Dead Air: A Collective World Novel (Academy's Rise Trilogy Book 3)

by Lia Davis

  The demon screamed and jumped back when I slashed him again. Then he snarled at me and charged. I bumped into Harper at my back, battling her own demon as I focused on pulling the power of Hell into me. Splitting my focus between fighting the bleeding demon and directing the magic took everything I had. I rounded a kick to his gut, sending him flying into the far wall.

  When my chi filled with power, I pushed it out to my sisters, keeping an equal amount for myself. After forming a ball of energy, I threw it at another demon as he turned his attention to me. the energy ball hit him in the chest, vanquishing him.

  A demon screech to my right drew my attention. Tala hit it with a power ball.

  "Tala. Half shift."

  She glanced at me like I was delusional. Then her eyes grew round when I showed her my hands, now in claws. She glanced down at her own and in seconds they shifted. "Fucking cool. Meda!"

  A growl grabbed my attention, and I whirled around to come face to face with two large demons. I pulled power from Hell and let it flow down my arms to my claws, then ran toward them. Right before I reached them, I jumped and swiped my claws across the chest of one, then pivoted to slice the other's throat. Instead of spurting, blood oozed from the wounds, and I pushed aside the bile that rose up within me.

  The dark magic from Hell transferred from my claws into the demons when I struck them. It didn't take long for the oozing, wounded beasts to disintegrate and return to Hell.

  Everything fell quiet, and I glanced around to see the demons were gone. I rushed to Phenex and dropped to my knees beside him. My heart ached at the sight of the bruises on his face. Carefully, I touched his cheek. He began to stir as my sisters fell to their knees around our mate. His eyes fluttered open, then his brows dipped. "Trap. They were waiting."

  "Shh," I cooed and stroked his cheek. "It's okay."

  Randell checked out the rest of the dorm, most likely searching for Marvin. No matter what the grumpy sentry said, we all knew he loved that cat.

  Meda choked on a sob. "Phenex." She ran her hands over his head and then his chest and stomach. Being a fire elemental, she had a small amount of healing power. Unfortunately, she couldn't turn the healing power on herself, which was the case for most healers. "He may have a few broken ribs and a lot of internal bruising. I can't soothe his pain without my fire." She banged her fists on her knees in frustration. "Damn it." Dorian walked forward and put his arms around her.

  Harper put her hand on my back. "We should go," she whispered.

  Tala nodded. She'd heard my mate. "We need to get him back to the island. I'm sure Trinity will come looking for her demons soon." Tala linked her fingers with Phenex's.

  Randell came back from Meda's room holding Marvin. "Found him under Meda's bed. He's scared."

  Meda took Marvin and nuzzled his fur while she hugged him close. "You trouble maker."

  Randell placed a hand on Phenex's shoulder and bent down. "Can you walk?"

  Phenex nodded, but when he tried to stand, his legs shook, and he fell back into the chair. Randell gave a half frown and scooped Phenex up with one hand supporting his back and the other under his knees so as not to jolt the hound too much.

  My heart swelled to see Tala's mate treating Phenex so delicately. Maybe this whole meshed family would work. Eventually.

  We shuffled back into my bedroom, but the portal was gone. Shoot. Using all my focus to fight and use magic had let the portal collapse.

  Once everyone was ready, I focused on the common area in the hotel and reached out to Mom and the niswi. Connecting to them made it easier to form the portal back to the island.

  To my relief, our parents had the shaman, Adam, there and ready to look at Phenex. Randell carried Phenex to Tala's room. My sisters and I followed on his heels. We stood to the side with our hands locked together, worry bouncing between us as we waited for the shaman to check Phenex's injuries.

  It felt like hours before Adam stepped away from Phenex's resting form. He turned to us. "He needs rest. Whoever did this weakened him with silver before beating him. I healed the minor things—bruising and fractures. The rest will be up to his natural healing abilities."

  Meda nodded. "Thank you."

  Adam took each of our hands and smiled. "He needs his mates right now. Just be sure not to jostle him too much."

  Then he left.

