Fallen Academy: Year Two (Fallen Academy #2)(27)

“I’m working an op tomorrow night in Inferno. I could get you guys clearance as a watch team,” Blake offered us.

“A watch team?” I inquired.

“Second years can go into the war zones when it’s not their assigned night, and do a watch night. They basically shadow a mission,” he explained.

My heart beat faster. “Yes, let’s do that.”

Lincoln whistled. “We’re going to pull this together in one night?”

Shea slammed her fist onto the table. “Hell yeah, we are!” she blurted out, a mild slur in her voice.

Lincoln raised one eyebrow at Noah. “Let’s cut Shea off, okay?”

She’d had like two beers. Lightweight.

Noah chuckled, rubbing the top of Shea’s head and messing up her curly hair. “I’ll make her my famous waffles while you guys plan our team. We’re going to need at least half a dozen soldiers, preferably more in case something scary comes through the portal.”

Shea shot Noah a death glare, and I knew it was because he’d messed up her hair. You never touched a woman’s curls. I knew from living with Shea the past six years, that there was no way back from a perfect curl turning to floofy frizz. You had to rewet it to get that tight tendril look again, and Shea was not one to spend that much time on it twice in one day.

Shea smoothed her locks as best she could and motioned to Donnie. “Can you make it tomorrow?”

“Absolutely,” he answered with a nod. “I can bring three of my buddies.”

Grabbing a piece of paper and a pen, Shea started to make a list. From the sight of her handwriting, she was definitely tipsy.

Donnie turned to my gay bestie then. “Luke, you game for tomorrow night? Could really use a big strong shifter.”

Luke’s mouth hung open a little, beer clutched tightly in his hand. He wasn’t saying anything. Wow, I think the words ‘big strong shifter’ coming from Donnie’s lips froze his brain.

“He’s game. Totally,” Chloe interjected for Luke, which seemed to snap him out of his love trance.

“Totally.” Luke’s voice cracked a little, and Donnie smiled wider.

Oh my God, they’re so cute. It was obvious to everyone that Luke was crushing on Donnie, and Donnie didn’t seem to mind one bit. Interesting.

“Cool. Noah and I can work on finding a few more, but I think we’ve got a solid team. There’s no way we can let a seraph blade go that easily,” Lincoln stated next to me.

It had been three weeks. Twenty-something days without her. She was just lying there alone, or already in the hands of someone new. What if I didn’t find her?

Fatigue slammed into me then. It was nighttime now, and my three-hour nap had done nothing to help me recover from my magical antics.

“I’m exhausted.” I swayed on my feet.

Lincoln’s brow knit with concern. “Noah, can you scan her?” Grasping each of my shoulders, he started to nudge me toward the bedroom. “Sleep over. You need rest,” he whispered.

Shea and I had come together, but apparently she was going to be sleeping at Noah’s, who was only a few apartments away, so I figured it would be all right. All my brain could focus on at that point was the idea of sleep, regardless of where it happened.

I let him lead me into the bedroom, and gave a lopsided smile at the familiar denim bedding from his trailer.

“Hey, I thought this was a two-bedroom. What you gonna do with the second one?” I kicked off my shoes as he pulled the blanket back.

His dark hair was tousled over his forehead, making his blue eyes pop. “I was thinking an office or a music room. Start collecting guitars.”

A grin curved my lips. “Definitely a music room. With a little corner for your poetry books,” I teased.

He poked me in the rib cage, and I fell onto the bed in a fit of laughter. I was so exhausted it was like being drunk.

“You said you were going to let that go,” he told me with mock hurt. My man was crazy for poetry, and I loved it.

“I love you,” I remarked, looking up at him.

Noah peeked over his shoulder then. “Aw, I love you too.”

I could no longer keep my eyes open, so I just smiled in response, and let them close.

“She’s never been this tired before, not even when I tried to kill her in boot camp,” Lincoln explained to the healer.

“Heard that,” I mumbled.

“Dude, she produced a freaking Celestial orb. That takes nearly all the light we carry. She just needs rest.” Noah’s voice was lighthearted; he clearly wasn’t concerned.

“Just scan her, bro. I’m serious,” Lincoln urged him firmly.

“Fine.” Noah’s voice was clipped.

I felt it then, the warm buzz of Noah’s energy, scanning down my back.

The bed was so comfortable, my body melted into it as I drifted off to sleep.

“Oh… interesting.” Noah’s words were all I heard before I hit dreamland.





Chapter Eleven





I awoke feeling refreshed, and rolled over to see the clock said it was noon.

Oh my God! I overslept.

I sat upright and looked for Lincoln, but instead, found a piece of paper with his small block letter handwriting on it.