Shit, I think he was…
“An Angel,” Enit whispered.
The kid with the flaming red hair had fucking wings. Big white and blue wings. “Holy Jesus,” I whispered as he walked past, and the kid—I swear he must have been thirteen at most—looked over at me and winked. “It’s Madoc actually.” The hottie shook his head, and nudged him on, but Madoc wasn’t done. He waggled his eyebrows. “And he’s Sammie. In case you wanted to know.” He gave me a cheesy grin, and I tipped an imaginary hat at him in thanks.
Yeah, I’ll be seeing you around, Sammie.
The big, tattooed guy walked past X, and the whole room held its breath. They sized each other up, and I shook myself out of my lust filled thoughts to get ready to run for help again.
Their stare off ended when X grinned. “Like your tatts, mate.”
The big guy dragged his eyes down X’s body slowly, admiring his tattoos as well. At least, I think it was his tattoos. When he looked back up, he quirked an eyebrow. “It’s Goliath.”
X ran his eyes quickly down the other guy’s body too. “I bet it is.”
Um, were they fucking flirting right now?
A man with an honest-to-god eyepatch whistled, and this, uh Goliath? Maybe? Winked and walked away.
What the hell was happening here? I took in that whole group, and when I looked at Christopher and Enit, I realized I wasn’t the only one. I didn’t know who these guys were, but they were going to shake shit up.
I could hardly wait.
2
Sammie
The wilds of fucking Canada were eerily loud. I mean, I was used to being in isolated, rural locations, but this Academy took shit to the next level. I could hear bird cries and kids yelling, and the sound of the wind through the trees was almost deafening.
I turned away from the window and looked around at all the boxes. Cara was playing on her phone, and Madoc had somehow found his gaming console in all this crap and plugged it into the TV.
This house was going to be our home away from home for the next five years. I was already having fucking regrets. I could have been in the city, patching into Damnation. Trigger would be laughing his ass off if he realized I gave up being a Prospect to babysit for half a decade.
Still, I knew in my gut I wouldn’t have been able to rest easy thinking they were up here by themselves. Cara would’ve had them all fucking leading a coup against the administration in a month.
Thank god our best friend, and lion Alpha, Bohdie was arriving tonight to help maintain my sanity and mitigate some of Cara’s more impulsive behaviors. He was flying up, but his flight wouldn’t arrive until late.
“We should get this shit put away,” I grumbled, and Cara sighed, dropping her phone onto the coffee table. The parentals had just left, and Cara already looked like she was plotting ways to take full advantage of her freedom.
Fuck me.
“Madoc.” The little shit ignored me. “Madoc, I’m serious. Get your ass over here and help. They’ll be here soon.”
Yeah, that had him leaping up. “When are they arriving?”
As if we summoned them, three Angels appeared, as well as my Aunt Hope and my cousin Attica. Not by blood, but they were family. Family was what you made, not the blood that ran through your veins.
They had a weird story, but you’d be surprised how quickly Angels and the Devil became a mundane part of your life. Mephistopheles made a great potato salad, and Gusion always cried a little if he got too drunk. They were just part of the family, but granted, they had wings, could read your mind, and would drag you to the very bowels of Hell if you pissed them off.
Hope smiled, coming over to hug us all, starting with me. I couldn’t help the goofy smile that I gave her back. Aunt Hope was like that, she made you feel happy without even trying. And Attica? She was basically a miniature version.
“Sammie!” she squealed, dragging me into a hug.
“Hey, kid.” I ruffled her red hair as she climbed all over Cara. She was the sweetest little thing, with such a pure heart, and I would stomp any little fucker who hurt her.
Azriel, the former Angel of Death, huffed. “As well you should. We are trusting you with our heart.” The mind reading bit was a real bitch sometimes.
So, no pressure or anything. Attica looked over at Azriel and rolled her eyes. “Dad. I will be fine. Besides, you guys, and Great-Uncle Luc are literally, like, a thought away. You’re suffocating me.” She rolled her eyes, and I swear to god, I stood there biting my tongue so I didn’t laugh. She had them wrapped around her little finger. Three of Hell’s Fallen Angels, literal Princes of the Underworld, and she put them in their place.
