Demonspawn Academy: Trial Two

by Annabel Chase

  Demonspawn Academy: Trial Two

  Annabel Chase

  Red Palm Press LLC

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Also by Annabel Chase

  Chapter One

  The moon and stars were shrouded in a gray blanket that prevented any light from filtering down to the ground. I took care not to stumble as I descended the uneven steps that had been carved from rock centuries ago. Eventually I arrived at the beginning of a long corridor. The air was so quiet and still that I became acutely aware of the sound of my own breathing as I crept forward. At the end of the corridor, I encountered an underground chamber. A hypogeum. Elder Asago’s voice registered in my head from some long-ago lesson. An underground burial chamber cut from rock for prominent individuals. In other words, a tomb.

  My ears pricked at a muffled sound. It seemed to come from inside the hypogeum. There was only one problem.

  The chamber was sealed shut.

  I placed my hands flat against the would-be door. Clay, rocks, and charcoal barred my entry. I had no weapons, not that I was convinced a sword would have been much help. Then my hands began to itch and I remembered the night I’d faced off against a Whistler—the light that had emanated from my hands—and I took a cautious step backward as I felt the pressure build. The noise from inside the chamber grew louder until one word became clear.

  “Cassia.”

  My heart thumped. “Sage?” How would she have gotten inside a sealed tomb? She should be safe in Spire 10 at the academy like the rest of my kenzoku.

  “Cassia.” A plea.

  Energy exploded from my hands, blasting away the rocky barrier. Sage stood in the center of the tomb, surrounded by debris. There seemed to be an entire family buried here, along with their pottery, drinking vessels, and even pieces of furniture.

  “How did you get here?” I asked.

  Sage’s dark lashes fluttered in confusion. “I don’t know. How did you get in? You don’t have any weapons.”

  I shot a guilty glance at my hand. “I don’t know.” The earth shook, causing more of the chamber to collapse. “We need to get you out of here.”

  “I can take care of myself,” Sage said.

  I gestured to the caskets and debris around her. “Apparently not.”

  “Someone’s coming,” Sage said, her voice an urgent whisper. She closed her eyes and opened her arms wide, as if to welcome the visitor. Piece by piece, bones were ripped from their resting places and flew to her. At first glance, I thought she was under attack, until I realized the bones were forming a protective shield around her.

  No, not a shield.

  A suit of bone armor.

  When Sage finally opened her eyes, her vulnerable parts were covered in the bones of the skeletons. As part rakshasa demon and part human, I knew she could command corpses. I had no idea she could do—this. Based on her amazed expression, Sage didn’t seem to realize it either.

  “Are you fully dressed now?” I asked. “Because we need to go.”

  “Wait. One more thing.” She wiggled her fingers and two bone talons flew to her expectant hands. I gave them an admiring glance. The curved pieces would make excellent weapons.

  “The deceased were buried with their eagles?” I asked, with a disbelieving look at the caskets.

  “They have a mirror in here with them,” she said. “Why not a bird?”

  The earth trembled again. “Let’s go. I’m getting you out of here before we end up buried with this family forever.”

  Sage flashed a smile behind her skel-met. “I think you’ll find I’m getting us out of here.” She charged ahead in her bone armor, ready for battle against unseen enemies.

  A long shadow fell across the exit and an intimidating figure materialized. I noticed his beard before the rest of him.

  “Mephisto,” I said. But no. It couldn’t be the wizard. I killed him. I watched him disintegrate into a pillar of salt after I…

  Sage surged ahead and launched herself at the gangly wizard. She went straight through him and disappeared into the darkness.

  “Ah, you and me,” he said with a smirk. “As it should be.”

  “You and I,” I corrected him. Elder Alastor tended to beat us over the head with grammar rules. I reached for my sword, and then remembered I had no weapons. Why did I have no weapons? “How are you even here?”

  He moved his hands in the manner of rotating an invisible ball. “I am here because you summoned me.”

  “Summoned you?” I shook my head. “I’m not like Sage. I can’t do anything with the dead.”

  “Well then. Let’s see if the dead can do anything with you.” When he pounced, I did something completely out of character.

  I screamed.

  I was still screaming when firm hands shook me awake. I tried to focus, but Mephisto’s face still loomed in front of me.

  “Cassia, are you okay?” The beard dissolved and beady eyes were replaced by dark eyes and lashes.

  “Sage?” I touched her face. “Where’s your skel-met?”

  She frowned. “What in the devil is a skel-met?”

  “The helmet you made out of the bones of skeletons in the tomb.”

  Sage laughed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but now I want one.”

  “You were having a dream,” Rylan said. The succubus hybrid sat cross-legged on her bed, staring at me intently. “From the sounds you were making, it was pretty intense. I almost made popcorn.”

  Sage moved so that I could sit up. “It was a nightmare,” I said. “Mephisto was there.”

  Sage scowled at the mention of the wizard’s name. “At least we know that’s not possible. You obliterated him.”

  “Why am I seeing him in my nightmares?” I asked. I reached under my pillow to double-check. Yes, the dreamcatcher that Mariska had given me was there, albeit not very effective.

