The Pact Between Angels and Witches: Angel Academy Year Two: Angel Academy, #2

1

Cade

My eyes opened slowly, and my vision was blurred. The vein in my temple throbbed like a drummer pounding on his snare drum. Goosebumps appeared on my arms as I looked around. I wasn’t in Atlanta anymore. I was at Jekyll Island. The hot sand bunched between my toes as I stood up. Looking down at my feet, I noticed my shoes weren’t the only thing I was missing. I was also naked.

Shaking my head, I stood to my feet. Inhaling deep, I jumped from the rocks into the water. The icy water made me feel alive. Salty water poured in my mouth as I gasped and swam back underneath the water, searching for answers for how I got here.

The waves crashed against the rocks. Squinting against the bright rays of the sun, I saw seagulls flying in the sky. There wasn’t anyone around. I hadn’t been here in forever. Letoya and I loved to come here when Liam took us.

That was when we were a family. If anyone said to me that there would come a day that I wouldn’t be able to speak to my sister I would have laughed.

I surfaced and swam back toward the shore. I swam faster until the water became shallow and I walked the rest of the way. Falling to my knees underneath the tree I bent my head, praying for strength. Ever since I was infected with the vampire virus and almost died, everything had changed. My body wasn’t the same. I was losing time, going to bed in my room and waking up in another city naked. It was getting harder and harder to hide the fact that something was happening to me.

I am going back to the academy. My father will know what to do. We are very close, but his secrets shattered the honesty between us, and now he’s gone.

Jumping to my feet, I ran down the shore. In the distance was a blue and yellow beach house. It looked festive against the drab and deserted beach. Everything had gone downhill after the United States lost its democracy. Myron Grand, the man who experimented with genes to make a superhuman, was dead and his son, Derrick, was in hiding. Derrick, like a snake in the grass, was waiting for the perfect time to strike and take over the planet.

Jimmy Ballard was worse than Myron and Derrick Grand, because before you could blink, Jimmy seized the opportunity to take over like he had always wanted. Every day he was running the country further and further into the ground. His focus was keeping himself rich and powerful.

Running up the stairs to the house, I wiped my feet on the welcome mat and twisted the doorknob. The door creaked open. The house was cramped and colorful. It smelled of moldy old gym socks, and damp wet rags. The walls were painted a bright yellow and the wicker furniture made the space appear larger than it was. Walking toward the table, I spotted a photo. My hands shook as I brought it to my face.

Why is this picture here? I almost forgot that it even existed. It is the photo taken the second time Liam brought Letoya and I here. We are playing in the ocean.

Three hours later, I made it back to the academy. I strolled down the hall, and into the five rooms I had set up to treat the students. Walking over to the bed, I setup the intravenous drip.

Claire had dark circles underneath her eyes. Her pale skin seemed to sparkle underneath the lights. She really was striking. It wasn’t hard to see why Maximus lost his head over her.

Rubbing the back of my neck, I cracked it to loosen the tension that had my muscles tight. Claire is everything ready?

Yes. We need to get this over and done, said Claire. She pulled on the blue latex gloves and motioned for me to open the door and allow the students that were lined up to start the vampire cure.

The vampire virus wasn’t going to take us down.

A few minutes later, Maximus walked in with a group of six men. His eyes lit when he saw Claire standing over a student as she administered a cure for the virus. Whatever was going on with Maximus and Claire it was painfully obvious that she wasn’t falling for Maximus’s charms.

The stern expression that lived on his face was replaced with a look of hunger and fascination. Maximus wasn’t giving up on Claire. Women threw themselves at Maximus, not the other way around. It was odd watching him chase Claire like a lovesick dog. My lips twitched but I glanced away before I smiled.

We’ve been patrolling, and we haven’t seen any signs of Liam, said Maximus.

More and more I had the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that something bad had happened to him. It caused saliva to pool in my mouth. No matter how your parents prepared you for the future without them, it still paralyzes you.

I paced back and forth as I massaged my temples. Have you seen any sign of the demons? Things weren’t looking good for the academy. We almost got our butts handed to us out there battling Trevor and his demons. We had lost over half of our students between the battles and those who ran away.

