Seraphim Academy 3: Fallen Kings

by Briggs, Elizabeth;

  “Move everyone to that side of the room,” I order, lacing more power into my words.

  The guards and prisoners under my control start herding the few others, and Araceli and Tanwen make sure no one gets any ideas about attacking us. At one point, Araceli has to throw up a ring of fire around a charging bear shifter, and that makes everyone hesitate before trying anything else.

  Once everyone is on one side of the room, Eveanna raises up walls around the guards and prisoners alike, blocking them in with her earth powers. The only one we’ve kept free is Nisha.

  “Let’s go,” I tell her. I try to make it seem as though she’s under my control too, so no one suspects she helped us.

  Nisha opens a door in the other wall. Before we go through it, I use my Ishim powers to cloak our group, while Tanwen yanks Dina close. If we run across any Ofanim guards they might be able to see through my invisibility, but hopefully I’m stronger than they are.

  “Take us to the men’s side,” I command Nisha, and she nods.

  We head through the door one by one. It’s time to rescue the guys.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Callan

  It’s another fucked up day in Penumbra Prison. I’m outside in one of the yards with Kassiel this time. Bastien and Jonah are in the yard to my right, and I don’t see Marcus at all.

  “I’m worried about Liv,” Kassiel says. We’re sitting together on one of the stone benches, because there isn’t much else to do.

  “Me too.” We have no idea if she’s even in here, or if the Order dragged her off somewhere to be tortured. Kassiel’s still here, along with plenty of other demons, so we know they haven’t used the Staff yet. Time’s running out though, and I’m getting antsy. The son of Michael and Jophiel isn’t meant to be caged, and I’m going to bust free soon.

  Every day I test the guards a little more, while Bastien studies how the prison works. Marcus, Jonah, and Kassiel try to chat up their guards for info. During mealtimes, we exchange what we’ve learned while shoving food in our mouths.

  So far, we know that Araceli, Tanwen, and Eveanna are on the women’s side of the prison, but that’s it. If Liv is there, the guards have been ordered not to talk about her.

  We’ve tested the fences a few times, and there’s no way to touch them without getting shocked. The first time isn’t too bad, but the longer you mess with them, the worse it gets. And I can’t do anything with these fucking cuffs on.

  Kassiel stares off into the distance. “If they use the Staff, another war will begin between angels and demons. There will be no way around it. My father will have to retaliate.”

  “We won’t let that happen.” I clench my fists. “Our fathers didn’t work for years to bring peace to our people just for it to end now.”

  Kassiel’s demon-green eyes meet mine. “And if it does, and I’m sent back to Hell?”

  “Then we’ll find a way to drag your ass back here to Earth.”

  The slightest smile touches his mouth. “I appreciate that. If it comes to war, I’ll do whatever I can to hold back my father and the Archdemons.”

  “It won’t come to war. Even if Liv…” Fuck, I can barely get the words out. “Even if she’s gone, we won’t let our people turn against each other. We owe that to her, at least.”

  Kassiel nods, and we fall into companionable silence. A year ago, I’d never believe I’d be sitting here with Lucifer’s son as my ally, or that we’d both love the same woman and be fine with it. But here we are.

  A guard suddenly bumps into both of us from behind, hard. We spin around, and the guard stares intently at Kassiel. “Your father says it’s time to go.”

  Kassiel’s eyebrows dart up, but before he can reply, an inmate near the fence picks a fight with another guy. They throw some blows while the guards rush forward, and then the first guy picks up the other one with both hands, turns him sideways like they’re wrestling, and throws him against the fence. Nothing happens.

  This is our chance.

  The other guards try to break up the fight, and the guard who spoke to us removes our cuffs in the chaos. My light floods into me like a long-lost friend. Finally, I can breathe again. At my side, Kassiel rubs his hands together, and then our eyes meet. It’s time to get the fuck out of here.

  More prisoners join the fight, and while the guards are busy, I grab the fence and yank as hard as I can. Kassiel gets the idea, and together we pull the metal away from the frame. As soon as it comes down, we’re joined by Bastien and Jonah.

