by Maya Nicole
Reve had shown us enough demon sketches that my mind was overwhelmed with what lurked on the other side of some invisible magical barrier. I wouldn't fight those things. Instead, I would do the smart thing and run.
My brain almost couldn't process it all.
I walked into weaponry class, wondering how the world was going to handle bug-eyed cat creatures that had nails as sharp as knives when Betty stepped into my path.
"Beatriz. Did you need something?" I crossed my arms and propped my hip to the side. It felt like the appropriate thing to do since I was in the angel version of some teen movie.
"Thanks to you, they are getting rid of divinity points." She spoke from her throat in the way only a bitch could.
"Oh. I'm sorry." I stuck my bottom lip out in a mock pout. "Did that make your self-worth go down?"
She smirked and examined her nails before looking at me again. "Just means that now we have nothing to lose."
"Is that a threat?" I stood my ground, even as she took a step closer. She smelled like she had on one too many squirts of perfume. I resisted the urge to gag. "Because that certainly sounded like a threat to me."
She shrugged and dropped her voice low. "I overheard a conversation about your mother."
My eyes widened, but I quickly schooled my expression. No one was supposed to know that Lilith was my mother. "About how she is Lilith, and how she has your father." She put her hand on my crossed arm. I looked down at it and then at her, narrowing my eyes. "Part of a guardian's duties is to protect from any and all threats. Michael doesn't seem to be doing his job anymore."
She patted my arm and stepped back, a smile on her face. Did she have some kind of God complex now? If these were the angels accepted into the academy, what were the angels who were rejected like?
"Are you sure you're an angel? I find it kind of hard to believe how you are even here. You have an ugly soul."
She laughed. "You aren't even an angel. I paid my dues."
"Is that how it works now? Blow jobs in exchange for wings?"
She was just about to step forward, probably to smack me, when Coach Ferguson blew his whistle.
She turned on her heel, and I followed to join the group of students already gathered around the coach. We had been practicing throwing knives at targets over the week. I managed to hit the target about half of the time. I wasn't the worst in the class, at least.
"Betty, why don't you demonstrate again for us how you angle your body to set up for the perfect throw." Coach Ferguson did not need to boost her ego any more than it already was.
Betty sashayed to the setup area. Of course, she had to be good at throwing knives. It seemed to fit her personality perfectly. She demonstrated by throwing two knives in quick succession at the targets. They hit the practice dummy right in the center of the chest.
"Perfect! Today I'm partnering everyone up! If you have mastered knife throwing, be prepared to help someone who hasn't." Great. Another opportunity to feel inferior to everyone else.
He started partnering us up. As the pairs split off, I stifled a groan. He paired up the two men that were left, leaving Betty and me.
"Betty, I trust that you understand the importance of getting Danica up to par with you."
He walked away, leaving me and public enemy number one to train together.
She made a face at the coach's back and then grabbed a set of knives. The knife-throwing dummies were set up around the perimeter of the gym so that no one would get nailed with a knife retrieving them from their dummy.
"Let's see what you've got." She handed me a knife and moved to the side. I threw the knife and barely hit the dummy's leg.
"It doesn't seem to help if I pretend it's you." I sighed and then smirked at her.
She snorted. "You have to pretend it's your worst enemy. I doubt I'm your worst enemy."
"Who's your worst enemy?" I watched as she balanced the blade on a finger. I had tried to do the same earlier in the week and damn near cut off a toe when I dropped it.
Lightning fast, she popped the blade in the air, caught it buy its hilt, and threw it at the dummy, hitting it right in the center of the forehead.
"My father." She walked to the dummy and pulled out the knives lodged in it.
I sometimes forgot that angels had once had lives that had led to their deaths. It was easy to forget when they were assholes to you. Case in point, Betty.
"Picture someone you despise more than anyone else in the world. Someone that hurt you so deeply that nothing can ever undo the pain." She handed me a knife. "You already have the proper form. Now you just need the right motivation to hit your target."
We practiced in silence until the coach blew his whistle that time was up. I made my way to the dummy and yanked out the three knives lodged in its chest. Where the hell did the fourth go?
I felt a sharp sting on my cheek and then the clang of metal onto the gym floor. I reached for my cheek. The second I touched it, the sting of the slice caught up with me. It felt like a nasty paper cut from a thick piece of paper.
That fucking bitch cut me.
I charged at her before she even realized I was coming and tackled her to the ground. All of the training was paying off. I climbed on top of her and grabbed a fist full of hair. I brought my fist back to punch her. Before I could, a hand grabbed my arm and yanked me off.
"What the flying fuck is going on here?" Coach Ferguson yelled.
"Ask her! She threw a knife at me!" I gestured to my face that was dripping blood.
I never did understand how I could be half angel and half demon and still have no healing ability. One would think with the short end of the stick, there'd be some benefits.
He turned to glare down at Betty, who sat up and was rubbing her head like I had bashed it into the hardwood floor. I'd give her something to really rub her head about. I moved towards her again, and Coach Ferguson stopped me by putting out his arm.
