A Demon's Wings: Vice College For Young Demons: Year Three

by Marie Mistry

I tried to stand up but Bane pulled me back down. “Don't get up till Blaze and Rina get here.”

  “I have to go to dinner.” Professor Saxon might not keep her end of the bargain if I didn't show up.

  “Unless you want to go with dried blood all over you, I'd wait for Blaze. Unfortunately, unlike Daron, I don't carry a clean handkerchief just in case you need it.”

  I half-giggled but it hurt, so I ended up gasping instead. “He doesn't.”

  “Precious, I've pilfered his pockets enough times to know exactly what he does and doesn't carry in them.”

  “Where is she?” Blaze's voice boomed through the chapel, making my already-aching head thump painfully.

  “Here.” Bane didn't even look up as Blaze jumped over the pew and crouched beside me, eyes gentle as he cupped my cheek and examined me thoroughly.

  “Are you alright, Sweetness?” he asked, before he turned to glare at Bane, their tension reappearing the second their eyes met. “What the hell happened?”

  “My vision went wrong.” I coughed and my eyes watered a little before I could blink it away. “It's not his fault.”

  “Blaze, you idiot, you forgot the first aid kit. You're not a healer so unless you plan on exploding her back to health, you should have waited for me!” Rina panted as she came around the corner. “Oh, she's awake. You look like shit, Lilith.”

  She didn't waste time opening the slim, green case on the bench beside me and then pulling out wipes which she dabbed at my face with. “You bled from everywhere,” she grumbled. “I'm going to run out of wipes at this rate.”

  “Can you just clean me up so I can go?” I insisted.

  “Not until you tell us what happened in your vision and why you're so eager to get out of here,” Blaze insisted.

  “I don't know what happened in my vision,” I insisted. “It was blurry and distorted.”

  “But you did see something,” he pressed.

  I wasn't getting out of here until I confessed all, that much was clear, so I rolled my eyes and gave in. “Professor Saxon was arguing that the Syndicate should keep me alive for a little while. Their Grand Master said it was too late. They've already set up a plan to get rid of me and they were hoping the Resistance would fall at the same time.”

  All three of them stiffened. “And the reason you were so eager to get to dinner?” Blaze's anger leaked into his voice, his tone deepening with dominance as he demanded the answer I didn't want to give. “Remember what happened the last time you had a vision and kept it from us, Sweetness. The best way for us to sort these problems out is to work on them together.”

  I huffed, but I knew he was right. The truth might hurt Bane's feelings, but my mates needed to know what Saxon was up to now so we could do our best to stop her. “Professor Saxon pretty much told me that if I didn't agree to help the first-years have their showings, she'd tell Ajax that Bane assaulted his son.”

  The incredulous look Blaze shot at Bane was almost funny. “When did you assault him?”

  I quickly filled him in, going over the fact that my power to put first-years through their showings was fading and telling him about Morpheus and Vivienne Ajax. “I want to help them have their showings,” I admitted. “I don't want anyone to die from a showing and I definitely don't want to help Professor Saxon and the Syndicate, but I know how awfully unshown are treated and I don't want that for anyone.”

  “I shouldn't have touched him…” Bane muttered to himself. “I knew the smarmy brat was a self-important piece of shit but I never thought…” He growled in frustration and ran a hand through his hair, making it even messier than it already was. “You don't have to do it. I can deal with any shit Ajax sends my way.”

  I shook my head. “I'm not letting you take the blame for that idiot's behaviour. If it wasn't you, she would have found some other way to blackmail me into it.”

  “I'm surprised the first-years haven't been jumping you in the halls.” Rina scrubbed hard at a piece of dried blood beneath my ear as she talked. “Your threat earlier might have worked for now but it starts to get pretty desperate after the first month without a showing.” She eyed the back of her gloved hand meaningfully and I remembered how long it had taken her to go through hers. “I reckon they wouldn't last past Christmas before they jumped you.”

  “Professor Saxon said the same thing,” I admitted. “She also made me Vivienne's mentor.”

  “You mean we're stuck with that silent goth girl?”

