Captured: Academy of the Seraph

by Brandi Elledge

  I stood up and paced in front of the small group. “The headmistress knows exactly what I carry inside of me. She also knows that she can’t attack me. My best guess is she is going to try to figure out a way to make me a puppet for herself.”

  “If she can get you marked, you won’t be able to leave,” Ezra pointed out.

  Trev shook his head. “Something isn’t adding up. She knows that Gabriella can easily kill her, but she can’t kill Gabriella. How will she get her to use the sword under her command?”

  “Yeah,” said Luna. “Why isn’t she up here right now?”

  “She’s stalling,” Remy supplied.

  “For what?” I stopped pacing as a thought struck me. “She is going to use someone who I love to get me to do her bidding. I bet she’s out there right now, searching for Finn, and once she realizes that’s a dead end, it will turn to others.”

  “Yeah, like me,” Remy said. “Because we know that I come right after the commander. I mean, I should come first, but I get it. He’s hot, and you both have that whole loved you in another lifetime thing going. So, second place it is.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “She doesn’t know about you, though.”

  “Who else would she go after?” Ezra asked.

  “Hannah,” Remy and I both said together.

  Luna tensed. “What does she look like?”

  “Like a freaking giraffe,” Remy answered. “Tall, skinny, and she has bright orangish-red hair. You literally cannot miss her.”

  Luna closed her eyes. “Oh no.”

  “What?” I asked.

  Ezra shared a look with Luna, who cleared her throat. “We went to check the dungeons earlier. They wouldn’t let us down to level one, the level that you were on.”

  Ezra nodded. “But one of the guards said it was a girl who wanted amnesty. The guards didn’t give us a description, but they did say that she was pretty roughed up. We were all so focused on getting more information about Mrs. Fields that we didn’t pay the newcomer any thought.”

  “I want her out of that cell now.” My voice was stern.

  Remy let out a few colorful cuss words. “Here is what we are not going to do. We are not going to act like this is the movies where we come up with some half-assed plan, then don’t execute it. Or worse, have the opportunity to put a bullet in the bad guy’s head, but at the last minute, we shoot him in the leg instead. Then said bad guy comes back for vengeance and murders the whole family, including the family pet. Nope. Not happening.”

  “I agree,” I said. “Let’s go for the jugular.”

  My gut told me what needed to be done, and I was going to listen to it.

  I stood up, faced Trev, and then laid a hand on his chest.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “I am still mad at you, but I get why you did what you did, and desperate times call for desperate measures. I would like to give you some of the power from the Flaming Sword. Is that okay?”

  He gripped my hand. “I promise that I won’t let you down again.”

  I nodded as I closed my eyes and concentrated. Power flowed through me and into him. Unlike when I pumped it into Luna, I had better control and more confidence. Therefore, it didn’t rush from me in one big jolt as much as it felt like it gently flowed from me.

  After a minute, he said, “I don’t feel any different.”

  “Trust me; you are.” I stepped over to his brother. “You don’t know me, and I don’t really know you, but my gut is telling me that you will fight for what is right. Will you accept some of this power? You will never be able to release it, and you will forever be tied to this group.”

  He gave me a sexy smile. “Babe, if you think I’d let my younger brother have something this cool and not want it for myself, you’re as crazy as you are beautiful. I’m in.”

  I closed my eyes just as I heard Remy whisper to Luna, “Ugh, my fiancé is so amazing right now.”

  The whole room laughed as my palm warmed on his chest.

  “All right, Remy, you ready?”

  Her blue eyes widened. “I don’t think I can. I mean, I’m … you know … I’m different.”

  I trusted my gut. It was telling me to transfer some of the Flaming Sword’s power to Remy. “You ready to be more different?”

  She shrugged as she nervously stepped toward me. “If you think it’ll work.”

  “I do.” And it did. I immediately felt my hand heating as I pressed it to her chest.

  “I won’t let you down either,” she said.

