by Stone, Leia
“I’m happy, yes. I’ll be even happier when we’re all together once more, but I’m busy with my own spiritual work right now. I do check in on you all frequently though.”
Whoa. Spiritual work? There went my idea that Heaven was a permanent vacation of swimming with dolphins, and endless margaritas.
“Brielle, I must close the gate now,” Metatron’s voice boomed behind me, and I nodded in understanding. I didn’t want to say goodbye to my dad, but I was grateful for the small gift we’d been given.
“Tell your mother I’m happy for her, that all I ever want is for her to be happy,” he instructed me.
Raphael. I’d totally forgotten about my mom and Raph dating, but now that I was standing before my father, it came to the forefront of my mind. He knew she’d moved on, and he was okay with it. It just made me cry harder.
“I love you, Dad.” My throat tightened.
He smiled at me. God, it was crazy to see him looking so healthy and happy.
“I love you too, and I’m so proud of you.”
I reached out and wrapped my good arm, around him one more time. As I squeezed, I noticed his body was becoming squishier. He was losing his form, going spectral again.
“Brielle. We need to get the injured back,” Lincoln called softly from behind me. “Hello, sir.” Lincoln nodded to my father as I pulled away.
My dad beamed. “Hello, son.”
More sobs racked my body at their exchange, and my legs went weak. What was worse than losing a parent? Having to say goodbye to them twice. I didn’t think I could do it again.
“Love you, baby girl,” my dad whispered, and my legs finally gave out as grief rolled through me.
Lincoln scooped me into his arms as my father backed away, until he was in Heaven once more. Metatron waved, closing the gate, and locking my father and Bernie behind it.
A huge hole opened inside my chest, but all I could do was wave. I’d run out of words, of energy, of everything.
Sixteen
Saying Lucy was pissed since I’d botched his heavenly war was an understatement. Hell had reigned on Earth, and it felt like it was partially my fault. Angel City was constantly being infiltrated by demons, the skies were dark and stormy, and it rained as though we were in Demon City instead. Lucifer was making his anger known.
“Why can’t you just do it for me?” I shouted for the hundredth time at Raphael and Mr. Claymore. Sera lay on Raphael’s desk, covered in the black crap Lucifer had put on her a week ago, when we’d warred in Heaven.
‘Because he’s an ass,’ Sera answered.
“Because this is a school, and we’re here to teach. I want you to learn to dismantle the Devil’s darkest spells by yourself.” Mr. Claymore crossed his arms. I’d brought the matter to Raphael, hoping he’d help me and have my back, but he’d barely said five words since we got here.
“I’m not a Mage,” I answered through gritted teeth.
Claymore nodded. “No. You’re greater than that.”
I sighed. “Raph, help me out here.” I wanted to storm into Hell with the Fallen Army and take out Lucifer, but I couldn’t do that until my weapon was free.
Raphael shared a look across his office with Grace. Emberly’s mom had grown her human, demon hunter school fivefold since she’d received the technology gifted to her by the Creator. I’d barely had time to look at it all, but it was glowy, lethal, and badass.
“I agree with Mr. Claymore,” Raphael finally concluded.
Reaching over, I picked Sera up by her hilt and huffed. “Fine. I’ll do it myself.”
“Girl power! You got this.” Grace reached out to fist-bump me on my way out, and I couldn’t help but chuckle and fist-bump her back.
If it took every waking minute of the next week for me to learn to dismantle this energy, I would. Screw classes—this was my next assignment.
‘It feels awful, like I’m touching slimy wet food in the sink,’ Sera griped.
‘How do you know what wet food feels like?’
‘I just do.’
Weird. I’d never understand how Sera sensed all this stuff.
I burst out of the office and nearly collided with Michael. He looked stressed, with black soot smeared over his face, and a bleeding gash above his eye.
Steadying myself against the wall, I took him in. “Oh, Michael. Are you okay?”
