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

by Marie Mistry

  I just made it across the hall and into the bathroom before that churning in my belly turned into a violent heave and I whirled toward the toilet just in time to lose whatever remained in my stomach from the night before. I felt tiny hands hold my hair back from my face, tiny wings beating to blow the acrid smell away from around me.

  I didn't know how long I stayed there as my stomach rebelled. But soon there was nothing left and I was left dry-heaving over the bowl. My imps' tiny taloned hands traced soothing circles against my back and I felt their concern down the bond. It wasn't until I opened my eyes and looked down that I realised why.

  The vomit in the bowl was red with blood.

  I went a little numb at the sight. My arm reached up and flushed the evidence away before I could process my own actions and then, I mechanically started cleaning the area.

  It didn't take a genius to figure out what was wrong with me. I had either contracted some rare disease—unlikely, but not impossible—or somehow, the Syndicate had succeeded in poisoning me, as Rutia had warned. Either way, I was just about to call Kain to ask him to take me to Rezinax, when another set of larger hands started tracing their way along my back.

  “No use. The healers only stall what they cannot understand.”

  I turned slowly and tried my best to smile at the woman past the gut churning fear I was feeling.

  She could have been Rina's twin, if not for the glint of insanity in her eyes and the contorted way she held her body. Her head was cocked at an unnatural angle, her shoulders hunched but her back straight as a board. There was a hint of beauty but it was like looking at a disturbing work of art. The longer she stared at me, the more I wanted to look away. I was Lady Carazor now—and I knew how to hold the gaze of other powerful demons—but it was impossible to meet this woman's gaze for more than a few seconds.

  She examined me in silence.

  This, then, was Blaze's grandmother, one of the world's most powerful seers and reportedly crazed by her gift. She wore loose clothes, remarkable only because they were so plain, and her fiery hair had been haphazardly braided back from her face. Every now and again, her fingers twitched like she was grasping for something or stroking the air and I couldn't help but be fascinated by the motions as I waited for her to say something else.

  “Seer Inferna,” I broached, after several minutes of our awkward stand-off. “Have you seen my fate?”

  She cocked her head at me, seemingly unable to understand my question, then took my hand and tugged me along behind her. She led me through the kitchen and living room and through a plain door to one side, which I'd assumed was a closet.

  It turned out to be a small, private chapel, complete with a statue of the hooded Strange God and murals of imps.

  Rina had said that the Infernas were devout. I hadn't realised how much until now.

  The centre of the room was home to an imposing altar, bedecked with carved, horned skulls and skeletal wings that made me uncomfortable. But the dead bird laid atop it was what truly freaked me out. The glassy eyes of the raven stared me down as the crazy seer dragged me to my knees on the bare floor.

  “The Strange God is all that can save you now,” she croaked. “Pray.”

  I frowned. Demons didn't pray. The Strange God had no time for whispered begging and desperate pleas. Even the Priests said praying was useless.

  So was the seer telling me that whatever poison the Syndicate had used was going to kill me?

  “How long do I have?”

  But Blaze's grandmother had knelt on the flagstones and was muttering incomprehensibly towards the floor. Her Wrath crystal glimmered on her contorted hands as she rocked back and forth.

  I tried to get up and leave but she grabbed my arm with surprising strength, keeping me in place.

  I could have stood if I wanted but I was uncomfortable with using force on this strangely fragile-looking crazy woman. So I stayed on my knees, on the cold, uncomfortable floor, staring into the cracks between the tiles.

  I must have started to nod off because the next thing I knew, I was laying with my head in Blaze's lap. I stared up at his closed eyes through my lashes, smiling at the auburn stubble on his chin. I had no idea how long it had been since the strange meeting with his grandmother, and she was nowhere to be seen now.

  I knew it was wrong to enjoy the moment without mentioning what had happened this morning but I couldn't help wanting to hide from reality for a little longer.

