He’s fast. He mastered the tails easily.
Maybe he will be useful, after all.
The cadets seem star-struck by him, a celestial amongst them. Fighting alongside them in the arena Master Luena has set up.
I watch the monitors, count the kills, and make mental notes on what needs to be worked on for each cadet.
Master Luena sits tensely beside me. I look down at her hands, which are clasped tightly in front of her.
I can read people well, and she isn’t herself today. “What’s wrong with you?”
She stares at me in horror. “I’m sorry?”
“You’re tense. Why?”
She presses her lips together. “War is coming and these cadets…my cadets… Many will die.”
“Yes.”
She closes her eyes, and I can see the pulse in her throat throbbing, and then the scent of fear hits me, and it’s off. This woman is not a coward. What is happening?
She opens her eyes and locks gazes with me, about to speak, when the doors to the training room burst open and another tutor rushes in. Two more demons spill into the room. Academy security.
I don’t understand what’s happening. “What is this?”
“We just had communication from Deadside HQ letting us know that we may have sleeper agents working for Mammon in the building. We need to secure the cadets and investigate.”
He means interrogate.
Luena slowly stands, hands still clasped in front of her. “No need. There’s only one sleeper agent in this building… and I’ve just woken up.”
Master Jenkins stares at her as if she’s grown an extra head. “No. Not you.” He looks devastated.
The guards don’t hesitate. They don’t wait for orders. They move to arrest her.
She holds up her hands, eyes wide and earnest. “Before you lock me up, you need to hear me out. Every life in this building may depend on it.”
Luena doesn’t resist as she’s cuffed. The bands on her wrists glow with celestial enchantments to mute her demon abilities. The cadets have been sent back to their quarters. It’s just us in the room with her now: Uriel, Jenkins, the guards, and me.
“I took an oath decades ago,” Luena said. “Before I knew how things could be. Mammon was my lord. He is charming and persuasive, and his ideas sparked ambition and…greed.” She licks her lips. “I wanted to be the ruling species. To go where I wished and take what I wanted. He promises wealth and freedoms, the likes of which Lilith cannot. He promises the earthly realm.”
“So, you work for him?” Jenkins says as if he needs to hear her say it to truly believe.
“I do. I mean, I did.” She looks up at him, eyes brimming. “But I don’t want to. I stopped wanting what he offered a long time ago. I told myself it would never happen anyway, so what was the harm in continuing, and in truth, I wanted to protect the cadets I’d grown to love. I knew if he discovered that I’d gone soft, he’d send a replacement.”
He would do more than that. “He would kill you.”
“I don’t care about my life. But these cadets, these wonderful younglings with such promise…I could not let them be hurt.”
“So, you stayed,” Uriel says. “And now what?”
“Now, Mammon has Lilith, and he’s sent word to his agents. He’s mobilizing his forces. I had my orders yesterday.”
“And?” Uriel probes.
“I’m meant to take the cadets to the Underealm on the pretext of a field trip. Mammon wishes to add them to his army.” She gives me a level gaze. “Just as he wishes to add the rest of the cadets from the other academies.”
Fuck. “Jenkins, warn the other academies. Do it now.”
He rushes from the room.
“There’s more,” Luena continues. “He wanted me to set off an explosion on a timer to blow once we were clear of the place.” She shakes her head. “I haven’t set it up. I…I knew I had to come clean, but when I don’t arrive at the rendezvous point with the cadets, he’ll know I backed out, and he will send someone else to do his dirty work. Maybe more than one person.”
“Then we make sure we’re prepared,” Uriel says. “We’ll triple the wards on the academies.”
Luena exhales and nods. “Thank you. You can lock me up now.”
I grip her chin and force her to look at me. “Oh you’re not getting off so easily, demon. You’re going to tell me exactly where this rendezvous point is, and then we’re going to stage a little coup of our own.”
Chapter Eight
Fee
Cassius led me up two flights of stairs and into a plush part of the Beyond, where a bloodstained carpet led to a set of firmly closed golden doors.
A Dominion stood in front of the doors, shoulders slumped. He straightened as Cassius approached but didn’t move out of the way.
“Semil, open the doors,” Cassius demanded.
“I cannot,” Semil said. “The Righteous have sealed the chamber from within, and the lock will only disengage once all the Dread have been slaughtered.”
Cassius looked like he needed a few curses, but so far, I hadn’t heard him swear.
I’d do it for him. “Fucking hell.”
Cassius grunted in agreement. “Typical,” he muttered. “Hiding away, saving their own skins.” He walked away from the door. “How many left?”
Semil pulled out a tablet from his back pocket and studied it. “Forty on radar. Clustered in sector four, sublevel two.”
“We best get back to work then.” He pulled his sword from his belt. “Stay here,” he ordered me.
“Like hell. I’m coming with you. I can help.” And this time, my scythe appeared like a dutiful weapon to illustrate my point.
“Fine,” he said. “But try to keep up.”
Sublevel two was smooth silver metal walls and gridded metal floors. Cassius stopped us at a set of swipe doors.
“Looks like Celestia locked down this area,” Cassius said. “She must have sensed an influx of signatures that weren’t meant to be here.”
“What about personnel?” one of the Dominions asked.
Cassius didn’t answer the question, but his face said it all.
If the celestials trapped in there weren’t warriors, then they were most likely dead.
I cleared my throat. “Can we get in?”
“I can try to override,” one of the other Dominions said.
“Do it,” Cassius ordered.
The younger Dominion set to work on the panel by the door. God, this was weird. The Beyond governed by technology—panels, sliding doors, and overrides.
Long minutes passed, and I could see Cassius was getting impatient from the way he kept tapping his foot.
But then the panel fizzed and made a popping sound.
“I think that should do it,” the Dominion said. “Just need your code.” He stepped back, and Cassius took his place.
“Be ready,” he said, and then he placed his palm on the panel.
The doors swung open and screams tore through the air.