  Sometimes, Rina really made me want to punch her. “Her name is Vivienne.”

  “Whatever.”

  “The fact remains, Lilith should get checked out by a healer before she goes anywhere near the first-years,” Blaze grumbled.

  “Seconded,” Rina unexpectedly agreed with him as she closed the first aid kit and headed for the door. “Visions take a lot out of a person on a good day but bleeding from your nose and ears? Not normal.” She disappeared without a word of explanation and I stared blankly at the empty space where she'd been.

  Rina may have been gone but the argument wasn't over. I flicked my eyes to Bane, hoping he'd see my side of things. “I'm fine, really. I have a mild headache, that's all.”

  His stony look made it clear I wasn't getting any support from him.

  The instant I tried to stand up and prove to them that I was perfectly fine, my traitorous body failed me and I swayed as the world tilted.

  I wound up in Blaze's arms, being carried through the secret passageways of the school as my Wrath mate followed Bane along a 'shortcut' he knew to the infirmary. Part of me silently wondered if this was a shortcut at all or if Bane had just wanted to avoid people staring at the three of us. Either way, I wasn't complaining because Blaze's brawny arms were surprisingly comfortable and very warm and I started to drift off without meaning to.

  “Officer Inferna, who have you got there?” Rezinax's no-nonsense voice snapped through my haze.

  “I found this student in the chapel, unconscious.” It always surprised me how easily Blaze lied. “I used the first aid kit to help her clean up a bit but she was bleeding from her ears and nose when I came across her.”

  “Carazor?” Rezinax sounded closer and I peeked open a stinging eye to look at her. “Bring her in here. What happened?”

  She pushed open a door to an empty examination room and I felt Blaze gently deposit me on the itchy sheets of a bed. Her gentle but efficient fingers traced lines across my body as soon as he relinquished me.

  I studied her carefully, wondering how much to tell her. Rezinax was many things but I trusted that she was a healer above all else. “Patient confidentiality, Head Healer?

  “As always.” Rezinax stopped touching me and stood back, watching.

  “I had a vision.”

  Rezinax didn't question it, and I was grateful for her discretion. “Symptoms?”

  “Headache, eyes sting, breathing stings. Previously bleeding from ears and nose.” It felt strange being diagnosed by a healer now that I was studying the subject.

  “You're incredibly low on energy,” Rezinax commented. “I never received a report of you being a seer, Carazor.”

  “I'm not, Head Healer. I just have visions sometimes…” I clammed up, unsure of how much to say. “I don't want to seem ungrateful but could you patch me up quickly? Professor Saxon is expecting me and I'd really rather not get on her bad side.”

  “If I do, you must promise to top up as soon as possible,” Rezinax insisted. “Food and power. Your energy levels feel chaotic.”

  “I'll see to it that she follows your orders,” Blaze replied.

  Rezinax shot him a knowing look that told me she saw far too much, and then sent the same look at Bane, hovering against the doorway.

  A whoosh of comforting energy swept through me just before she removed her hands, giving me a final assessing look as she did so. “Food, power and then sleep, Tyro Carazor.”

  “Yes, Head Healer,” I mumbled, feeling suitably chastised as I hopped off the bed,
my aches disappearing with every step I took.

  I reached the door, which Bane held open for me, but Rezinax wasn't done. “Officer Inferna, perhaps we might have a word.”

  I looked back at Blaze, whose clenched jaw told me that he wanted to follow me out of the room and make sure I followed her instructions, but he nodded.

  “If Bane tells me you didn't follow the Head Healer's instructions, I will be paddling your ass, Sweetness.” His voice made me smile as it travelled down our mating bond. Blaze wasn't usually one to talk along our bond, but I loved it when he did.

  “You really think Bane is going to make me follow rules?” I smirked as I left. “Will you tell me what Rezinax says?”

  “Later. You have bigger things to worry about right now.”

  The door closed behind Bane, shutting me out of the conversation and leaving me alone with my Greed mate.

