments. I don’t want his fucking gift, but for my parents’ and my own sake, I tightly smile as he picks a red leather-bound book up off the desk and slides it in front of me. There is nothing but smooth red leather on the outside, and I run my fingers over it, going to open the inside. “Wait. What this book shows you is my past. My truth. I wish for you to see it all and judge it for yourself.”
“Why would you show me this?” I ask.
“Because I want you to see my plan. Our plan, one that has been around for thousands of years,” he explains. “But it will take time for you to see everything.”
“And what plan is that?” I ask.
“The plan of how we will become king and queen of them all,” he tells me, before pulling the book open, and red light flashes into my eyes, so brightly it stings. When I open my eyes, I’m not in the classroom anymore, instead I’m stood in a library. It’s a massive dome, filled with thousands of books held in pure silver bookcases. The floor itself is silver as I stand on it, and four spheres of fire burn in the middle of the room, constantly spinning and casting light into every inch of the room. The doors behind me slam open, and two angels walk in, both with long white wings that are so bright it’s hard to look away. They wear white cloaks with hoods covering their faces, and they stop in the centre of the room as the doors close themselves.
“Did you hear the song of the poet?” the one angel asks. His voice sounds young and innocent, though the accent is very foreign to me.
“Aye, I did. The wee lass has nought but stories in her head,” the other man replies, not leaving where he came from to the imagination. The thick Scottish accent is hard to understand for a brief moment. Even though I lived in Scotland myself, I still could never understand any of the people who live north of Inverness, where I’m sure the land itself makes their accent impossible to understand.
“It was not a story, but a prophecy. I feel it will be,” the other replies.
“Enough of this, Lucifer. We must get back to the lass; we are charged with her care,” the other replies, and I realise this must have been Lucifer when he was younger, before he fell into hell. They both turn back and walk to the doors, and I run after them, sliding through the door before it closes. I don’t look much at the corridor as they go into the room opposite, and I head inside before that door leaves me out.
This room is plain but somehow grand with its silver touches here and there. Silver vines wrap around the pillars of a wooden bed, where a fragile woman lies, shaking ever so gently. Lucifer and the other angel simply watch her for a long time before she suddenly sits up, her eyes glowing blue, a bright blue that reminds me of the blue sapphire necklace my mom wears that, when the light hits the necklace, almost seems to glow.
“Leave us and get Master Adro,” Lucifer demands, and the other angel runs past me as Lucifer moves to sit on the bed, lowering his hood for the first time. His hair is longer here, in waves around his face, but it is the same white colour. He looks so young, so innocent as he stares at the woman. She quickly turns to him and cups his cheeks with her hands, speaking so fast I barely hear it.
“Lucifer, you will love only one.
Her soul is bound to no gods, to no one.
Four will run like horses at her side.
One for war.
One for love.
One for power,
And one for truth.
Love is endless and meant not for you.
Fall once, and forever you shall fall.
Hell awaits those who seek what they should not.
Heaven is the curse of which you will never escape.
All that begins here must end in the same light.
Forever may she reign…forever may you fall.”
The woman shakes ever so slightly before she collapses back, and white smoke fills the room, replacing it with the classroom as Lucifer pulls the book away.
“Was the prophecy about Lilith? The twins’ mother?” I ask him as I try to breathe normally, and my hands shake ever so much under the table.
“I thought it was, many, many years ago,” he says, glowering, “but she was a pretender.”
“And now?” I ask.
“I want it to be another,” he replies, staring at me like he is crazy enough to think that I’m anything to do with that prophecy.
“I’m not —”
“I don’t expect you to agree with the words of the prophecy, but they are what they are. Have you ever heard of the four horsemen of the apocalypse?” he asks me, and I’m gathering he is referring to the “four will run like horses at her side” part of the prophecy. That fairy tale can’t be real…can it?
“The story, yes…” I muse.
“When a new queen rises, so will the four who ride at her side through the pathway of hell. I will be the king at your side, and I’m sure you will find your four riders at some point in your life. It all fits together, everything I have ever waited for since the day I just showed you. It’s all happening, and you will make me so happy, Alexandria,” he says with a big smile that I’m sure he wants me to return. Only, slight issue…I don’t want to return it in any way at all.
&n
bsp; “No,” I say, and his smile drops into a thin line, his eyes going from happy to flipping mad.
“Do I have to remind you that your parents’ first hearing is in two weeks?” he asks.
“No,” I bite out.
“Good. Tomorrow we are going on a trip for a week, to the wolves I told you of. Then you can resume normal classes until the trial,” he states, crossing his arms and daring me to challenge him.
“Sounds perfectly planned out,” I sourly reply, the idea of a trip away with Lucifer leaving that sour taste in my mouth.
“Oh it is. Class dismissed,” Lucifer states, clapping his hands together like the crazy fucker he really is. I watch him walk to the door, hoping he won’t say another word, but of course he does as he opens the door. “One more thing, do not bring your cat with you to the wolves.”
“Why?” I ask.
“I don’t like cats,” he snaps rather angrily before slamming the door shut behind him. I rest my forehead on the desk for a moment, sucking in a deep breath. I only have to pretend until my parents are free, then they will get me the hell out of this mess.
Or I will save myself and them to boot.
Chapter 6
Jealousy is a cruel mistress
“Good to see you in class, your highness,” Lela’s sarcasm is thick as I sit down next to her in Hexing class and drop my spell book onto the table. The room is empty, and we are the only ones in here as I glare at her.
“Drop that shit, I’m just Lexi, and Lucifer is wrong,” I mutter.
“I’d jump at being the Queen of Hell if I was you. So much power and respect. Also, Lucifer is hot as fuck, and I don’t even like boys,” she replies. “Then again, his sons are better, and you love them.”
“It’s complicated,” I say.