by Dante King
“Goodness, everything here runs like clockwork!” Maddie looked impressed by the efficiency of the place. As a former waitress, she praised economy of motion wherever she could find it. “This is so unlike the Infernal Academy!”
“In many ways,” Judyth said wryly, gesturing at the door. “You may have forgotten that while you were in Fortitude, given the martial character of the place. If you had any beliefs this place might resemble its Infernal counterpart, then Temperance will certainly cure you of that notion.”
My thoughts had been trending in that direction. It didn’t help that angels in the Fortitude School did much the same thing that the demons of the Wrath School practiced—fighting demons. Christina would have been right at home in Fortitude, assuming her demonic powers would work against the creatures they faced. Strangely, I felt the same way about Gordon. He struck me as a jock-type who only cared about athletics: he could have been a not particularly evil demon as easily as he’d become a not particularly pious angel.
A wave of jasmine-scented air washed over Maddie and me as Judyth opened the door to the Temperance School. A step ahead of me, Maddie shielded her eyes from the sunlight as we stepped out into a bright, brilliant day. The three of us stood at the base of a mountain path, winding up a steep hill with bamboo trees growing on either side.
“This is... not what I expected,” I said, my eyes adjusting to the light. “I hate to admit this, but I’m not a hundred percent sure what Temperance is all about, exactly. Isn’t that what you call it when someone doesn’t drink?”
“That’s a teetotaler,” Maddie said with a giggle. It was hard to say that word without feeling a little silly.
Judyth turned on a heel, petals from a nearby branch raining down around her head. They bathed the hill in gorgeous shades of pink and orange, like something out of a samurai movie. “At its core, Temperance is about self-control. Self-control in all its forms: endurance, the ability to delay gratification, and the will to push through hardships for the betterment of humanity.”
“Oh!” Maddie’s eyes went wide. “I think I understand.”
Me too—only I didn’t like it as much as she did. “So this is the ‘no fun’ school, then?” I asked with a grunt. Very well. I could make it through one of those, at least, if Prudence was the prize at the end of the rainbow.
“Angels must go through harsh trials,” Judyth explained, ignoring the irritation in my voice. “Before you’re allowed to venture into the mortal realm and begin affecting souls, an angel must prove themselves impossible to corrupt by the human world. Or by demons.”
Judyth said this last part with a significant glance at yours truly. I didn’t need to be a mind reader to see what she was thinking. A guy who regularly cavorts with demons, adding them to his stable of babes, could never resist temptation in the way the Celestial Academy required. As far as Judyth was concerned, this school was a lost cause for me.
It made me want to prove her wrong. Let’s do this, I thought, steeling myself. I can endure. Shit, I endured how many years of driving a beat to shit van and fixing people’s computers for a living?
Without waiting for a response, Judyth led us up the mountain path. We followed, Maddie adding a judicious amount of wings to lighten the upward climb as we wound our way through the bamboo grove. As we neared the top, I saw the outline of a massive monastery at the top of the mountain. Five stories of wooden awnings encircled a building that looked more like a fortress than a place of study and contemplation, along with a clutch of pagodas and outbuildings for more arcane aspects of Temperance.
“I don’t envy the angels who major in this school,” I said, huffing and puffing to keep up with Judyth, Maddie and their ability to mix traditional walking with short spurts of flight. “Imagine having to climb all the way up here every day!”
“Endurance,” Judyth laughed, glancing over her shoulder as we reached the first step of a long flight of stone stairs. “It’s good practice, Luke! Exercise is good for the soul. Besides, I wouldn’t fly today—the winds are too strong. You might go over the edge.”
She pointed with a long finger, which I followed. An intense feeling of vertigo washed over me as I realized the mountain on which we stood simply ended near where we’d come in. An endless sea of clouds stretched around us in all directions, with no indication of how far one might fall if they were to plunge in. I shuddered, nearly losing my balance on the steps before finding it again.
“Careful, babe,” Maddie said, grabbing my arm before I could topple. I didn’t need it, but I appreciated the gesture. “Out of curiosity, Judyth, what would happen if someone fell off of this mountain?”
