Heaven's Fury: A Paranormal High School Bully Romance (Pandorax Academy Book 2)

by Ember Hollis

  His wings are fully formed now, and I catch the slight sheen of luminescent green spores on them. The mud beneath his boots is black as soot, and there’s a tiny green sprig of leaves caught in the laces. Heaven is wearing the same jeans and shirt she’d been in before. The glowing spores also shine from the creases on her jeans, and when I force her to look up, I see moss growing all the way along the sides of the hole, barely distinguishable from the brightening gleam of the rising sun.

  Heaven utters a strangled gasp, and I feel her trying to wrest back control as she wakes. I smirk inwardly, then allow a tendril of my power to stir her body, bringing it immediately to the brink of desire. There is no finesse in this but I don’t care. She deserves it after what she said to me.

  Heaven’s breath hitches in her throat and dampness floods her panties, but I keep feeding energy into her until I sweep her over the edge, only stopping when she comes violently, panting and trembling in the dirt as her body spasms uncontrollably.

  See you soon, Heaven, I whisper as I leave. From now on, the game will truly begin.

  * * *

  “Well?”

  This time, it’s Knox hovering over me. I roll my eyes and sit up abruptly, making him into jerk back. He glares at me, until he notices my grin and starts to smile.

  “You found something!” Noah exclaims coming up to crouch beside me too.

  “Indeed,” I look around the camp ground. Malek is here too, gulping down unicorn blood, but Bane seems to have gone out to help with the search again. Chiros is nearby, discussing something in hushed whispers with Madam Wilkins. Other teachers are also around, including old Professor Desmond, who’s busy using one of his spell circles to try to reach an angel.

  I raise my voice so they can all hear me. “They’re close by, somewhere east of here. She’s chained at the bottom of a dry well or some sort of hole with phantom moss growing inside it. There’s a baby unicorn with them, he’s been using it and her to help him handle his Fall. Judging from his wings, he’s in the last stage.”

  Noah and the other Weres immediately spring into action to sweep the area I mentioned, while the professors start discussing potential locations to head to. I turn to Knox.

  “The chain isn’t that thick, and there’s nothing covering the hole.” I’m not happy with the little lamb, and neither is he, but we can’t do anything about it until we get her back. “If she had her wings and strength, she might be able to flee and save herself even before we locate them.”

  Knox raises his empty palms and shrugs. “I gave her powers back as soon as I heard the unicorns were in danger. It’s not my fault she doesn’t know how to summon them.”

  “Oh…” I think about how far gone Mikael was when I saw him. No one would knowingly drink from or devour a Darkened unicorn, not unless they wanted to go mad or be poisoned by Darkness. But Falling angels were always extremely unstable, and no amount of Darkness could probably rival the pain of losing Grace. Which meant that he’d probably do anything to alleviate it. Even if it means hurting his own daughter. Pain flares in my palms and I force myself to unclench my fists. What does it matter? She’s just a student, like all the rest of them. Except that there’s something about her, isn’t there?”

  “What is it?” Knox asks, ever observant.

  I sigh and recenter myself by focusing on Professor Desmond fiddling with his spell circle. So far, all he’s succeeded in summoning are a few fairies and a lightning bird. It looked like we won’t have divine help anytime soon, not that that’s surprising. “Nothing… it’s just… if she can’t help herself, it’s really up to us to find her.”

  A sword slides into the ground between us, slicing the cord holding the tent up. It falls to the ground and Malek looms overhead, his bulk throwing both of us in shadow.

  “Well then, what are you waiting for?” he bellows. “Let’s get going!”

  Chapter 3: Heaven

  I wake in paroxysms of ecstasy this time. My whole body quivers like a violin’s string, and my clothes are damp with sweat. For some strange reason, I’ve had a… a wet dream of some sort, though I can barely understand how that’s possible given my circumstances.

  I try to recollect the dream I’d been having, but all that remains is a vague feeling of indignant anger and fear. So instead, I gulp down long mouthfuls of the cold morning air and focus on calming my racing heart.

  It’s probably just a memory of what happened with Christian in that tent. I can worry about that later.

