by Eva Brandt
Uh. What?
“You said ‘supernatural academy,’ didn’t you?” she fumed. Sparks of fire danced at her fingertips and I mentally thanked my lucky stars that she’d released my arm before she’d gone completely wacko. “How dare you? How dare you make such insinuations?”
I didn’t think I’d ever been so confused in my life, not even when a cherub had showed up out of nowhere and told me I needed to attend this crazy school.
“I’m afraid I don’t follow,” I said, trying not to show how much I was freaking out. “How exactly was that insulting?”
The girl hissed at me like she was a snake. I began to reassess my opinion on this place being unlike Hogwarts. She definitely sounded like a parseltongue there.
“Calling any demon a supernatural or paranormal creature is insulting,” a male voice suddenly said. “But I suppose that being a Sacrifice, you didn’t know that.”
I turned, only to see that at one point during my conversation with the crazy girl, a young man had shown up by our side. I had no idea where he’d come from, but the fact that I’d been oblivious to his presence was even stranger than the leather-clad cherub.
I was just a human and as far as I could tell, had less magic than a fucking Happy Meal. Even so, I could feel the aura the man exuded, a wave of intoxicating power that went straight to my head. Like Lenoir, he was dressed in leather pants, but his were black, and he’d paired it off with a silken black shirt.
It didn’t help that he was hotter than the demonic flames the cheerleader from hell was currently emitting. His dark hair effortlessly curled over cheekbones so sharp they could kill. Piercing green eyes zeroed in on me with startling intensity. He towered over me, both in height and in presence, and for a few seconds, my knees went weak, so much so that I thought I’d fall over right then and there.
Fortunately—or unfortunately, depending on one’s point of view—being good-looking didn’t always mean you were a good person. The young man opened his mouth again, and just like that, his attractiveness level dropped to below zero.
“Gemma, you know better than to mingle with such inferior beings. Their brains can’t process the simplest concepts.”
“Yes, I’m aware,” the cheerleader from hell replied, flushing, “but the dean wanted me to make sure she got to the academy in one piece.” She shot me another disgusted look through the corner of her eye. “I’m not sure why that’s so important, but you know how it is. We can’t disobey. And you, Callum? What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be busy making the last preparations for Creature Control?”
The young man waved his hand dismissively. “I left it up to Stefan. He enjoys it more anyway.”
“That’s true.” Gemma laughed, a grating sound that made me want to cover my ears. “He does enjoy that. I think he likes to socialize more with the dragon than with us.”
“Most people are grateful for that,” Callum replied. “You know how difficult he can be.”
“Yes, but that’s part of his charm, I think. He wouldn’t be Stefan if he didn’t growl at everyone ninety-nine percent of the time.”
I was beginning to get exasperated with this conversation. They were engaged in their own little chat and they seemed to have forgotten I was here. Maybe the presence of inferior beings didn’t matter to them.
What-the-fuck-ever. I’d made an effort to get along with them—or, at least, with the cheerleader from hell. She didn’t appreciate it, so I might as well quit while I was still ahead.
“Okay, this is all fascinating, but can you just point me to the non-lethal entrance? I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you too much. Clearly, supernatural beings tend to get too busy reminiscing about past incidents to do their damn jobs.”
Maybe I shouldn’t have said that, since Callum had just revealed demonic beings didn’t like to be called supernatural. But they’d started this by calling me inferior and treating me like I was beneath them. I wasn’t about to apologize or be nice again.
Callum narrowed his eyes at me. “Gemma, tell you what? Let me handle this one. Don’t worry about the dean. I’ll clear it with him.”
Gemma’s eyes widened and she bit her lower lip in a nervous reaction that didn’t suit her at all. “Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to put you out or get you into trouble.”
“Yes, it’s fine. Why don’t you go give Stefan a hand? Maybe pull him out of his lair. I’d ask Mikael, since he’s the one least likely to get himself eaten by Redrum. But Stefan might try it in Redrum’s stead and we’ve decided to keep bloodshed to the minimum until the school year officially begins.”
“As much as I hate to admit it, you’re probably right to be cautious.” Gemma grimaced. “I still remember the last time they fought, when Stefan blew up the entrance of Mikael’s dorms. What a mess that was.
“Okay then. I’ll go. It’d take more than a human Sacrifice to get you in trouble anyway.”
“Exactly,” Callum said with a roguish grin.
I’d already been uneasy after the whole exchange, and that last comment made it worse. This Callum person was apparently someone important at the school if he had a close connection with the dean. That might turn out to be a problem for me, since I’d pretty much insulted him before I’d even set foot in the academy.
The thought flew straight out of my head when Gemma walked up to Callum and threw her arms around him. The affectionate gesture wouldn’t have been that surprising and unusual had he not responded by crushing his mouth to hers.
Okay, I hadn’t seen that one coming.
Gemma moaned into his mouth and stabbed her slender fingers through his hair. She ground her body against his in a display that seemed torn straight out of the last porn movie I’d watched.
It was kind of hot, but it also made me a little uncomfortable. When his hands roamed over her back and zeroed in on her ass, I knew things would get even worse.