  Without a word to each other, we crawled on the bed with Phenex. It was a good thing the room had a king-size bed. I curled up next to him with my head on his stomach. Meda laid at my back so her head rested on the pillow beside his. Tala spooned his other side.

  I laid awake listening to Meda drift off to sleep. Then Tala wasn't far behind her. When I closed my eyes, Phenex tightened his arms around me and I felt his fingers playing with the ends of my hair. "Goodnight, my mates."

  Soon after, his breathing became steady as he fell asleep. I could sense through our bond that he was more relaxed.

  "Goodnight, mate." I closed my eyes and let sleep take me.

  Chapter Thirteen

  My sisters and Phenex slept soundly, but I tossed and turned until I had to get up. My mind wouldn't settle. Looking down at my sisters, I smiled, but my sadness wouldn't relent. They looked content and peaceful wrapped around Phenex. Why couldn't I find that myself?

  The empty common area beckoned me. I rummaged in the fridge, finding milk. A short hunt in the cabinets rewarded me with cookies.

  Thanks, Poppy. He couldn't have known which set of rooms we'd claim as our own, but somehow my favorite cookies were plentiful in the cabinet.

  Dragging a chair over to the gigantic window, I curled up and watched the moon dance over the water in the distance. The cookies hit the spot, and when I finished my milk, I set the rest of the cookies down with the glass on the floor beside the chair.

  "Hey, Puss," I crooned as Marvin stretched and climbed into the chair with me. He settled down between my legs and the arm of the chair.

  I traced my fingers along his ears, scratching and rubbing absentmindedly. My thoughts bounced from subject to subject. Gino, Trinity, the library of books, Marvin, Phenex, my air.

  "Ami," Harper whispered. "Come on."

  Blinking sleepily, I looked up at my mate. "I didn't mean to fall asleep," I whispered.

  She bent over me, the sunrise making a halo of her blonde hair. "It's okay. I just got in from guard duty. Come lay down with me for a while."

  Marvin purred at me as I stood, but he didn't follow, instead opting to curl up in the warm spot I left.

  Harper took my hand, leading me to the room we were sharing with Noah while staying on the island. Technically Gino should be there as well. Maybe we could work things out so that he could join us soon. It didn't feel right, knowing he wasn't with me.

  My eyes closed as soon as my head hit the pillow, and I didn't wake again until the sun beat through the windows, warming the room.

  Harper grunted as I stretched. "Can't I stay and sleep?" she said through a yawn. "I hate night guard duty."

  Leaning over, I pressed a firm kiss on her forehead. "Sleep. I think we're going to try to combine powers again, see if we can make some headway with this curse."

  She didn't respond, already too far asleep to hear me.

  After a shower, I walked into the living area to find my sisters sitting around the table. A plate piled with sandwiches sat between them.

  "Where'd that come from?" I asked. My middle-of-the-night snack search hadn't turned up any sandwich fixings. I glanced over to see someone had cleaned up my cookie mess. It wasn't like me to leave it.

  "The kitchens are well-stocked downstairs," Meda said around a mouthful of sandwich. She'd always been a big eater.

  I couldn't remember when I'd had more than a nibble here and there. The cookies in the night hadn't stuck around to keep me full. Come to think of it, I'd been pretty consistently hungry since the funeral, though I'd been ignoring it.

  "Tala," I said, curious if she'd felt the same. She and I normally ate
very little, with Meda eating the lion's share.

  "What?" she asked, her tone tinged with irritation.

  I swallowed back a snarky retort and forced a smile to my face. "Have you been eating more?"

  Her jaw paused mid-chew. "Yes, actually."

  "It just occurred to me, when I realized how delicious those sandwiches look. I've been hungry far more often since we lost our elements."

  Tala looked amazed as she stared at her ham sandwich. "You're right. You know, I always suspected my water sustained me. I never eat much. Neither do you. And Meda's always eating, but I thought maybe her fire ate at her energy where ours supplemented ours."

  Meda nodded. "I don't think I've been as hungry, now you mention it."

  "Well, now we know." I grabbed a sandwich and dug in as Noah and Gino walked in the door. "Where've you two been?" I asked after I swallowed.

