Seraphim Academy 3: Fallen Kings

by Briggs, Elizabeth;

  “We need to get it from her, according to my mother’s vision,” Bastien says.

  Before we can discuss it further, Azrael launches another huge bolt from the Staff—directly at the cafeteria. Where Araceli is healing our injured, with Jonah protecting her.

  I scream, but I’m too far away to do anything. The entire battle melts away as I watch Hilda throw herself in front of the light. She blocks it with her Valkyrie armor, spreading her arms out wide to make sure she sucks up the entire blast. Oh, Hilda, no.

  The cafeteria is safe, but our beloved Combat Training professor falls to the ground, her armor singed and her wings charred. She doesn’t move again. Callan lets out a guttural roar and unleashes his own blast of burning light at Azrael, hitting him in the right wing. It knocks Azrael back a tiny bit, but he shakes it off fast—but it got his attention. Just like we wanted.

  The other Valkyries yell and rush forward with their swords, fury and retribution written on their faces, spurred by the death of one of their own. They clash with Grace and Zadkiel, but Azrael goes invisible.

  “Get ready,” Kassiel says. “He’s seen us.”

  We move inside the bell tower and I use my Ishim powers to make everyone but me and Callan invisible. Then we wait, while my heart races.

  Suddenly an eerie voice sounds just behind me. “Did you think you could hide from me?”

  I spin around just as Azrael turns visible. Callan throws up a light shield around us, just in time to block a blast from the Staff. Kassiel and the others move forward while invisible, wielding dark-infused blades.

  But then Azrael raises his other hand and somehow sends us all flying back, and everyone becomes visible again. I try to reach for my succubus powers, but there’s something blocking them. Callan lifts his hand to shoot Azrael with light, but nothing happens. We can’t use any of our powers.

  “There’s no use in fighting me.” Azrael stalks toward me with those horrible black eyes, and I’m completely powerless against him. I see now why none of the Archangels could stand up to him. He’s like a black hole, an empty void, sucking away all our powers and only making himself stronger.

  Kassiel gets up and launches himself at Azrael with his dark-infused sword. Our powers may be blocked, but we can still move. Azrael dodges and hits Kassiel with a bolt of light, knocking him back into the TV, while Marcus and Bastien move in with their own infused weapons. Callan and I jump to our feet too, and I pull out my daggers. We’re not going down without a fight.

  But Azrael’s too strong, and he’s had thousands of years of experience. My paltry three years of combat training are nothing against him, and he knocks my blades away. Within seconds, we’re all on the floor, injured and moaning. The only one with any chance is Callan, who wields his sword against the Staff while he tries to protect us all, but then Azrael knocks him down too.

  It’s impossible. How can we ever defeat the leader of the Archangels?

  A burst of darkness fills the room, and a man forms in the middle of it. A ridiculously handsome man with wings made of shadows.

  Lucifer is here.

  My heart pounds faster as he wraps inky darkness around Azrael’s wrists and pins him in place. Somehow, he isn’t affected by Azrael’s nullification powers. He must be stronger than Azrael, which is terrifying in its own way.

  “Get the Staff!” Lucifer says. “I’ll take care of Azrael.”

  “You’ve broken the Earth Accords,” Azrael hisses at Lucifer, while struggling to get free. “This will be war.”

  “Isn’t it already?” the King of Hell growls back.

  Kassiel manages to wrestle the Staff away from Azrael’s hands, and then steps back with wide eyes. “Father.”

  Lucifer waves a hand at us, while struggling to hold Azrael with his shadows. “Go! Destroy it! Do what Michael and I should have done years ago!”

  I sense Kassiel’s hesitation, so I grab his hand and tug him out onto the balcony, only stopping to grab my daggers. Callan, Marcus, and Bastien follow right behind us. I wrap a bubble of invisibility around us as five sets of wings flare out and launch us into the air.