He looked down at Sera, and the blackness that covered her. “May I walk with you?”
‘Yes,’ Sera answered seductively.
I ignored my infinity weapon, focusing on the archangel. “Sure.”
As we stepped away from the office, Michael stopped and faced me. “I actually wanted to talk to you about something.”
Nerves clawed at my gut as I ceased walking, and faced the archangel. “Okay. What is it?”
He paused for a moment, just looking at me. “We’re all so proud of what you’ve accomplished in your time at the academy,” he finally answered.
Oh God.
“What’s wrong? Am I getting kicked out?”
Michael’s head jerked back. “No, no. I just… Raphael would never tell you, but I think you can handle it.”
Is my mom dying? My brother? What the hell’s going on? “Tell me,” I pressed.
A heavy sigh left him. “Tonight, the archangels and I are making an evacuation plan. We simply can’t sustain this level of security night after night.”
“Oh.” Suddenly, I knew what he meant. “Unless I can take Lucifer out.”
Michael nodded. “He’s creating hundreds of demons a day. If you could fulfill the prophecy… we’d certainly have better odds.”
Angel City and all of its inhabitants were counting on me. Some chick with powers she didn’t fully understand. Still, I had to believe I had the power to do this. I trusted Raphael, and he believed in me. All the archangels believe in me.
Reaching out, I squeezed Michael’s shoulder. “I won’t let you down. Give me a week.”
He grinned. “You got it.
After he turned to head back to the office, I put the conversation out of my head, and strode across campus to meet up with Mikey. I hadn’t seen much of my little brother since he came to Fallen Academy, considering I was either stuck in Hell or he was off with his ‘pack.’ We’d all just come to accept that his life would be different from now on, and counted our blessings when he was on campus.
I’d told him, and my mother, about what my dad said when I saw him in Heaven, and it brought a sense of peace over our family. My mother had burst into tears when I’d told her my dad totally approved of her dating, and just wanted her to be happy. Now, Mikey and I were having a brother-sister picnic lunch, something I’d just started with him, and hoped to continue monthly. I never wanted to get too busy for family.
Looking up, I saw my brother sitting on a little blanket on the school field, with two sub sandwiches wrapped and uneaten. His hulking form was bigger each time I saw him, and it felt weird to call him my little brother considering how big he was physically.
“Are you sure one sandwich is enough for you? Maybe get a small cow to go with it?” I teased.
He turned, grinning. “Yeah, I ate before I came.”
Chuckling, I lay Sera in the grass before giving him a hug.
He glanced down at my blade, and the dark magic that crawled along it. “No luck?”
A sigh escaped me as I took a seat on the blanket, grabbing one of the sandwiches. “They said no. Trying to teach me some lesson or something.” He snickered and I punched his arm. “You like when I’m mad!” I accused playfully.
Taking a big bite of his sub, he nodded. “I really do.”
“How’s the pack?” We didn’t talk about his second life very much, but I wanted him to know I was there for him no matter what.
He shrugged. “Mostly good.”
A frown pulled at my lips. “Mostly?”
“When I’m a wolf, I want to be a human, and when I’m human… I feel like an imposter, like I w
as born to be a wolf.”
My stomach sank. It was hard to watch loved ones go through their own problems. I wanted to fix everything for him, but I couldn’t, and it pained me.
“I’m sorry you have to deal with that.” I took another bite, thinking of what else I could say.
He shrugged. “Better than being tasked with killing the Devil.”
I scoffed. “I wasn’t tasked with it.”
“Prophesized. Whatever.” He gave me a long side look, one that was less jovial and more solemn. “But seriously, how are you going to do that?”
I was regretting this lunch already. “I don’t know… but I have to.”
“Why? Why can’t you just fight the demons he creates like everyone else? If the archangels can’t kill him, then maybe you can’t either.”