See, how could you not love that kid?
“I promise I’ll take care of her, Sirs.”
“We know you will, Sammie. We wouldn’t leave her here if we had doubts,” Gusion, the least intimidating of Hope’s husbands, laughed. He was also Madoc’s grandfather. Yeah, it was confusing. It was a whole thing. I guess that happened when you lived a really long time—your story had so many twists and turns that sometimes, it twisted right back around on itself.
Mephistopheles crossed his arms and frowned. “I voted for homeschooling.”
Hope laughed, hugging Madoc tight. “You’ll look after Attica, won’t you Madoc? They both need an opportunity to live like normal children, and this is the perfect place. Sammie and Cara will care for them, and they’ll have each other.”
After some more grumbling, they got Attica sorted, popping in and out with stuff for her room. Handy damn trick. We’d driven up in the SUV, hauling all the stuff we’d need to live here comfortably.
Hope was right though. We’d gotten lucky. Eden Academy had given us our own house, so the kids didn’t have to stay in the dorms and I didn’t have to stay offsite in that creepy as fuck town.
Well, most of it had been creepy. Except for that girl. She hadn’t been creepy at all. She’d been goddamn beautiful. Long dark brown hair, eyes so damn blue I swear it was like she could cut me with them like lasers. She’d smirked at me like she knew all my secrets, and hell, maybe she did.
When the guy next to her, her boyfriend or brother or whoever the fuck he was had growled at her, I was so close to walking over there and shoving my gun between his teeth until he apologized. Cain too. If there was one thing we didn’t stand for in Damnation MC, and in our family, it was women being beaten down, physically or verbally.
Then she’d smirked and winked at Cain and my chest had done this weird thump. And so had my dick.
Someone cleared their throat, and I looked up and stared straight into the inky blackness of Mephistopheles’ eyes. Shit, I needed to remember the company I was keeping.
Gusion laughed again, and elbowed Mephistopheles. “Leave him alone, Memphis. He’s allowed to fantasize about pretty girls.”
My cheeks flushed, and I picked up a moving box and shoved it in the master bedroom. One thing I had learned as a human in a supernatural world, was that I was always going to be at the bottom of the food chain, but screw it. It wasn’t a competition to the top. Against Angels and immortal beings, there was no winning. All you could do was stand your ground, trust your instincts and know when to cut and run.
Speaking of running, I was dying right now. I threw on a pair of sweats and a tank, lacing on my Nikes.
The house was blissfully quiet as everyone got down to work. I ducked my head into Attica’s room. Somehow, it was already zen as hell, and she’d barely moved in. That kid was like a walking tranquilizer.
“Hey, Aunt Hope? I’m just going for a run while you’re here to take care of all… this.” I indicated the room, but I meant more than that. I meant Madoc two rooms over, and Cara downstairs.
She nodded, her normal small smile in place on her face. “Sure thing, Sammie. Actually, let me walk with you downstairs.”
I stepped back so she could go down the stairs first. When I met her at the bottom, she stilled me with a touch on my elbow. “Look, Samm
ie, I know this is a lot of responsibility, and despite what the guys say, it isn’t all on you. You are allowed to have a life. You are their guardian for the next however many years, not their jailer. And they aren’t your jailers either. Have fun too, okay? They are teens not toddlers; they are capable of being alone for a few hours unsupervised on the Academy grounds. Besides, they’re good kids. They won’t get up to too much mischief.” We both looked at Cara’s door. “Well, most of them anyway. But you have as much chance of controlling that one as a snowflake's chance in Hell.”
I chuckled because she wasn’t wrong. Cara had always had a mind of her own, and I’d learned a long time ago that I couldn’t keep her caged. I could only mitigate the damage.
“I got it, Aunt Hope.”
She squeezed me to her side like I didn’t stand a full foot taller than her. “Go run while I still feel guilty for offloading two preteens onto you.”