  It’s time to destroy the Staff of Eternity once and for all.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Kassiel

  With the Staff clutched in one hand, I enter the auditorium with Liv and the others at my side. Our plan completely went to shit when we discovered Azrael could block all our powers, but we’re back on track now, thanks to my father’s arrival. I’m still shocked he showed up here at all. I never expected him to outright defy the Earth Accords like that. On the other hand, Azrael’s really the one breaking them by trying to use the Staff, so Lucifer probably felt it was justified. Still, I worry for him, and wish we didn’t have to leave him alone with Azrael.

  “Let’s do this up on the stage in case there’s a blast of energy when it’s destroyed,” I suggest.

  Callan nods. “Good thinking. The three of you should guard the entrances.”

  “I need to heal Bastien,” Marcus says. “He took a bad hit from Azrael, but it should only take a minute.”

  “I’m fine,” Bastien snaps, but he limps over to a chair so Marcus can heal him.

  “I’ll cover the door.” Olivia grabs my face in a tight grip and presses a kiss to my lips. “Don’t die,” she says, then follows with a whisper. “I love you.”

  I hold her close and have the strongest urge not to let go. “I love you, too.”

  After releasing me, she wraps her arms around Callan’s waist. “Please be careful.”

  He hugs her tight and kisses the top of her head. “You don’t need to worry about us. We’ve got this.”

  She looks up at him with love and fear in her eyes. Then she runs to the double doors at the back of the auditorium, while pulling out her daggers, her dark hair flowing behind her. She’s sexy and dangerous and I love every inch of that woman.

  I see in Callan’s eyes that he feels the same, but then we turn away and climb the stairs to the auditorium stage. I have a brief flashback to the last time I stood on this stage a few years ago, when Uriel introduced me as the new Angelic History professor. My chest tightens a little at the memory. I miss teaching here. I worry about my former students out there, now fighting for or against us. I wish things could be different.

  Perhaps they can be once the Staff is destroyed. Angels and demons alike are out there fighting together so that we can have peace between our people. That must count for something.

  Callan and I wait until Olivia’s in position, then we face each other. The sons of the two most powerful men in history. All animosity between us is gone. Once enemies, now allies, united in our purpose and our love for Olivia.

  I hold out the Staff to Callan. “It’s time to end what our fathers started.”

  He clasps the Staff just below my hand with a firm nod. “Let’s do this. Brother.”

  As soon as we both touch the Staff, the dark and light energy at the top of it seems to grow stronger. Power rushes through me, and from the way Callan grits his teeth, I’m sure he feels the same thing. It’s overwhelming, this much power, and it’s hard to even consider destroying such a thing. Couldn’t we use it for good? Maybe we should—No.

  Callan’s eyes meet mine and we both snap back to our purpose. We rest our other hands on the Staff and focus on willpower on destroying it. Eveanna told us fae relics work on intent, and this one is no different.

  I gather my power, all my darkness and shadow, and push it into the Staff with the intent of destruction. Callan does the same with his own light and heat. The Staff vibrates, and I can feel how unstable it’s becoming as the mix of light and darkness creates chaos inside the orb, where it’s nestled between the white and black wings. White and black beams shoot out of the top, blasting into the ceiling.

  It’s working. We’re destroying the Staff.

  Without warning, a flaming sword appears over Callan’s head, about to slam down onto his neck. I yell and yank both of us backward
as hard as I can. I slam into someone behind me, and all three of us the floor. Our attackers appear out of thin air. Grace, wielding Michael’s sword, and Zadkiel stand over us, along with some of their gold-masked angel warriors.

  Callan tucks and rolls, getting to his feet in half a second, and then he launches himself at Grace with a ferocity I haven’t seen before. The person I fell on holds a knife to my throat, and says, “Don’t move, devil spawn.”

  I recognize that voice. I turn a bit and get a glimpse of Jeremy behind me. My former student, now holding a light-infused knife at my throat.

  “You don’t need to do this,” I tell him, lacing power into my words.

  He grunts. “Yes. I do.”

  I throw a blast of shadow energy at him, but all that does is make him jump and scrape the knife against my throat. I clamp my mouth shut to fight back against the pain from such a little cut as the light hits me. Bastien and Marcus run up to fight the other golden-robed angels, and I notice the Staff is missing. Callan and I must have dropped it. Fuck.