"It was an accident." She made herself sound so innocent. She looked up at the coach with tears in her eyes. "I tried to stop the throw, but she was already in its path. She must not have been counting the knives as we threw them."
I made one last move to attack her again, but he got in between us with his entire body.
"That's enough, Danica! Betty, apologize. Now." He should have sounded firm and angry that a student had been injured. Instead, he just seemed annoyed he had to deal with our brawl.
"That's it? Just an apology? She could have killed me! Or taken an eye out!" I could feel my face turning red as my anger bubbled up inside of me. "If this were any other school, she'd be expelled, or the police would be called. In fact, you know what! I'm pressing charges!"
Coach Ferguson put a hand on my shoulder. The move was meant to calm me down, possibly to get a grip on me in case I attacked, but all it did was piss me off more. I stepped back, shrugging off his hand.
"I'm sorry, Danica. Honestly, it was a mistake." She stood, and since the coach was focused on stopping me from wringing her neck, he didn't see her grin behind his back.
And to think, I had just been about to thank her for helping me.
I loved Asher, I really did. But the second he found out about what happened with Betty, he decided that he would pair us up in a collaborative partnership during evening training.
As if forcing us to work together, would solve the more significant issue of her being a raging bitch. Rookie teacher mistake.
"When you're out there in battle, with bullets whizzing past your-" Asher was explaining the training we would be doing.
"We're going to have bullets flying at us?" Someone smarted off from the back of the group. A chorus of groans went up. Typically, that meant burpees for all.
Asher must have been in a good mood because he just rolled his eyes in response. "Hypothetically speaking. When you are being attacked, it's not going to matter who the person standing next to you is. You're a soldier. You're a unit. You are one."
I side-eyed Betty, who had
a pout on her face. I was just as unhappy about being partnered with her as she was with me.
Asher rubbed his hands together like a mad scientist who thinks he has a good idea. Whether it was an evil gesture or an excited one was still up for debate.
"I've paired you up. Half of the pairs will be team A, and half will be team B." He held up touch-football mesh jerseys in two colors. "The objective is to make it to the other side of the field together as a pair. If your partner is knocked out, your job is to pick their ass up and carry them. Also, please remember not all of your classmates can heal."
After handing out the jerseys, we took our positions on the field. Those on team A were the "demons" and running through the field, and those on team B were angels trying to stop them.
This activity had disaster written all over it, especially for me.
"Maybe I should sit this one out," I said to Asher as he handed me and Betty blue jerseys. We would be pretending to be demons.
"You'll be fine. Betty should be taking the brunt of it." He nodded at Betty and then walked off.
I turned and looked at Betty, who had a smirk on her face. Great. Fantastic. I was going to end up in a wheelchair by the end of the activity.
We lined up on the edge of the field while team B spread out. When Asher blew the whistle, we took off at a jog. Other pairs seemed to be communicating, but Betty just headed straight through the center. I followed and kept up with her because I didn't have much choice. It reminded me of playing sharks and minnows in elementary school. Except instead of being frozen when you were caught, you were tackled.
We were doing great until a third-year, who used to be a linebacker for his high school football team, barreled towards us. Betty was in position next to me to take the hit. He had even aimed himself at her.
Right as he was about to plow into her, Betty shoved me in front.
I fell to the ground with the behemoth of a man on top of me, and a sharp pain ripped through my knee. Why did men play tackle football? There was nothing fun about being hit by a wall of muscle.
"Shit, Danica! I'm sorry," Joseph said, scrambling up and holding out his hand.
I reached for it, and he pulled me to my feet. Pain radiated from my knee, and tears stung my eyes. I'd been injured more times in the past months living the life of an angel than in my entire existence.
"Fuck." I tried to put weight on my leg but almost fell.
Since my partner was already on the other side of the field, and I didn't want to risk getting hit again, I just plopped my ass down right in the center of the field and crossed my arms.
I saw red. Betty was a bitch. Asher was incompetent. Linebackers were way too strong for their own good.
"What the hell are you sitting in the middle of the field for?" Asher shouted from down the field. He was in the middle of the mayhem with angels tackling each other right and left. He clearly hadn't seen what happened.
Joseph jogged over to Asher and was speaking to him animatedly. Asher's eyes widened. He jogged over and squatted beside me. I glared nice and hard at him.
"Where does it hurt?" He touched my knee, and I hissed in pain. Tears were already streaming down my cheeks. They were a combination of anger and pain.
"Where does it hurt?" I couldn't believe him. "Don't touch me! I need to be healed. Since you aren't capable of that, get me someone who can." It was a harsh comment, but my knee was about to explode. I could see that it was twice the size it was supposed to be under the fabric of my capris.
He frowned and stood. He barked at Joseph to go get Olly, and then he stalked over to the other side of the field where Betty stood chatting with friends.
I could hear him yelling, but couldn't quite make out what he said. The end result was Betty bursting into tears, her wings extending, and her flying off towards her building.
Tobias, who had been on the sidelines reading his damn book again, made his way to me and scooped me in his arms.
