Seizing Year Four (Grim Reaper Academy 4)

“Step aside,” GC said, kindly. “Please.”

He was a false god, and she was only human. The only human in the room. And in that moment, I felt for her. I’d been the only human among supernaturals for so long, and I knew how she felt. Helpless. The moment she moved out of Paz’s way, the demon lunged at Merrit, grabbing him by the throat. Merrit spat in his face, then placed his hand on his chest and murmured something. A flash of light exploded under his hand, throwing Paz a few feet in the air. He landed onto a desk, smashing it to pieces.

“Stop!” Professor Ivanov yelled. “Don’t make me take your worth points!”

No one cared about worth points, though. GC growled low in his chest, and when I realized what he was about to do, I almost fainted. Granted that revenants didn’t faint.

“GC, no!”

Too late. His uniform tore under his shifting muscles. He grew three times in size as his body morphed into the body of a strong golden bull. Students ran out of the classroom, while others took out their phones. The bull let out a cry of rage, hit the floor with his hoof, and pushed a couple of desks with his horns.

“Come on, beast!” Merrit laughed. He snapped his fingers, and a red scarf appeared out of nowhere.

Briefly, I wondered whether he’d gone insane. He’d never been the brightest egg in the basket, but I thought he was sensible enough not to get into a fight with a demon and a shapeshifter.

GC couldn’t resist the red scarf that was being offensively waved in his face. He lunged, and Merrit moved out of the way. GC hit the wall, tearing half of it down.

“Oh my God!” Even I

was afraid to be caught in the middle, and I wasn’t human anymore!

Merrit repeated the trick, and GC lunged again, this time breaking the professor’s desk in two. Mrs. Ivanov wasn’t in the classroom anymore. She’d run off to get help. The commotion had alerted half of the school, and students from classes down the hall had gathered in the doorway to see what the fuss was about.

“GC, stop! Merrit, knock it off!”

“So, are you fucking Lorna or not?” he yelled.

“You piece of shit…” Paz took Merrit by surprise. The mage’s face met the demon’s fist. “You don’t talk to her like that.” He hit him again.

Merrit teleported away from Pazuzu. Neat trick. What wasn’t as neat was his choice to teleport right behind Francis. He leaned over his shoulder to whisper in his ear.

“I honestly thought you were gay or asexual, Saint-Germain. Is it true the normie has a magic pussy?”

“You… you… Just say the word, Mistress!” Corri yelled in her tiny voice, flying in circles and showing Merrit her little fists.

I didn’t have time to react, and even if I had, I wouldn’t have known what to do. In a fraction of a second, Francis’s fingers were digging into Merrit’s throat, wrapping right around his jugular. The mage’s eyes bulged, his hands flying to grab Francis’s wrist and pull himself free. It was no use. Merrit coughed and spluttered, saliva gathering at the corners of his mouth. Francis didn’t let go. On the contrary, his fingers dug deeper, until Merrit’s blood started pooling underneath his nails. It was the revenant’s turn to whisper in the mage’s ear. And the whole classroom had gone so silent that everyone could hear it.

“Paz said you shouldn’t talk to her like that, and I happen to agree with him. How about you apologize, Castegny?”

Merrit was scratching at Francis’s arm, but it was as if Francis didn’t feel any pain.

“I’ll let you go now. If you don’t apologize, then I’ll come to your room tonight and finish what I started.”

Merrit had tears in his eyes. He nodded as best as he could, and when Francis released him, he fell on his back, his body shaking under a coughing fit that seemed to go on forever. He wrapped his hands around his neck, trying to stop the bleeding.

Francis was studying his red fingernails. “Well, Castegny?”

“I’m sorry,” Merrit croaked. He found my gaze and held it, which said a lot about how much Francis had scared him. “I’m sorry I was a jerk.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “It’s not your fault your mother made you a jerk, Merrit. But you will do better next time, won’t you?”

The mage nodded his head, coughing.

We all got detention, and our worth scores dropped by 100.

“We couldn’t leave you here by yourself,” I winked at Lorna.

She eyed me boredly. “What did the pixie do?”