Fallen Academy: Year Four

 

Catia and Lincoln had left about an hour ago, to take part in the biggest raid in Fallen Army history. Luke, Noah, Shea, Chloe, Mikey, and everyone else, had left too. I’d even seen the archangels suit up, and leave with the busloads of soldiers. This was an ‘all hands on deck’ operation. A few staff members, Elodie and her son, the healing clinic’s injured, my eleven students, and I, were the only ones staying on campus, so the dozen warriors Raph left behind to protect it was plenty. My mom was safe in her apartment, watching a movie with her neighbor, who was a civilian spouse to an army soldier. I just hoped like hell that tonight turned the odds in our favor.

“Oh my God, it smells like I’m in a restaurant.” I drooled as Scarlet made quick work of cooking dinner in our tiny kitchen. She’d claimed the kitchen was no smaller than most in France, but I figured she was just being nice. Lincoln’s and my favorite dinner to cook in the tiny trailer kitchen was cereal.

She flattened her knife, laying it over the garlic, and then came down on it hard, smashing it. “You’re going to love my coq au vin dish.”

“If the smell is any indication, then yes, I will.”

She smiled, reaching for some cooking wine, when the shrill sound of the school’s demon alarm rang through campus.

Chills ran up my entire body.

“Shit!” I bolted into a standing positon, adrenaline coursing through my veins.

Scarlet froze. “Is that…?”

I nodded, bursting into action. “Demon alarm. Come on.”

Did one of the demons get pushed back in the raid and sneak onto campus? Surely the dozen gate guards could handle it, but in case it was more than one demon… in case it was a full-on attack, we needed to follow protocol.

The trailer wasn’t safe. We were sitting ducks, and I also had eleven students to worry about, as well as Elodie and her son. Reaching under the bed, I took out my gun and holstered it, then grabbed my sword—on loan from Raphael until I was reunited with Sera.

“Can you shoot a gun?” I asked Scarlet, who’d already shut off the stove, and was now holding her meat cleaver like a weapon.

“No, but I’ve killed a demon before with this.” She indicated the large knife. Paris was a war zone, and Lincoln had told me the school there operated in secrecy, so Scarlet must have had her fair share of action.

“All right. The school has a contingency for this sort of thing. We’re going to go to the main gym, where we can band together and fight as a team. Can you run?”

She looked nervous but competent, and I knew Catia wouldn’t bring someone who couldn’t hold their own. My students would be making their way to the gym right now, and hopefully, Elodie and her son would be too, but we needed to get there quickly to help them.

She nodded and I sent a quick group text to Lincoln, Shea and Noah saying the academy was under demon attack. Hopefully they could send backup soon.

Stepping forward, I inched the trailer door open as the siren blared full force into the small space. The last time that siren went off, Lucifer had come and taken me to Hell, but I refused to let the fear take me. That wasn’t going to happen again.

A quick scan told me there was a massive fight at the front gates. A burst of gunfire, and red glowing magic lit up the Fallen Academy entrance. This was a full-scale attack, not the single demon I’d hoped for a second ago.

Shit.

“This way,” I whispered to Scarlet, ducking low and away from the front gates. We ran, headed deeper onto campus toward the gym, which was our meeting point for demon alarm emergencies.

We were just cutting through two buildings when I smelled it. Sulfur and oil. Nausea rolled into me and I spun, coming face-to-face with a Larkspur demon. The seven-foot-tall, pug-faced asshole was grinning as bile crept into my throat. Larkspurs were fast and strong, so I needed the element of surprise.

Just as I was about to explode from where I stood and slice him up with my sword, Scarlet’s meat cleaver spun through the air and stuck into the side of his face.

Holy shit!

“I panicked,” she screeched from behind me.

I wanted to refrain from using my gun, because the sound could bring more demons, and I didn’t want to lose the element of surprise on the others, so I burst forward just as a hideous roar left the Larkspur demon’s mouth. He reached up to try and pull the meat cleaver out, and I went into full-on attack mode.

Most of the demon’s skin was leathery and thick, but he was vulnerable just under the neck. With a burst of power, my large sword sunk into his body as I stabbed him, just under his chin, taking him down quickly before the nausea and flu-like symptoms could incapacitate me. Within two minutes, he was dead at my feet.

Chest heaving, I spun to see Scarlet with her back to me, watching the alleyway as she protected my back.

“Let’s go,” I whispered, handing her the bloodied meat cleaver back, as I wiped demon blood off of my hands and onto the leg of my pants.

If demons were raiding the academy, I needed to protect my summer school students, and the vulnerable staff members.

We made the quick dash across campus in record time, and slipped into the gymnasium quietly. The lights were off, but the emergency exit lights cast shadows on a group of students and staff at the back of the room, as well as another person I didn’t expect to see. Emberly was standing in the middle of the room with a gun pointed right at me.

“It’s Brielle!” I whisper-screamed, and she lowered the Glock. “What are you doing here?” I asked, as Scarlet and I rushed over to meet her.

“Bad pain day. My dad wouldn’t let me go to the raid.”

She was in her Pj’s, looked sweaty, and her features were drawn in a slight scowl. Something I’d come to learn was the look of a ruthless day with her pain management. I felt bad that she’d had to stay behind because her wings were hurting her, but I was also glad she was here; I couldn’t protect everyone alone, and she’d be a huge help—even in pain.

I peered past Emberly and nearly sagged in relief as I counted heads, noting Elodie and her son, all eleven of my students, Mrs. Greely and a few of her patients from the healing clinic, as well as the librarian, Rose, were here. Everyone was accounted for, but I was the most senior officer in the room, which meant I was in charge.

I turned to Scarlet. “I want you to hide in the back with the rest.”

She nodded, and I swooped down to grab a two-pound dumbbell that had been left on the floor, tossing it up into the emergency light. It shattered, plunging us into total darkness.

Plan A was to hide.

Plan B was to fight.

Without a word, Emberly strode with me to the back of the room, and I pulled my cell phone out, to give us a little light that I could control if I heard the main doors opening.

Elodie’s son was whimpering, and a few of the injured Fallen Army soldiers from the clinic looked worse for wear. One was hooked up to what appeared to be a transfusion of blood, and another was in a wheelchair with a bandage around his abdomen that was soaked with blood. She’d gotten them out in a hurry, no doubt.

“We’re going to try and hide in here until we can get some backup, but on the off chance we’re attacked, Emberly and I will be on the front line.”

The fifteen-year-old beside me nodded without hesitation. She had skills that no one in this room could rival, and I needed her to help me.