She shrugged. “Not as bad as childbirth, and humans have been doing that for thousands of years. I’m not going to forfeit at the first sight of blood, Raphael. I’m stronger than that.”
The healer angel sighed. “Yes, I suppose you are.” With that, he lowered his sword to the side, before letting it fall to the ground. “I guess I’ve misjudged what the human spirit is capable of.”
His wing was bleeding, and there was dirt on his face, but he looked… relieved, like maybe he’d wanted this demon hunter school all along, but didn’t want to put a bunch of weak humans in harm’s way.
“Does this mean…?” Grace eyed his sword on the ground, probably unsure if it was a trick, or if Raphael had given up the fight.
“It means you get your school, Grace. You can be headmaster, and I’ll advise you when you need it. I think it’s high time we empowered the humans to protect themselves.”
A triumphant grin lit up Grace’s face as she dropped her sword, and threw herself into Raphael’s arms, to embrace him. His hands came around her, squeezing her back, and you could clearly see there was no love lost between these old friends.
When she pulled back, Raphael rubbed his eyes. “You threw dirt in my face.”
Grace shrugged as if to say, ‘I had to do what I had to do.’
Michael stepped toward them with a slight grin. “I taught her that.” He winked at Raph.
Raphael chuckled, clapping Michael on the back. “Of course, you did.”
At that moment, Emberly crossed the space to give her mom a hug, and the two were quickly smiling, and talking in hushed tones.
“A Demon Hunting Academy for humans. Crazy, but it just might work,” Lincoln whispered, slipping his hand into mine.
Glancing at my husband, I nodded. “Damn right it will, and I want to teach there when it’s ready. Grace has already asked me.”
Lincoln reached out, tucking a lock of stray hair behind my ear. “I think that would be wonderful.”
What he didn’t say was, ‘if we can survive until then.’ We only had a few months to bolster Angel City, or no future academies would exist at all.
Six
Michael had approved my need for a couple Snakeroot demons, and today was the day I was going to train my small summer crew how to fight them. We were just two weeks from the date of the second gauntlet, so it was now or never. Tonight, the other soldiers from our sister academies would start showing up, and the cat would be out of the bag. Everyone would finally know there were other schools, but the risk was worth the reward. Saving Angel City had become a top priority. Catia, Lincoln’s friend from his time in San Francisco, was also slated to arrive tonight, and I was super excited to meet her.
“All right, listen up!” I called to my class. “Captain Grey will be here shortly, to bring a couple of Snakeroot demons for us to train with. If you cannot trap, or kill, a miniscule Snakeroot demon, you do not belong in the Fallen Army.”
Silence descended among my eleven students. People started to come out from their apartment buildings, to watch the spectacle; I’d put notices on their doors last night, that the parking lot would be used for training purposes today. Looking up, I saw my mom and Mikey, and both gave me a little wave.
“Now, what do you know about Snakeroots?” Shea asked the group.
Shea and I had fallen into an easy form of co-teaching. I was the sane one who did things by the book, and she was the psycho, breaking the rules to try and toughen up the students. Together, we made a pretty good team.
The smallest girl, nicknamed Tiny, raised her hand. “They spit acid and they like candy.”
I nodded. “So, who came prepared?”
One by one, my students pulled packets of gum and candy out of their pockets.
Good. The little shits were listening when I spoke.
They just might pass this test after all.
Lincoln pulled up in his Fallen Army-issued SUV at that moment, and I nodded to my students. “Showtime. Split into your groups, pick a team leader, and prove to me that I should recommend you to Raphael to be in the second gauntlet test.”
A grim determination settled on each and every one of their faces, as they started to split up into their assigned groups.
Lincoln stepped out of the car, Noah opening the passenger door at the same time, and both boys came to greet us.
“Think they’re ready? I could only find one Snakeroot, so I grabbed a Yew demon as well. Little shit nearly set the car on fire,” my husband confessed.
Good. Switching it up on them would be perfect training for real life. “That’s fine. They better be ready, because if they don’t pass today, then they have no hope of passing the gauntlet a second time.”
Lincoln nodded. “It’s hard when you want them to succeed so badly, but you can’t do the work for them.”
He was right. I’d forgotten that he had been my mentor—still was, technically—for so much of my journey at Fallen Academy. He knew exactly how I felt, and how invested I was in this group.
I’d set up three little areas in the parking lot with stacked boxes and crates, broken pieces of wood and hay bales, so each group could try to contain their demon within the allotted space.
Lincoln called Shea and me over to the SUV, to help him unload the demons. “We’ve got some stainless-steel carriers, but I’m not sure how long they’ll hold up to the acid spitters.”
Not long at all, if memory served me right. I could almost feel a phantom tingle on my foot where I’d been scorched by the buggers.
When Lincoln opened the door to the car, a puff of smoke trickled out instantly.
“Stop that!” Noah kicked one of the steel cages, where the Yew demon must have been. There were a few air holes on the side, and a red little eye zeroed in on me.
I hope my students are ready for this.
We grappled with the cages, careful not to line up with the air holes. Peering inside, I noticed Lincoln had taped the Snakeroot demons’ mouths shut.
“Get ready!” I called out to the students, then began to open the cage. I was sure they’d get the tape off themselves, so I wasn’t going to mess with it and get burned.
The moment I opened the door, a Snakeroot demon shot out and up into the air. With quick hands, he pulled the tape off and then jerked his head in my direction.
“I’m coming for you, Brielle,” his tiny voice declared, sending chills up my arms.
The fact that this demon knew my name had my students pausing. They just stood there in shock, probably never having heard one speak.
“Soon you will make good on your promise to me,” the demon declared with a glassy-eyed look.
What the fuck?
Lincoln stormed over to my area and withdrew his gun, pointing it at the demon’s chest. “What the hell did you just say?” His eyes were wide, and he looked as shocked as I felt.
Did Lucifer just talk to me through a demon?
“You won’t be able to save her,” the snakeroot threatened before tipping his head back and cackling with laughter. The sound coming from the small creature was shrill and high-pitched, to the point that my ears started to ache.
Lincoln threw the car keys to Noah, and without a word, the healing Celestial started pulling me toward the SUV.