I’d never had a problem with public displays of affection. As long as they were tasteful and legal, people could do whatever they wanted. It didn’t matter to me. But these weren’t regular circumstances, and demons weren’t about to respect human sensibilities in anything.
Gemma wrapped a slim leg around Callum’s hip and he slid one hand underneath her dress. She let out another inarticulate cry, and it wasn’t difficult to divine what he was doing to her.
I should’ve left. I should’ve done anything except stayed there to watch. But for some reason, I was rooted on the spot, unable to move a muscle.
Callum tore his mouth away from Gemma’s, his hand still working its magic underneath her clothes. Now that they weren’t kissing, I could hear her cries better. “Ah, yes. Please, Callum. Please.”
Callum ignored her and looked straight at me. “Let me explain,” he said. “Demons consider it insulting to be called supernatural or paranormal beings, because the two concepts question our existence. Yes, we are superior and better than mortals, but that doesn’t make us any less part of nature. We belong to the world as much as humans do. We are natural and normal and no one has the right to say we aren’t.”
He sounded completely calm, his voice level and clear. And yet, he was fingering a girl in front of me, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
Was that the whole point? Was that the message he was trying to send by having this intimate exchange with Gemma in front of me?
Why would he care about my opinion anyway? I hadn’t even stepped into the fucking building, and he’d made it clear that he deemed me an inferior life form.
The silence stretched out between us, increasingly awkward and broken by the sound of Gemma’s incoherent pleas. Distantly, I wondered if my parents had already driven away or if they could see me talking to a guy who was sort of having sex with my supposed guide at the same time.
“You’d do well to remember my words once we’re actually at school,” Callum added at last. “Other people might not be so kind in their reminders.”
“Thank you for the ad
vice.” I smiled tightly at him. “Like you said, I didn’t know about this, so your words don’t count as a reminder. But still, I appreciate the information. Now, can you tell me the rest or do I have to wait until you make her come?”
As if in response to my words, Gemma moaned, and impossibly, she sounded louder and even more aroused than before.
Callum smirked at me. “Not to worry,” he whispered, holding Gemma close to his chest. “This won’t take long. I’m good with my hands.”
A pulse of power rushed out of him, lazy, but sensual. It flowed over my body like a physical caress. Much to my dismay, I found myself responding to it. My nipples tightened and I grew wet. All of a sudden, I badly wanted to be the one in his arms, the one he was touching.
Shiro snarled, and just like that, the spell was broken. Well, sort of. “I’m sure you are,” I said. “But you should hurry up and demonstrate it, so we can move this along. I don’t know if you’re serious about helping me, but I don’t want to be late on my first day.”
For the briefest moment, Callum’s expression twisted into a dark grimace. It was just a flicker and I only noticed because I was studying his face so closely. In the blink of an eye, it disappeared. “Of course. I can hardly leave two beautiful ladies waiting.”
At the same time, Gemma screamed, her body convulsing in the throes of climax. Callum held her as she rode the wave of her orgasm. It seemed like such an affectionate embrace, but he never once looked at her. He was only looking at me.
“Does that please you, Ms. Michaelis?”
I wasn’t surprised that he knew my name too, even if I hadn’t introduced myself or anything like that. This was going to be a recurring theme, I was sure of it.
Was I already notorious at the school before I’d even arrived? That was just great.
Either way, the whole episode made me feel dirty. He’d used her to prove a point and his demonic magic could clearly manipulate a person’s body according to his whims.
“It does, thank you,” I replied, because I needed to say something that would make me feel less horrible about the whole thing, “Mr. Callum.”
“Callum Adamson. It’s a pleasure.”
He extracted his hand from underneath Gemma’s skirt. It still glistened with her juices and I was glad that he had enough sense and class to not offer it for me to shake.
“The pleasure is all... hers, I suppose,” I replied.
He laughed, as if I’d just said the most amusing thing in the world. “For now, Ms. Michaelis. For now.”
It wasn’t a threat. If anything, his mellow tone sounded warm, almost kind, like a soothing spring breeze.
Even so, I knew in that moment that this man was very dangerous, and not just because he deemed me inferior.
I had to be very careful. I’d just taken my first steps toward The Academy of the Devil, and it might’ve been in the wrong direction.
Arrival
“So, how much do you know about the academy? Judging by your earlier comment, your Guardians haven’t told you much, right?”
I mentally sighed at his question. I was relieved that Callum seemed to want to keep his word. Like he’d stated earlier, he’d sent Gemma on her way, through the demon entrance, and had agreed to stay with me to be my guide. Even so, I didn’t want to go into detail about my family life with him.
“My parents are human,” I reminded him, somewhat reluctantly. “Since my father never came to the academy, he only knows bits and pieces.”
“Not your parents,” Callum replied, guiding me around the building and through a side street. “Your Guardians. You know, like Guardian Angels?”
I thought about the cherub who’d come to see me. It was the only time I’d noticed any kind of divine intervention in my life. “Uh... I wasn’t aware I had a guardian angel.”
Callum hummed thoughtfully. “You might not have one. Bloodlines that are bound to a demonic contract are spurned by those assholes. But maybe it’s for the best. You’re already at a disadvantage, with being a human and all. Having close ties with angels is the last thing you need.”