That was a very real fear I had as well, but I couldn’t let it get to me. I had to believe in what I’d been hearing for almost four years now, that I did have what it took to bring him down, that I was his only equal for some weird reason.
“The war will only grow, Mikey. It’ll only get worse unless I end him. Angel City will fall, and Mom and everyone else we love will die. Life as we know it will cease to exist.”
We sat there for a long moment, until finally Mikey reached out and squeezed my hand. “Well, if you’re planning some crazy suicide mission, then I want to be by your side.”
No way. I could never let my mother lose both of us.
“Mikey, I really appreciate that, and it’s so sweet that you want to help me, but I could never let you do that.”
Mikey growled animalistically—in warning. “Have you seen me in battle? I can rip a demon’s head off in seconds. The Fallen Army has already promoted me to lieutenant.”
Lincoln had mentioned that, and he’d told me that my brother was proving instrumental in the raids in the war zones but… it was Mikey.
“I’ll think about it,” was all I could offer.
There was no way I would allow it. Not my baby brother.
He scoffed and was probably about to retort when I heard Lincoln call my name. Maybe it was the fact that Lincoln was supposed to be on duty, or maybe it was the high-pitched panic in his voice, but even before I turned to face him, my stomach was in knots.
Getting up quickly, I rushed over to him. He was in his Fallen Army uniform, black soot and blood covering his skin.
“What happened?”
If Shea or anyone I cared about was hurt, I would lose it. We’d made it this far….
“We need all hands on deck. The demons are executing all humans who live in Demon City and won’t sign a slave contract.”
Bile rose in my throat.
“What!” The world spun on its axis for a second as I processed his words.
“I made the mistake of leaving you behind before, and I won’t do that again. This could be another ploy to lure the army away from the school.”
I nodded. “We should leave a good number behind on campus in case it’s exactly that.”
“We’ll definitely help you,” Mikey told Lincoln. His voice was gruff, and I looked over to see patches of fur crawling up my brother’s arms. The wolf was close.
I’d never gone out fighting with my little bro. Hell, I hadn’t been out on army duty since I got back. I’d been sheltered and kept safe here while everyone else did the fighting for me.
That time was over.
Scooping Sera up, I tucked her into her leather sheath at my thigh, and we all started to jog toward the parking lot. Word must have spread fast, because both students and faculty were running around in panic. Even on a Saturday, when the campus was normally dead, it was crawling with people.
“Attention, Fallen Academy.” Raphael’s voice came over the loudspeaker, which played out into every classroom and hallway, and even projected out into the quad. “All army personnel, please report to the parking lot. We have a situation in Demon City that cannot be ignored.”
With a high-pitched whine, the transmission went dead.
Oh God. Lucifer had finally lost it. He was upping his game, and I wouldn’t stand for it.
“Lincoln!” Catia’s voice called out, and we followed the sound to a big Fallen Academy bus. She, Noah and Shea were waiting right in front of the open doors. Archangel Michael was perched on the roof, wings spread out as he spoke to Emberly and Grace, who stood below him.
As we passed them to make our way to the front of the bus, I overheard Michael asking Emberly, “How’s your pain today?”
“I’m fine!” she growled. “Let me kill some demon scum, Dad. You can’t baby me anymore. I’m sixteen now!”
He groaned, while Grace promised she would stay with their daughter on the mission. I didn’t know all the details of the technology Metatron had given her, but Grace was sporting a new sword that had some kind of button on it to activate a laser light, which could cut through flesh and bone. She was probably stronger and more capable than her husband with that thing.
Passing their family, we made it onto the bus, and huddled into the first few seats, joining Catia, who looked shaken.
“How bad is it?” Lincoln asked her. Then, his gaze shifted to me. “She was on duty at the border and witnessed it firsthand.”
Catia’s eyes were red rimmed, and she looked sweaty. “It’s… it’s genocide. The demons are asking humans to take the mark and become a slave. If they refuse, they’re openly killing them… young teenagers included.”
