by Leia Stone
Gage snarled as dark tattoos snaked over the exposed skin on his neck and forearms, disappearing under the leather cuff he wore on his right wrist before popping back up on the backside of his hand. The tattoos leaked smoke and made the area around him grow even murkier.
Without warning, Gage rushed Jacob, who sprinted forward to meet him. They collided, and the world exploded into arcs of light and shadow.
Either this was by far the most detailed hallucination I’d ever had, or it was real.
Gage and Jacob were a tangle of shadows and light, up in the air one second and down on the ground the next. The streetlights at the far end of the alley pulsed ominously from bright as the sun to pitch black. I thought for sure Dash would join in if a brawl broke out, but he just stood there and watched.
“Knock it off, you idiots!” Marlow stepped forward and slapped the sword tattoo on her arm. It peeled from her body like a sticker, before puffing up into a three-dimensional object.
Skye rolled her eyes as she inspected the ends of her hair. “I say let them kill each other. I’m sick of the pissing match between these two.”
Drea glared at Skye. “We need to keep the peace.” She was clearly the team leader of whatever their little angel gang was. “Gage Alston and Jacob Carter, you will stand down right this instant or I’ll electrocute you both!” She clapped her hands and every light in the entire city block illuminated so brightly I had to squint to continue to look at her.
Whoa.
“Way to keep the peace,” Skye snickered.
The boys untangled, and I was about to ask them what the heck they wanted with me when someone inside the diner let loose with a bloodcurdling scream loud enough to be heard in the alley.
My heart leapt into my throat. Was that Stella? Had Drea’s light display freaked her out?
Before I could wonder further, the lights went out. Not just the alley streetlamps but the little light bulb over the Coach purse billboard above us, the apartment lights in the building next door, and the whole diner. Everything was plunged into an eerie darkness.
“Cut it out, Gage, you’ve made your point,” Drea growled.
Gage looked slightly unsettled. “That wasn’t me.”
“If that wasn’t you, that means…” The moonlight across Drea’s face showed her angry expression instantly drain, replaced with a look of horror. She snapped her gaze to the diner as something crashed behind the closed door. I tore across the alley and into the restaurant.
“Stella!” I shouted, knowing in my gut that something was really wrong.
The interior of the diner was pitch black. Screams and the crash of tables being tossed over made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
“I’ve got this,” Drea called from behind me, and a blinding light appeared within the diner so suddenly that I winced.
The second the light reduced to a normal wattage, my gaze fell to Stella, who stood by the coffee cart next to the cash register.
My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth, and my muscles locked. The ugliest, most horrifying creature stood behind Stella as she cried and shook in fear. The monster was so tall that if it weren’t hunched over my friend, its curled horns would have pierced the ceiling. One of its charred and peeling arms was looped around Stella’s waist, the other was pressed against the length of her arm. It had wrapped a clawed hand around her fingers, forcing her to keep hold of the bloody pie cutter in her hand.
For the first time, I noticed the man at Stella’s feet. A bloom of red was spreading on the tiles beneath him.
“He’s a level five. I’ve alerted the senior Lumens.” Marlow stepped up next to Drea with that same strange black device in her hand. It was like an old school phone with a tiny screen and buttons, but also had dials. The number “five” scrolled across the screen as it beeped incessantly. “We’re supposed to refrain from engaging. They only want us to secure the diner until they get here. Their ETA is five minutes.”
“This ought to be entertaining,” Gage said as he sat on a barstool and leaned back against the counter.
Ignoring Gage, Drea nodded to Marlow in understanding. “As long as the level five doesn’t start feeding, she won’t sustain any permanent damage.”
Feeding! Did she just say feeding?
“A little help please!” Skye’s voice rang through the diner from deep in the alleyway.
The back door was propped open, and there, in the alley, were more of the creatures, but these were hunched over on all fours and going after Jacob and Dash like wild animals. The boys were fighting the beasts off with swords of light.
With a gasp, Drea took off in their direction.
Releasing an annoyed sigh, Gage rolled his eyes, barking at me, “Stay put,” and then stomped off after her.
“Crap!” Marlow hissed, reaching to touch her forearm and coming away with a shining gold dagger.
As Marlow moved to the diner’s alley doorway to help her friends fight the creatures, I heard Stella whimper.
I spun and met my friend’s horrified expression. She looked so scared, but I didn’t think she could see the creature holding her in its grasp. She certainly wasn’t acting like it was there. The way her body trembled, I began to worry she was going into shock.
“Tatum!” Stella whined. “He… attacked me.” She pointed to the man on the ground, whom she’d diced with the pie cutter.
Stepping backward a few paces, I glanced through the open kitchen door to see Sal unconscious on the ground, scrambled eggs and slices of ham strewn across the floor.
Reaching out, I grabbed a frying pan and a kitchen knife, the closest objects to me, and turned to face my friend.
She looked incredulously at the unconscious man at her feet with the pie cutter head wound, but all I could focus on was the creature plastered against her back. With the head of a horned goat and three eyes, it had the body of a person, but it was made of shadows, like Gage’s wings.