  I wipe a hand across my forehead and glance around.

  There’s just enough light for me to pick out the body of the baby unicorn beside me. It looks broken and and dried out, probably drained of its last drop of blood. I fight the urge to hurl when I notice the ragged cuts on its neck. Is it just my imagination, or are those teethmarks?

  I make myself crawl closer to the poor thing to study it. It died half Dark, in pain and fear. Despite my best efforts, I hadn’t been able to fully purify it for Mikael, at least, not after the second time he’d Darkened it. It had been too afraid and troubled to recover, and I’d been too weak to take all of the Darkness away. I’m not even sure when I passed out, or when Mikael left, except that there’s no sign of him here anymore. No doubt it’s just a matter of time till he comes back, with another baby unicorn for me to tend to. The thought of it makes me sick to my stomach, and tears run down my face at the futility of it all.

  If only I could escape. I look up at the top of the pit I’m in. The rising sun’s rays cast a faint light that doesn’t quite reach the bottom, but it’s obvious there’s no way I can climb up the pit by myself, even if I weren’t chained to the bottom.

  “Hello?” I yell. My voice bounces across the furry, moss-covered walls, sounding thin and hoarse even to my ears. There’s no way anyone will hear me from all the way up there.

  If only I had my wings! Tears spring from my eyes again, except that this time, they’re fueled by fury. Curse that Knox! It was all his fault that I wasn’t strong enough to stop Mikael. If I just had my wings, I would have had the energy to heal the unicorn, and I could have taken it and flown out of here, or fought Mikael, or… or…I release a scream, putting all my anger, fear, and frustration into it. “Bassstaaar—”

  Something rustles beside me and I jump back in fear. But a second later, I realize what it was. The unicorn! It’s still alive!

  Frantic, I drop to my knees by its side. It’s eyes are open in thin slits, the bright blue of its pupils made even brighter by the pearlescent tears pooling in them.

  “Oh no… oh no…” I moan, half horrified at how much pain it must be in and half relieved by the fact that I still have time to save it. Quickly, I recite the spell and press myself against it, trying to take in all its Darkness. To my relief, it works better than it did before I’d passed out. The dark energy flows into me like a stream of pure filth until every last trace of the purplish stain disappears from the foal’s silvery gold fur. It’s as pure and perfect as the day it was born.

  Except that it’s still dying from its wounds. Nothing I can do will stem the flow of blood or replenish it, and the ground is already muddy from the unicorn’s life blood.

  “I’m so sorry,” I whisper as I crouch over it. “I wish I could do more, I wish… oh, please forgive me…”

  The bright little thing blinks at me and neighs so softly that I wonder if I’d just imagined it. Then, with one last look at me, its eyes grow dull and its body stills, as a single fat tear drips down its nose.

  “God damn it!” I gasp. I don’t care if I used His name in vain. There’s no one else here but me and the foal I couldn’t save, and I can’t imagine how much worse this could be. My own father is a monster and I’ve just helped him torture and kill a baby unicorn. So what did that make me?

  I brush a finger across the unicorn’s eyes to close them as a terrible, heavy weight settles in my chest. It’s like a void that sucks all the feeling out of me. The hollowness it leaves behind is almost comf
orting. It swallows everything, even the throbbing pain that began immediately after I took in the unicorn’s Darkness.

  I study the little thing’s body, thinking about everything I’d seen in the last twelve hours. I’d done the best I could to save the unicorns and for what? So that Mikael could suck them dry and glean what purity they had in their slim bodies in his attempt to cope with his Fall? So that they’d be ‘safe’ from him at Pandorax, where Bane, Malek, Knox, and Christian would drink from them anyway, to cope with the powers that came from being the Four Horsemen?

  The unicorns ended up turning Dark either way. So why did it matter who drank for them? And why was I the only one who had to clean up after them all, and suffer through the Darkness while I was at it?

  A strange feeling comes over me as I stare at the body of the unicorn. It’s rapidly cooling, but the blood soaking its coat and my hands is still wet. In between the patches of blood, its coat gleams, even under the faint light in the pit, shimmering just as brightly as if the unicorn were still alive. “How is it okay for them to use you…” I whisper to the little thing, “When they have no idea what suffering they put you through?”