My stomach rolled with nausea, which quickly turned to rage. Those freaking bastards!
“Why now, after all this time?” I growled.
Demon City was mostly filled with demons and their slaves, but a good 30 percent of the population were humans who were either married to a demon slave, or were too poor to live in Angel City.
Catia shook her head. “I overheard a Brimstone demon saying it was some new initiative. Only the loyal could remain.”
Lucifer.
I’d never felt so much rage for a single person in all my life, until that very moment. It was a combination of every single thing Lucy had done to bring evil to my life or the world, and this was the last straw. I simply couldn’t tolerate the mass killing of innocents. Hell, I couldn’t tolerate the killing of a single innocent. This was going to end once and for all.
“Let’s go. Every second we sit here another innocent dies!” I shouted.
Lincoln nodded, getting into the driver seat as Catia called out the door for any available personnel to jump on the bus. It would take Raphael at least twenty minutes to assemble the army and sort out who was staying and who should go. In that time, too many would be dead. This bus was leaving now.
I spotted Darren and Blake across campus near the gates. It looked like they were in charge of protecting the academy during this latest issue; it could be another trap to lure us away, and then they’d probably burn this place to the ground.
Grace, Emberly, and a handful of others jumped on, including Mikey, Tiffany and Luke, and we made our way to Demon City.
“Weapons and armor are under the seats. Suit up,” Lincoln called out over the PA.
We were going to war.
Seventeen
We pulled the bus up to the border gate, which had been fully closed.
“Open her up!” Lincoln called out to a guard, who was taking cover in a cement tower.
The man looked hesitant for a moment. “Sir, it’s a full-on riot over there. My orders were to shut down the border,” he shouted through the fence.
A thump sounded on the roof.
“Open the gates!” Michael thundered, and the guard looked like he was going to piss himself.
“Yes, sir,” the guard mumbled to the archangel, and with a shaky nod he pushed a button, making the solid steel begin to part.
I was wearing a bulletproof vest over a thin chain mail top. Even though modern weapons like guns were often used when fighting demons, they mostly preferred swords and knives, so you had to be careful. A ch
ain mail top was a lifesaver when it came to hand-to-hand combat.
Mikey had already disrobed in the back, shifting into his wolf form, and Luke had done the same. It was completely unnerving to have a massive wolf and bear just chilling behind you, watching you—even if they were family.
“What’s the plan, Linc?” Tiffany asked my husband.
I wanted to punch her for calling him by a nickname instead of ‘Captain Grey’, or even ‘Lincoln,’ but now was not the time. Besides, Michael and Chloe had taught me that coming to Earth was all about love, and I was determined to love Tiffany. A little. Sort of. Never mind.
‘Screw her, she wants your man,’ Sera snarked, and I just grinned. Although I couldn’t fight with her, it was amazing to just have her around again.
Ignoring her, Lincoln pulled the bus into the city, and my eyes darted around for any sign of the chaos. More people than normal were out on the streets, most of them demon bound; and I recognized the red slave mark tattoo on their foreheads. They looked hurried, walking fast to wherever they were going.
“The bus is bulletproof and built like a tank,” Lincoln assured us. “We’ll get as many innocents on here as we can, and then ferry them back to Angel City.”
Okay, so it was a loose plan with a lot of crap that could go wrong. Awesome.
Where were the people going? It looked like the demon bound were all heading in a certain direction. When they’d look up and notice the academy bus—and probably Michael riding on the roof, considering that was a bit conspicuous—they just put their heads back down and walked faster.
Walking over to the side of the bus, I pulled the window down a few inches.
“Where are you guys going? We’re trying to help the innocent!” I called out to a nearby group.
Everyone kept their heads down except one girl—she looked barely eighteen, and wore the slave mark tattoo. Tears shone in her eyes when she stared up at me. “Wilson Park. They have our families.”
Bastards.
