Seraphim Academy 1: Wicked Wings

by Elizabeth Briggs

  Cyrus swallows a big bite of pizza. “The first game is here on campus against the demons. Then the fae and demons have a game at Hellspawn Academy, and we have a game with the fae. At the end of the year, two winning teams face off for the championship.”

  “Does the school have other sports teams too?” I ask.

  “No, the sport rotates every year since we don’t have enough students for different teams. Last year it was baseball, and this year is football.”

  Baseball. Jonah’s favorite. I’m sure he played on the team. I’ll have to look up who else was on the team with him and see if they’d have any reason to do him harm.

  I poke at my pizza and try to sound innocent. “Is it safe having demons and fae here on campus?”

  Grace gives me a slightly pitying smile. “Pretty safe. There are plenty of professors and official people around to make sure nothing bad happens. Sometimes a fight breaks out, but nothing serious. You don’t need to worry.”

  Cyrus glances at her quickly. “Well, I mean, Jonah did go missing after the last championship game against the fae, but that was probably a coincidence.”

  I glance up quickly, then shove a piece of pizza in my mouth to hide my surprise. This is news to me.

  Grace’s face grows pinched at the mention of my brother. “We don’t know if it’s connected or not. The Archangels cleared the fae of any involvement.”

  I don’t know much about the fae, but it sounds like I need to learn more…and figure out what happened at that game.

  Araceli and I finish up our dinner, say goodnight to our friends, and head out the door. When we step out into the cool night air, I spot Marcus leaning against the wall outside, looking deliciously sexy in a black leather jacket while the breeze teases his wavy hair. His dark eyes catch mine and lust flares between us, so strong I nearly tremble when it hits me.

  “There you are,” he says, straightening up. “I’d like to talk to you. Alone.”

  Araceli gives me a nervous glance, but I nod at her. “It’s fine,” I say. “I’ll meet you back at the dorm.”

  “Okay.” She hesitates, but then rubs her arms and darts away.

  When we’re alone, I ask, “Were you waiting for me?”

  “I was,” he says. “We need to set up a time to work on our project for Demon Studies.”

  “Is that all?” I let out a soft laugh. “You had me worried there when you said you wanted to speak alone.”

  He gives me the sexiest little grin. “I just wanted you all to myself.”

  I roll my eyes at the cheesy line. “I’m free at 4pm on Wednesday. Does that work?”

  “Sounds good. Meet in the library?”

  I nod. “See you then.”

  As I walk away, he calls out in a teasing voice, “We both know you wanted to be alone with me, too.”

  I pretend I don’t hear him, but I hate how right he is. I do want him alone. In my bed. On a table. On the floor. Doesn’t matter, as long as we’re both naked. But that’s not going to happen, so I swallow my desire and head back to my dorm…alone.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Kassiel

  At midnight, the campus is deathly quiet, especially out here by the lake. The moonlight glistens off the black water as it moves softly in the wind, and I take a deep breath and take it all in. After a long day of teaching, it helps me clear my head to have a moment alone to myself out here.

  “I never imagined I’d see you out of your suit.”

  The sultry, familiar voice makes me jerk upright, and I turn to spot the owner of it walking toward me. “Olivia.”

  She’s wearing a black hoodie, and she pushes it back as she approaches, then shakes out that beautiful mane of dark hair. “What are you doing out here?”

  “I could ask the same of you.”

  “I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d take a walk around the lake. I didn’t expect to see anyone else out here.”

  “Sometimes I unwind out here after a long day of teaching.” I should get up and say goodnight to her to avoid her as much as possible, but I find myself rooted to the bench I’ve been sitting on. Something in her eyes looks so vulnerable and lost I can’t send her away. I pat the spot next to me on the stone bench. “Care to sit with me for a few minutes?”

  She glances at her watch and nods her head. If she was half-human like everyone thought, she wouldn’t have been able to see it in the meager moonlight. But she’s not, and she just confirmed it for me without even realizing it. Careful, my dear, or someone else will catch on soon too.

