by G. Bailey
“Amethyst, you’re crazy, but I love your crazy,” I laugh.
“I’m not crazy, I’m a cat. That isn’t possible. Anything I do is cute, not crazy. Get the right C word, Alexandria,” she mumbles.
“I know another C word that I’m sure Lela is calling you right now,” I admit.
“I’m sure the dead snake in her bed will make her love me all over again,” Amethyst replies with humour in her voice.
“Oh Am,” I mutter.
“Your uncle sent another note. It’s on your bed,” she says, stretching out before jumping off my lap. I don’t know what is creepier, that Amethyst can read or that she thinks dead animals left on beds is a nice present. I walk to my bedroom, kicking off my shoes before I pick up the letter on my pillow. I break the plain red wax seal on the back before pulling out the letter and reading it.
For my niece,
I am happy to report your parents are doing well and are ever hopeful to hold you in their arms soon.
As for the situation at The Demon Academy, I wish to speak to you alone on the matter and to advise that caution is always to be used. Do remember the words of my first letter, as they are far more important now than ever before.
There is a saying in our family, one your mother and I made up as teenagers in DA.
Death is a sweet release from the pain of life. Only in death is your soul truly free.
Our souls are worth more than our lives. Remember that, Alexandria. For if the trial does not go as planned… Well, I do not wish to say more.
I will always be your family.
Your uncle,
Harry Snowden
“My parents are not going to die, uncle,” I angrily comment as I rip the letter up and throw it into the bin in my room, just as someone clears their throat.
“Morgan,” I smile as I turn to see him leaning against the door frame.
“Miss Cameron, good to see you home from your trip,” he tells me, and his gravelly voice is so soothing to hear. Damn, I missed him.
“It’s good to be home,” I reply, and he straightens up, walking over to me with an angry thin line of his lips. He grips my arm and starts rolling up my sleeve, and I’m thankful it isn’t the arm with the wolf mark. I really don’t want an argument with Morgan about this right now, though he sees the horse mark. For a moment, he stares at it before muttering something under his breath I can’t hear.
“What did he do to you?” he asks me. “Is this horse for Lucifer or someone else?”
“It doesn’t matter,” I say, pulling my arm back.
“It does. Every single time he hurts you, I’m going to make him fucking suffer for it over and over again,” he tells me. “And as for the horse mark, keep it hidden. I suspect it means something, but until I can speak to Gabriel, I cannot confirm my thoughts.”
“It’s not long until this nightmare is over and we all can leave,” I say. “We could find somewhere to hide, to wait out until Lucifer goes back to hell and leaves us all alone.”
“Maybe,” he says, crossing his arms, and I rest my hands on top of his, just like they are meant to be there. He doesn’t move, but he doesn’t push me away like I’m almost expecting him to. I still remember his lips against mine, the way he kissed me like there was only us in the room.
The way I wish he would kiss me now.
“We have training tomorrow morning at six and every morning following that. I expect you not to be late,” he firmly tells me.
“I’d never be late, Mr. Morganach,” I tease, and he chuckles, moving his hand to caress my cheek.
“Do you know how much I want to kiss you? The kiss that your eyes are begging me to do?” he asks me.
“Why don’t you then?” I suggest.
“Because if I kiss you again, I won’t be able to stop,” he warns me. “And you don’t understand what that means.”
“I’m not telling you to stop,” I whisper, getting lost in his voice, in him being so close to me.
“With you, it’s different,” he tells me.
“Why?” I ask, locking my eyes with his.
“I—”
“Morgan, fancy seeing you he—” Nikoli freezes mid-sentence, and I frown, wishing he hadn’t. Dammit. Morgan steps away from me only to turn around as Nikoli pushes his way into the room and kisses my cheek as he stops at my side.
“Morgan—”
“Tomorrow morning, Miss Cameron. Do not be late,” Morgan snaps, and I shake my head as I watch him walk out of my room.
“Sharing you is never going to be easy for him. For any of us,” he softly warns me.
“No, it’s not. It damn hurts,” I mutter as I press myself into his chest.