  Zadkiel raises his arms and we all freeze, suddenly unable to move. It’s the same way he and Uriel captured us and took us to Penumbra Prison. He caught me by surprise then, but not now. Even without moving, I can control the darkness. I make it reach for him, long tentacles stretching out from the shadows to attack him.

  But then I hear a whimper toward the back of the auditorium. I can turn my head just enough to see Olivia being dragged up the stairs to the stage by Azrael, who holds the Staff in his other hand. Cold dread floods me.

  Azrael has the Staff. He has Olivia. And where is my father?

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Olivia

  While guarding the door something hit me hard in the head, knocking me out for a few seconds. I come to when I’m dumped on the auditorium stage. I try to shake my head to fight off the daze, but I can’t actually move. I’m frozen in place in a lump on the floor, clutching one of my daggers uselessly. Around me, my lovers kneel in a semi-circle with their hands behind their backs. Not tied, just held there by Zadkiel’s Archangel power. Between him stopping us from moving and Azrael blocking our powers, things look pretty hopeless.

  “You’re all trying so hard to use your powers, but haven’t you learned by now?” Azrael stalks toward me with a menacing smile, while gripping the Staff. “Even Lucifer couldn’t stop me.”

  “What did you do to him?” Kassiel asks, and I see from the strain in his eyes that he’s trying so hard to break free of their control…and failing.

  Azrael just laughs, a sound that gives me chills. Grace stands beside him with Michael’s burning sword trained on Callan, who glares at her with so much hatred I’m surprised she doesn’t shrivel up and die from it. Jeremy’s beside her, waving a light-infused blade at Kassiel. Zadkiel paces back and forth in front of Bastien and Marcus with his brow pinched, I’m guessing from the effort it takes to hold us all in place. He’s an Archangel, but a new one, and he’s probably never held so many powerful people in place before.

  Azrael grabs my hair and yanks me up, making me cry out. “It’s time for you to use the Staff of Eternity to send the demons back where they belong.”

  “I won’t do it.” I try to struggle, but Zadkiel’s hold is too strong. I reach for my powers again, angel or demon, but it’s impossible to resist Azrael’s control.

  He lets out another spine-chilling laugh. “See the men under your thrall, all lined up for execution? We’ll go down the line, one by one, until you use the Staff of Eternity.”

  Grace moves to the end of the line to raise the burning sword over Marcus. My eyes widen and I panic at the sight, fighting with everything I have. “No!”

  “I think we’ll kill Lucifer’s son last,” Azrael says. “If you won’t use the Staff, perhaps he will, to save you.”

  I squeeze my eyes shut. This can’t be happening. I can’t use the Staff. But I can’t let them kill the men I love either.

  “We have another one to add to the lineup,” Simiel says, emerging from the back of the stage. That creepy asshole, I knew he was in the Order! My stomach drops when I see who he’s dragging along with him—my brother.

  Azrael’s smile widens. “Even better. Gabriel’s son can be our first sacrifice.”

  Jonah’s dropped into position beside Marcus, and Grace moves the sword to his throat. Their eyes meet and she looks away quickly, like she can’t watch what she’s about to do.

  “Stop!” I yell. “I’ll do it. I’ll use the Staff.” I have no intention of doing it, but I can’t let them hurt Jonah.

  Azrael throws me down on the stage, hard. “I don’t believe you. I think you need to see how serious we are about this.” He turns to Grace. “Kill him.”

  Her face pales as she slowly raises Michael’s sword, but then she hesitates. The sword hovers in the air, but she can’t bring the sword down on my brother’s neck. A part of her must actually care about him. She looks at Azrael with imploring eyes. “Father…”

  He lets out a disgusted sound and grabs the sword from her, shoving her aside like she’s nothing. As he hands Simiel the Staff, he says, “It seems I must do everything myself.”

  The sword goes up again and in an instant it’s going to come down on my brother and end his life. I scream and break into a million pieces as the sheer horror of what’s about to happen hits me. Time seems to stop, and then I’m there, in front of Jonah, blocking Azrael with the dagger I’m still holding. Luckily, it’s the dark-infused one.