  “I guess I can spare a few more minutes.” She perches on the edge of the bench and stares at the water, like she’s purposefully trying not to look at me. Then it hits me…she’s hungry. Lilim are always hungry, especially young ones like her. Since she’s only half succubus, I’m not sure how often she needs to feed, but she can probably feel my own desire for her every time I look at her, and it probably makes it even worse.

  I jerk my gaze away from her and try not to think about how much I want her. “How are you doing? With your…special diet?”

  Her body visibly stiffens. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Sure you don’t.” I lean over and pick up a rock, tossing it into the lake. With my superior strength, it skips all the way to the other side and out of view.

  “Nice throw.”

  “I’ve had a lot of practice.”

  She arches an eyebrow. “How old are you? Or is that weird to ask an angel?”

  I chuckle softly. “It’s considered rude to ask, because the older you are, the more powerful, but it’s fine. I’m only one hundred seventy-two years old.”

  “Only?” she asks, with a little laugh.

  “In the supernatural world, that’s practically a baby.”

  She shakes her head with an amused smile. “And in the human world, it’s old enough to be my great-great-grandfather or something like that.”

  “Time is different for those of us with immortal lifespans. Years will start to fly by, and you’ll wonder where they went. Then you’ll look up, and suddenly all the technology is obsolete, and you need to learn everything all over again.”

  “So what you’re saying is, you’re old,” she says with a teasing grin.

  I grin back at her. “Pretty much, yeah. Now get off my lawn, youngster.”

  “Not a chance.” She tilts her head as she studies me, and I’m struck again with how lovely she is. “You definitely don’t look old. Especially in jeans and a t-shirt. I thought you lived in those suits.”

  “Only when I’m in public. Like I told you before, my father ingrained in me that a man is only as good as his suit, and it’s hard to get over that even after all these years. But then, you understand how complicated relationships with parents can be, don’t you?”

  It’s a leading question, going back to what she said that night, and with it she instantly tenses again. “I don’t know who my father is.”

  “Is that so?” I ask. “A pity. Maybe now that you’re here, he’ll claim you. What about your mother?”

  “Dead.”

  “That’s not what you told me back at the bar that night.”

  “You must have heard me wrong.” She looks at the water and stands. “It’s late. I should get back to my room.”

  She’s falling back upon her lies then. I hoped she would be honest with me, but I understand her need for secrecy better than anyone. As she starts to walk away, I call out, “Olivia.”

  She turns and looks at me in the dark, easily meeting my eyes thanks to her demon blood. “Yes?”

  “I won’t expose you.” I can’t explain why, but I won’t give her up. Not unless I’m forced to. “Your secret is safe with me, I swear it. And not just because I’m worried about an inquiry for sleeping with a student. So if you ever need to talk…I’ll be here.”

  Her eyes lower to the ground for a few seconds. Then she meets my gaze again and gives a curt nod. “Good night.”

  As she walks away, I
let out a long breath. Getting close to Olivia is dangerous for so many reasons. For one, it’s forbidden for a teacher and a student to have a relationship. For another, she could find out what I am and expose me too. I can’t afford to have my cover blown, especially not when I’m closer than ever.

  And the most dangerous reason? When she’s around, I feel more than I have in a century.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Olivia

  LEAVE NOW BEFORE YOU GET HURT

  Wadding up the paper, I stuff it deep into my bag before anyone else sees it. “Assholes.”

  The threatening note is the latest of a long line of them left in my bag, slipped under my dorm room door, or under the windshield wipers of my car. I even found one shoved in my bag after I shopped in the school store. Tanwen was nearby that day, so I’m sure she’s behind the notes.

  I just finished up my last session with Bastien, and after a long day of classes all I want to do is go to my room and take off my bra, but that’s not in the cards today. I stop by the cafeteria to grab a coffee, and then head back to the library. I’m a few minutes early, but Marcus beats me there anyway, already waiting in one of the private rooms.