“Love is a sweet disaster, Alexandria,” he tells me.
“Perhaps. Maybe it can be a sweet story instead,” I counter. A girl can hope. I got myself into this mess after all.
“We live in The Demon Academy, Lex. Nothing is sweet here,” he chuckles and wraps his arms around me, kissing my forehead as he does.
Nikoli is wrong, some things are sweet just like he is with me. My lips tilt up. One of the sons of the devil is sweet as much as he is a monster.
And he is all mine.
Chapter 19
Born in fire? Ouch…
“Sit there,” Morgan demands the second I walk into the library, and I frown, looking down at the two cushions on the ground in the middle of a chalk drawing of three circles and a star around them. Trusting Morgan, I sit down and cross my legs, as he moves to sit on the other cushion opposite me. The library has soon become our safe place, and I start to get excited for any moments we can have here, hidden away from the eyes of the academy.
“Good morning, Mr. Morganach,” I say.
“Are you ready to learn, Miss Cameron?” he asks me, totally in teacher mode.
“Depends on what you are teaching, Mr. Morganach,” I tease him, because I full well know what we are practising today.
“Holy fire, like we discussed,” he replies, and a small smile tilts my lips up, mainly because he is so serious I really don’t think he got my suggestive reply. I might possibly need to work on my flirting. I thought I was doing it well, but I don’t have anyone to ask for hints. Lela is too much, and any advice she might give me would no doubt scare off any man. Sera is too far away, and considering she is single and shy, I’m not going to be getting any good advice there.
“So what are the chalk lines for?” I ask as Morgan finishes up the inside circle by connecting the gap he left.
“It is holy chalk, and it means that nothing outside of this circle will escape unless I wish it. Now, as I am an angel, holy fire cannot hurt me. You also cannot hurt yourself with holy fire you conjure, it is an impossibility,” he explains to me. “So while we are inside this protective circle, we are safe, and so is everyone else if this goes wrong.”
“Why doesn’t holy fire hurt angels?” I ask him, curious.
“We are born again within holy fire. After our human deaths,” he tells me, a rare detail about angels as he never really speaks about his own kind. I get the feeling Morgan never wanted to be an angel and he never has seen it as a blessing.
“Born in fire? That sounds like it hurts,” I gently reply.
“Very much,” he bitterly tells me. “The pain doesn’t leave your mind for years, and The Angel Academy makes sure you suffer other pain to keep you on your toes.”
“Morgan...what is the job of an angel?” I ask. “What is so important that all the pain is worth it?”
“Angels come in pairs, one light and one dark. Dark angels are like devils on your shoulder, able to whisper your deepest and darkest thoughts. Dark angels are alluring, seductive and everything you know you want but shouldn’t. Light angels are the opposite, they only whisper things to you that are good and kind, as is their nature. When angels finish The Angel Academy, they are paired with their life partner, and then they are assigned a human who is of importance to the world,” he tells me, and I try to t
ake it all in. That is a lot of information, but I know where the devil on your shoulder saying comes from now.
“Of importance?” I ask.
“It could be a baby who will one day be president, or a lonely girl who has had a bad life, so she needs to find her way before doing something very good...or bad. We are never told what the human will be, only that they are our charge. We become their guidance system until their deaths, and then we are reassigned,” he explains to me. “Every five humans, we are allowed twenty years of work to find love or a life. Whatever we wish.”
“So angels can have children?” I ask.
“Yes, but they don’t go to The Angel Academy. Children of angels are free to do as they wish in the angel community, they don’t have to pay a price of being brought back to life like we do,” he tells me, sounding angry about the whole system.
“Was your best friend your partner?” I softly ask.
“Yes,” he tells me and clears his throat, changing the subject like I thought he might do. “Now, to conjure holy fire is much simpler than you would think. Holy fire is within your soul. You only need to close your eyes, use your demon powers to conjure a fire in your hands, and then open your eyes. You have to believe it is there. It is all in your mind, Miss Cameron.”
