Fallen Academy: Year Four (Fallen Academy #4)(17)

“You’re coming too?” Catia turned to me.

I frowned, “I can’t.”

“Lucifer spoke to her through a demon today,” Lincoln explained, clearing his throat. “Brielle has to stay on campus.”

“Oh, shit. I’m so sorry.” Catia looked down at her feet.

Scarlet stepped closer to me. “I’m just a human cook at the school, so I’ll be staying with you here, where it’s safe.”

A grin tugged at my lips. I didn’t feel so left out, now. “Perfect. I’d love some company.”

And just like that, I’d made a new friend. While everyone was out on the raid tonight—including Shea and Chloe—pushing the demons back and away from the city, I’d be getting to know Scarlet.





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.