  Noah kissed my cheek. "Hey," he murmured. "Trying to get to know each other."

  I realized they were both sweaty. "Oh?" I raised my eyebrow and gave them both a hard look. "In what way?"

  "Tennis, actually," Gino said, then leaned over to mimic Noah's kiss. "I'm a skilled tennis player."

  "And I'm a lycan." Noah shrugged. "So, faster than the witch."

  Gino nodded. "Yeah, but who won?"

  Noah's narrowed eyes was the only answer I needed. Gino beat Noah.

  Giggling, I looked between them. "Friendly match?"

  Noah's expression softened. "Yeah. Friendly."

  Good.

  Meda pushed her plate away, surprisingly leaving half a sandwich on it. "Let's go," she said.

  "Where do we want to do this?" I asked. "Can we do it here?"

  Tala scoffed. "We have a gorgeous tropical island. Why do anything inside?"

  Her attitude stunk, but she wasn't wrong. "Let me leave a note for Harper," I said, grabbing some of the hotel stationery. "Only Poppy would put hotel stationery in a magical hotel," I said.

  Noah chuckled behind me. "Maybe the mermaid-dude did it."

  I held up the pad of paper to show him the letterhead. "Poppy's Paradise Resort."

  Grabbing the paper and pulling it closer to his face, Noah's expression lit up in delight. "Your grandfather is the best," he crowed, then turned to the rest of our group.

  I needed a name for us when we were gathered together. My sisters' mates didn't quite fit the mold of family to me yet, but 'our group' seemed so impersonal.

  "He's got a byline," Noah said through laughter. "For the discerning demon. London-Paris-Remote Island."

  His announcement was met with a lot of laughter and head shakes. I studied the words when he handed the notepad back. "He is the best," I murmured as I wrote a note for Harp, Phenex, and my parents.

  Headed to the beach to train. Join us if you'd like. -A

  "There." I left the note on top of the sandwiches in the middle of the table. "Let's go."

  We traipsed down to the water. As soon as we hit the sand, Meda took off her shoes, and it looked so appealing I did as well. After a few minutes, so did Tala, and by the time we got to the small cove we'd used before, our entire party was shoeless.

  "I sure would like to swim," Meda said. "But I don't have a suit." She cut her eyes at me. "No way I'm doing it in my bra. Everyone already saw you do it, so it's like they've seen me anyway."

  Rolling my eyes, I turned away and stretched, choosing to ignore her.

  "I can conjure you a bathing suit," Gino told me. "Pretty easily."

  "Yeah, I can, too," I heard Sterling say, followed by a "yup," from Fenton.

  I beamed at Gino. "That's awesome."

  "First, I think we should try to connect to Hell, and see what we can do with that power out here with nobody around." Meda didn't have her fire, but she was still alpha, and still had to be the boss.

  Gritting my teeth, I turned back to her. "Okay. Why don't you connect this time?" Since you two thought I did such a bad job before.

  She nodded, but her expression spoke volumes. She knew exactly why I didn't want to be the one to do it.

  Closing her eyes, she sucked in a deep breath and exhaled, repeating the slow breathing for several minutes while we stood around in the heat watching her. Finally, she grunted and exhaled hard. "Why is it so hard?"

  "Try doing it in the middle of a battle," I said waspishly. I knew it was the curse making me unable to move past their harsh words.

  "Amitola," Tala said in a hard voice. "Can you not let it go?"

  "I'm trying." Giving her a pointed glare, I opened myself up and tried to access the part of me that connected me as one of the heirs of the Kingdom of Hell. "In theory, as direct heir, Meda should have the easiest time of this."

  "Why can't Dad do it?" Tala asked, breaking my concentration.

  "He's a vampire," I said. "He doesn't have the same magic we do."

  "He's the heir," she argued. "If something happened to Poppy, he'd take the throne, right?"

  "Not necessarily." We all stared at Fenton in surprise. "I've been studying your family," he said. "I'm a scholar, can't help myself."

  "Well, what did you find?"