  “What’s going on?” Jonah asks.

  “We’re getting out of here.” I glance around. “Where’s Marcus?”

  “I’ll find him,” Kassiel says, before slipping away into the shadows and vanishing.

  Other prisoners have the same idea and start pulling down the fences until our carefully separated enclosures become one massive yard. More guards run out of the magical doors with weapons. They normally don’t carry them, but it’s turning into a full-fledged riot out here.

  One of them makes the mistake of coming after me. He must have no idea who I am. I punch him in the face, and he drops like a rock. It’s all too easy to take his sword.

  Turning from his unconscious body, I raise my weapon and yell, “The prison is ours!”

  All around me, prisoners overpower the guards and grab their weapons. Bodies drop around us. I don’t like unnecessary death, but I’m trying to stop a bigger war here. Some casualties are expected. I fight other guards and prisoners alike, knocking them unconscious instead of killing them. Kassiel returns with Marcus, and our friends all get their cuffs removed at some point. Jonah makes our group invisible and we move away from the fighting as best we can, then spread our wings.

  “How do we get to the women’s side?” I ask Bastien, since she has encyclopedic knowledge of this place stored in his brain.

  “It’s over there in that building.” He points across the prison grounds toward a stone building that looks just like the one we’ve been locked up in for who knows how long.

  We fly up and over the battle that’s spreading through the yard, and head in the direction he pointed. I can’t see a way inside—it’s like one big gray stone cube, just like the men’s prison.

  “Everybody back up!” Sucking in all the light I can, I channel my powers and send a burning hot bolt of pure light at the nearest wall. It hits with a booming explosion, the stone flying all over the place as a gaping hole appears. I peer through the rubble and spot a hallway, then gesture for everyone to follow me inside.

  We’re coming for you, Liv.

  Chapter Forty

  Olivia

  We ask Nisha to take us to a room with weapons, and she manifests the door there. We’re loading up with every weapon we can carry when we hear a massive explosion, like a wrecking ball hit the building. The ground under us shakes.

  “What was that?” Araceli asks.

  “My partner on the men’s side must have done his job and freed your allies,” Nisha says. “Hurry. More guards will be here soon.”

  Hope blooms in my chest at the mention of the men. When this is all over, we’re going to have to send Lucifer a big thank you present. Maybe one of those edible flower arrangements or something. “Take us to that explosion.”

  She opens another magical door—I’m not sure how, but I suspect the guards have a fae relic on them somewhere—and we rush through, nearly stabbing the guys with our newly-stolen weapons. There’s a huge gaping hole behind them in the side of the building. Subtle, they are not.

  “We were just coming to rescue you!” I cry out, as I rush toward them.

  “No, we were coming to rescue you!” Callan says, as he wraps me in a big bear hug.

  “As you can see, we don’t need rescuing,” Tanwen says, wielding her sword.

  Marcus grabs me from Callan. “We were so worried about you. We had no idea if you were in here or if the Order took you.”

  “I’m okay.” I move to hug Bastien, Kassiel, and Jonah.
I’m so relieved to see them that my eyes well up with tears, especially as the girls all hug them too.

  Then the group hug clears up and Dina steps forward. “Bastien?” she asks softly.

  He does a double take as he looks at her. His mouth falls open, but no words come out at first. Finally, he says, “Mother? Is that you?”

  Now I’m really going to cry.

  “We need to get moving if we’re going to reach the helicopter before more guards arrive,” Nisha says, interrupting their tender reunion.

  “Helicopter?” Eveanna asks. I’m honestly not sure if she’s asking what Nisha is talking about or asking what a helicopter is.

  “It’s the only way off the island,” Bastien says. “We’re too far out to fly back to land. We’d end up stranded in the middle of the Pacific.”

  Crap. I didn’t know this place was an island. I can blink us a short way, but at best, I could go maybe the length of a football field. And I need to see where I’m going, too. No wonder this place is impossible to escape from, even for people who can fly.