  If anyone has any right your solace, it’s me… isn’t it?

  Slowly, as if in a dream, I raise a blood-stained finger to my mouth and lick it. Like before, it tastes metallic and bitter… and yet… there’s an undercurrent of refreshing sweetness to it. I take another lick and sigh as an unexpected burst of flavor explodes across my tongue. Vanilla and cherry blossom, delicate and yet packed with potent fragrance. I savor the taste as the blood slides down my throat, then lap at it again.

  I thought I knew what to expect, and yet the next taste makes me think of nectar and fresh honeydew. The next has hints of bergamot, coupled with the subtle tang of brie, and the next is a strange combination of something I can’t even put words to, except that it tastes divine and makes me want even more. The depth and spectrum of taste that I keep discovering is astounding. And now that it’s cooling and thickening in the cold air, the texture of the unicorn’s blood feels as smooth and creamy as the richest, most luxurious ice cream I’ve ever tasted.

  And it’s not just the taste that’s intoxicating. It’s the feeling it gives me… as if all is finally right in the world and with me. There have been precious few moments in my life when I could say I felt completely content and at peace… but this moment here, right now, even with the body of the dead unicorn on my lap… well, it seems to stands out like a shining beacon of happiness in the sea of misery that’s been my life.

  Before I know it, I’ve licked both my hands clean. After that, it seems almost natural to bend down and move on to the unicorn’s coat. As I polish off the last of the blood covering it, I glimpse something shiny and colorful from the corners of my eyes. It’s the baby unicorn’s tear, hanging like a dewdrop from its nose. Carefully, I reach out and scoop it up. It tumbles into the bottom of my palm, iridescent and shining like the world’s most beautiful opal.

  “Fascinating. Nothing I did made any of them cry. Not even this one’s mother cried when I grabbed it from under her nose.”

  I whip around and see Mikael standing behind me. He’d swooped down into the pit so silently, I hadn’t even noticed him. Or had I not noticed, because I’d been so engrossed with the unicorn’s blood? I hold a hand to my head as everything seems to swim before me. When I look at Mikael, I see his black wings are humongous, making him look like a gigantic moth. I shake my head and focus on his face, which swells before my eyes, like the Queen of Hearts’ head in Tim Burton’s movie. I begin to giggle, as both of his eyes balloon next, making him look like a cartoon character.

  “You’re back!” I exclaim breathlessly. “Too late, the unicorn’s kicked the bucket, and there’s no blood left for you!” The nervous giggles spill over into outright laughter and I grab my stomach as it churns. You’re high, Heaven. Shut it and get yourself together.

  But the voice at the back of my head pales in comparison to how crazy this situation feels at the moment. I snap my mouth shut, but can’t help grinning at Mikael like a loon. I’m so glad I finished all the blood, even if it is making me hallucinate. Was that why everyone wanted to drink it though? Because it feels like taking drugs? It’s still not worth it…

  “What a pity, since I couldn’t find another,” Mikael replies. His eyes are feverishly bright, and they’re trained on the teardrop in my hand. “But that should do the trick. Give it to me.” He reaches a hand to me, and as he does, I seem to see through the fabric of his wings. They’re hollow underneath the thick glossy black feathers, with squirming little things like worms running through them. I draw back in disgust.

  “Eww, you can’t have it!” I shove the tear into my mouth and tuck it under my tongue. I don’t swallow it, since I still want to look at it and admire its prettiness, but I make a gulping motion to make Mikael think I did. “All gone!” I grin at him, then poke my tongue out like a child to show my empty mouth. “None left for you, hehehe...” I can’t help giggling madly, while Mikael turns purple.

  “No!” he shouts. He strikes out with his hand, his nails sharp like talons. They rip across my face, leaving burning tracks behind.

  I shriek and fall back, then clasp my hands to my face. Blood drips down from the slashes, hot against my skin. Mikael stops and stares in fascination at his hand, then raises it to his mouth. “I wonder…”

  “Don’t!” Fear grips me like a vice and I kick my ankle hard, causing the chain to whip against his leg like a snake. It slaps against his calf, leaving a blue bruise behind. “Wow,” I whisper in awe. When did I get this strong?

