Fallen Academy: Year One (Fallen Academy #1)

My eyes widened, and I reached for Sera. Maybe I was just in a jumpy mood and the scream was a shout of joy, but now that I was focused, it sounded like the music had stopped.

More screams.

I peeked out the door and stared down the dark hallway.

Oh shit.

I had to squint to see, but it looked like Lincoln was fighting someone. His sword arm was outstretched, and I could see people beyond him running and screaming.

Shea.

I took off down the hall, holding Sera ready. When I reached Lincoln, I came face-to-face with that same damn Abrus demon. Lincoln thrust out his left hand and shot a bolt of white light into the demon’s face. He shrank back but recovered quickly, standing to glare at me.

“Why are you after me?” I screamed. I couldn’t take it anymore, not knowing. “What am I?”

Lincoln backed into the hallway, blocking me with his body.

“You’re one of us. You belong with me. I can train you to control your dark magic,” he said in a smooth, beckoning voice.

Dark magic. He knew about my dark magic. Maybe I wasn’t a Celestial, or I wasn’t just that, at least. Maybe my wings were black because I was half Brimstone demon. Those black batwings mixed with white angel wings could make mine. Maybe.

“Never!” Lincoln roared, then burst forward while the Abrus demon was distracted, slipping his sword into the demon’s rib cage.

The Abrus demon’s eyes bugged out, and then his entire face turned sinister.

With a roar, his mouth opened and bees flew out. Honest-to-God bees flew from his mouth and attacked Lincoln. He started batting at the air and moved left to right in his spot, but didn’t get out of the way, not allowing there to be a space between the demon and me. While Lincoln was busy with the bees, I saw the demon pull out a sleek black sword.

“No!” I shouted, then rammed my shoulder into Lincoln, pushing him into the wall and out of harm’s way. I thrust my hand forward with all the anger I could muster, the black magic I’d tried so hard to keep hidden flying from my palm and wrapping around the Abrus demon’s neck.

Surprise filled his face, and then he grinned. He had a sword in his stomach, was being choked out by black magic, and was grinning.

Freaking psycho.

‘I can take care of those bees,’ Sera said.

Shit, I’d forgotten about Lincoln. He was on the ground now, getting stung from the looks of it.

While the Abrus demon was wrestling with his new necktie, I held Sera against Lincoln’s back, the flat of the blade touching his shirt. A burst of white light shot out, and I jerked my head to the side, closing my eyes against the brightness. The blade heated up but didn’t burn me, and then the light died down. Opening my eyes, I saw every bee had been turned to ash.

‘You’re seriously badass,’ I told my partner in crime.

‘Thanks, love. Now run before he gets that off!’

Oh yeah. The Abrus demon was still wrestling with my dark magic choker.

Hooking my arm under Lincoln’s armpit, I hauled him up to a standing position. His skin was covered in red welts, but I could see his hands were glowing orange and he was already working on healing them. He pulled his sword out of the demon, and tucked the other arm around me. The winter ball was in utter mayhem, people running around like crazy.

“Shea!” I shouted.

“Over here!” my best friend replied somewhere to the right.

My head snapped in her direction, and I saw she was holding the back door open for people. Noah and Blake were with her, ushering everyone outside.

Lincoln and I took off running just as the Abrus demon lunged for us. Lincoln threw his hand out behind him, and another brilliant white light shot from his palms, smacking the demon in the face.

Whoa. He definitely aced his studies of light class.

Once we’d made it safely across the ballroom, Darren popped up in front of us. “We’ve got an Abrus demon, two Brimstones and a handful of Castor demons,” he reported to Lincoln.

Lincoln nodded to Darren, then grabbed the back of my neck gently, turning me to face him. He ran his thumb along my jawline softly, looking my body up and down, seemingly admiring my dress. “You clean up nice. I’m sorry your date got ruined.” He said ‘date’ like it was the plague.

He totally liked me. The bastard.

I grinned. “Thanks. It’s all the yoga I do.”

He chuckled, but then a scream tore his gaze from me and he looked strained. “Go back to school with Blake and Noah, and text me the second you’re safe. Sit in Raphael’s office and wait for me.”

My brow furrowed. “No way. Come with me.”

He looked behind him. The Abrus demon had dissolved the necktie, and was grinning wickedly at us.

Lincoln turned back to me. “I don’t run from demons, Brielle. Go. I need to know you’re safe.”

“I don’t run from demons.” That was both the cockiest and hottest thing he’d ever said.