“Then they’d have a great deal of enduring to do, indeed,” the Headmistress said with a wicked smile. “Ah, we should head inside. I think the monks are beginning their trials now!”
“Monks?” I asked. But there was no doubt—the faint chanting we heard from the monastery didn’t sound like a student body being forced into drills, but the penitent prayers of the faithful. The closer we got to the monastery’s gates, the louder it became, until the low bass note underpinning the chant felt like it radiated through my chest.
A liveried servant waited by the door of the main building. He stepped aside smoothly as we reached the entrance, pulling it open with a heavy rope. Inside were rows carved into the stone floor of the vestibule, cut into stations. A figure in monk’s robes stood in each one, submitting to various tortures or ‘enduring’ a trial for the sake of the school.
“Here we are,” Judyth said, making a steeple of her fingers as she looked greedily over the class. “Before being fully accepted into the Temperance School, each student undergoes an examination to determine the things they need the most assistance in enduring: be it food, sex, or the urge to do retributive violence on those that have hurt you. Once those have been determined, each angel in training undergoes a personalized program designed to help them overcome their weaknesses.”
I saw quite a bit of weakness in that room—but also much strength. At first, I’d thought Judyth’s crack about food was some kind of joke, but as my eyes adjusted to the torchlight, I noticed the station nearest me was occupied by an angel sitting at a table, dressed in a monk’s robes. Sweets sat piled high on the wooden tabletop, along with a selection of cured meats so thin and marbled with fat they’d probably have cost half my old salary back on Earth to purchase from a specialty grocery store.
It was hard to tell which foodstuff tempted the poor angel more. The fellow nibbled at the tips of his fingers as if he could substitute his own flesh for that on the table. Sweat beaded down his brow as he stared at the food, so close he could smell it. Only his will kept him from stuffing his face and failing the trial.
Maddie watched the angel, then gave me a sideways glance. “I think I know what your temptations are, Luke,” she purred, tugging her robe down to expose more of her pale, angelic cleavage.
“Yeah, no doubt,” I said, chuckling. “Do you do that kind of temptation up here, Judyth? Or are your angels too prudish to ward each other off of sex?”
The Headmistress of the Celestial Academy arched a well-practiced eyebrow. “Of course we do. Angels understand sexuality in all its forms, Luke—it’s the only way to gain total mastery over one’s own body and soul. I’d dare say we understand it better than you do, in point of fact.”
Prove it was what I wanted to say. Something about the offended, slightly-bitchy tone Judyth used with me when pressed on the issue of sex made me want to throw her over my knee, spank her ass raw, and use her right in front of her own students.
Talk about resisting temptation, I thought, tucking the mental image of the Headmistress bent over a desk into the back of my mind.
“I don’t doubt it,” I told Judyth. “I’m sure you have to deal with every perversity imaginable.”
The Headmistress’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t correct me. Instead, she crooked a finger. “Come with me,” she said, the corner of her mouth c
urling. “I want to show you something.”
She led Maddie and me past rows of angels dressed as monks, heading toward the back of the chamber. The temperature rose with every step, even though we were moving further into the shadows and away from the brilliant summer’s day outside. It didn’t take long for me to figure out why—toward the back of the monastery was a pit filled with blazing hot coals.
Angels stood on those coals, their faces scrunched up in concentration. I could smell singed feathers.
“I’ve seen things like this before,” Maddie said, her face filling with sympathy for the students. “Only they walked across the coals, going from one side to the other.”
“That’s not how we do things here,” Judyth said with a wicked grin. “One of the most important disciplines for an angel to learn is how to resist and manage pain. Hot coals are merely one of the torments we inflict regularly on students to teach them the value of endurance. Rocks in shoes, water dripped on the top of the head—our students are subjected to constant irritations and pains, tempering them like a well-honed blade.” She walked up to one angel and slapped her on the shoulder. “By the time these recruits are sent out into the real world, there’ll be no way to tempt them from the path of light.”