  Today was the first time I'd been alone with him since that date night with Daron and now, as I looked at him, I noticed how much he seemed to have aged since we started Vice. He still had a boyish, tricksy air about him, but his eyes had taken on a depth that hadn't been there before. It was as though the knowledge and responsibility of someone centuries older had settled in that dark, penetrating gaze.

  I'd reached the point where I'd overanalysed my emotions regarding Bane so much, that I was beginning to doubt myself. Had I forgiven him? Not entirely. Was I mad? No. Did I trust him … well, how could I not when he'd vowed to the Strange God never to betray me again?

  But was I ready to move on from it? That was the question that haunted me.

  I'd promised him in April that we'd start over. Now, we were in September but we still hadn't really managed to do that.

  He drew me out of my musings with a flourishing, cheeky bow that was a perfect replica of the ones in the Assembly. “Shall we, milady?”

  I giggled; I couldn't help it. I took his arm and let him lead the way from the infirmary. When we were outside the doors, he flashed me a cheeky grin and held out Blaze's Head of Security badge.

  “You just can't help yourself, can you?”

  “Would you want me to?”

  “He's going to come looking for it.”

  “But you know you'll protect me from the big, bad Wrath.”

  I rolled my eyes and shoved him lightly. “How do you even do it? We're all on guard for you now. Surely that must make it harder?”

  “Speed, Precious. It's all about speed and finding that sweet spot where your mark is distracted enough not to notice. I'd teach you but I think my brother might murder me for turning our mate into a thief.”

  I smiled, anticipating Aeron's reaction. “Now you have to teach me, just so I can see his face.”

  “I'm beginning to think you don't want me to live to the end of this year.” Bane pressed his hand over his chest in mock heartbreak.

  Whatever I might have said in reply was cut off by Professor Saxon's disapproving cough. She stood outside the doors of the Great Hall, watching us with an unimpressed frown.

  “Miss Carazor, I was about to come and find you.”

  “Sorry, Professor. Lilith was in the infirmary,” Bane explained.

  Her face soothed from irritated to annoyingly neutral almost instantly. “Everything alright?”

  “Perfectly fine,” I interjected, before Bane could say anything else. “I'm more than capable of helping the first-years.”

  Professor Saxon gave me an assessing once over and I stood a little taller under her scrutiny. This may have been my own personal day from hell but I wasn't going to let the Syndicate see that.

  “Wonderful, shall we?” Saxon finally said, motioning to the door and the whispering which echoed from behind it, but frowned when Bane stepped forward first. “Mr Krossian, Miss Carazor doesn't require an escort.”

  He gave me a knowing look. “I'll wait outside for you. If there's any trouble, tell me.” The words were cutting out and barely comprehensible along our fractured bond, and I grimaced at the same time he did, but at least the message got across.

  “I've got this.”

  Or, at least, I hoped that I did.

  Professor Saxon led me into the room and the whispers stopped. Eighty expectant faces turned towards me and I steeled my spine under the attention.

  “Sorry I'm late, Professor!” Rina's voice shattered the silence.

  “Miss Inferna, so you finally decided to turn up.” Professor Saxon didn't seem surprised by Rina's presence as she turned to address the assembled first-years. “You are incredibly blessed to have both Lady Carazor to see you through your showing and Tester Inferna to assist you in discovering your sub-castes this evening. Now, would you all form an orderly queue…”

  Chapter 12

  I left that room exhausted but elated. None of the first-years had died and that felt like a huge weight off my chest.

  Bane was waiting outside, as he'd promised, with a brown paper bag in one hand that smelled heavenly.

  He visibly relaxed when he saw me, letting out a great breath as he strode closer, eyes locking onto mine. “I'm sorry she used me to blackmail you into that.”

  “At least everyone survived,” I said.

  “Yeah, whoopee.” Rina's sarcastic tone broke the moment brewing between us. “I'm going to go catch some sleep. I think I've had enough excitement for one night.”

  She breezed past us, heading for the front door like she was on a mission.

  “Has Rina seemed a little … strange to you, recently?” I asked, tentatively.