"Maybe pay a little more attention instead of reading, Mr. Armstrong," I gritted out. "What's even the point of this bull shit? Are demons going to be tackling angels?"
"We don't know what's in store for us." Tobias set me down on a chair just as Olly jogged over to us.
"What happened?" He knelt in front of me, and then ripped the fabric of my capris up past my knee. I cried even more because they were my favorite Lululemon capris. "It's dislocated."
"Your fucking boyfriend wouldn't let me sit out." I winced as he put his hand over the knee. His hand glowed, and the pain receded instantly.
"Look at Tobias for me." He waited for me to look away, and then I heard a pop. "You're good to go. It might still feel a little tender."
Without waiting for a reply, he took off, jogging towards his section of the field. He seemed to be in his element with the teaching thing. I had even heard several students making comments on how he should become a teacher at the academy.
He did have the patience of a saint.
Tobias helped me stand and put his arm around my waist. "Let's get you back to the room. I think you need to rest that knee."
By the time we were back in the room, my knee felt perfectly fine. The walking seemed to have stretched out whatever remaining discomfort there was.
"Shouldn't you go supervise Asher?" I stripped my shirt off and threw it in the laundry basket.
"Are you going to be okay?" Tobias didn't just mean my knee.
"I'm fine now." I was only talking about my knee. I wouldn't be fine if we never made a move to rescue my dad. It seemed everything we were training for was to protect Earth, not save my father.
How could we just leave him with Lilith? There should be more urgency in finding him. His blood was powerful. He was powerful.
Tobias watched me as I took off the rest of my clothes. He cleared his throat as I walked into the bathroom.
"I'll see you later, then, after training." He turned and left, leaving me to fume.
Smart man.
"Danica. Can we talk?" Asher poked his head inside the room about two hours later. I had managed to take my mind off Betty but still found my mind drifting to thoughts of my dad.
I looked up from my studying and narrowed my eyes at him. Now I was reminded of my knee and the gash on my face. Both healed to perfection by Olly.
Asher slid into the room with Olly behind him.
"Where are Tobias and Reve?" I turned back to my notes.
"Where do you think? The game is on."
I grunted and tried to focus on my notes. I could feel both of them watching me. I imagined they were having a silent conversation behind my back with hand gestures and faces. I'd caught them once when I was in a particularly bad mood one day.
"Danica." Asher sighed.
I dropped my pen and swiveled in my chair to face him. "What?"
"I'm sorry."
I crossed my arms and stood. "You knew she had it out for me, and you deliberately paired us up. I told you I should have sat out."
He frowned and looked at Olly like he would fix the problem. Olly shrugged his shoulders.
"I thought-"
"Well, clearly, you thought wrong. What if he had broken my neck instead of dislocating my knee? What if Betty had shanked me in the kidney?"
I caught Olly smiling and leveled a glare at him. His smiled dropped.
"I'm serious. She is just the type to carry a shank on her. One second she'll be smiling and flipping that hair of hers, the next she'll be gutting me like a fish. Is that what you want? Fillet of Danica?"
He stepped towards me. "I said I was sorry. I thought it might help your dislike for each other if you had to work together towards a common goal."
I let him pull me towards him, and he wrapped his arms around me. He kissed my temple and then looked at me with a serious expression. "All right, how many orgasms is this going to take? At least three?"
"You can't just give me orgasms and expect me to-" His lips collided with mine, and I moaned.
Maybe my f
orgiveness could be bought with a kiss as good as the one he was giving me. His tongue probed, and I opened my lips for him. I really wanted to stay mad. When everything was falling apart, being angry felt right.
I was backing towards the bed when the door burst open, causing all three of us to nearly come out of our skin. For once, it wasn't just Asher on edge.
"A large group of demons has gotten through at Griffith Observatory. Let's go!" Tobias was frantic. "There are already civilian casualties."
"Shit!" Asher and Olly moved towards the door. I grabbed my shoes and sat down on the bed to put them on.
"You aren't going." Tobias shut the door because there was a lot of commotion in the hall as staff members grabbed their gear from their rooms.
"Why not? I could help!" I dropped my shoes and grabbed my boots instead. "I could stop them."
"Only staff are going. You'd just be a distraction."
The comment burned in my gut, and I crossed my arms over my chest.
"You aren't ready yet, Danica. We would be worried about your safety the entire time. Please don't take it personally. No students are coming this time." Tobias kissed my cheek, and then the three of them left without me.
Chapter Six
Asher
I felt like I was back at war again. Rushing around, grabbing gear, leaving the one I loved behind to protect others.
I thought I'd be fine since we didn't use guns or explosives. Demons didn't either.
That didn't stop the dread from welling up in my gut as we gathered in the parking lot of the academy. Other guardians from throughout the Los Angeles area were meeting us at the observatory, which as of five minutes ago, was being infiltrated by several dozen demons.
Demons that had somehow gotten through the barrier between Inferna and Earth. Lilith was making her move, and we were far from prepared. The academy students sorely lacked combat skills.
The angels in charge of coverups were going to have quite the task keeping a hoard of demons attacking a tourist trap under wraps.