Judyth looked at the students with pride. The sight of them filled me with an altogether different emotion.
“This is perverse,” I said, shaking my head. “You can’t seriously expect Maddie and me to join these people?”
“Why not?” Judyth shrugged. “You’re not afraid of a little pain, are you, Luke? I’d expect the heir of Lucifer not to shrink at the possibility of getting a few ouchies.”
A growl wormed its way up my throat. So, she wanted to play it like that, huh? Fine. I could handle pain—it was pleasure you had to watch out for, after all. I’d teach Judyth that in good time.
“Let me just take my shoes off,” I said, affecting a grin. My boots were easy enough to unlace—as I worked them from my feet, I saw Maddie doing the same. I tried to warn her off from joining me with my eyes, but she wasn’t watching my face. Her gaze traveled from angel to angel, a strange mix of fear and anticipation in her expression.
To me, this was all something of a game. Learn what I could of the Celestial Academy, add a few notches to my bedpost, and learn how to conquer on both sides of the fence. But for Maddie, this was her life. Being an angel was her purpose—and the better of an angel she was, the more value she’d be to our team. My harem. She knew that just as well as anyone: which was why she wanted to succeed so badly.
So, I didn’t do her the disservice of trying to talk her out of walking on coals. I just nodded as she exposed her pale, slender legs, hitching up her skirt so that the fringe wouldn’t burn from the heat.
“We just walk on?” I asked, cocking an eyebrow at Judyth. Me calling her bluff hadn’t broken through her haughty facade. “We don’t need to reserve a space or anything like that?”
It actually brought a laugh from the Headmistress. “Go right ahead—both of you.” She gestured at an open spot. “I want to see how long you last.”
I lifted a foot over the coals. Waves of heat rolled off the burning stones, filling the air with a scent like a hot grill. My mouth started to water, even as I realized the depths of how fucked up that was. Any smells of cooking meat here were from angels, for fuck’s sake.
A little voice screamed in my head—this was crazy! I was going to roast myself alive, all to prove a point to some winged bitch who wanted to use me for my body and expel me as soon as she got bored! I needed to run! I needed to turn around and walk away, then open a portal back to the Infernal Academy and—
I stepped onto the coals.
It didn’t hurt as much as I expected. In fact, I realized after a moment, it didn’t hurt at all. I stifled a laugh, the gesture looking enough like a rictus of pain that Judyth beamed. It didn’t hurt! The coals had no effect on me!
Must be my Infernal connections, I thought, placing my other foot on the coals. It felt like I’d just wrapped my feet in an electric blanket on a cold night. The warmth actually felt soothing, relaxing my body the way a soak in a hot tub might for an ordinary person. All that demonic blood…
I did my best to look like I was fighting pain as I turned around. Judyth’s smug look had dissolved from her face, turning into alarm. She stared open mouthed at me, as if seeing me for the first time.
“Yeah, that stings a bit,” I said, allowing a bit of feigned pain into my voice. “You know, I can see why you’d want to hurt your students a bit before you send them into the real world. I was thinking of that box from Dune—you ever read that book? Well, they make people stick their hand in a black box that makes them feel like the skin’s being flayed from their bones as a kind of test. Kind of like what you’re doing here, now that I think about it.”
Judyth clearly wasn’t listening. Any thoughts she might or might not have had about golden age science fiction fell out of the back of her head as she watched her newest student master the coals like he’d been born to them. An unexpected surge of emotion marred her beautiful face: anger. She’d expected to best me here, to watch me suffer.
She hadn’t planned for me to be better than her.
A few feet away, Maddie watched me walk the coals, her eyes like saucers. All of a sudden, I realized I’d made this look way too easy. Confidence filled my girlfriend’s face, and it took everything I had not to hold my arms up and ward her away. Unlike me, Maddie had no demonic blood in her veins—she’d become an angel instead of a demon. She wouldn’t be shielded from the coals at all.