  “Oh, I know. You’d be too scared to lose that best friend status.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Like that would ever happen.”

  “Okay, guys, I need all of you to get me to those dungeons and to Hannah. Once I transfer some of the Flaming Sword’s power to her, she won’t have to fear the headmistress any longer. Plus, I’ll feel better knowing she can take care of herself.”

  “The moment the headmistress knows where we are heading, all hell will break loose,” Trev warned.

  “So, let’s prepare for battle.”

  They all nodded.

  “And like Remy said, shoot to kill. Let’s not play around with this. There is too much at stake. Act quick, and I really do believe the Flaming Sword will protect you.”

  “I’m going to go hide our sisters,” Ezra said. “Then I’ll meet the four of you in the dungeons.”

  Remy went into ghost form, her cold air alerting us that she was still nearby.

  As soon as our group turned left away, from Ezra, and went down the hall, that was when we knew we were in trouble. My gut warned me that tonight was about to get even crappier.

  There were no students loitering in the hallways. In fact, you could have heard a pin drop. Luna flanked one side of me, while Trev on the other. I felt Remy fly past us to go scout ahead. Before we even made it down the first flight of steps, she was back and stopping us in our tracks.

  “This is bad,” she whispered. “They have Hannah on her knees, in the middle of that creepy room that they call a gymnasium, but looks more like a nightclub for losers. It looks like the headmistress is waiting on you. I tried to touch Hannah to give her some of that voodoo sword magic, but either it didn’t work on me when you did it, or you are the only one who can transfer the power of the sword.”

  I hesitated at the top of the landing. Luna and Trev were both looking at me for guidance when I had none. Slowly, I started down the stairs. This was about to go horribly wrong. I felt I would be faced with options, and no matter what I chose, someone I cared about would be hurt.

  My feet carried me to the first floor, where I pushed the golden doors open and immediately felt many eyes on me.

  In the very center of the room was the headmistress. She had changed into military garments—olive cargo pants with a matching vest. Her twenty or so guards behind her were dressed all in black. Behind her, there were at least fifty wendigos banging on their glass cage. I skipped over the wendigos and the scowling faces of the guards. There was only one person who I cared to see.

  My eyes landed on Hannah. A rag had been stuffed in her mouth, and her lanky arms were tied behind her. Her bright hair stood up all over the place, her pale skin was marred with bruises, but her pale blue eyes were angry.

  My power slithered through me, begging to be released. I was going to kill them all.

  The headmistress, as if knowing what I was thinking, gave me a smirk. “It seems that I found something that might interest you.”

  I said nothing.

  “You know, Gabriella, I intended to use you when I first met you; show the commander who was really in charge, lure him close to me, close enough that I wouldn’t have to leave my creations”—she hitched a thumb, pointing toward the wendigos in the enclosure behind her—“but far enough that he couldn’t kill me. Then I realized that it wasn’t the commander who I should be focusing on … but you.”

  She moved a guard away from Hannah as she took his spot. Then she placed
one of Hannah’s curls behind her ear. “Mrs. Fields had some insight on you, Gabriella. I thought the woman was batty. I mean, what archangel would put something as magnificent as the Flaming Sword into a girl who wasn’t even fully blessed? It made no sense, but then there was Thalan … One doesn’t just die. Or, at least, a fully blessed doesn’t. Not without severe measures.”

  She tapped her finger on Hannah’s back. “Speaking of, I’ve found a way to kill a fully blessed. I’ve made a special serum from the feathers of an archangel. I can do a lot with this serum. I can mark the ones here, making sure they obey my commands of not leaving, and I can also take an immortal life. You see, once a fully blessed is injected with the serum, it weakens them. When they are at their weakest point, like your dear friend Hannah, you must strip the wings. Then you have to behead them.” She spun Hannah around. “Guess who just came into their immortality?”

