Fallen Academy: Year Two (Fallen Academy #2)(23)

“Yes he is. And how would he feel if he mauled you to death?” he snapped back.

Jesus.

This guy really had a way with people.

“My mom’s really worried and losing sleep over this. Can’t you tell us anything?” I decided playing the sappy mom card might work.

Clark sighed, followed by a long stretch of silence before he spoke. “Mikey is showing signs of being a lone wolf. He’s rejecting the pack and my lead. But at the same time, he needs us or he’ll be lost to the beast. If he doesn’t turn back to human before the next full moon, he may be too far gone for me to bring him back.”

My whole entire body sagged as I slid against the wall in my dorm room, emotion tightening my throat.

“Oh my God.”

Mikey was my little brother. I felt completely responsible for him.

Clark sighed again. “Look, kid, was there some trauma when you were younger or something? It’s like he wants to stay like this. He’s avoiding his humanity for a reason, which happens in cases where they went through some tough shit they didn’t properly deal with. The beast brings it all out and forces them to deal with it to make them stronger.”

Trauma.

That word was ugly. It meant you’d endured something horrific that left a lasting impression. But it was also accurate.

“My mom and I sold ourselves to the demons to heal my dad’s cancer when I was twelve. He was hit by a bus six months later and died.”

“Oh God.” Clark’s voice, for the first time, was full of empathy. “Yeah, that’ll do it.”

My whole world felt like it was caving in around me.

“Can you… I dunno, try harder? Get a shrink out there? Something.” I had reached the point of begging. If my dad’s death and my mom’s and my demon enslavement was messing with Mikey, I felt totally responsible.

“I’m doing the best I can, but I can try something different. Was your dad buried anywhere? You have ashes or anything?”

His question caught me off guard. When my dad died, we all agreed as a family that we didn’t want him buried in Demon City. It was nearly a month’s salary, but my mom bought him a plot in Angel City at the prettiest Catholic cemetery. We’d all gotten day passes, and she was given the time off work to lay him to rest. I’d been so used to not being able to see him that I didn’t even think of visiting him now that I lived here. Until now.

“Immaculate Heart in Culver City. Daniel Atwater is his name.” Speaking his name after so long sent tears leaking from the corner of my eyes. Thank God I was alone in my room, because this call had been way more intense than I’d intended. Some serious ugly crying was about to happen.

“All right, kid. I’ll keep you posted. Give me a week.”

A week? Then what? I didn’t want to know.

“Okay,” I croaked.

He hung up, and I shoved my face into the pillow and screamed. I screamed with pain, rage, and utter desperation. I felt like I was so full of all of those emotions that they would drown me if I didn’t let them out. Too much was going wrong lately. I’d lost Sera, my devil mark was permanent, my brother was stuck as a beast, and I wasn’t totally convinced I was going to get my mom out of Demon City.

I needed something, just one thing, to go right.

My phone buzzed with a text.

Mr. Rincor: Are you coming to class?

Shit! I was his only student, so it was kind of hard to ditch. With Fred graduated, and my twenty-watt bulb hands, I’d tried to drop the class, but Mr. Rincor wouldn’t let me.

Jumping off the bed, I wiped my eyes, and put all thoughts of my brother out of my mind as I grabbed my bag.

I texted Mr. Rincor that I had a family emergency and would be there in five minutes, then hauled ass out my dorm and into the open quad.

Lincoln was just leaving Raphael’s office. When he saw me, a smile lit up his face and he called me over.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” I asked him. “I thought you had work.” He was supposed to be out there doing army stuff today.

He held up a pair of keys. “Raphael called me in early. I got my new apartment assignment. A two-bedroom three doors down from Noah.”

I raised my eyebrows in appraisal. “Not too shabby, Mr. Grey.”

He grinned. “And Raphael gave the groundskeeper job to Mrs. Finley, so she and her girls can get out of my cramped trailer and have the cottage.”

“Wow, that’s awesome!” Of course, that made me think of Mikey, since he’d lived in the cottage for a short time, but when he got back, he’d be in the dorms with me, and that was good. I didn’t want to bring up Mikey now and ruin the moment of happiness about his new place.

He looked off into the open space. “Guess I don’t need my trailer anymore. Maybe it’s time to sell it.”

I frowned at the idea. After all, he’d told me it was his parents’ camping trailer and full of happy memories. Selling it would be a mistake. “No way. It’s a badass little pad. Just hang on to it for a while. No need to make rash decisions.”

He nodded, grinning, and pulling me in for a kiss. “Small gathering at my new place tonight. Bring your friends.”

My lips curled into a smile, and I’d stepped up on my tiptoes to kiss him again when a loud throat clearing sounded behind me.