“I can help,” I told him, holding Sera up to him.

He shook his head. “Take her,” he whispered to someone behind me, and then I was being forcefully dragged away.

“No! Lincoln!” Whoever held me had a firm grip; I bucked and thrashed to no avail, ultimately giving in, and looking back in Lincoln’s direction.

With me forgotten, he swung around and thrust his sword in the air. Blue shards of light burst from the tip and the two Brimstone demons were brought to their knees. Just as I was sucked out the back door, the Abrus demon charged for him.

“Lincoln!”

I didn’t realize tears were streaming down my face, until whoever held me eased their hold, and wiped them.

“I’m sorry. Forgive me,” Fred apologized.

Then he shoved me into the open door of Noah’s SUV and closed it. His melancholy face was the last thing I saw that night, as the SUV peeled out of the parking lot.

Chapter Seventeen

I screamed for Noah to turn the car around the entire drive to Fallen Academy, but he insisted he was following orders, that the Fallen Army was inbound, and Lincoln would be okay.

I’d numbly texted Lincoln when we arrived, and then was ushered to Raphael’s office, though he wasn’t there. Noah instructed me to wait on the couch, that it was the safest place for me, and he would guard the door from outside. Shea wasn’t permitted to wait with me, so she ran back to the dorm to hide, and we texted back and forth for over an hour, until, by some miracle, sleep finally took me.

It was the early hours of the morning, still dark out, when the murmured voices woke me.

“What is she? They want her because she has demon powers, but so do a lot of kids at this school,” Lincoln whispered.

“She’s awake,” Raphael informed him.

Dammit. Freaking psychic archangel!

I peeled my eyes open and sat up quickly, taking in Lincoln’s disheveled appearance. He hadn’t slept, that much was clear, and I could see by the fresh dressing on his shoulder, and the full sling, that he’d been to the healing clinic.

“Are you okay?” I bolted to a standing position, the last remnants of sleep fading.

Patches of his skin were still welted from the beestings.

“I’ll recover.” His blue eyes roamed over my body as if checking me for injuries.

I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I could feel my sanity dancing in a chicken hat at the edges of my mind, threatening to jump off the cliff.

“You have to tell me everything you know. I can’t live like this. Why do they want me? Why are my wings black? What am I?” I shouted the last part, and ran a shaky hand through my hair. Raphael had answers, and I needed them, or I was going to lose my mind. The unknowing was more terrifying to me.

The archangel sighed, shared a long look with a confused Lincoln, and then walked toward me. With each step, his presence pressed in on me like a balm to a burning wound. My energy settled as he reached for my shoulder, resting a calming hand there.

“When you took the angelic blood test, it showed some demonic powers.” His words came like a punch in the gut. Every. Single. One. I mean, I’d guessed that I’d been demon gifted with the black wings, but I’d been in complete denial until right then.

I wasn’t angel blessed. I wasn’t like the other Celestials.

I shrugged out of his touch and crossed my arms, facing the wall for a moment to compose myself.

“So what? Her own mother is a Necromancer. Half this school has some form of demon power in them. Why do they want her?” Lincoln was trying to downplay it, which made me fall for him even harder in that moment.

Raphael cleared his throat. “Because of the prophecy. Because of whose powers she has.”

My whole body went rigid as I tried to remind myself to breathe. I slowly turned around, my eyes snapping to the archangel’s face. “What did you just say?”

Prophecies were never good. I’d never heard of a prophecy where someone forecasted peace on Earth, or that starting in a certain year, everyone would be happy.

Raphael sighed again, seemingly resigned. “Right after the war, when we’d realized what it had cost the humans, we found our first Sighted. She was an older woman, about sixty years in age, and she told of a prophecy that each Sighted after her has repeated verbatim, despite never being told about it.”

No.

My thoughts immediately went to James and those few minutes before the Awakening ceremony. He’d told me to be careful, and what else? I couldn’t remember, and we’d been interrupted before he could tell me more. I hadn’t seen or spoken to him since. Now that I thought of it, I hadn’t even heard about him. What happened to him after the Awakening? I’d have to ask Shea if she saw him at Tainted Academy. The Sighted received the rarest of the powers; I didn’t think I’d even met one at this school.