  She jerked up the back of Hannah’s shirt and showed me the scars on her back. Her wounds were barely healed, but the puffy, angry marks that ran deep across her pale flesh could have only been caused by one thing.

  Someone had stripped her of her wings.

  My anger bubbled inside of me until I saw nothing but red. The ground quaked under my feet as a storm brewed outside. It sounded like a hurricane had hit and even the stone building wouldn’t be safe. A tree branch came sailing in through one of the gymnasium windows as the wind howled. For a brief moment, the headmistress looked scared before a guard put a blade at the base of Hannah’s neck.

  “I thought the wendigos could kill a fully blessed, so either your math is wrong, or I’m confused.”

  She narrowed her eyes at the dig. “You are correct. There are actually three ways to kill a fully blessed. The Flaming Sword, the serum, and a wendigo. But I’ve noticed that the wendigos, no matter how much I encourage them, won’t kill anyone who is remotely powerful. That is the only time that my creatures defy me. But don’t worry, love; the wendigos at my back aren’t here to kill you. They are here for a completely different reason.”

  “What is it that you want?”

  The headmistress squinted her black eyes at me. “Oh, was I not being clear? I’m going to turn you into a wendigo. Then you will be at my command.”

  With a nod of her head, the guard applied more pressure to Hannah’s neck, causing a tiny drop of blood to run down her pale, smooth throat.

  The golden doors opened behind me, and I heard the approach of many feet, but I didn’t dare turn around.

  The headmistress smiled. “I figured this friend might not be enough. I want you to be completely swayed to my side of reasoning, so I made sure that I had other options.” She nodded to somewhere behind me.

  Trev swiveled around then cursed right before his fist connected with the wall. Luna gasped.

  I really didn’t want to turn around. My gut was telling me that I was going to be devastated with what I saw. My emotions were swirling around me as my power surged trying to protect me the only way it knew how by fueling me with more power. Once I felt my power like the armor that it was then and only then did I find myself pivoting.

  There were fifty to sixty children all lined up against the back wall, ages twelve and under, and there wasn’t a dry eye amongst them. Each one of them had a guard behind them. There was no way that I could save them all. She knew this, and she obviously knew enough about me to know that I couldn’t let them die.

  That was the moment that Ezra showed up. He came to a halt as soon as he entered the gymnasium then angled himself behind one of the guards with a question in his eye. Obviously, when he didn’t find us in the dungeons, he came to look for us. He didn’t know exactly what was going on, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out that we were screwed.

  When I turned back to face the headmistress, there was a smile upon her face.

  “Yes, you could probably kill me, but where would that get you? You can’t kill me before your friend and these children die. However … if you become a wendigo, I will take a blood oath that, not only will I not harm these people, but I will have the mark erased on every student and captive here.”

  My body zinged with the lie. “You will have the mark removed?”

  “Yes.”

  Lie.

  “Do you know how to remove the mark?”

  “Of course I do. What kind of question is that.”

  Lie.

  The blade was cut farther into Hannah’s neck. If she were human, she would have been in serious trouble. I watched as the crimson droplets hit the ground.

  If I did this, then the headmistress would have the greatest weapon of all time—me.

  I could feel the energy between Trev, Luna, and even Remy. They were waiting to see what I would do. I could even feel Ezra’s eyes from farther behind me. The path that I was heading down was destiny. I could feel it.

  With confidence, I said, “I agree.”

  With a triumphant sneer, the headmistress said to her guards, “If one of them moves the wrong way, take Hannah’s head, along with the children’s.”

  Whimpers sounded from behind me, but I refused to look.

  “Follow me,” the headmistress ordered.

  When Luna and Trev started to flank me, she commanded them to stop. They both looked at me with questions in their eyes. I gave them a terse nod as I followed behind the headmistress and toward the glass enclosure. A handful of her guards flanked me as I was pushed to my knees. None of the guards took their eyes from me.

