Seraphim Academy 2: Sinful Things

by Elizabeth Briggs

  Bastien unbuckles his pants, and I reach in and pull his hard cock out. After giving him a few strokes, I lick him slowly, then take him into my mouth. He groans and his lust spikes, while his fingers tangle in my hair.

  Marcus presses kisses to my back and shoulders, then slides inside me again from behind. With each stroke, he pushes me onto Bastien’s cock, making me take him further in my mouth. I have two of my lovers inside me, giving me their sexual energy, and it’s amazing.

  Opening my mouth wider, I use Marcus's rhythm to push me up and down on Bastien's cock. The erotic feeling of his head sliding deeper and deeper down my throat combined with the stimulation of Marcus slamming into me helps me get close to another orgasm. I sense Marcus is close too, as he moves faster and harder, slamming into me from behind. He rubs my clit too at the same time, knowing exactly what to do to make me climax.

  Moaning through it, I tense up and ride it, my voice getting louder and louder around Bastien. The jolts of pure pleasure keep me moving back against Marcus until he comes inside me too with a loud groan.

  When we’re both sated, Marcus pulls out of me and drags me onto the blankets, holding me close. We stare into each other’s eyes, and I see how much he cares for me too. But I can’t ignore Bastien. I pull away and turn back to my other lover.

  "I hope you're not full," he says. "I've got plenty more to give you."

  “I can take it.”

  He hums deep in his throat. "Come here."

  He stretches out on the blankets beside Marcus, and holds his long, hard cock up in invitation. I straddle him and sink down onto it, with a delirious sigh. This is so much better than sex with strangers.

  I begin to rock up and down on Bastien, getting into a good rhythm. Marcus moves behind me, his hands roaming my body and caressing me, while Bastien’s fingers dig into my hips. Each time Bastien fills me, tiny waves of pleasure shoot through me. He fits inside like he was molded just for me.

  My third orgasm grows, making me move faster and faster. Bastien is growing close as well, and his sexual energy rolls into me in waves of delicious intensity.

  "Yes," I cry. I can't say much more. I'm moving too fast and the pleasure is too high. "Harder."

  Bastien thrusts up into me harder in response, while Marcus cups my breasts and begins working my nipples. They work together, focusing on my pleasure, and it’s incredible.

  I cry out and throw my head back as the orgasm crests. Bastien pulls me forward against his chest, almost into an embrace, then finds my lips. Flexing his hips, he rides out his orgasm inside me as we kiss. As he finishes, I soak up his pleasure, his lust, his passion. It feeds me, sates me, sustains me. I'm filled to the brim, possibly fuller than I've ever been before. And more than that, I’m happier than I’ve been before too.

  With a sigh, I move to Bastien’s side, cuddling up between him and Marcus, who pulls a thin, fresh-smelling quilt over the top of us. "I had this one rolled up in my backpack," he whispers.

  None of us have any desire to get up and dress, and even though it’s cold, we don’t feel it at all. They wrap their arms and legs around me and we fall asleep, safe and comfortable in each other's embrace. Or as safe as we can be in an abandoned ruin in the middle of Faerie, anyway.

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Olivia

  In the morning we continue on, and the temperature is absolutely perfect as we set off, with bright blue skies and vibrant flowers blooming everywhere. Faerie is beautiful, but there’s something about it that feels unusual too. It’s like a deal that’s too good to be true, and you’re just waiting for the catch.

  Thanks to the boost I got from Bastien and Marcus, I’m able to maintain the bubble of invisibility around us as we fly, which saves us a lot of time over walking. After a few hours, the feather starts moving faster and faster, and I think we must be getting close. It leads us toward a dark, imposing stone building with a wall around it, with armored guards perched in regular intervals and at the gates. Our only bit of luck is that they’re not looking for an attack from the air, which gives us a chance to sneak inside.

  “It’s heavily guarded,” Callan says. “The Staff must be in there.”

  And hopefully Jonah too. It definitely looks like a prison, with small windows and heavy defenses.