Studying Claire through my thick eyelashes I frowned. The witches wanted to remain in hiding and not take sides, but that wasn’t an option any longer. Trevor broke the thousand-year treaty and now chaos had broken out everywhere. A shiver ran down my spine. Things weren’t looking good.

Valcrum forgive us for we have sinned.

Maximus walked over to the window. Trevor and his men are laying low, but I imagine that they are waiting for the perfect time to strike.

If I was Trevor and I knew that my enemy was weak, I would strike soon. Looking at Claire, I realized that she could help orchestrate a meeting between us, and the witches. Every covenant was different, and some witches hated vampires.

An alliance between the mutagens and the witches allowed us to right the wrong that Trevor and his shape shifting demons caused when they broke the peace treaty.

Claire, I need you to setup a meeting between your covenant and us. This meeting should happen in the next two days.

She stiffened. That’s a real short notice, but I will see what I can do. I wouldn’t get your hopes up.

Even if we managed to form alliances with the witches and the mutagens, we would still be at a disadvantage against the DAOs running rampant in the city, said Maximus.

What is a DAO? asked Claire as she wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand.

Maximus handed her a tissue. DAOs are demon and angel offspring. They are very powerful beings with varying magical powers.

I shook my head. Trevor’s plan, all along, was to create DAOs and rule earth. The guy seems to think he’s more powerful than Valcrum.

Cade, one way or another we can get through this, said Claire.

Nodding my head, I left the room. The crowd in the hall had almost dwindled as Maximus and Claire worked through the students getting the cure. After I reached Liam’s office, I checked the security cameras. I watched the footage repeatedly, noticing how the demons fought and seeing some vulnerabilities in their fighting stances.

Jones and I had found some of the students who had run away. It wouldn’t be long before the search teams brought them back safely behind these walls. I will protect them. I will protect us all.

Punching the button on the desk, I summoned the guys I had appointed over the search and rescue of the missing students. Five minutes later, the doors opened, and they gathered inside. Walking from behind the desk, I handed each one a small pocket notebook with the details on their individual targets.

In your hands you have the information needed to recover the student assigned to you. I’m sure I don’t have to stress how important it is to bring every student back under our protection.

Don looked at me. What if the student doesn’t want to return? Do you want me to use force?

My nose turned down as I allowed my eyes to pass over every man gathered before me. You don’t have permission to force the student, but you need to be diligent with explaining the consequences of their actions.

After glancing at the tiny green bracelets that looked more like a surfer’s bracelet than a tracker, I dismissed them. I wasn’t leaving anything up to chance. When Trevor and his demons showed their ugly faces, they would forfeit their lives.

When their footsteps faded down the halls and I could no longer see them on the security cameras, I looked around Liam’s office once more. Liam hadn’t left anything out of place. Everything looked just as it should, which was what worried me. Why would he leave without telling me? We needed him more than ever and he was gone. He vanished without a trace.

Clenching my jaw, I stalked to the door and locked up. If he didn’t turn up in two days’ time, I would continue to assume authority and get the pact signed between the mutagens and the witches. Failure was not an option.

I headed down the dark hallways oblivious to my destination, but somehow my feet led me to Arianna’s room. Her room was neat and very different from the room where Kyra stayed. I never thought a female could be so nasty and lazy with their hygiene. Running my hands over the large maple desk I opened the drawers. A tight knot formed in my stomach when I found the drawer empty.

Her mother wasn’t much help either. She made no pretense of caring for either of her daughters. When I had informed her that Arianna was missing, she shrugged and said she hadn’t spoken to her. It was evident to me, that when she stopped getting Arianna’s paycheck, she had washed her hands of her.

It didn’t make sense that Arianna had watched over me and now she was gone. The window had been shattered. There were so many rogue vampires and werewolves rising to take a stand.

Myron and Derrick had managed to screw up so much with their crazy plan of creating super soldiers. The city didn’t have any alliances but that would all change soon. People had a way of getting over their differences when survival was at stake. The bedroom door behind me creaked open. I caught a whiff of a strawberry citrusy smell.

Great. It was Ivy.

I guess that means you still don’t have any clues on what happened to Arianna? asked Ivy. She stood beside me staring deep into my eyes. Her arms were wrapped around her stomach.