“Okay,” I say, and I close my eyes, holding my hands out together in front of me. I roll my shoulders and call to my demon, feeling my body change in a moment. We are getting quicker at bonding every day, to the point it feels natural to be in my demon form. My demon hardly talks to me anymore; she doesn’t have to because I know what she wants.
She is me after all. I imagine a glowing ball of fire in my hands, a green spiralling sphere of holy fire that cannot hurt me. My hands feel hot as I open my eyes, and there in my hands is a sphere of holy fire just like I imagined. Morgan covers my hands and moves them up around our heads.
“Imagine the holy fire spreading around us like a dome,” he instructs me, but I don’t close my eyes as I do as he requested. The holy fire spreads out like a wave in a dome shape, covering us as it burns around us until it hits the floor. The circle keeps it in a perfect dome as Morgan pulls my hands down and smiles at me as the dome holds itself up.
“I can’t believe I did that,” I say in amazement.
“You are a natural with holy fire,” he tells me, still holding my hands. Before I’ve thought about it any longer, I move to my knees right in front of Morgan and press my lips to his. I can tell I’ve surprised him as, for a second, he doesn’t move, and then he kisses me back, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me against his body. I glide my hands into his hair as I tilt my head to the side and gently bite down on Morgan’s lower lip. The gentle bite sends him into a frenzy as he kisses me harsher than ever before, and I love every second of it. I go to undo his top button, wanting this to go further, but he catches my hand and rests his forehead against mine, breathing heavily.
“Not like this. Not in a library when anyone could walk in,” he gently tells me, moving my hand away, and I can’t help but feel disappointed. The dome of holy fire burns away into nothing but embers as I stand up and rub my shoe on the lines to break the circle before heading to the door. I look back once, seeing my angel on his knees, his head bowed, and my heart thumps so loudly. I get the feeling we will never get a chance to be what we want.
It’s too messed up between us.
And it hurts to walk away.
I all but slump down into my chair in voodoo class, avoiding Maggie who I can feel glaring at me from the other side of the room. The other students flood into the classroom, followed by Mrs. Iversen, who looks extremely peachy for a regular day at DA. Crossing my arms, I notice Mrs. Iversen is looking towards the door as we all wait in silence. I’m thrown a bit when Claus walks in, his gaze cold and empty. In this moment, he reminds me of his father a lot more than I’d ever like to see.
“Claus has a surprise for us all today!” Mrs. Iversen says in excitement. “Well, bring them in.” Claus clicks his fingers, and his eyes find mine as five guys walk into the room, in a straight line with glazed green eyes and blood dripping down their bare chests. They are like zombies as they stop in front of the teacher’s desk and face us. The guys are all blond, all muscular and remind me of the guys I once saw Claus and Nikoli using in a weird ritual.
“Claus has so kindly offered to let us use his new stock to test our dolls on. I want you all to make a new doll that looks like one of these fine mortals,” she says with a lusty sigh. Crazy bitch.
“Claus, have you lost your mind?” I ask, standing up with more confidence than I should have, but this has gone too far. I walk right up to Claus, placing my hands on my hips and staring him down as he stays silent.
Cold.
Empty.
Lost. So very, very flipping lost.
“Please sit down, Miss Cameron, you are making a scene,” Mrs. Iversen demands.
“Are you going to make me sit down and risk pissing off Lucifer?” I ask, using the only card I can think of.
“Need my daddy to protect you?” Claus sarcastically asks. Asshole.
“No, I’m not the one with clearly fucked-up daddy issues, Claus!” I shout at him, waving a hand at the line of guys who look just like Lucifer. “Whoever these guys are, it isn’t their fault. You can’t be this evil.”
“I never said I was the good guy,” he reminds me. Trust me, I never thought for a second he was, but there is a big difference between being the bad guy and being completely evil.
“You never said you were the monster either. Turns out the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” I state.
“In your case, no it didn’t. You are as much a betrayer as your parents,” he angrily replies, trying to hurt me. Only my parents aren’t betrayers, so I don’t care.
“Fuck you, Claus. What is wrong with you?” I ask, placing my hands on my hips.
“You would know,” he whispers to me. “Seeing as you fucked my brother and forgot about me.”