  “Do you even need to ask that question?” Sage began to count on her fingers. “He murdered the woman who raised you. He stole the Book of Admissions from the archives room. He tried to murder a bunch of us in a cemetery.”

  “And then you killed him,” Rylan interjected. “It’s probably guilt.” She uncrossed her legs and joined us at my bedside.

  “Why would I feel guilty?” I asked. “Mephisto was a monster.”

  “And maybe you’re worried that you’re a monster, too,” Rylan said. “It’s not like you’ve ever killed anyone before.” She paused. “Have you?”

  “No,” I said quickly. “How could I? I’ve been here for seventeen years.” Domus Academy was a secret school for cambions—the offspring of demons and humans—located in hidden spires in the mortal realm high above the city of Philadelphia. I’d been brought here as an infant and raised by the Elders and Mariska, the woman murdered by Mephisto when he created a portal that led to the archives room in the main spire. Mariska had been in the wrong place at the wrong time and paid the ultimate price.

  “But you said before that you’ve gone to the city on errands with Elder Sam and Mariska,” Sage said. “You never accidentally incinerated anyone on a trip for milk?”

  “I have never accidentally incinerated anyone,” I said.

  “Oh, so you turned Mephisto into a pillar
of salt on purpose,” Sage said. “Thought so.”

  I squirmed on the bed. “It wasn’t exactly like that.”

  “How’d you do it anyway?” Rylan asked. “Barris said there was nothing left of him. That he blew away like dust in the wind.” Rylan had been fortunate enough to be here in Spire 10 at the time, instead of in Mount Martha Cemetery with us.

  “I don’t know,” I said. It was only a partial lie. I knew what happened and that I was the one responsible for destroying him. I just didn’t understand exactly how. I’d been wanting to talk to Elder Sam about it, but he seemed preoccupied lately, almost like he was avoiding me. I suspected he felt guilty that I’d almost died and he wasn’t there to protect me. After Mariska, he was the next closest thing I had to a parent.

  “It was crazy magic, whatever it was,” Sage said. “Maybe you’re part djinni, like Barris.”

  “That would be easy to detect through testing,” Rylan said. “The Elders couldn’t identify her demon side, remember?”

  “Oh, I remember.” Sage drew herself to a standing position. “Whatever it is, it’s badass.” She pursed her lips, thinking. “Although not as badass as a suit of armor made from bones.”

  A knock on the door rattled me. I still wasn’t accustomed to living in Spire 10. I’d spent seventeen years in the main spire with the Elders, Mariska, and Aldo, the cook. I’d had my own bedroom and constant attention, sometimes welcome and sometimes not. I’d roamed the library and spent hours curled up with a book and Gretel, the overweight cat, until the Elders finally decided it was time to assimilate me. Now I roomed with Rylan and Sage for my final year at the academy. After this year, we’d be free to leave the safety of the spires and live anywhere we chose. I still hadn’t decided where that would be. The decision was too overwhelming and we had more pressing matters. Although we’d caught Mariska’s killer, the Book of Admissions was still out there.

  “Breakfast,” Barris called through the door. “You don’t want to miss this one. There’s bacon.”

  I scrambled to my feet, forgetting all about the nightmare at the mention of crispy, delicious bacon.

  “We’re coming,” Rylan said. She slid her feet into pink bunny slippers and padded toward the door.

  As I attempted to follow, Sage grabbed my arm, her dark eyes shining. “After breakfast, you’re going to tell me more about this bone armor.”

  “You’re slouching,” Elder Sam said. “You need better form.”

  I squared my shoulders and lunged with my blade. “I’m exhausted.”

  Elder Sam darted a few steps backward, easily avoiding my touch. “Go to bed earlier.”

  “It’s not my bedtime. It’s the nightmares.” I sheathed my sword in frustration. “Forget it. I can’t focus. Can we do something else?”

  A line of worry creeped across his forehead, amplifying one of his many scars. “You don’t feel like fighting? Should I bring you back to the main spire for a health check?”

  “It’s not that I don’t feel like it. It’s that I don’t feel like it.”

  He regarded me with amusement. “Yes, I can see how one is vastly different from the other.” His gaze swept the armory and returned to me. “Want to fly? I can get my wings.” He meant the artificial wings he wore in place of his real ones, which had been cruelly removed by the seraphim in Dominion. As the only non-demon at the academy, it probably helped that Elder Sam no longer sported his beautiful white wings.

  “How about testing me?” I asked.

  “Testing you how?”

  I expanded my chest and lifted my chin a fraction. “Set me on fire.”

  The seraph laughed. “I’m sorry. What?”

  “Set me on fire.”

  “I volunteer as tribute.” Barris appeared alongside the sparring mat. He’d been involved in swordplay with Zeph at the far end of the armory. I was pretty sure I’d seen Barris juggling maces at one point. Fighting wasn’t his strong suit.

  “No one is setting anyone on fire,” Elder Sam said. He eyed me curiously. “What’s gotten into you?”

  “I want to show you what I can do.”

  “I know what you can do,” the Elder replied. “I’ve been training with you since you were born, remember?”