I shivered as it leaned forward and bit into Stella’s neck. She didn’t move, didn’t seem to notice as it… fed off of her?
Oh hell no. I burst into action, running forward with the knife and pan raised high.
“Stella, there’s someone behind you!” I yelled. “Lie down and cover your eyes!”
She screamed in terror at the prospect of another assailant and dropped to the ground next to the man she’d knocked out. At least I hoped he was only unconscious and not dead.
When I reached Stella, the creature was still attached to her, having followed her down to the ground. I could barely make out Stella’s shaking form through the grotesque smoke and shadowy body of the monster covering her. Lifting its head from her neck, it looked up at me and its eyes flashed red.
I’d always been a pretty chill person—it really took a lot to rattle me; a side effect of growing up with an elderly woman who talked to herself half the day—but when that monster looked up at me I’d never been so mad in my entire life. I saw red.
I quickly came to terms that this monster was real, and I wanted the bastard off of my friend.
“Get. Off. Of. Her,” I growled through gritted teeth.
The goat-headed creature grinned, flashing sharp teeth in my direction, then it stood up, moving away from Stella who still lay flat on the tiled floor, bawling uncontrollably.
I was just wondering how I was going to stab a shadow when it swiped at me with a clawed hand. It knocked the knife from my grip, and the blade slid across the floor.
Oh crap.
Even transparent, these bastards could move objects?
I reared back, stumbling away to put distance between me and the monster as I tried to come up with a plan, but there was no time for strategy, so I gave into instinct.
With a battle cry, I lashed out with the frying pan, cracking one of the creature’s horns with more strength than I thought I had in these tiny arms, and it broke right off.
“Yes!” I shouted.
The horn hit the ground and then disappeared i
nto a puff of smoke. The creature tipped back its head, roaring in a voice that was not animal, nor human, but wholly evil and beyond this world.
When it snapped back to face me, I wasted no time lashing out with the pan again, going for its face this time. It dodged, avoiding my makeshift weapon, and I lightly grazed its chest, just pissing it off further.
It lifted one hoofed foot and kicked outward, slamming me right in my chest, and I went flying.
Definitely did not plan this well, was my last thought before my head cracked into the wall and everything went black.
CHAPTER
FIVE
I came to feeling like my skull had been cracked in two and my eyeballs had a heartbeat. I moaned, daring to open my eyes and let the light filter in.
What the…? Where was I? Not in my apartment, that was for sure.
I was cushioned on a soft mattress. I ran my fingers over the charcoal-colored silk sheets, looking out at the amazing city skyline from the floor-to-ceiling windows and groaned. The giant room had black striped wallpaper running vertically from floor to ceiling. There were twin nightstands on either side of the king-sized bed, a large black wardrobe, matching dresser, a fancy looking sofa chair, and a side table. In the corner was a desk with some books on it. I scanned the titles: Demonology, Shadow work, Portals. Panic flooded my system as the memory of last night came rushing back to me.
Stella!
I bolted upright, regretting the quick action when dizziness washed over me and my vision blurred. Standing gingerly, I got my footing and then ran to the other side of the room, where my cell phone and shoes lay. Turning my phone on, I saw ten missed texts.
One was Gran saying she left me dinner, the rest were Stella wondering if I was okay and asking where I was.
Crap. Crap. Crap.
Where was I? What time was it? I had to get back to Gran.
There were two doors, one on the far wall that I assumed led to a bathroom, and one nearest me that I was hoping got me the heck out of here.
Going to what I prayed was the exit door, I twisted the handle and peered out into a hallway.
Whoa.
I’d assumed I was inside of a bedroom in an apartment but no, the hallway was over a hundred feet long and filled with numbered doors. It was like a fancy dormitory or hotel.
“Tate?” a familiar deep voice called out behind me, and I jumped, spinning and slamming against the door so that it snapped shut.
Holy nearly naked dude.
Gage stood in the doorway to the bathroom, the towel tied around his waist accentuating the V-shaped muscles at his abdomen. But instead of lingering there, where any normal girl’s eyes would, my gaze flew to the three deep gashes across his chest.
“You’re hurt!” I stepped closer to him.
He looked at me behind those thick dark lashes and waved me off casually. “I’ve had worse.”
My eyes widened. “That needs stitches—I can see your organs,” I blurted. Okay, maybe a slight exaggeration, but there was definitely stuff showing that shouldn’t.
He chuckled, walking over to a dresser and pulling out clothes. “I’ve got an appointment with the healer,” he said with his back to me.
I looked from him and then to the bed, wondering if we’d shared it last night. I was about to ask, when my gaze fell on the folded blanket and pillow on the floor at the end.
Phew. Did not randomly share bed with scary hot guy with shadow wings.
“What happened last night? Where am I? How did I get here? And by the way, my name is Tatum, not Tate.”
He threw a shirt over his bloody chest and then started to pull his boxer briefs on under his towel.
Okay that was going to fall and show his—
I looked away, but not before I caught a hint of butt cheek.
This guy was clearly comfortable around the ladies. I wouldn’t be caught dead changing in front of some dude I’d just met.
Once fully dressed, he turned to face me.