I shook my head and stepped outside my terrace door. The Eden Academy compound was pretty cool, really. The huge building at the center was basically an impenetrable fortress. It must have cost a fortune, but it was a weird mixture of stone and reflective glass that made it blend so easily with the landscape. The houses were all situated under towering trees that must have been hundreds of years old, though how they’d managed to build the houses without damaging tree roots or trunks was beyond me.
The only sign that this place was inhabited at all was a giant mansion looking house in the corner, though even that was ruggedly rich. A massive log cabin with a wrap around porch and two stories. Insanity.
Stretching a little, I took off at a slow jog down the driveway, but I quickly turned off onto a path that headed into the trees. It was little more than a wildlife trail but I liked the tranquility of it.
I let myself get lost in the run, taking in different parts of the compound but not focusing on anything. Off to the right seemed to be a large sports field and beside that was what appeared to be a full working farm, complete with different types of crops and livestock.
I ran along the fence line, taking in a grizzled old horse that chuffed at me from where it chewed nonchalantly. I saluted it and ran back toward the woods.
I ran the perimeter, because I liked to know where the boundary line was. I noted that in the corner of each part of the fenceline was a small watchtower, complete with guards inside. These guys took their security seriously. I saluted one of the guards and he eyed me long and hard before he waved back.
I faltered on the track when I spotted another runner up in front of me. He must have been a hundred yards away, but he stopped, cocking his head to the side in a significantly animalistic move, and then turned until he spotted me. I continued running, because I didn’t want to seem suspicious. He was definitely a supe of some kind then.
I wanted to mentally slap myself. They were all supes here. I was the odd one out for once. I was the human in a compound of other. As I got closer, I felt the power coming off this guy, even as a human.
I’d grown up around supes. Sera, my mother for lack of a better title, was Nephilim—half Angel, half human. Judas, Cain, Solomon and Goliath were the freaking Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The Devil himself built a fort in our backyard. Supernatural shit didn’t scare me, but for a human, I had a pretty good sense for it. This guy was powerful, but his mannerisms were animalistic. My bet was shifter, Alpha definitely. My best friends were lion and bear shifters, so I knew the taste of their power.
He looked me up and down. “You’re new.”
I slowed my steps until I was standing across from him. A safe distance away, but not far enough to be offensive. I met his eyes and dropped them quickly, a shifter protocol drummed into me by a bear Alpha who didn’t give a shit about formalities but still made sure we all knew them.
“Yep.”
“Not supernatural. Human with an extra ability?”
“Nope. Just a regular human.”
He frowned. “That can’t be right. We don’t enroll Normals.”
I shrugged. I didn’t correct him that I wasn’t exactly enrolled. I kind of came as a package deal, because Cara hadn’t wanted Madoc to come alone, and Cara got what Cara wanted. My dad couldn’t trust Cara not to burn this place to the ground, because she was who she was, so they made a deal. Azriel had visited the Academy’s administration personally to ensure that both Cara and I enrolled with Attica, and who said no to the former Angel of Death?
No one.
I was too old for their Academy program, so I’d made myself more profitable by insisting I could do weapons training tutoring. And I could. What I didn’t know about a gun, or a sword, didn’t really need to be known. I could kill a man just as easily with a ballpoint pen as I could with a switchblade.
My parents had made sure I knew how, but then ensured I’d never had to use my knowledge. I appreciated that. Cara and me, we’d seen enough. I’d patch into Damnation eventually, and then maybe I’d be able to use my talents. Until then, I’d teach preternaturals with claws how to use a knife. Seemed redundant but whatever.
The guy in front of me stuck out a hand. “Fair enough. Hey, I’m Bobby. Alpha-Heir to the Nîso Pack.”
“Sammie Richards, designated guardian of a whole bunch of punk kids.”
Bobby laughed. “I get that feeling. You run pretty fast for a human. You track back wherever you came from?”
I grinned. “Nah, spent my time racing a lion Alpha growing up. Makes you fast.”