“Maddie,” I sputtered, faking a pained smile. “Maybe you shouldn’t—”
Too late. Maddie put her foot squarely down on the coals, her first step way farther out than mine had been. For a moment, she just stared down at her slender instep as it began to smoke. Then her eyes rolled back in her head, her lips stretching in a silent scream of enormous pain.
“Pull her back!” I demanded, glaring at Judyth. “Right now!”
The Headmistress shrugged. “She’s a student, Luke. You’ve got to let her learn.”
“Aaaaaaaaaah,” Maddie whined. Her scream sounded like one of those whistles that only dogs can hear, ultrasonic.
Slowly, I watched my girlfriend come back to herself. Her gorge rose as smoke poured from her foot, the scent of her own burning flesh nearly making her vomit. Then she took another step—and another.
“Oh holy fuck this hurts,” Maddie whimpered, tears in her eyes. “Oh my god oh my god oh my goddddd…”
“You get used to it,” Judyth said wryly, “but it never truly stops. You’re both doing very well, by the way. Most new students barely get a toe onto the coals before they run away screaming, swearing they’ll never do it again. For both of you to prove yourselves capable of walking all the way out on your first try... remarkable.”
So she said. Yet the Headmistress’s words didn’t match her tone. She didn’t sound pleased that we were so good at this—quite the opposite, in fact. Judyth was pissed. She’d expected demons to be lousy at self-control.
In that, she didn’t yet understand Maddie and me at all.
“You okay?” I asked as Maddie reached me. My hands went to her shoulders, which shook like branches in a hurricane. “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to…”
“I d-d-d-do!” Maddie said. Paradoxically, the heat made her teeth chatter like someone had turned down the thermostat. “I got this... I got... oh fuck!”
Maddie jumped into my arms, able to bear no more. Her legs kicked out madly, finally freed of the coals. The extra weight pushed my feet down into the coals even more than they’d been, so I screamed as if this was finally what broke me. Clutching Maddie against me, I walked as quickly as I could to the edge of the coals and set her down, before climbing out myself.
“Wow, that’s a rush,” I groaned, sliding down to my ass next to the burning pit. A few feet away, Maddie stared at her ruined toes, t
ears streaming down her face. “You weren’t kidding about needing to resist pain, Judyth. There’s probably something to the idea of making sure your agents can’t be broken by a little torture from the demonic side.”
Judyth’s face darkened. “That’s not why we do it. You don’t understand at all. It’s about cleansing what’s within, not changing things for the sake of the world!”
With an effort (albeit a feigned one), I managed to rise to my feet. “Maybe you should educate me yourself, then,” I said, radiating heat in ways that had nothing to do with the coals. Maybe it was the soothing feeling of the rocks beneath me, the pride of helping Maddie pass her test, or maybe just the raw sex appeal of the beautiful blonde angel in front of me, but suddenly I was champing at the bit for a woman. It felt like ages since the last time I’d gotten laid, even though it had only been a short while ago back in my subspace.
Judyth looked me up and down for a few moments, her gaze so frank I nearly blushed. “Very well,” she said, a faint smile playing on her features. “I have a different kind of endurance in mind for you, Luke. Maddie, please remain seated. Your injuries will heal swiftly—there’s an enchantment laid on this entire monastery. Once the trial is over, the pain caused by your endurance will be righted.”
Indeed, even as I watched, the burns were melting away from Maddie’s feet. Though she clearly looked to still be in a lot of pain. My girlfriend managed to smile through it, beaming up at the pair of us.
“I’ve had worse,” she said defiantly. “You should try working a double shift at a diner in heels!”
With a grin, Judyth bid me to follow her. I felt hesitant about leaving Maddie on her own, but she waved me away with a smirk. “I’m fine,” she assured me, tucking her legs beneath her. “It already feels a lot better. I’ll be walking in another few minutes—I’m right behind you. Besides, I want to see what she does next!”
What she did next was waiting for me down another long hallway filled with torches. The chanting grew thicker here, and I dimly wondered if that might not be another one of the trials the angel monks had to perform in order to get their Temperance wings. How much chanting did one have to do before it could be fully called torture, anyway?