  “Everyone stay close,” I tell them as we approach.

  We slowly fly over the gate and hover above the building, looking for a good place to land. I spot a small empty alley and gesture for everyone to follow me. The feather practically quivers with excitement, so we know we’re close now.

  We land next to some trash bins, and everyone takes a moment to collect themselves and look around for a way inside. Around the corner, two fae women stand on a small porch outside a closed door, one with rosy pink hair, and the other’s snow white. They seem to be arguing, and they’re both wearing plain green dresses with aprons, so I’m guessing they’re servants or cooks or something.

  "Fine. I'll do it," the one with white hair says. It’s pulled back into a dozen or more intricate braids that fall way down her back. "But you owe me."

  The pink-haired fae rolls her eyes. "I don't owe you anything. Now go."

  The first one pushes the door open with a huff, and they both slip inside. Callan launches forward in a half-jump half-flight and manages to get his hand on the door just before it swings shut.

  He waits, listening for the sound of the women to recede, and then opens the door and lets us inside. We enter the building in some sort of mudroom. There are benches, shelves, and hooks along the wall with a few coats hanging from them. The coats seem to be well-made, but not as nice as some of the clothes we saw other fae wearing. This is likely a servant's entrance.

  It’s crowded with all of us in here, and I glance among the faces of my friends. We all look exhausted from the lack of sleep and the non-stop flying or walking. Not to mention, the time difference. But we’re so close now, I can feel it. Soon we’ll have the Staff and my brother too.

  Bastien holds the feather by the end, and it twitches for us to go further into the building. We walk into a long, empty hallway made of whitewashed wood planks. Most of the doors leading off the hall are closed, but the feather keeps telling us to go forward.

  Bastien stops at a closed door, and glances back at us. Callan moves to the front, back in over-protective mode, and turns the doorknob slowly. It’s locked.

  Luckily, I knew something like this might happen, and I brought my trusty lock picks. It takes me a few minutes because the lock is a harder one to crack, but then the door swings open.

  One the other side is a stairwell with broken steps that disappear into darkness. If this was a movie, this is when people would yell, “Don’t go down there, you idiots!” So naturally, we start going down.

  It’s narrow and twists into a tight spiral, and if we meet anyone going up it, we’re in trouble. We try to make as little noise as possible while both staying close together and moving quickly, and I just hope no one is right there at the bottom of these stairs.

  The stairs seem to go on forever. We pass some doors, but the feather wants us to keep going down. We've got to be several stories underground now.

  “We’re getting close,” Bastien whispers, as he holds the feather back so it doesn’t dash away.

  We reach the bottom of the stairs, and discover a new problem. Ahead of us is a large stone door that’s clearly bolted shut. Two guards in bronze armor stand beside it wielding spears.

  How are we supposed to sneak past that?

  We never get a chance to formulate a plan, because the second my feet hit the ground, the invisibility bubble vanishes. I quickly reach for light to bend it and hit something like a magical wall, but it’s too late anyway.

  The two guards start when they see a group of us suddenly appear, but they’re obviously well-trained, because they lower their spears at us. “Halt!”

  “Shit,” Marcus mutters.

  So much for not getting caught by the f
ae.

  There’s an open door to the right, and I wonder if we can dart through it and escape, but no, someone would get stabbed by one of those spears. The fae are as quick as we are, if not more so. We could try to overpower these guards, ideally without really hurting them, but there’s no telling if there are more nearby. And we can’t seem to use our magic here.

  “State your business,” one of the guards says.

  The others glance at me, like I’m supposed to get us out of this mess. Crap.

  I step forward and hold up my hands in surrender. “We’re looking for the Staff of Eternity…and for an angel named Jonah.”

  The two guards glance at each other, and I have a feeling they’re about to arrest us, when I hear a familiar voice ask, “Liv?”

  I turn toward the open doorway and gape at the man standing there.

  Jonah.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Olivia

  My brother is alive. He’s alive!

  I thought he would be a prisoner. I worried he might be dead. I spent two years trying to find him—and he’s standing there, with a book tucked under one arm.