The guy grinned. He looked about my age, maybe a year or so older. He had a nice face, but appraising eyes. Definitely an Alpha.
“Oh yeah? Wanna race?” His grin thought this would be easy, and in all likelihood, it would be.
But I didn’t shy away from a challenge. I was a lot like my sister in that way.
“Sure.” I looked the guy over. He was fit, that much was obvious. He wasn’t bulky, but you could tell he worked out. I’d bet my favorite kicks that he ran like the wind. But still, I could never say no to a challenge.
“Like what you see, Sammie Richards?” Bobby laughed, like I should be embarrassed I was checking him out.
I wasn’t. I had a healthy appreciation for the physical form, and the gender of the person really didn’t matter much to me. It definitely didn’t make me less of a man. I dared anyone to tell my dads, Goliath and Judas, that because they loved each other as much as they loved Serendipity, that it made them less.
There wouldn’t be anything left for the authorities to find.
So I couldn’t resist the small smug smile on my face as I looked him dead in the eye and said, “Yeah, I do.” Then I took off toward the main Academy building, trying not to laugh at his gaping expression. “Your reflexes suck, Alpha. Are we racing or what?” I yelled over my shoulder, but I was already fifty yards away. Like I said, I was quick.
I’d gone off the path, but it didn’t matter. The undergrowth was clear and well maintained, and I was used to running through the woods. It wasn’t long until Bobby was hot on my heels, and when we reached the sports field, I put my head down and sprinted until my lungs burned and my heart felt like it would beat out of my chest.
Still, Bobby overtook me within the last ten yards, spinning to run backwards as he slowed. “You weren’t kidding, human. You are fast,” he laughed.
I grinned, feeling the expression stretch my face. Yeah, this Academy might be alright after all.
3
Carmen
The best part of graduating from Eden High to the Academy was that I no longer had to wear the uniform. I mean, I got the purpose of them. The junior school wore a forest green, and the senior school wore grey, and for a variety of kids with differing aging rates, being able to quickly identify where they were meant to be was a godsend. But when you joined the Academy, you got to wear whatever you liked, as long as you were wearing the Academy blazer. And I’m not going to lie—my ripped black jeans, Doc Martens and this blazer was a definite style.
We rolled into the
parking lot thirty minutes before school started, Christopher at the wheel and Enit actually looking excited for the first day. For three people born in the very same litter, we would struggle to be more different. Sure, Christopher and I had similar styles, jeans and tees, though his were bands and mine were just whatever graphic tees I liked.
Today was a Harley Davidson tank that I’d tied just above my belly button. I wore dark lipstick, and eyeliner as black as my heart, but both made my blue eyes look electric. My dark hair ran down my back in a wild tangle of waves. Shit yeah, I was feeling myself today.
Enit though, was my polar opposite. She had a long flowing skirt, a beautifully embroidered blouse and soft pink lipstick that set off her pale skin and white-blond hair.
Like night and day. Winter and summer.
As she bounced around me, I couldn’t help but pull her into my side. “Calm down, Enit. You’d think we hadn’t spent the last twelve freaking years here.”
She squeezed me tightly, her Omega vibes washing over me. “I know, but I get to finally focus on my Omega talents, and pick a career path, and there’ll be all sorts of new people to meet!”
I rolled my eyes but gave her a squeeze. I loved the fuck out of her, every sweet part of her nature.
I had no sweetness. I was all bitterness, the type you tasted before you died from poisoning.
As if to prove her point, the kids from the diner the other day all bustled out of one of the group homes, along with a couple of extras. One was a girl with the same red hair as Madoc, the kid with the wings. She had eyes too big for her face and a smile so wide, it was a wonder it didn’t touch her ears.
The other one was a golden-haired boy, and he was big. I put my hand on Enit’s arm, stopping her. The golden-haired boy stopped too, his head snapping around to look at us. Christopher stepped in front of us both, a low growl rumbling on the air.
The golden-haired boy raised his lip, holding Christopher’s eyes.
Rebels and Runaways: Eden Academy Book One Page 2