  “Hey, gorgeous.” He stands when he sees me and holds out my chair for me. “You ready for this?”

  He’s got several books on imps out already, which I don’t need. Mother told me all about the other demon races, and I’m not sure I trust these books to be unbiased anyway. On the other hand, I thought I knew everything about angels too before coming to Seraphim Academy, and I’ve learned a lot in the last week. Maybe there will be something helpful in the books after all.

  Marcus flips one of them open. “From what I’ve read so far, imps represent the Deadly Sin of envy and can create illusions. They feed on attention and awe, so they tend to have jobs like actors, musicians, and magicians. That should make this project easier.”

  “Do we have to do a presentation or just the paper?” I ask, as I grab one of the books.

  “We have to do a 3D model of an imp using its powers.” Marcus stares at me like I should’ve known this.

  “You’re joking.” A 3D model? Out of what? Paper mâché? I don’t think so. “That’s a bit much, don’t you think? And imps look just like humans, they just have the power of illusion.”

  Marcus bursts out laughing. “We don’t have to make a 3D model. Just write a paper.”

  “Oh, I see how it is.” I can’t help the smile that spreads across my face as he laughs. His features, sharp and handsome, soften as he chuckles.

  He opens his notebook and checks his messy handwriting. “We’re supposed to find historical, religious, and mythological people who are imps and write a ten-page paper on them by the end of the year. We did a similar thing last year in Fae Studies.”

  “That shouldn’t be too hard. There’s Loki, Houdini…”

  Marcus’s eyebrows shoot up. “How do you know they’re imps?”

  Shit. Mother told me. I’m not supposed to know this stuff. For a second I forgot. I give a little shrug and try to play it cool. “Grace told me. She took Demon Studies last year.”

  “Cool. We can definitely research those two. I think we need another person. Maybe a woman. Let’s see what these books say.”

  We spend the next hour combing through the books Marcus brought while taking notes, and making an outline for what we need to research more. Though I originally pictured Marcus as more of a cute jock type, he’s smarter than I expected.

  “Hmm, there’s a book we don’t have.” Marcus shuffles through the books on the table. “It’s about the darkness of imps, and how they’re seen as the more innocent of demons, but it outlines the atrocities some of them committed. I know I’ve seen it before.”

  “That could be useful.”

  He snaps his fingers. “I know! It’s in Uriel’s private library. I’ll get it next time I’m there with Bastien, and I’ll bring it next week when we meet again to finish up the research.”

  “Uriel has his own private library?” I ask as I help gather up the books on the table, keeping my voice casual. I still need to steal something for my first trial, and I have less than a month to do it. I remember seeing a bookshelf when I met with Uriel before, but I was pretty distracted and overwhelmed at the time.

  “Yeah, in his office. Mostly stuff that’s considered dangerous or not fit for students to read at their leisure. Dark magic kind of stuff. Old demonic tomes.”

  We put the books back on the shelf, and I peruse some of the other nearby books on demons. One of them looks interesting, and I pluck it off the shelf and flip through it.

  “Same time again next week?” Marcus asks.

  “Sounds good,” I say, closing the book. I’m going to check it out and take it back to my room, because it has a section about Lilim that looks interesting. Surely I know all there is about my kind, but given what I’ve discovered I don’t know about angels and demons, there might be something in the book I could learn too.

  He leans against the bookshelf next to me and I catch a whiff of his scent. Sandalwood. “This was fun. We should hang out more.”

  My succubus side wakes up and purrs, and I’m tempted to bury my face in his chest and breathe him in. I clutch the book to my chest to stop myself. “I don’t think your friends would approve.”

  “That’s their problem. I want to get to know you better. Maybe over dinner sometime. What do you think?”

  “I think that’s a really bad idea.” By now, my hunger has grown considerably and all the sexual tension with Marcus doesn’t help in the least. “I’ll see you in class.”