  Azrael gapes at me, completely shocked I managed to break free, and I use that split second of hesitation to stab him with the dark-infused dagger. Then I grab Jonah and blink us away to where Zadkiel is standing across the stage. Before anyone can react, Jonah takes the dagger from my hand and thrusts it at Zadkiel’s chest. The Archangel staggers back, clutching his chest, then sinks down to the ground, while I silently pray that Tanwen can forgive us.

  The second Zadkiel is down, my men jump to my feet, his control over them broken. The battle starts up again, but our side is hindered by Azrael blocking our magic. I hone in on the Staff, still in Simiel’s hands, and go after it. I forget about Jeremy, though, and he blocks me with his light-infused blade. How many times is this asshole going to thwart me?

  I still have my magic though. Somehow, Azrael can’t control me anymore. I blink around Jeremy, through the battle, until I reach Simiel, who levels the Staff at my chest. I grab his arm and throw a huge dose of succubus lust at him, making his jaw drop and his eyes widen.

  “Give me the Staff,” I tell him. “You know you want to.”

  “Anything for you,” he says, handing it to me. “I always knew you were special.”

  Barf. I grab the Staff, while Marcus knocks him out with a sharp blow to the head.

  Power surges through me from the Staff, but then Jeremy is back, and he slashes at me with the light-infused blade. I manage to jump back, using my wings to lift me up a little, but the knife slices through my thigh, sending red hot pain through me. He comes for me again and I grab the light-infused blade from Jeremy’s hand in a disarming move that Callan taught me, then slide it into the fucker’s throat. His eyes go wide as the dagger hits home, and I let him fall.

  I fly up higher, trying to see how I can help the others, but Azrael appears in front of me, his black and white wings blocking my vision. His shoulder is bleeding from where I stabbed him, but it doesn’t seem to slow him down as he raises Michael’s sword.

  “If you won’t use the Staff, then you will die,” he growls, as he shoots toward me.

  I try to blink away, but nothing happens. I’m weakened by the light-infused injury, and he’s got me in his grip again. As the burning sword fills my vision, I see my own death clearly.

  “Liv!” Callan yells.

  Suddenly I’m shoved aside, while Callan takes the blow that was meant for me. His father’s sword sinks into his chest. The blow would have killed me instantly, but Callan manages to grab the hilt of the sword as
the light overwhelms his body. He wrestles it away from Azrael, just as his body burns up in light so bright it hurts my eyes. Then the light blinks out.

  As Callan falls, my heart shatters. I scream at the sight, then drop down to him. His body is physically unharmed, but there’s no life left in his eyes. He still holds Michael’s sword, but the burning light has been extinguished. I choke back a sob as I clutch him close to my chest.

  He’s gone.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Olivia

  I rise to my feet as the agony and grief become a raging storm inside me. Shock pounds through me like one of those headaches you feel throughout your entire body. I stand over Callan’s body and clutch the Staff tighter in my hand while I face Azrael with hatred and sorrow giving me strength. I’m Dina’s vision come to life.

  As the people around me reel from the shock of seeing the son of Michael murdered by Azrael—something even Azrael didn’t actually want to happen, judging by the look on his face—I flood the Staff with my power.

  I have to gasp as the Staff takes what I give it and increases it tenfold, filling me with strength. Azrael wants to use the Staff to send the demons back to Hell, but it can do so much more. With it, I can reshape the entire world and bend both angels and demons to my will. It feels like it was made for me, and me alone. And maybe it was. After all, I’m the only one with both light and darkness inside me.

  I’m the only one who can access its true potential.

  I unleash my succubus powers on the members of the Order, and with the Staff, I’m so strong they all immediately fall under my spell. They all turn to me and wait, now my loyal thralls. Even Grace. Only Azrael resists.

  Marcus rushes forward to kneel beside Callan, while Bastien grabs Michael’s sword from Callan’s limp hand. Jonah puts Grace into a choke hold, while Kassiel overpowers Simiel.