  The headmistress didn’t even need her guards. As long as Hannah’s life, along with the young innocents’ lives, were at stake, I would do anything to ensure their safety.

  I wasn’t sure what a demi who had been blessed by numerous archangels, while also carrying the essence of the Flaming Sword inside of her, would become once I was turned into one of those beasts, but I had a feeling that I wouldn’t be as easy to control as the headmistress hoped.

  One of the guards talked through his earpiece, telling the other guards to stand by. He let me know that I better comply with the headmistress’s wishes without putting up a fight.

  “Continue to face the glass and don’t move,” she ordered.

  I shook my head. “No, I’ll have the blood oath first. Then we can proceed.”

  The headmistress chuckled. “Here I was hoping you’d forget about that.” She walked over to the wall where the lever was that would release the wendigos. “Truth is … I can’t unmark the marked. There is only one person who can do that, and for her to do that, I would have to untie her, and then she would kill me.” She gave me a wink. “It’s a good thing we have you where we want you.” She was telling the truth.

  I glared at her as I faced the glass wall. If it were possible that I could actually turn into a wendigo, I would then kill her. At least, this way, I could be with Finn again.

  “Release a wendigo,” the headmistress ordered one of her guards. “I have a feeling we will have to drain her of her power.”

  As the guard did her bidding, the headmistress said, “Once you live in the pit, you will meet Thalan’s first creation. She is the only one who can refuse my call, so we have her restrained. Remember that, Gabriella, if you disobey me, I’ll have you restrained, and then you’ll never get to come out and play.” She smiled fondly at the wendigos.

  I was giving her my best what-the-hell look. Was she really giving me idle chitchat and warnings right before she turned me into a beast? Maybe not the right audience, lady.

  My hands shook in nervous anxiety. Sandalphon had told me not to kill the wendigos. Uriel had told me, more or less, to go down the more challenging path. Well, it didn’t get more challenging than this. They wouldn’t have led me down this road just to see me fail. I had to keep the faith that I was sitting here, facing the glass that would soon release a wendigo, for a reason. Also, Chamuel had told me to trust myself. My gut was telling me that I was right where I needed to be.

  There was a steady stream of cries and whimpers co
ming from the children.

  When cold air swirled around me, I told Remy, “It’s okay.” The headmistress thought I was giving myself a pep talk.

  I watched as one, lone wendigo in the front stretched to its full six feet before it slightly slumped over. Its naked body glistened under the lights as it slowly walked toward the now-open glass like it was reveling in anticipation. As it got closer to me, it cocked its head to the side.

  “I command only one of you to come out and make Gabriella here into a wendigo. If it doesn’t work, then another of you will come out.”

  When it hesitated, the headmistress commanded louder.

  Finally, it began to creep toward me.

  I ignored the tightness around my heart and the flood of emotions that were rolling over me. Then, before I could take my next inhale, there were screams, and a huge commotion was coming from the guard’s earpiece. Children were running every which way.

  The guard closest to me shouted something that sounded like “hold the line” before he said, “Hello? Hello?”

  Looking at the headmistress, he told her, “Communication is down.”

  When another wendigo came out of the glass enclosure, the headmistress looked startled. “What are you doing out? Only one at a time. Get back in there!”

  Guards in the very back of the room looked like they were fighting with a sandstorm. A large object was moving so fast that even the fully blessed eye could not track it.

  As the storm moved around Hannah, Ezra quickly ran up and rescued her from the middle of the eye of the hurricane then ran for the door. Trev and Luna were ushering kids through the golden doors. The older kids ran for the door without asking for permission, but the younger ones were terrified. I had every faith that Luna and Trev would get them to safety.

  As soon as Ezra got Hannah out of the gymnasium, I stood up from my knees.

  The wendigo before me had paused, as if it really didn’t want to come near me. The headmistress shouted for it to hurry up.

  Before it reached me, we all heard through one of the guard’s earpieces a frantic shout. “What is this thing? It’s killing all of—”