  "Your grandmother would take on the throne. She has a considerable amount of magic in her, but only while in the Hell realm."

  "I bet Dad would, too," I said. "He's probably never tried."

  "Here he comes, we can ask him," Noah pointed out.

  Turned out, our Fenton's information was accurate.

  "I've got some crazy powers while in the Hell realm, but I never spend enough time there to figure them out." Dad shrugged. "But, for now, we need you girls on your A-game."

  "If we could connect to Hell, we could use the power to run drills," I said. "But so far, it's not happening."

  Tala grunted. "I'm trying."

  I tried as well, and this time, I found it. "Ah," I said in satisfaction. My sisters needed to be able to connect as fast as I did, and we all three needed to get much, much faster. But there was a deep gratification in knowing they'd criticized me and I achieved our goal faster than they did.

  The massive power filled me, helping chase away some of the emptiness the absence of my air left behind.

  "I've got it." I looked at my sisters in triumph. "Connect with me." It was easier to have them grab hold than pull them in. When they connected, the power flowed between us, energizing and revitalizing all three of us.

  "I can sense it," Dad said. "It's alluring."

  "I bet if we had time, we could figure out how to pull you in." Meda looked at her hands with a frown. "This would be so amazing if I had my fire."

  She was so right. My air would've loved the intensity of our newfound Hell power. "Okay," I barked. "Let's figure out how to use it."

  The curse didn't budge in the face of the power that probably created it. "It seems likely Trinity used this power to put the curse on us, to begin with," I said thoughtfully. "Perhaps it needs a different power to counteract it."

  Meda nodded. "We don't know any angels."

  Dad burst out laughing, followed by our entire group. "And even if we did," he said. "They'd be unlikely to help the offspring of Lucifer."

  "Holy shit, Dad, they're real?" My jaw dropped and I gaped at him in amazement. I'd read novels about angels, Nephilim, and the like for years. It was a particularly favorite trope of mine.

  "Well, what did you think?" Mom answered for him. "Hell exists but Heaven doesn't?"

  My whole world tilted on its axis. I'd never considered that it could be.

  "Of course, the stories about what happened vary and nobody can get any of them to verify the truth," Pop continued. "We've tried."

  "My father is tight-lipped about the whole thing," Dad said, obviously frustrated. "Mom doesn't even know anything."

  "Well, can we debate the history of the cosmos another day?" Tala asked. She was being a bitch again, but she was right. "We need to focus."

  The power flowing through me itched to be released. "Yeah. Gino, Fenton, Sterling, can you thro
w energy balls at us?"

  "Sure," Sterling said brightly. "I love this part."

  Gino looked at him in amazement. "You love trying to hurt your mate?"

  "No," he said with a laugh. "But you've not seen firsthand how powerful they are."

  "It's fun to keep them on their toes," Fenton finished for his cousin. Without warning, he shot a ball of what looked like fire straight at me.

  "Hey," I shouted as I ducked it. "I wasn't ready."

  "That's the point," he said as he threw two more at my sisters. They ducked as well. "Figure out how to counteract them, not hide from them."

  It took far more energy balls than I'd ever admit before we figured out how to shoot out a tendril of power, meeting the ball in the air and evaporating it. Or maybe absorbing it. I wasn't sure, but every time we hit one, I felt a zing of triumph, or possibly power.

  Eventually, we started throwing out balls of our own. Meda figured that one out, but Tala and I quickly mimicked her.

  Our orbs of energy hit the guys' in mid-air, causing explosions. The first one made me flinch, but soon I was flinging power at them as hard as I could, the explosions bigger and brighter.

  "We need to do this at night for the kids," I exclaimed as a ball of mine hit one of Gino's and neon pink sparks went everywhere.

  "See if you three can make one of these balls together," Fenton said. "We'll try too."

  Giggling, Meda, Tala and I hovered together, letting a ball of Hell power grow between us. The guys did the same, without the giggles. I looked around to see if I could tell how big their ball was when I realized we'd attracted a bit of a crowd. The sun beat down on our ensemble, Collective families spread out on the beach, watching our training session devolve into a fireworks show.