Fallen Academy: Year Two (Fallen Academy #2)(58)

“Where are we going?” I asked.

It was fully dark out now, and the streets and highways were hard to make out, especially since I hadn’t exactly traveled around Angel City much.

He grinned at me devilishly. “You’ll see.”

Ugh. I wiggled in my seat. Patience was so not my virtue.

When the limo slowed and pulled up to two very large, extremely familiar gates, my throat tightened with emotion.

Lincoln’s hand slid across the seat and rested in mine with a squeeze. We were at the cemetery where my dad had been buried. I hadn’t been there in years, not since we’d laid him to rest. The limo seemed to know just where to go.

“You’ve been talking to my mom a lot, I see.”

He chuckled. “Perk of living with your mom, besides the food, is that she’ll tell me anything I want to know about you.”

My heart was fluttering like crazy in my chest.

The limo pulled right up to the area he was buried in, and I saw a strip of tea lights laid out, leading our path to his grave. Lincoln must have spent all day planning this.

He turned to me. “So, I’ve met your mom, your brother, and your best friend. I wanted to make it complete and meet your dad too.”

Don’t sob. You’re cool. Keep your shit together.

Tears were leaking from my eyes as I tried not to let it turn into a full-on ugly cry.

‘I’m totally crying too,’ Sera offered.

‘What? That’s not possible,’ I told her.

“I have yet to meet your family.” I answered Lincoln.

He brushed my hair away from my shoulder. “Next weekend?” he asked, and I nodded.

Lincoln helped me out of the limo, and we walked hand in hand along the tea lights to my father’s grave, which was adorned with fresh flowers and a lantern.

“Hey, Dad,” I whimpered, falling to my knees before his headstone.

I had so many amazing memories of this man. He was the even-tempered one, while my mom was the punisher. My dad was the silly one, always playing pranks and lightening my mom up because she was an overly serious worrier. My dad was a dreamer, a risk taker, a unique soul. We’d only had a fraction of the time together that we deserved, but enough for me to hang on to those precious memories.

I was scanning my father’s headstone when I noticed something shiny on top of it. Shiny like a diamond.

My breath caught and I turned around to see Lincoln on one knee.

“Brielle, I know you’re young, still in school, and you also have a lot of your life to live before settling down, but you and I are the same age my mom and dad were when he got her a promise ring, so I thought…” He looked nervously at the ring on the headstone. “This is my promise to you that when you’re done with school, when you’re ready, I will marry you and have a family with you, and try to make you happy for the rest of your life… if you’ll have me.”

I burst into ugly tears and threw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck, and peppering his face with wet kisses.

“Is that a yes?” he asked when I came up for air.

Laughter spilled out of me. “Yes. Hell yes!” I shouted.

Marry Lincoln one day and have his babies? Sign. Me. Up.

He reached over and pulled the ring from the top of the headstone, slipping it onto my finger. It was a delicate diamond baguette band with blue and white stones. It was perfect, he was perfect, and even though getting engaged in a cemetery might have been creepy to some people, this was perfect.

My fingers slipped through his hair, relishing in the moment. Nothing could ruin it for me. Not my stupid devil mark, not the two prophecies, nothing.

“Aw, isn’t that sweet.” Lucifer’s voice dripped with sarcasm from behind me and I gasped.

Fear shot through my body, making my knees go weak. Before I could even process the voice I’d just heard, Lincoln burst into action, throwing me behind him and pulling his sword. I tumbled with the sudden movement and fell to the grass. Looking up, I saw the Prince of Darkness dressed in a three-piece suit, both arms fully attached to his body.

He grew his freaking arm back! The last time I saw it, Lincoln had hacked it off.

Our security team of four Fallen Army warriors now felt pathetically small. They’d obviously just realized what the hell was happening, and were running toward us with guns drawn.

Lucifer pulled a flaming orange sword, and with a gleam in his eye, he lunged at the love of my life. Lincoln dodged out of the way and brought his own glowing sword down on the Dark Prince’s. Lucifer was battling Lincoln, sword against fiery sword, and I didn’t like it. Not one bit. One wrong move and Lincoln could be gored to death.

Kicking off my high heels, I stood and gathered my magic within me, pulling on that fizzy light magic and letting it bubble to the surface. With a grunt, I thrust my hands outward, gathering all of the light magic I could, and then I pushed it outward. I pushed so hard, I felt dizzy. A huge Celestial orb flew from my hands, but it wasn’t all white light like the one I’d produced in Mr. Rincor’s classroom. This one was half golden yellow, half inky black.

Shit. I still had some anger and resentment to work through, and it was all toward the person before me. If you could even call Lucifer a person.

Bullets started to fly and I pulled Sera from my thigh holster.

‘Dip me in the light magic,’ she instructed.