  “Let’s blast our way out then,” Callan says, and I swear half the room rolls their eyes at him.

  “Is that always your solution?” Kassiel asks, but it’s in a good-natured way. Something’s changed between them. The animosity is gone.

  “It usually works, doesn’t it?” He shrugs. “We have our powers back, we can overpower everyone and steal the helicopter.”

  “Can anyone even fly a helicopter?” Araceli asks.

  “I can.” Kassiel strokes his chin. “Granted, that was during World War Two, but it probably hasn’t changed much since then, right?”

  “We’re doomed,” Jonah mutters.

  “We’ll figure things out as we go,” I say, as I start forward. All I know is that if we stand around here much longer, we’ll be surrounded.

  We head back outside, and it feels amazing to spread my wings again. I glance back, and spot Dina hesitating at the edge of the building, before spreading her dove gray wings. They look pale, as if some of the color has washed out of them. She takes off, but struggles, and Bastien goes after her to help. I wonder how long it’s been since she used her wings.

  Tanwen grabs Eveanna, and Nisha surprises us all with her black and brown wings. A Fallen. She leads us across the compound, and I spot palm trees surrounding the perimeter and other signs of life we weren’t allowed in the prison yards. At one end is a square landing pad, with three helicopters sitting there.

  Before we can arrive, a group of flying guards, both men and women, head our way. A wave of darkness flies out from one of them and obliterates our Ishim invisibility, which requires us to bend light. Kassiel counters it by wrapping some of the darkness around himself and sending it away, but it’s too late—they’ve seen us now.

  We clash in the air with weapons and magic, and I’m so very grateful for Hilda’s aerial combat class. A Fallen wraps me in tight, tar-like darkness and I start to panic, but then I look at Marcus and blink toward him. An instant later I’m free and by his side. This new power is already coming in handy.

  Callan plows through the group, probably delighted he gets to blast his way out after all. Tanwen shoots burning light while holding Eveanna, who rips chunks of earth out of the ground to throw at the guards. Araceli launches fireballs, while Kassiel wields a sword made of shadows. I blink between guards, disarming them and confusing them, so then Marcus can knock them out with his sleep magic. We kill as few as possible. They’re just doing their jobs, after all.

  Another wave of flying guards comes toward us, and in this group I see a fae with shimmering, translucent butterfly wings. I’ve never seen anything as beautiful before and it nearly stops me in my tracks, but then we hear the sound of a helicopter approaching. At first I think it must be more reinforcements arriving and feel an impending sense of doom, until the helicopter gets close enough for me to read the logo on the sign of it: Abbadon Inc. Lucifer’s company.

  The pilot spots us and heads straight for us, instead of toward the landing pad. The helicopter is larger than I expected up close, big enough for all of us to get on it.

  Kassiel suddenly takes off, flying carefully under the dangerous blades before landing inside the hulking machine. Callan throws a shield around the rest of us, blocking us from any incoming attacks, as we all follow Kassiel and climb onboard.

  Once we’re all safely inside, the helicopter ascends and picks up speed, getting us out of there. Soon we’re flying over an endless expanse of dark blue sea while we stare at each other, shell-shocked but mostly unharmed and free. Nisha is with us—I guess there was no way she could keep working at that prison after this, but I’m sure Lucifer will take care of her.

  “Where are we headed?” Jonah asks, yelling over the loud sound of the blades.

  “Las Vegas,” Nisha yells. “You’ll be safe there with Lucifer.”

  Bastien shakes his head, his eyes narrowing. “No. I need to speak to my father.”

  I’m dreading going back to the school, but I know we have to do it. Going to Las Vegas to hide under Lucifer’s protection would be the easy option, but not the right one. Besides, nowhere is safe while the Order has the Staff.

  If we want to destroy it, we’ll have to confront them.

  Chapter Forty-One

  Olivia

  We can’t exactly show up in Angel Peak on Lucifer’s helicopter, so we have Nisha drop us off about an hour away, and then we fly the rest of the way to Marcus and Callan’s house. We plan to confront Uriel, but first we need time to recover after everything we’ve been through.