  “Jonah!” I rush toward him, and he drops the book to embrace me. I hold him tightly with tears in my eyes, then pull back to look at him in disbelief. Is it really him? Is he really okay? He has a new beard, he’s wearing fancy fae clothes, and there’s a sword on his hip, but he looks good otherwise. Healthy. Unharmed. Alive.

  I've envisioned this moment for so long. I pictured him lifting me off the ground and spinning me around, ecstatic to see his baby sister. But instead he frowns at me. “What are you doing here?”

  This is definitely not the reunion I was expecting.

  “I’m here to rescue you,” I say. It sounds silly, since he obviously doesn’t need rescuing.

  “You shouldn’t be here,” Jonah says. The guards eye us warily, but he raises a hand to them. “It’s fine. I know them.”

  I step back, wounded by his words, as the others rush forward.

  Grace throws her arms around Jonah and gives him a kiss. “It’s been two years,” she says. “I could have moved on, but I didn’t. I never gave up hope you were still alive.”

  “I’m sorry,” Jonah says, as he holds her close. “I’ll explain everything.”

  Marcus moves forward to give Jonah one of those quick man-hugs. “You better.”

  “We’ve been worried,” Callan grumbles.

  Bastien clasps Jonah’s hand. “Well, some of us assumed you were dead.”

  Jonah lets out a short laugh at that. “It’s really good to see all of you. But how are you all here together?”

  “That’s a long story,” I say. “The short version is that I started attending Seraphim Academy in an attempt to find you. All of us worked together, including Araceli, my roommate, and Kassiel, one of our professors, and it led us here. To you, and to the Staff.” I glance at the heavily guarded door. “Is it in there?”

  “It is,” Jonah says, but then he turns to Callan with hard eyes. “I thought I told you to keep Liv away from Seraphim Academy.”

  “I tried,” Callan says. “Believe me, I did everything short of actually harming her, but none of it worked. She’s very…stubborn.”

  “More like determined,” I mutter.

  “It’s not safe for her at Seraphim Academy. Or here.” Jonah shakes his head. “You should go back.”

  “We’re not leaving without you,” Callan says. I was about to say the same thing.

  “Why did you even come here?” I ask. I’m feeling at my wit’s end at this point. “Were you really trying to get the Staff for the Order?”

  His eyebrows dart up. “I see you know a lot. No, I wasn’t. I came here to protect you from the Staff—and that’s why I stayed.” He sighed. “C’mon, let’s go inside, and I’ll show you.”

  He gestures to the guards, who move aside, and then Jonah touches an unremarkable spot on the wall behind them. The bolts unlock, and the heavy stone door slowly opens. Inside is a large stone dais, and floating above it is a staff that glows with both darkness and light. It’s made of twisted silver and gold metal, and at the top is an orb that shifts and swirls with a rainbow of colors, surrounded by two wings, one black and one white.

  I step forward slowly. "Is this it? The Staff?"

  Jonah walks beside me. "Yes. I've been guarding it all this time."

  Our friends walk in behind us, and I hear Araceli gasp. The Staff radiates power and beauty, and it’s hard not to stare at it in awe.

  There’s another guard inside, a beautiful fae woman with hunter green hair and matching eyes. She’s wearing Autumn Court armor, and draws her sword as we approach. "Jonah? Who are these people?"

  "Eveanna, this is my sister, Olivia,” he says. “She came to rescue me.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she says, with a slight bow. “Jonah has spoken of you many times.”

  “Eveanna is the current guardian of the staff,” Jonah explains. “Michael and Lucifer entrusted it with the fae, and it moves to a new Court every year to keep its location hidden.”

  She sheathes her sword. “It is my great honor to protect the Staff.”

  I turn to Jonah to demand some answers, when suddenly there’s a loud bang and a flash of light on the floor near us, and then the air fills with white smoke. It smells horrible and burns the eyes, and we’re all instantly coughing and trying to wave it away.