“It’s not like that,” I whisper back.
“Have we got a problem that isn’t personal? I do have a class to carry on with,” Mrs. Iversen says, reminding me that everyone is watching us.
“Seems Miss Cameron doesn’t like the guys I’ve chosen. I will have to get some new ones more to her taste,” he replies. “Are angels even an option?” I can’t believe he just said that.
“Oh well,” Mrs. Iversen comments, and before I can say a word, she blasts a wave of holy fire into the guys, and they all scream as they burn right in front of me. I gasp and nearly fall back into the desk as I can’t look away.
I do see Claus running away once again as he leaves the classroom.
That’s it. Claus Lucifer is going to pay for being an asshole. I won’t give up until he does.
Chapter 20
The day I’ve been waiting for
“I thought Pinocchio was your favourite film. Though I do like Thor, most likely not for the same reasons as you.” I nearly jump off my bed when I hear Javier’s voice, and I turn to see him in the doorway. I press pause on the laptop in front of me and softly smile at him. He has a dark gray jumper on, with heavy looking boots and black jeans. The gray of the jumper makes him look more tanned, and his own light gray eyes really stand out.
“Tell the wolf to leave. It’s late,” Amethyst grumbles from her place near my pillow. I set aside my laptop and walk to Javier, who smashes his lips onto mine the second I am close enough. Seeing as I had the same thought, I kiss him back just as passionately as he lifts me up and carries me into the lounge. He sits down with me on his lap, my legs parted and making me fully aware of how hard he is, even hidden by his jeans.
“How did you get in?” I ask, breaking away from his lips. He moves my hair over my shoulder, and I’m thankful I decided to wear a red tank top and little shorts. I really, really don’t want much space between us. He drops his lips to my shoulder, ever so softly kissing me.
“I found an ope
n door. The Hellers are being lazy protecting the academy with Lucifer here; they didn’t notice me pass them. They all seem to be arguing about who is taking the meal to Lucifer next so they get to meet him,” he explains to me, still pressing kisses to my shoulder blades. “I wanted to see you before tomorrow.”
“You know then,” I mutter.
“I gather that is why you are awake at four in the morning,” he replies.
“What if…” I drift off, not even able to say the words out loud.
“No, don’t think like that,” he tells me, brushing my hair away from my cheek. “Whatever happens, you won’t be alone. I’m here.” Instead of answering him, I kiss him and push him over onto his back before climbing on top of him. I pull my red tank top off, watching as his eyes turn into the gray rain cloud of storms that I love to see.
“Are you sure?”
“I’ve always been sure about you, Javier,” I answer before I lean down and kiss him. He groans against my lips as we passionately kiss and rip each other’s clothes off, both of us desperate for each other. We have always come together in a battle of love, and this will never be any different.
I never want it any different. Javier reminds me that I’m alive and fighting for everything I have.
I will always fight for him. Javier lifts my arm and kisses my wolf mark, which starts to lightly glow as pleasure bursts throughout my body. His lips travel up my arm and down past my collarbone as his large hands hold my hips down. My back arches as his hot tongue flicks over my nipple, only teasing before he travels further down my body. His large hands hold my thighs apart as his tongue finds my core, and I lose all control. Javier sends me crashing over the edge of an orgasm before he lifts me up and lies on his back, letting me have control.
“My mate,” he gently tells me as I line up his cock at my entrance. I slowly sink down onto him, letting him fill me up. “Fuck, you feel too good.” I roll my hips as he grips my waist, and I gasp at the intense pleasure, the connection between us as we both chase our ending. Javier suddenly lifts me up and turns me over onto my knees, before parting my legs and thrusting into me, the new position feeling intense and amazing. His teeth graze my shoulder as I get so close to finishing. “You are mine,” he growls, and he bites me. The pain is brief as an orgasm blasts into me, so strong that I cry out in pure pleasure as he finishes at the same time. My arm burns once again, like the time with Nikoli, and Javier growls as he pulls out of me and holds his wrist out. I look down at mine as I sit down and see a second horse in front of the other one, and this one is silver too.
