Fallen Academy: Year Two (Fallen Academy #2)(16)

“Eager much?” he laughed, as I ripped the lid off without fanfare.

When my eyes fell on the steel cuffs, I gasped. “Are these…?”

“Custom battle cuffs. Made with the same stuff as our shield armor, so you can stop a sword with them if you need to,” he confirmed.

My heart thumped wildly in my chest as I gazed at the man before me. Lincoln was my family. He’d lost his family, and moved out into this lonely trailer, until I shoved my way into his life, and now here we were. Whether he liked it or not, he was stuck with me.

“I’m going to marry you one day,” I said suddenly, then winked to make it more lighthearted than I truly meant it. But seriously, I needed to lock this dude down before he realized he could probably do better.

“Hey, I’m supposed to be saying those things,” he answered with a grin.

I scoffed. “Don’t be sexist.”

He rolled his eyes. “Woman, try them on. Do you have any idea how hard it is to measure your arms while you’re sleeping? You shove them between your legs!”

My laughter rang out, filling the air around us as I popped on my tiptoes to plant a kiss on his lips.

My mom told me once that your first love was dangerous. First love could make you, but also destroy you. If Lincoln was to be my destroyer, I was okay with that—it was worth the making of me.

I finally reached in and pulled the cuffs out, letting the box fall to my feet. Tilting my arm to the side, I slipped the cuff over it and then straightened it so it fit neatly in place.

“Like a glove,” I told him.

They were exquisite. The front had an engraved pair of angel wings on each cuff, with my name underneath. They shined in the sunlight, showcasing their fresh silver polish.

“They should save your ass on Fight Night.” He ran a hand through his hair, smoothed his shirt, and tucked it into his pants. We’d totally just had a quickie in his trailer, so he was trying to tuck in his uniform, hiding the evidence.

I smoothed my hair as well. “So, third year I get to move into the Fallen Army barracks, and I can keep those living quarters even after graduation?” I asked. I’d read the salary package with an eagle eye. Mostly because it was the best job I’d ever had, and I was going to need to take care of my mom and Mikey.

He ran a hand down the side of his trailer, looking at it fondly. “Yeah. Some students like to stay in the dorms if they have younger siblings there, like Angela and Luke, or you and your brother. I used to share an apartment in the barracks with Noah, but…”

I knew this shit was painful for him to talk about, but I wanted to know everything about him. Like why he was the only guy who lived on campus in a trailer.

“After my family died, I didn’t want to step foot in our family home. It was like a memory crypt. But this was our camping trailer. Just enough good memories that it wasn’t overwhelming.”

Oh God, I felt bad for asking.

I placed my hand over his. “It’s a pretty sweet little pad,” I told him.

He smiled, looking down at me with those crystalline blue eyes. Visually, Lincoln and I were opposites. Where my hair was blonde, his was dark; where my wings were black, his were white. But we couldn’t be more perfect for each other. When I didn’t want to kill him, I was madly in love with him. That was the most anyone could ask for, right?

He stroked my hair and tucked it behind my ear. “My mom would have loved you. She always told me, ‘Don’t settle. Wait for a strong woman and she’ll raise strong daughters.’ You’re the strongest person I know, Brielle.”

My heart melted at the compliment, and my stomach did flip-flops at his reference to his mother’s approval of me. He barely talked about his late parents, and never about his little sister, so it meant even more that he’d shared that part of himself.

“She was kind of a raging feminist.” He laughed, seemingly lost in the memory.

“Sounds like a smart woman. How did your dad keep her locked down?” I joked.

A genuine and open smile stretched Lincoln’s lips, one I’d never seen before. “He didn’t. Said that was his secret. Never try to cage the free bird.” He winked.

I’d officially lost count of how many winks he’d given me.

I wished I could have met his parents. Lincoln had only met my mom a few times when she’d come to visit, and while he was polite, I knew his cautious glances at her forehead meant he’d never fully trust her. Not until I could free her.

Before I could say something sickeningly lovey-dovey, the walkie-talkie on his belt loop squawked.

“Grey, you coming?” Noah urged through the device.

Lincoln smoothed his hair one last time, then leaned forward, and kissed me chastely. “See you soon. You’re on my team tonight,” he declared before he started to jog away.

“Do I have to call you, sir?” I screamed after him.

“Yes!” he yelled, and then he was gone.

Dammit. He was going to milk this ‘sir’ thing for a while.

I ran my fingers along the wing engravings on the cuffs and smiled.

We could pretend all day that he was in charge, but I knew the truth.





Chapter Seven





Shea’s face was pressed against the glass, looking out the window as we left Angel City, and made our way into the war zone.