“What’s the prophecy?” I asked, wishing I had Teddy, my stuffed bear with one eye and a split neck from when Mikey tried to kill him with a bow and arrow. He was somewhere in a landfill right now, but I desperately wanted him back.

es widened, and I reached for Sera. Maybe I was just in a jumpy mood and the scream was a shout of joy, but now that I was focused, it sounded like the music had stopped.

More screams.

I peeked out the door and stared down the dark hallway.

Oh shit.

I had to squint to see, but it looked like Lincoln was fighting someone. His sword arm was outstretched, and I could see people beyond him running and screaming.

Shea.

I took off down the hall, holding Sera ready. When I reached Lincoln, I came face-to-face with that same damn Abrus demon. Lincoln thrust out his left hand and shot a bolt of white light into the demon’s face. He shrank back but recovered quickly, standing to glare at me.

“Why are you after me?” I screamed. I couldn’t take it anymore, not knowing. “What am I?”

Lincoln backed into the hallway, blocking me with his body.

“You’re one of us. You belong with me. I can train you to control your dark magic,” he said in a smooth, beckoning voice.

Dark magic. He knew about my dark magic. Maybe I wasn’t a Celestial, or I wasn’t just that, at least. Maybe my wings were black because I was half Brimstone demon. Those black batwings mixed with white angel wings could make mine. Maybe.

“Never!” Lincoln roared, then burst forward while the Abrus demon was distracted, slipping his sword into the demon’s rib cage.

The Abrus demon’s eyes bugged out, and then his entire face turned sinister.

With a roar, his mouth opened and bees flew out. Honest-to-God bees flew from his mouth and attacked Lincoln. He started batting at the air and moved left to right in his spot, but didn’t get out of the way, not allowing there to be a space between the demon and me. While Lincoln was busy with the bees, I saw the demon pull out a sleek black sword.

“No!” I shouted, then rammed my shoulder into Lincoln, pushing him into the wall and out of harm’s way. I thrust my hand forward with all the anger I could muster, the black magic I’d tried so hard to keep hidden flying from my palm and wrapping around the Abrus demon’s neck.

Surprise filled his face, and then he grinned. He had a sword in his stomach, was being choked out by black magic, and was grinning.

Freaking psycho.

‘I can take care of those bees,’ Sera said.

Shit, I’d forgotten about Lincoln. He was on the ground now, getting stung from the looks of it.

While the Abrus demon was wrestling with his new necktie, I held Sera against Lincoln’s back, the flat of the blade touching his shirt. A burst of white light shot out, and I jerked my head to the side, closing my eyes against the brightness. The blade heated up but didn’t burn me, and then the light died down. Opening my eyes, I saw every bee had been turned to ash.

‘You’re seriously badass,’ I told my partner in crime.

‘Thanks, love. Now run before he gets that off!’

Oh yeah. The Abrus demon was still wrestling with my dark magic choker.

Hooking my arm under Lincoln’s armpit, I hauled him up to a standing position. His skin was covered in red welts, but I could see his hands were glowing orange and he was already working on healing them. He pulled his sword out of the demon, and tucked the other arm around me. The winter ball was in utter mayhem, people running around like crazy.

“Shea!” I shouted.

“Over here!” my best friend replied somewhere to the right.

My head snapped in her direction, and I saw she was holding the back door open for people. Noah and Blake were with her, ushering everyone outside.

Lincoln and I took off running just as the Abrus demon lunged for us. Lincoln threw his hand out behind him, and another brilliant white light shot from his palms, smacking the demon in the face.

Whoa. He definitely aced his studies of light class.

Once we’d made it safely across the ballroom, Darren popped up in front of us. “We’ve got an Abrus demon, two Brimstones and a handful of Castor demons,” he reported to Lincoln.

Lincoln nodded to Darren, then grabbed the back of my neck gently, turning me to face him. He ran his thumb along my jawline softly, looking my body up and down, seemingly admiring my dress. “You clean up nice. I’m sorry your date got ruined.” He said ‘date’ like it was the plague.

He totally liked me. The bastard.

I grinned. “Thanks. It’s all the yoga I do.”

He chuckled, but then a scream tore his gaze from me and he looked strained. “Go back to school with Blake and Noah, and text me the second you’re safe. Sit in Raphael’s office and wait for me.”

My brow furrowed. “No way. Come with me.”

He looked behind him. The Abrus demon had dissolved the necktie, and was grinning wickedly at us.

Lincoln turned back to me. “I don’t run from demons, Brielle. Go. I need to know you’re safe.”

“I don’t run from demons.” That was both the cockiest and hottest thing he’d ever said.