I decided to not mention Lenoir’s visit, or the fact that he’d helped me prevent a seizure. I’d have to make sure I never revealed I was an epileptic at all. I wasn’t ashamed of my condition, but people had looked down on me for it before—and they’d been humans, like me. Demons would undoubtedly be much worse.
“Anyway, I’ll give you the brief summary. The Academy was founded over a millennium ago, by my great-great-great grandfather. At the time, the then-Satan, Lucifer, was in talks with The Celestial Realm—The Heavens. The Supreme Being felt Lucifer’s potential was wasted and that the world needed change. It was tentatively decided to pick another ruler for Hell—the Infernal Realm, while Lucifer acted as a guardian for The Mortal Realm.”
That actually explained so much. “What could’ve made Him think that was a good idea?”
Callum shrugged. “I personally hypothesize that He just didn’t want His son to hang around demons. You have to understand that the existences of humans are paltry compared to that of an angel. It makes sense that He’d have wanted to save Lucifer’s soul, even if it did mean the mortal world had to experience strife.”
I found the whole story heartwarming, if irritating. I wanted to mimic Callum’s earlier words, to tell him that humans weren’t inferior just because we weren’t immortal. But maybe this time around, it was better to let the issue go.
“So, your many times grandfather founded the school to pick another devil, to give Lucifer someone to dump his job on. But how does that even work? It doesn’t seem very practical to change devils so often.”
“It’s not so easy to get picked. There have only been three devils since the academy was instituted, even if there’s always a big rotation of candidates. Most of the time, the students don’t survive or go on to serve the current devil.”
“I don’t really want to do either of those things,” I admitted.
“Of course you don’t.” Callum snorted. “I wouldn’t worry about the latter option, though. Just focus on the former. That alone is a challenge.”
“I’m sure I’ll manage,” I said. I had no such certainty, but I refused to give him the satisfaction and show doubt because of his words. “What else can you tell me?” Preferably more practical. The history lesson was interesting and all, but it wasn’t very useful for my future at the school.
Fortunately, Callum was as forthcoming as he was sexual. “As Gemma may have told you, the academy isn’t actually here. This building is what we call an anchor point. We use it to channel the magic we need to hide our true location. It is also part of the transport axis that allows us to move from to place without being detected by mortals.
“The academy itself is situated on an island in uncharted territory. We protect it through a set of very powerful wards that feed from the magical energy each anchor channels. The interference created by our shields throws off all satellite scanning and keeps human vessels from approaching.”
“So it’s something like the Bermuda Triangle?”
“It was actually there for some time,” he replied, “but with the advancement of human technology, the area became far too popular and exposed. Ah, here we are.”
The non-sequitur took me by surprise, at least until I realized we’d finally reached our destination. At some point while I’d been talking to Callum, he’d guided me to the entrance I needed to use.
With some reluctance, I admitted to myself that I never would’ve found the place without his help. The door was tiny, hidden in a niche that was built at such an awkward angle it looked like an error in architecture. I had to squeeze between the wall and a dumpster to gain access to it.
Callum, of course, had no trouble getting there. I didn’t see him move and he was bulkier than me, but he was just suddenly there, in front of the door, waiting for me with a smug look on his face.
“Is teleportation also on the list of your superpowers?” I asked,
unable to suppress my irritation. Shiro growled, his frustration echoing mine. His poor white fur had gotten dirty because we’d had to make our way through that mess. He might be a dog, but he had his standards.
Callum didn’t seem to care much about our predicament. “It’s talents, not superpowers,” he corrected me. “That word is just as insulting as calling us supernatural or paranormal. And no, I can’t teleport. I’m just fast. If you can’t handle something simple like this, there’s no way you’ll be able to survive at the academy.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake. At this rate, I was going to insult every single person in the school within minutes of getting there and get killed within the first week.
“I think I need a list on what I’m not supposed to say or do at this school of yours,” I said with a sigh.
“It’s not that complicated,” Callum replied, shrugging. “There’s only one real rule at the school—don’t show weakness. There is no mercy for the weak. You’re also not allowed to kill other students, but the dean is usually lax at enforcing that one.”
What. The. Fuck.
“In terms of conversation, you can call people whatever you want, with two exceptions. Do not, under any circumstances, imply that a person has a connection with celestial beings, even if they do. That’s a crime under The Infernal Dictates, and it can get you in trouble. People may kill you on the spot, if you dare to call them angel-born.”
“Seriously? That bad? But that doesn’t make any sense. Lucifer himself was—”
“It doesn’t have to make sense,” Callum cut me off. “Demons hate angels. It’s illegal to associate with them. If a celestial being ever enters demonic territory, he or she is executed. So making comments regarding someone’s potentially divine background represents a threat, one which any demon would eliminate at once.”
Yikes. Okay, I wasn’t going to touch the angel thing with a ten-foot pole.
“The supernatural/paranormal thing is less extreme and something recent generations have taken up,” Callum continued. “Some younger demons believe there’s nothing wrong with the way we were created and we shouldn’t be considered evil just because we follow our natural urges.”