  Bane shrugged, leading the way out of the entrance hall and into the grounds. “Do you mean bitchier than usual? Because I don't think that's possible.” He changed the topic, holding out the bag on his arm. “Mum made us some food but Blaze never turned up after his meeting with Rezinax, so I suppose it's just the two of us. Want to grab a bench outside? It's still warm out there.”

  Alone time with Bane … I felt like Eve with her apple, knowing we'd get in trouble but too tempted to resist. “Kind of like a date?”

  He actually blushed, breaking eye contact before he tried to smooth it over. “No, not a date … you'll know when I'm taking you on a date.”

  My expression must have betrayed my disbelief because he grinned. “You'll love my idea of a date, Precious. We'll probably be somewhere we're not supposed to be, doing something completely illegal which will give Blaze and Aeron a heart attack and you'll love every second of it.”

  I let out a startled chuckle. “Then I look forward to it.”

  Bane's eyes sparkled with mischief as he led us into the hedge maze.

  We ate slowly, feasting on perfectly cooked, individual portions of spaghetti carbonara. Bane kept my mind off the events of the day as he recounted how he'd robbed yet another rich lord for the Resistance the night before. His version of events made him out to be the dashing hero in a fairy tale, using his cunning to single-handedly rescue eighteen unshown before escaping by the skin of his teeth. I wasn't certain it was an entirely accurate portrayal, but it did make me chuckle.

  Before I could pick holes in his story, he jumped to his feet and grinned. “Want to play a game before you go and collect the new Succubus?”

  I couldn't help my curiosity spiking at the eager look on his face. “What did you have in mind?”

  “If I find you before you make it to the grotto in the centre of this maze, I win.”

  “And if I make it there first?”

  “Then you can have anything you want, as long as it's in my power to give.” The intensity of his eyes burned me and I looked away in confusion. “But, if I win, I want to kiss you.”

  I eyed him suspiciously. “Just one kiss?” I didn't trust that he'd stick to that, not one bit.

  “Are you so sure I'll win?”

  “I'm just certain that you have something up your sleeve…” I raised one eyebrow, daring him to say otherwise.

  He just grinned. “Are you game?”

  What the hell, it's only a kis
s, I reasoned. He'd kissed me to give me power before, and if the prize he was offering was anything I wanted…

  “I want a thirty-second head start.”

  “Done.” Then he started counting, not giving me a chance to start questioning my decision. “One, two, three, four…”

  I turned on my heel and sprinted away, heading in the rough direction of the middle of the maze. I made it three turns before the hedges started moving around me.

  “That's cheating!” I yelled over my shoulder, almost running straight into a hedge for my trouble.

  I should have remembered one of his gifts was plant manipulation before I accepted a high stakes game in a hedge maze.

  Hedges moved around me as I ran, groaning as boughs that had stood still for centuries bent to Bane's will. My breath came in short pants as I tried to run past my excited laughter. I knew I'd have to use everything at my disposal to win, so I used aerokinesis to cut holes where hedges grew over in front of me. It only worked to a point, with the hedges growing back at a remarkable rate. Eventually, one of my improvised doorways closed over so fast I was forced to slide underneath the still growing branches just to keep moving.

  The further I went, the more the hedges started to reach for me, silk-soft leaves reaching out to brush against my skin as I ran past. Their touches flirted, vines growing out to gently stroke the underside of my breast or the back of my thigh. The distraction threw me off my game, and I had to veer sharply so as not to crash face first into the mass of foliage.

  The end was in sight. I could hear the cascading fountain that ran down one wall of the grotto tinkling, though the noise was almost completely drowned out by my pounding heart. Another turn and I could see it, the carved likeness of the Strange God staring down from the top of the rock wall a hundred paces in front of me. Beneath his stony gaze, the dark entrance of the grotto loomed.

  Bane let me get almost to the finish line before he stepped out of the hedge in front of me. My momentum was great enough to send us both flying but the earth became spongy as we landed with me sprawled on top of him.

  “You cheated!” I accused, panting and grinning as I pushed myself up, so I was straddling him.