Sighing, he looked me up and down. “You were attacked by a level five demon last night. I saved your life and brought you here to Shade Academy. You’re welcome.”
He certainly wouldn’t be winning any personality awards anytime soon.
Demon. He’d said demon. That goat creature was a—
Shade Academy. My mind bounced to the recording from the phone number I called on the white card. Lumen Academy. Rival schools maybe? There was definitely some bad blood between Jacob and Gage. At this point, that was the least important bit of information I needed, so I shelved my questions about Lumens and Shades until later.
“What happened to my friend, Stella? Is she okay?”
“She’s fine. Her memory’s been wiped. She thinks there was a power outage and some thugs tried to rob the restaurant.”
Memory wiped. That was a thing? My head was going to explode, but I plunged forward anyway.
“Okay, so there are demons in the world. No biggie. I can accept that.” I was trying to sound nonchalant, but I think it came off as a little crazed. “But why can I see them all of a sudden?"
Leaning back against the dresser, Gage crossed his arms over his chest. “Because you’re a Watcher and almost of age. Your sight is finally kicking in.”
I frowned. “What’s a Watcher?”
“An earthbound angel,” Gage said matter-of-factly.
There was a beat of silence where we just stared at each other. His gaze was wary, watchful as I digested his answer.
“And so… you’re saying I’m an angel?”
He nodded slowly.
I laughed then, like a full-on chortle. He was crazy.
His expression didn’t change. He looked like he wasn’t in the mood for this. My laughter trailed off and morphed into a strangled choking sound. He was serious.
I sucked in a deep breath through my nose, and then counted to three before releasing it. “No, that can’t be right. How is it possible to be some sort of angelic being and never know? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“We function mostly as human until we come into our full powers at age eighteen. It’s very uncommon for one of our novices to be unaware of their lineage.” He raised one eyebrow, the shadow of a smirk dancing on his lips. “Here’s another pill to swallow. You’ll only have until the night of your eighteenth birthday to decide whose team you want to be on. Shades or Lumens. That gives you, what…?” He looked at his naked wrist, pretending there was a watch there. “…all of nine days to decide?”
Yes, he was right. It was nine days until my eighteenth birthday. How did he know that? My heart pounded so hard I feared it would punch a hole through my chest.
Okay, Tatum. Don’t freak out. If you play it cool you’ll get more information.
“You expect me to… pick a team? How am I supposed to do that? I don’t know anything about Shades or Lumens.”
“Right.” He pushed off the dresser and prowled toward me, his long legs eating up the space between us quickly. I backed up until I bumped into the wall. Gage stopped a foot in front of me. “You’ll have the opportunity to tour both academies. Those are the rules.”
“And if I don’t want to choose? If I just want to go about my life like I used to?” I asked.
A wicked smile stretched over his mouth; he ran his tongue over his top teeth. “If you don’t pick a side by your eighteenth birthday, the demons will be able to sense you. You wouldn’t last a week without a house affiliation. The demons would hunt you down. They like nothing better than to feast on Watchers’ flesh and soul.”
He stared at me with those searing green eyes and the room suddenly felt so much smaller. He was trying to scare me, I knew he was, but I also believed he was telling the truth.
My phone buzzed, breaking the tension between us, and I glanced down at the screen. There was a text from Gran.
Gran: I can’t seem to get the stovetop to work. I’m going to call a repair man.
Oh no. No, no, no, no. If she figured out that I unpl
ugged it, she was going to burn the place down.
“Listen, this has all been super fascinating, but I can’t stay. I have to get back or my gran will call the cops.” Only a slight bending of the truth. If Gran was lucid enough to realize how long I’d been gone, then she might think to get help.
He jerked his chin, indicating the cell in my hand. “Just call her and tell her you’re at that greasy diner. That’s usually where you are when you leave your apartment anyway.”
O-kay, that was creepy. “How do you know where I go when I leave my apartment?”
A muscle in Gage’s jaw jumped. “Just call her,” he ordered.
I narrowed my eyes, instantly suspicious.
We met at the diner over a week ago. Had he been following me the whole time? And if so, why wouldn’t he have made himself known? Why wait this long to reveal the truth to me?
The phone buzzed again, and I peered down.
Gran: Never mind, I got it working.
Shoot.
I quickly dialed Gran’s number and she picked up on the third ring. “Tatum! I got the range working. It was just unplugged. Are you in the mood for raspberry muffins or blueberry? I’m about to make a batch.”
“No, Gran, don’t make muffins. I, ah…” Although her muffins were delicious, I had to think up something to keep her from using the stove or oven. “I’m bringing home a treat for breakfast. Can you just have some cereal until I get back?”
I hated lying to her.
“You’re coming home this morning?” She sounded confused. “Aren’t you working?”
Right. Gage wasn’t wrong about me usually only being at the diner or apartment. When Gran woke up this morning and I wasn’t there, she probably assumed I was working. And if I was working the morning shift, I wouldn’t be back until well after lunch. Argh. This was one of the problems with lying; it was too easy to get caught in your own web.
“I mean a treat after lunch. I’m only working a half-shift. Can you hold off on making anything special so we can bake it together?”