  A quick glance at Marcus’s phone, which we find on the kitchen counter, shows we’ve been in Penumbra Prison for three weeks. It felt like longer, and we all damn near lost our minds. How did Dina manage it for all these years?

  We each grab something to drink and a bite to eat, but we’re too exhausted for much more than that. Jonah winces as he pours himself a glass of water, and Araceli goes over to fuss on him. Jonah laughs and pulls up his shirt, revealing a massive bruise.

  “Why are you always getting injured, dude?” Marcus asks, shaking his head.

  “I don’t know,” Jonah says with a grin. “It’s a good thing I know such fine healers, isn’t it?”

  Araceli reaches over and places a light hand on Jonah’s muscular stomach. “Let’s go in one of the guest rooms. I’ll take care of it.”

  As they leave the kitchen, I feel their lust—and something more—swirling around them. If they haven’t done something to kickstart this relationship yet, they will soon.

  Callan pops open a beer. “I think we all know why he keeps getting injured.”

  “I’m not injured, but I’d really like to be alone with my girlfriend,” Tanwen says.

  “Let me show you to my room here,” Eveanna says. I forgot she’d been staying here, pretending to be an angel, before we were captured. It’s a good thing Callan bought the biggest, most ostentatious house he could find in Angel Peak, because we need a lot of extra bedrooms tonight.

  Before they head leave, I hug them both tight. “Thank you. For everything.”

  “This is my fight, too,” Tanwen says. “I’ve got your back.”

  Eveanna faces me with solemn eyes. “It’s my duty to find the Staff. However, I do value our friendship as well.”

  Tanwen grins. “Let us know when it’s time to kick some ass again.”

  They walk away, just as Bastien leads his mom toward Marcus’s room, which I assume he gave up for the night, because that’s the kind of guy he is. Dina looks truly exhausted and a little overwhelmed, as Bastien helps her inside and shuts the door. I can’t imagine how hard this must be for both of them, but at least we got her out of there.

  “She’s already asleep,” Bastien says, when he walks out. “She’s so weak. So…different.”

  “Give her time,” Marcus says. “She’s been through a lot. I’ll check her out tomorrow too.”

  “I appreciate that.”
<
br />   I collapse on the couch beside Marcus. “We can’t stay here long. I’m not sure it was a good idea to come here at all.”

  Kassiel sits on the other side of me. “We’ll reevaluate in the morning. Right now, we need to regain our strength. Especially you, Liv.”

  Now that I’ve sat down, it hits me how tired I am. I used more magic today than I realized, and my succubus hunger claws at me. And I’m sitting in a room with all four of my lovers, none of whom I’ve touched in weeks.

  “Yes, she needs to feed,” Bastien says. “It’s been too long.”

  “I’m in,” Marcus says. “Whatever you need, however you need it.”

  “Are you sure?” I ask, glancing between them. “I know you’re all exhausted too. Maybe we should talk about this after we’ve all had a good night’s sleep.”

  “I think we’ll all rest better tonight knowing you’re sated.” Kassiel puts his hand on my thigh and squeezes, sending jolts of desire straight to my core. Yep. That’s what I want. Him. And the others. All of them.

  Callan’s gaze is on my leg where Kassiel’s hand sits, but he’s not angry. He meets my eyes and I let the question show on my face. I don’t want him to do something he’s not comfortable with. He was fine when it was just the Princes, but he and Kassiel haven’t always gotten along in the past.

  Without saying a word, he stands and holds out his hand. “I think we could all use a shower. Luckily, I have a big one in my room.”

  I rise and take his hand, my pulse already racing with anticipation. He leads me up the stairs and into Marcus’s room, while the other men follow behind us. We step inside a large, very tidy bedroom with a huge four-poster bed, which is perfectly made. I would expect nothing less from Callan.

  As soon as we’re inside, Callan shuts the door, and then the four men look at me with their own hunger in their eyes. I feel lust coming off them in waves, and something else too.