  “It's difficult to meditate when I can feel your eyes on me.” His voice was stern but his lips twitched as he spoke, letting me know he wasn't really mad at me.

  “Is that a problem … Sir?” I let my voice drop as I turned and blew a hot breath over his boxer-clad erection.

  “Heelllloooo.” Rina's voice was an unwelcome mood killer and I groaned. “Blaze, you here?”

  “So far, this is really disappointing.” Kain boomed. “I was expecting a sex dungeon, not a kitchen that fell out of a posh homes magazine—ouch! Calm down, you crazy redhead!”

  “Don't mention my brother's sex life then, you perv,” Rina grumbled.

  Blaze's silent laughter jostled me before his gentle hands helped us both up from the floor. “We're coming,” he called. “Try not to break anything while you're nosing around, Kain.”

  Kain's indignant grumble could be heard from behind the closed door and I took one last look at the shrine to see that both Blaze's grandmother and the creepy dead bird were gone. Blaze must also have noticed the latter as he froze.

  “Grandmother?” he called, storming out of the room.

  I trailed after him, only to find him rushing past Rina with a look on his face that was equal parts dread and excitement. “Ri, she's got the bird,” he called over his shoulder.

  “Shit!” Rina jogged after him, leaving Kain, Daron and I to bring up the rear.

  “Do either of you two know what's going on?” I asked, as I speed-walked after the siblings.

  “Not a clue.” Kain grinned. “Maybe their grandma makes a mean roast chicken?”

  Daron was adjusting his glasses on as he easily caught up with me, his long legs eating up the distance. “Seer Miranda Inferna is famous for using bird entrails as her method of seeing the future,” he informed me. “It's apparently a gruesome but fascinating process.”

  I didn't know what to say to that and I honestly wasn't sure I wanted to see whatever was in the dark room Blaze and Rina had disappeared into, but I sure as hell wasn't being left out if their grandmother saw something important.

  Candles lit the room with flickering shadows and I was struck by how empty Miranda's bedroom was. Although the colour scheme was a soft, feminine peach, the single bed on one wall had plain white sheets and a single pillow, made up with military neat precision. The rest of the room was empty, except for a few large cushions. The glass doors to the balcony overlooked the river.

  I almost wished there was something interesting to focus on because all that remained was to look at the bird, splayed open in the middle of the floor. The three, red-haired Infernas were huddled around it, blocking the majority of the carnage from view. But the tiny channels between the hexagonal tiles on the floor were directing the blood outwards in perfect straight lines.

  Reluctantly, I moved closer till the bird's carcass was in view.

  The elderly Seer had split the creature down its middle, pulling the skin back to expose the guts, which her fingers were drawing out with a slow, methodical kind of purpose. The fluttering motions of her fingers earlier suddenly made a gruesome sort of sense.

  “Bird flies and the Shadow King dies,” she whispered and I saw Rina quickly write it down on a tiny pad of paper. “Bird flies and the Shadow King dies. Bird flies and the Shadow King dies.”

  Blaze's fist clenched and instinct compelled me to move closer. I slipped my hand over his shoulder in a comforting gesture and he covered my hand with his. Pulling it to his lips for an absent-minded kiss.

  The motion jogged his grandmo
ther out of whatever trance she was in. Her eyes snapped to mine and I took a reflexive step back at the swirling shades of greens that seemed to dance in her irises.

  “The head healer and the assassin will not stop the poison. But they can be trusted and will give you time that you need to fulfil your purpose.” She turned away from me and towards Blaze. “Ostracising the Rebel causes her and your bonds with her more damage than you know. The players will reveal their allegiance soon. All things in time, all things…”

  “…for a reason,” Blaze finished.

  With a lunge that none of us were expecting, Seer Inferna dove past her grandson and the discarded bird. Her fingers snatched at my head, grabbing a huge hunk of my hair that allowed her to drag me to her.