  I spin on my heel and start to head out. Why is Marcus suddenly being so nice to me? Is this some new angle to trick me into trusting him, then deceiving me? I’ve seen plenty of high school dramas on the CW, I know how this stuff works. Or am I being too suspicious? Maybe he actually…likes me? But that’s a problem too. I can’t have a boyfriend. Long term relationships are not possible for a succubus. I’m destined to be alone for the rest of my immortal days. Letting Marcus get close is only going to cause problems for both of us.

  “Liv,” he calls out. I turn to see him walking toward me with my planner in his hand. “You forgot this.”

  “Thanks.” I hold out my hand, and Marcus places the planner in it, his fingers brushing mine. Desire shoots through me, strong and potent. I haven’t felt anything like this since the night with Kassiel. This is different, though. I’m not sure in what way, yet.

  Sucking in a calming breath, I pull my hand away and put the planner in my bag. Walking away with my desire stoked and hunger gnawing at me is one of the most difficult things I’ve done in life.

  I find Kassiel by the lake again that night. I’m not sure why I come back, except perhaps because I believed him when he said he wouldn’t expose me. He must have figured out by now that I’m half demon and half angel, a creature forbidden to even exist, but it doesn’t seem to bother him. It’s a relief to be around someone who knows what I truly am. For the short time with him, I don’t have to pretend.

  I sit beside him in silence, unsure what exactly to say. By coming here, I’m acknowledging that I do want to talk with him and that he’s right about me, but I won’t admit it out loud either. There’s also the unspoken tension between us as two people who once had mind-blowing sex together, but can’t do it again…no matter how much we want to.

  “What’s your favorite class?” he asks. “And don’t say mine, I’ve seen your eyes glaze over when I talk about things that happened thousands of years ago.”

  I laugh and relax a little on the bench. “Flight, obviously. Isn’t that everyone’s favorite?”

  “Okay, other than that one.”

  “Probably Demon Studies.”

  He chuckles. “Because you’re so well-versed in the subject already?”

  Well, yes, but… “No, because Professor Raziel is funny. He wears the silliest bow ties.”

  “That he does. And I’ve never
seen him wear the same one twice. He must have dozens of them.”

  “One for every day of the year, maybe?”

  I find myself grinning as we talk about classes and professors until the moon is high, and we only stop when the air changes and the sky starts drizzling on us. We both laugh and stand up, holding our hands out to the tiny drops. While we’ve been sitting here a spring storm has gathered above us, and could unleash at any moment.

  “I’m going to fly back before it starts pouring,” Kassiel says, as he rises. “I suggest you do the same.”

  I nod. “Good idea.”

  “See you soon, Olivia.”

  His wings appear, as black as the night itself, and almost identical to mine. Except when he turns his back to me, I notice his feathers have shining silver tips, and when he extends his wings wide it’s like looking at the night sky sparkling with stars. They’re so beautiful they take my breath away as he launches into the air.

  My own wings are shining black, so dark they look like ink, and I fly up beside Kassiel for a moment, enjoying the cool, damp air brushing against my face. We circle each other, a dance only for angels, and my chest tightens at how romantic it is to be flying with him. Then we move apart, me going to the dorms and him to the professor housing, and I remember that the two of us can never be.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Olivia

  Weeks have passed since school began, and I’m finally starting to find my groove at Seraphim Academy. People still steer clear of me for the most part, but otherwise the bullying has mostly stopped, except for the annoying notes from Tanwen. The Princes are a problem, but I’ve gotten used to dealing with their haughty attitudes. Marcus and I meet every Wednesday to work on our paper, and he flirts with me shamelessly while I try not to let him wear down my armor entirely. Callan continues to toy with me during combat training, and Bastien still can’t figure out what I am. Kassiel and I have met a few more times by the lake at night, and he tries to get me to confess what I am with pointed questions, all of which I dodge. On Sundays, I go to yoga class on the lawn, and even though Tanwen is there too, it helps keep my head clear and my body flexible. Two important things when you’re part succubus.