  “What was that?” I ask, spinning around and trying to see in the darkness.

  “We’re under attack!” Eveanna yells. “Protect the Staff!”

  I move toward it, and as the smoke clears, I see a portal like the one we came through. Grace is holding something long and using it to open the portal. The Staff of Eternity.

  “Grace?” I ask. “What are you doing?”

  It’s a dumb question. She’s obviously stealing the Staff. I’m just so shocked by what I’m seeing that I can’t say what I really want to ask, which is what the fuck, Grace?

  “Getting a present for my father,” she says, with a devious grin I’ve never seen before. Her father? Who is he?

  I’m gaping at her, trying to wrap my head around what she’s doing, when Nariel, Cyrus, Jeremy, and five other Order members appear through the portal.

  “Grace,” Jonah whispers. “How could you?”

  She glares at him. “It’s our duty to retrieve the Staff. You failed in that task. I will not.”

  As she says it, she shoves the Staff into Jonah’s chest, and there’s a burst of light as he goes flying backward. Fury overtakes me and I grab my succubus magic, but nothing happens. It's still trapped inside, along with my angelic powers too. This room must block magic somehow. But I’m not defenseless, thanks to my mother. I draw my dark-infused dagger, and my friends grab their weapons too.

  “Cover her,” Nariel calls out, and all the Order members raise their weapons as they make a barrier between Grace and the portal.

  The place interrupts into chaos as the Princes—including my brother—clash with the Order members. Kassiel and Araceli fight too, along with Eveanna. I dodge through the mayhem and try to get to Grace and the Staff, but she runs into the portal with it before I can reach her. Dammit!

  Cyrus follows her, right at her heels. I try to go after them, but Nariel grabs my arm and yanks me back, hard.

  “Die, demon spawn,” he growls, as he raises a light-infused sword over me. There’s no time for me to get away.

  Before he can strike, Callan’s huge sword slams through Nariel’s chest from behind. My Ishim teacher lets out a gurgling gasp, before his body goes slack. He hits the floor, and I stare at the blood covering him in horror. How did it come to this? My own professor trying to kill me. Callan saving my life. Dead bodies on the floor. All because of the Staff.

  “Are you okay?” Callan asks, touching my arm and shaking me from my thoughts.

  “Yes. Thank you.”

  He gives me a brief nod, then spins around to stop ano
ther attack coming my way. As I do, I see Jeremy running toward the portal. No way, fucker. I grip my dark-infused blade and go after him, blocking his path to the portal.

  He swings his short sword, his eyes wild, and I have the sense to duck and roll. Good thing I paid attention in combat classes. Jeremy turns, ready to attack again, but I raise my dark-infused dagger and block him, even though the blow is so strong it sends waves of pain through my wrist. But then I spin away and slash, cutting his arm with my dark-infused blade. The arm holding the sword, which hits the ground. Jeremy screams and stumbles back, as the darkness sinks into him. I remember how painful it was and can only smile.

  "How does it feel?" I ask. "You're in a room devoid of magic, and you were taken down by a half-demon."

  He sneers at me as he backs away, holding his arm against his chest. “It doesn’t matter, because soon you’ll be back in Hell…or you’ll be dead.”

  He leaps into the portal, and I lunge after him, but it closes the split second he’s inside.

  "No!" I yell, as I stumble through the empty space that once had the portal. They got the Staff. They got the Staff!

  All around me, the fighting has ended. Nariel lies dead, along with three other Order members whose names I don’t know. All of my friends are alive, thank goodness, but they’re staring at the spot where the portal was, and every single one of them looks defeated.

  We failed.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Callan

  “Arrest them,” a voice commands behind us, and before I know what’s happening, dozens of armored fae are swarming into the room and clamping us in chains. None of us fight back. We’re too shocked by what just happened.

  Jonah tries to explain things to a fae captain, who doesn’t look impressed, as the rest of us are dragged out of the room. I glance back and spot Olivia just behind me, physically unhurt, though I’ve never seen her look so broken before. Grace’s betrayal must have hit her hard.