  Everyone was too stunned to react as she pulled a blood-covered blade from beside the dead bird and brought it down in a graceful arc. When her hands withdrew, the blade clattered to the tiles and she held a long piece of my blonde hair clenched in her fist like a trophy. “Do not interrupt!” she ordered when Blaze reached out to grab it.

  He stilled and watched along with the rest of us as she reached back into the bird with her other hand and pulled out its heart with a sickening squelch. She trailed the ends of my hair across the bloody, lifeless organ, then lifted her head and stared at Rina. “Your ribbon.”

  Without a word, Rina reached back and drew the plain red ribbon out of her hair. She handed it to her grandmother, who deftly tied my bloodied piece of hair into a braided loop, which she handed to Blaze like it was a treasured gift.

  “It's the hair from my vision,” Rina muttered.

  “An anchor to direct your visions when your mate is not nearby,” his grandmother explained. “Keep it on you always. Never let it out of your possession. Much death lingers on the horizon. Be prepared.”

  With that ominous warning out of the way, she turned back to the bird, her eyes slowly losing the swirling quality they'd taken up. Her whole body seemed to shrink into itself and I thought I saw a tear escape her eye before Rina reached forward and guided her grandmother up and towards the bathroom. It wasn't until we heard the water run that Blaze turned to me.

  There was a stark vulnerability to his expression as he scanned my face for a long, silent second.

  “Poison?” His eyes flickered behind me as Kain's hands come to rest my shoulders.

  “I only figured it out this morning,” I whispered. Kain's grip on me tightened almost imperceptibly as Blaze's face completely shut down. “I've been having headaches, nausea and itching for weeks. It just escalated recently.”

  “How?” He seemed to have been reduced to one-word sentences.

  “I don't know how. How does anyone get poisoned?” I wasn't angry, but fear made me snippy.

  “Escalated how?” he repeated.

  I grimaced. “I vomited blood.”

  Chapter 24

  Blaze's eyes burned as he looked over my shoulder at Kain. “Rezinax. Now.”

  I didn't have time to argue before I was being dragged through the shadow realm. I reappeared directly in Rezinax's office, with Kain, Daron and Blaze flanking me. The Head Healer was sat at her desk, staring at us like we were ghosts, and I supposed this was a hell of a way for her to be brought up to speed.

  “Get the others.” Blaze had gone into his full bossy mode and Kain and Daron weren't arguing. When Kain disappeared, my Wrath mate turned to look at Daron who was typing furiously at his tablet.

  “Already researching known poisons. Long term effects suggest it's a slow acting toxin…” My Envy mate's glasses glowed as they reflected his screen.

  “Officer Inferna!” Rezinax snapped once she'd recovered enough from our sudden appearance.

  “I don't have time but I'm here because my grandmother told me you would be able to help…” Blaze's jaw set.

  I shot him a look. His grandmother hadn't said Rezinax would be able to help. She'd said she could give me more time.

  “Help with what?” Rezinax looked confused.

  I took a deep breath and stepped in front of my Wrath mate, my small hand slipping into his as I took charge.

  “I'm being poisoned,” I admitted, swallowing the fear that threatened to overwhelm me. “Symptoms include headaches, nausea and itching, and…” I took a deep breath. “This morning, I vomited blood.”

  Rezinax stood from her desk with a deliberate, measured slowness that made me admire her ability to keep her head in such strange and stressful situations. “Then I suppose we should get you to an exam room.”

  She strode out of the room, and before I could protest, Blaze had scooped me up in his arms and followed, Daron behind us.

  “I'm not an invalid,” I muttered, squirming slightly.

  Blaze didn't even bother replying. Instead, he shot me a look that made me look away.

  In that single glance had been pure, heart-rending agony. I reached along my mating bond, intent on comforting him, and his eyes fluttered closed.

  “It will all be okay,” he whispered.

  “I know,” I lied. My finger traced the rim of the buttons on his shirt as he shouldered his way through the door and into an exam room.

  I was laid on the bed with such gentleness that I smiled but my expression sobered when Rezinax gave me a look.

