Fallen Academy: Year Four (Fallen Academy #4)(45)

“I’m going to let you down to my friend. Unhook your legs,” I yelled over the wind to her. She did as I asked without complaint, and when Noah’s hands came around her thighs, she let go of me.

After releasing her, I landed on the roof, wincing when I noticed the blood on her face. I had indeed broken her nose. “I’m so sorry. I’ve never grabbed someone in mid-flight like that.”

The girl looked a little older now that I saw her up close—maybe late twenties—and seemed to be in shock. Just then, she reached up to touch her nose. “It’s fine. You saved my life. Thank you.”

Guiding her by the shoulders, Noah lowered her into the bus, while my mind attempted to process what I’d just seen and done.

“Brielle!” Lincoln yelled.

“I’m fine!” I shouted back, knowing he was probably having a mini heart attack, not knowing what was going on up here.

The bus took a turn toward the park, and Noah and I held on to each other to steady ourselves, as I quickly relayed what was happening there.

“So, they know we’re coming?” he asked.

I’d just flown in and taken a chick mid-air, and Michael had nabbed an Abrus demon. “Yeah, they know.”

Noah nodded, sticking his head into the roof hatch, and relaying orders to the team.

As the park came into view, my stomach dropped. There was mass chaos. Demon bound ran frantically, while the humans in the caged-off area could only huddle together, trying to shield themselves. The demons were forming a barricade around the fence, and each one was armed to the teeth, with guns and knives. The small sliver of hope in the situation, was that they’d stopped the killing now that we’d arrived.

The handful of fighters we’d brought on this first bus wasn’t going to stand a chance against the hundreds of demons I saw amassing at the scene.

“Get in the bus!” Lincoln shouted as he slammed on the brakes. The demons had spotted us and were raising their weapons.

Noah and I sucked in our wings and leapt into the bus, jumping through the hatch just in time to avoid the bullets snapping at the side of the vehicle.

“Raphael and the backup team better get here quick. We can’t get out of the bus. It would be a suicide mission, and I don’t know how long I can keep them distracted,” Lincoln stated.

Stepping up to the front of the bus, Shea grinned. “I have an idea.”

Oh God, I’d seen that look before. It was the same one she got when she suggested we rob a Cloud Nine donut store, for my dad’s funeral expenses.

Noah must have recognized it too, because he looked terrified as well.

“I’m all ears.” Lincoln had stopped the bus, and now the demons were stalking toward us. I was hoping the armored vehicle lived up to the hype, because we were about to find out just how much destruction it could take.

If the fate of our lives hinged on one of Shea’s crazy ideas… we were screwed.





Eighteen





“What? No way! Too much could go wrong,” Lincoln told my bestie as the demons advanced on our bulletproof bus.

“I’m a master at portals. I got this,” she reassured him.

Lincoln gave her a quick ‘I call bullshit’ look. “We haven’t tried out the technology Metatron left us, and we don’t have one for Emberly.”

Shea wanted to open a huge portal to Hell and have us drive through it with the demons following us inside, then close it before opening a new one for us to get out, trapping the demons there. It was a crazy bananas plan.

“Oh, I’m fine. I mean, it hurts to be in Hell, but it won’t kill me,” Emberly offered.

Grace’s head reeled back at her daughter. “And how exactly do you know that?”

Emberly’s cheeks burned. “Mel and I tried it once. Don’t worry, I started by putting my foot in. I’m not stupid.”

Grace buried her head in her hands, clearly at a loss for words with her wild teen. I guess the fact that Emberly was half human allowed her to enter Hell unharmed.

“Let’s do it,” Tiffany, of all freaking people, chimed in from her place at the back of the bus. “I think it’ll work, and the more demons we trap inside, the fewer casualties the Fallen Army will endure once they arrive to back us up. It’ll also serve as a distraction until help arrives so no more free souls are injured.”

We all looked at her in shock for agreeing with Shea. The only thing breaking our silence was a thump on the roof.

Michael?

The demons were shooting at the bus now, en masse, and I was worried about the tires blowing. We needed to do something quick, and getting out of the bus to fight wasn’t smart right now.

“All right, start the portal while I talk to Michael about it,” Lincoln told Shea, then jumped up from the driver’s seat with Noah quickly replacing him.

My mind whirled as I took a deep breath. Maybe I could erect my shield to cover the entire bus, protect the tires and windows from further damage while we did this portal thing…

My plasma-like wall began to rise up off my body, and I pushed it outward, covering Shea and then Noah.

“Umm… what the hell is that?” Tiffany’s shrill voice came from behind me.

Ignoring her, I focused on my breathing.

“Oh, Emberly told me about this. I’m excited to experience it.” Grace walked headfirst into my shield fearlessly, as I thinned it around her body to make room for her.