  Mikael frowns but tastes my blood anyway. “It’s not unicorn, but if you’ve just eaten that tear… it’ll have to do,” he says decidedly. He advances on me slowly like a tiger stalking its prey, and I know he intends to tear me to pieces.

  “But I’m your daughter!” I shriek, darting around the little unicorn’s corpse. “You can’t! This isn’t Froopyland!”

  Mikael lunges at me, his hands outstretched.

  I move faster than my mind can process, as my survival instinct kicks in. It’s as if I’m watching from the backseat of a car on auto-drive as someone else, not me, catches up the body of the little unicorn and twists its horn right off of its head. It pops free with a wet, sucking sound, just in time for me to wield it like a knife and stab Mikael deep in his chest, right over where his heart should be.

  The Fallen angel staggers back then falls to his knees. He grabs at the wound with one hand, trying to stem the flow of blood, while the other points at me accusingly. His mouth opens, but nothing comes out except a groan and a spurt of dark blood.

  I take a step forward, jaw falling open as the horror of what I’ve done dawns on me. It’s not enough that I helped kill a unicorn, I’ve mortally wounded my own father. I hold out a hand to him, but Mikael shoves it away.

  “You’re no daughter of mine,” he whispers hoarsely. Then, with unsteady wings, he launches himself into the air and disappears, leaving me coated in a mixture of our blood.

  Chapter 4: Malek

  It’s the blood lust that finally helps me find her. Christian’s descriptions, as detailed as they were, aren’t so useful in an academy littered with catacombs and hidden caves. But the energy of a fight, especially a fight to the death, is something I can sense from more than a mile away. It draws me through the forest in a path as straight as an arrow’s flight, until I’m standing at the lip of an old abandoned well.

  “Heaven,” I call down. For some reason, the angel doesn’t respond immediately. Instead, she keeps staring at her blood-stained hands and mumbling to herself, so softly that even my sharp ears can’t catch what she’s saying. “Heaven, we’re here to rescue you.”

  The werewolf who’s tailed me all this way drops into the well without hesitation, skidding down its mossy sides recklessly. Not to be beaten, I leap down into the dark depths and arrive before the mangy wolf does, making sure to check
the shadowy depths for any threats. He drops by the angel’s side a second after I do and catches hold of her hands, only to gasp when she looks up at him.

  Her face looks like a Blood Elf’s warrior mask. It’s marred by three deep diagonal slashes and coated with blood. The only thing whiter than her lips are her eyes, which are wide open, yet filled with a strange sort of blankness.

  “Heaven! Heaven!” the werewolf shakes her slightly, trying to bring her back to herself, then starts patting her down when he sees her injuries. “Oh my God, you’re hurt!”

  I stop him from touching her further with a hard squeeze on his shoulder. When I felt the death match, I thought I’d find her dead or dying at the bottom of the well. Instead… even if it doesn’t look like it at first glance, I can tell that she’s more than healthy.

  “Look,” I tell the werewolf and point to her face, where the cuts are already shallower than they were a few seconds ago.

  “It’s healing!” he exclaims in amazement. “How is that possible?”

  I never understand why people need me to state the obvious, but they so often do.

  “She’s an angel,” I say with a glare.

  The werewolf jumps as if I’d just stabbed him, but I ignore him and look around the bottom of the well. The chain that I guess was around her ankle is a mass of broken links, and there are deep grooves in the ground from where something had lashed it against the stone.

  I turn and spot the little unicorn in a corner. The pathetic thing is pure, but dead. I take my shirt off to cover it before I notice something strange about the body. Slowly, I kneel down beside the little unicorn and turn its head so I can see the spot where its horn should have been.

  It’s not unusual for a Fallen angel to devour everything pure in its path when it starts to lose Grace. The rare human or animal with enough innocence still in them… nature spirits who have yet to be corrupted by the human world… white magic practitioners who fail to conceal themselves… and especially supernatural animals like unicorns whenever they manage to get their hands on them.