“I can help,” I told him, holding Sera up to him.

He shook his head. “Take her,” he whispered to someone behind me, and then I was being forcefully dragged away.

“No! Lincoln!” Whoever held me had a firm grip; I bucked and thrashed to no avail, ultimately giving in, and looking back in Lincoln’s direction.

With me forgotten, he swung around and thrust his sword in the air. Blue shards of light burst from the tip and the two Brimstone demons were brought to their knees. Just as I was sucked out the back door, the Abrus demon charged for him.

“Lincoln!”

I didn’t realize tears were streaming down my face, until whoever held me eased their hold, and wiped them.

“I’m sorry. Forgive me,” Fred apologized.

Then he shoved me into the open door of Noah’s SUV and closed it. His melancholy face was the last thing I saw that night, as the SUV peeled out of the parking lot.

Chapter Seventeen

I screamed for Noah to turn the car around the entire drive to Fallen Academy, but he insisted he was following orders, that the Fallen Army was inbound, and Lincoln would be okay.

I’d numbly texted Lincoln when we arrived, and then was ushered to Raphael’s office, though he wasn’t there. Noah instructed me to wait on the couch, that it was the safest place for me, and he would guard the door from outside. Shea wasn’t permitted to wait with me, so she ran back to the dorm to hide, and we texted back and forth for over an hour, until, by some miracle, sleep finally took me.

It was the early hours of the morning, still dark out, when the murmured voices woke me.

“What is she? They want her because she has demon powers, but so do a lot of kids at this school,” Lincoln whispered.

“She’s awake,” Raphael informed him.

Dammit. Freaking psychic archangel!

I peeled my eyes open and sat up quickly, taking in Lincoln’s disheveled appearance. He hadn’t slept, that much was clear, and I could see by the fresh dressing on his shoulder, and the full sling, that he’d been to the healing clinic.

“Are you okay?” I bolted to a standing position, the last remnants of sleep fading.

Patches of his skin were still welted from the beestings.

“I’ll recover.” His blue eyes roamed over my body as if checking me for injuries.

I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I could feel my sanity dancing in a chicken hat at the edges of my mind, threatening to jump off the cliff.

“You have to tell me everything you know. I can’t live like this. Why do they want me? Why are my wings black? What am I?” I shouted the last part, and ran a shaky hand through my hair. Raphael had answers, and I needed them, or I was going to lose my mind. The unknowing was more terrifying to me.

The archangel sighed, shared a long look with a confused Lincoln, and then walked toward me. With each step, his presence pressed in on me like a balm to a burning wound. My energy settled as he reached for my shoulder, resting a calming hand there.

“When you took the angelic blood test, it showed some demonic powers.” His words came like a punch in the gut. Every. Single. One. I mean, I’d guessed that I’d been demon gifted with the black wings, but I’d been in complete denial until right then.

I wasn’t angel blessed. I wasn’t like the other Celestials.

I shrugged out of his touch and crossed my arms, facing the wall for a moment to compose myself.

“So what? Her own mother is a Necromancer. Half this school has some form of demon power in them. Why do they want her?” Lincoln was trying to downplay it, which made me fall for him even harder in that moment.

Raphael cleared his throat. “Because of the prophecy. Because of whose powers she has.”

My whole body went rigid as I tried to remind myself to breathe. I slowly turned around, my eyes snapping to the archangel’s face. “What did you just say?”

Prophecies were never good. I’d never heard of a prophecy where someone forecasted peace on Earth, or that starting in a certain year, everyone would be happy.

Raphael sighed again, seemingly resigned. “Right after the war, when we’d realized what it had cost the humans, we found our first Sighted. She was an older woman, about sixty years in age, and she told of a prophecy that each Sighted after her has repeated verbatim, despite never being told about it.”

No.

My thoughts immediately went to James and those few minutes before the Awakening ceremony. He’d told me to be careful, and what else? I couldn’t remember, and we’d been interrupted before he could tell me more. I hadn’t seen or spoken to him since. Now that I thought of it, I hadn’t even heard about him. What happened to him after the Awakening? I’d have to ask Shea if she saw him at Tainted Academy. The Sighted received the rarest of the powers; I didn’t think I’d even met one at this school.

“What’s the prophecy?” I asked, wishing I had Teddy, my stuffed bear with one eye and a split neck from when Mikey tried to kill him with a bow and arrow. He was somewhere in a landfill right now, but I desperately wanted him back.