Lure Academy

“What’s the plan?” asked Alexi. He was standing in the middle of the road, arms crossed over his chest, looking far into the distance, towards the village. Except for the priest’s house, this part of the land seemed fairly deserted. It wasn’t unusual, of course, since mountain villages tended to be small and scattered, the houses often separated by miles.

“D’Argyle invites demons from all over the world to join him at the mansion. I think your best shot is to take on the identities of two demons Lure Academy has in its custody.”

Kain sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. If Sophie had to control her powers in such a way as to hide her demon aura and sigil, then they had to do the exact opposite. The problem was this was very unpleasant. For a cambion, it was much easier to pose as a human, than as a demon. Theoretically, cambions were half-half, which meant they could go for either of the two extremes, but with time most cambions realized their human traits were stronger than their demon traits. Why? It was hard to tell. Maybe because they spent the first years of their lives among humans.

“Sounds like a good plan,” said Alexi.

“I agree,” said Kain eventually. If he didn’t like it, it didn’t mean it wouldn’t work. He took a step back and bumped into Sophie, whom he hadn’t realized was behind him. He looked at her flushed cheeks and red nose, and smiled. She was holding the collar of her coat high around her neck, trying to cover her chin and lips. Kain placed an arm around her shoulders and hugged her to his side to keep her warm. Alexi didn’t even look their way.

“You don’t need me here anymore,” continued Tengu. “I’m going to Lure to find you some good identities.” Demons could change the way they looked as they pleased, but cambions didn’t have this ability. Tengu would have to look carefully for two demons whose preferred human forms were close to Kain’s and Alexi’s features. “I’ll be back tomorrow with their files and sigils, then it shouldn’t take you more than a day to study them and slip into your roles.”

Kain nodded. Alexi kept looking into the distance. Sophie couldn’t tell if he was feeling worse or he was simply trying to avoid the blond with his fiery attitude and relentless questions. She made a note to herself to make Alexi eat something after Tengu left.

“All right,” said Kain. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Make sure to send Lilith our best wishes.”

Tengu wasn’t impressed by Kain’s sarcasm. He turned around and started along the road without as much as a “goodbye”. The shaman followed him, leaning heavily on his walking stick.

“Wait!” said Sophie. “Where are you going?” She hated that the old man hadn’t given them a name, but she knew he would know right away she was talking to him.

“I found a nice place where I can meditate in peace.”

“But it’s cold outside. You’re going to freeze to death up in the mountains.”

The shaman finally decided to turn around and grace her with an indulgent smile. “My body cannot feel the cold, child. Don’t worry about me. I’m never hungry, thirsty, or tired, and I have no use for a warm bed. Sleep well and let the night take your fears away.”

“If anything, the night will increase them…” whispered Sophie. What was the logic in that anyway? The old man turned back on his way and left the three cambions standing awkwardly in front of the priest’s house, unsure what to do next. Father Michael was nice and pleasant, but he was awfully chatty, and none of them felt like spending the evening nodding and smiling on autopilot.

Kain hugged Sophie closer to his warm body. “You should listen to him.”

“It doesn’t make sense.”

“It does, actually. He sees us as creatures of the night because we’re children of incubi and succubi.”

Sophie huffed, not happy with the explanation. She was no creature of the night.

“Let’s go back inside,” suggested Alexi. “It’s freezing out here.” He avoided their eyes and went past them. He still felt a bit ill,

and the way Kain was holding Sophie so close to his body only made things worse.

?

Sophie turned on the other side. The hard mattress was very uncomfortable and it made her back hurt no matter what position she tried. She missed her big, soft bed at Lure Academy, and the fluffy pillow she could sink her nose in. The one she was trying to sleep on now was just a tad softer than a rock. She looked at the clock on the nightstand and sighed in frustration when she saw it was 2 AM.

“This is ridiculous!” she huffed. “How am I supposed to sleep in these conditions?”

But the real problem had nothing to do with the mattress or the pillow, and she knew that deep down. It had to with the fact that she, Kain, and Alexi had been forced to sleep alone, each in their own room. Not because Father Michael had made that clear in any way. He simply prepared separate rooms for them because he had no idea what kind of relationship they had. The tension between the two cambions was the real reason why Sophie was now tossing and turning, unable to stop thinking about the case, then about Alexi’s mark, and finally about Kain’s passive-aggressive attitude.

Eventually, she gave up, threw the duvet off her legs, and sat up in bed. The chilly air caused goosebumps to rise on her skin, but that didn’t stop her from getting out of bed. She cringed when her feet made contact with the cold floorboard. After a couple of steps, she got used to it, and she had more important things to think about anyway. Like, whose room should she go to? Alexi’s was right across from hers, and Kain’s was down the corridor. Alexi had been cold and distant all day, so Kain was probably a safer bet. She padded softly to the blond’s room, trying to make as little noise as possible. She stopped in front of his door, wondering if she should knock or simply go in, and smiled to herself. “Who would have thought that out of the two I would first run to Kain?” But she wasn’t running to Kain, was she? She just needed a little company and didn’t want to bother Alexi. He had too much on his mind. She knocked three times, her knuckles barely touching the wooden door. When she didn’t hear any sound coming from the other side, she took a deep breath and turned the knob.

Kain’s bedroom was just as dark and chilly as hers. The first thing she noticed was that it was even smaller, and it crossed her mind that Father Michael had probably given her the best room he had.

“Kain…? Are you awake?” She closed the door behind her, then it took only three steps to reach his bed.

“Sophie?”

His voice was soft and groggy, and Sophie felt sorry for having woken him up.

“Uh… you were sleeping.”