  “I'm going to need to take some samples of your blood,” she began, pulling on a pair of sterile gloves. “The haemokinetics will look at it and attempt to decipher what is wrong with you. I'll also inform the headmistress.”

  “It's Assembly business,” I cut in. “The headmistress does not need to be told and all information about my case is to be kept strictly confidential.” I put enough force into my voice to make it clear I was speaking as Lady Carazor, not as a student.

  Rezinax briefly bowed her head in acquiescence, then resumed her task. “I can sense you're low on energy again. When did you last take power?”

  “Last night.” I glanced at the clock on the wall. “Less than ten hours ago.”

  “And have you expended a lot of that power since then?”

  “I haven't used it once.”

  She tutted absently as the needle went into my arm and she quickly filled four vials with my blood. “Either your body is expending vast amounts of energy to fix the damage or the toxin is specifically formulated to drain you of your power.”

  She withdrew the needle and placed her hand on my arm, closing her eyes as she sent her power into me. It was almost a full minute before she spoke again, “Have you experienced any issues with taking power?”

  I frowned. “Only once. At first, I couldn't take any, then when I tried again, my power took too much, too fast.”

  She tutted, closing her eyes once again, as if confirming what she'd already discovered, before opening them and meeting my gaze head on. “You're losing power at a dangerous rate; I can feel it leaving you. You need to take power more regularly until we can formulate an antidote.” Rezinax's lips pursed as she looked toward the window, her brows creasing in concern. “The less power you hold, the more your body starts to malfunction and the worse your symptoms will be. Being regularly drained to the brink of exhaustion could have long-term repercussions we aren't aware of yet.”

  “Have you ever seen this before, Head Healer?” Blaze demanded.

  She shook her head. “I have colleagues who specialise in different toxins. I'll consult with them, but no. I've never seen a poison that causes damage to a demon's well of power. I'm going to recommend you not be allowed to take part in practical classes and remove you from your placement with the surgery team. You can't be expending huge amounts of power when you're losing so much as it is.”

  I grimaced. “But I have to pass this year.”

  “Considering the circumstances, I'm sure allowances will be made.” Her voice broached no argument. “Now stay still. I will attempt to fix the damage that has already been done.”

  Her hands traced over my body with a calm expertise that spoke of decades of practice. Befor
e long, the subtle tension that had been present in my muscles began to ease. The itching in my wings, that I hadn't even realised was so ingrained, started to dissipate and my head felt lighter than it had in weeks.

  I let out a sigh as Rezinax worked and sank back into the pillows. When she stepped back, she staggered slightly and only Daron's swift motions stopped her from collapsing entirely.

  “Thank you,” she said, quickly extracting herself from his grasp before turning back to me. “Miss Carazor, I have done all I can for you. I am going to take these samples to my colleague. You might use this opportunity to regain some power.” Her eyes flicked to Daron and Blaze. “I've patched the psychic holes through which you were leaking energy, but whatever poison is in your system is eroding your psychic walls at an alarming rate. Until we can find a cure, you are going to require regular treatment to slow whatever is happening.”

  “If it's her psychic walls which are being eroded, why is she experiencing physical symptoms?” Daron asked, his glasses flashing in the light as his hands fisted by his sides.

  “Demons cannot survive without a base level of psychic power which supports our physical bodies,” Rezinax answered, standing and moving towards the door. “Our power fixes physical wounds at an accelerated rate and keeps us youthful until such time as we are killed. Her body is breaking down at points when she's low on power. And it will continue to do so as long as the poison remains. I can only do so much healing before scar tissue builds up and renders my gift useless.”

  “And if that happens before an antidote is found?” I asked, steeling myself for the answer I knew was coming.

  “You will die.” Rezinax didn't pause or try to soften the blow. “At my best guess, if we do nothing, I'd say you have months. Maybe a year at most.” She didn't stay to comfort me. Instead, she marched out of the door, clutching her handful of vials like a woman on a mission.