  “You don’t know everything,” I said. “And I keep trying to tell you, but…”

  “I can help,” Barris said. “Fire is spell casting 101.” He rubbed his hands together, a gleeful look on his face. As a half djinni, he was the only one in the armory right now that could produce elemental fire out of thin air. The fire that had incinerated Mephisto—there’d been nothing elemental about it.

  “You’ll ruin the mat,” Elder Sam said. “And we can’t risk the armory going up in flames. Alastor would never let us hear the end of it.” The grumpiest of the Elders, Elder Alastor was my least favorite—and I was his.

  “I have access to water too,” Barris said. “I’m an all-purpose elemental here. Come on, Elder Sam. Live a little. I’m tired of chucking daggers at Zeph's head.”

  “And I’m tired of nearly getting my head cut off,” Zeph added. “He’s better with magic than weapons. Take my word for it.”

  Barris looked at him askance. “Hey, you still have your head, don’t you?”

  Elder Sam stepped off the mat and gestured for me to do the same. “I’m going to allow this, but you have to promise not to tell the others.”

  Rylan skipped into the armory with a double-sided axe casually slung over her shoulder like a fashion accessory. Sage was right behind her. The mark on her forearm suggested that Rylan had managed to get in a good swing.

  “What’s going on?” Rylan asked.

  “Everyone stand back,” Barris announced. “Cassia is doing an experiment.”

  “Ooh, what kind of experiment?” Rylan asked. “Are you going to try to turn Barris into a pillar of salt? Because I think we’d all be willing to risk that outcome.”

  Barris glared at her. “I’m setting Cassia on fire.”

  “So I can prove I’m flame-proof,” I added. “Not because I have a death wish.”

  “This is what we should be doing,” Sage noted with a pleased expression. “Testing our limits.”

  “Mainly, she’s testing my limits,” Elder Sam remarked. He rolled up the mat and pushed it aside. “Everyone against the wall. Barris, make sure your aim is spot on.”

  “Should I get the fire extinguisher ready?” Rylan asked.

  “O ye of little faith,” Barris said, shaking his head.

  The others lined up against the wall and I stayed in the middle of the armory. “Okay, Barris. Go ahead and light me up,” I said.

  “I feel like those are song lyrics I should recognize,” Barris said.

  I saw the concern in Elder Sam’s blue eyes and I couldn’t decide which he was more afraid of—that I couldn’t withstand the flames…

  Or that I could.

  Barris produced a spark and then rolled his hands in a circular fashion until a small fireball appeared. He let it whirl above his palm, gaining strength, until it was powerful enough to set me ablaze. Then he flung it in my direction.

  As flames rushed toward me, I remained rooted place. The fire swept past me and dissipated before it reached the wall behind me.

  Rylan scratched her head. “Are you sure that’s real fire?”

  Barris squinted at her. “Of course I’m sure. Want me to blow some at you and you can judge for yourself?”

  “No one is setting anyone else on fire,” Elder Sam said firmly.

  I continued to stand in the same spot without so much as a strand of scorched hair.

  “That’s amazing, Cassia,” Rylan said. “What’s the trick?”

  “No trick,” I said. “I discovered my resistance in the city when Rafe and I were fighting lesser demons.” Inwardly I cringed. Why did I mention his name? I was trying to forget the nephilim existed, yet I seemed to bring him up at every opportunity. I couldn’t help myself. Even though he hated me for hiding my greater d
emon heritage from him—that I was the granddaughter of the King of the Nether, the most powerful demon family in the realm—I still…didn’t hate him. His extreme reaction was the reason I hadn’t confided in my new friends at the academy. I’d be here for another year. The last thing I wanted was to be rejected by them too. I’d only told Elder Sam after my return to the academy and I knew he would keep it to himself. He was the type to carry all kinds of secrets—the burden showed in his perpetually weary expression and the way he carried himself.

  “It’s not just resistance,” Sage said. Her dark eyes were wide with surprise. “You’re inflammable.”

  “Which demons are impervious to fire?” Zeph asked. He directed the question to Elder Sam.

  “More than I can name off the top of my head,” Elder Sam said vaguely.

  “Really?” Sage asked. “It doesn’t seem like a common trait.”

  I quickly realized my mistake in demonstrating my ability in front of my kenzoku. I should’ve waited until the other cambions weren’t around.

  “At least we know who’ll save us in a fire,” Barris said.

  Sage gave him a smug look. “She sleeps in my room, so she’ll save me first.”

  “I don’t mind switching beds,” Barris said. “I’m a team player.”

  Elder Sam rolled his eyes. “No one is switching beds.”

  “What about burning coals?” Rylan asked. “Can you walk on those without it hurting?”

  “I bet she can,” Barris said. “I just doused her in flames and her hair isn’t even singed.”

  “This demonstration is over.” Elder Sam seemed to be sharing my regret. “You four head to the cafeteria. I’d like a word with Cassia.”

  “Elder’s pet,” Sage sang, but I could tell by her teasing tone that the remark was good-natured. Whatever misgivings she’d had about me joining the group for our final year, she seemed to have gotten over them.