Not yet, but I will. I walked out of Arianna’s room. It wasn’t lost to me that she was my responsibility. I had not prepared her for the battles she fought in. She didn’t know how to fight or use her powers, yet she had fought bravely against the demons. Time wasn’t on our side but that’s alright. We will be prepared when the time comes.

She’s alive. I can feel it. I’m a good tracker and I want to track her.

Ivy you are one of the best trackers at the school, but I can’t allow you to go off alone looking for her.

Look around Cade, half of the students are gone, and the others are dead. If I want to go searching for her, it’s my life to do with what I please.

Wrong. Your life belongs to Valcrum. We are at war. I am doing all I can to bring her back safely. You’re going to have to trust that I know what’s best right now.

You’re demanding that I sit here and do nothing while my friend could be in danger. I don’t like it. She brushed passed me and slammed out the door. I left Arianna’s room.

It didn’t take me long to reach my room, which seemed colder than normal. It was like staring at the white walls for the first time. Glancing around, I looked at the box on my desk. I missed Letoya. She was always quiet and pensive. Our relationship had always been solid. Why didn’t she tell me she was in love with Maximus? Letoya was coming back here where she belonged. The best place for family is with family.

Liam is all I have left. If something happens to him, I’m not sure I’ll recover. I’m someone who doesn’t likes changes, and I’ve been through a boat load of changes recently. I must believe that Liam is alive. I need him. The academy needs him.

Today hadn’t been a bad day, it was progress. The recovery team had retrieved most of the students and they were safely protected from the vampire virus.

It was two o’clock in the morning, and my eyes felt scratchy. I had laid in my bed awake, until I had fallen into a deep slumber from exhaustion. My body wasn’t a hundred percent, but in time I knew I would gain back the strength that I’d lost.

I walked down the halls like a robot not connecting, seeing or interacting with anyone around me. Opening Liam’s office door, I finally allowed the salty tears to travel down my cheeks. There was nobody here to witness my weakness. My pain was crippling. Pulling out the chair from under the desk, I collapsed in it. It felt weird sitting behind Liam’s desk waiting for Claire and the others to come. My stomach was in knots despite having ate two apples. Running my hands along the edge of the desk, I touched the long horizontal scar that marred my right side.

I could remember the time when I was five years old and learning how to fight with my sharpened claws. Liam had shown me how to swipe and protect myself. He told me to practice, and I practiced on his desk, scarring it.

The door opened, and Maximus and Orion walked inside.

I stood and gestured for them to take the seats next to the desk. Claire should be here any moment, they said.

Maximus walked toward the window and looked out. She should’ve been back by now. I don’t like this.

Maximus had been acting different since he met Claire. He had been attracted to Arianna, but he never acted crazy over her like he does Claire.

Orion glanced at me then back to Maximus. She is very powerful, so I’m sure she’s alright.

Maximus balled his hands at his side. She never should have gone by herself.

What is going on between you to? You’ve been different ever since she saved your life.

Orion shook his head. Max, your face lights up like fireworks when she’s in the room.

Maximus snatched another chair and placed it closer to him before he sat down. Shut up Orion.

"Maximus, you would fall in love in the middle of a damn war."

I smiled. It wasn’t often that I got to see Maximus feel uncomfortable and I enjoyed it. He’s always so calm and collected so seeing him worried over a female was nice.

Shaking my head, the smile fell from my face as I pressed play allowing the last footage of the cameras to play.

Pointing to the screen, I leaned back in my chair. Look at how the demons fight. These shape shifting demons are different than the demons that occasionally get cast down here.

Trevor and his crew were staying in Jonesboro, but when we got there they had already moved, said Maximus.

Why would Valcrum cast them here on earth with so much power? asked Orion.

Trevor isn’t like the other demons. He has dark powers that he is able to summon when he needs to. Orion ran a hand through his hair. Valcrum didn’t give him access to the dark powers so whatever powers he has, he got them while he was in Xundar.

Maximus rubbed his chest. I noticed when he unleashed that ball of energy into my chest, that he has some type of black venom- like stuff running through his veins. His most lethal power is that of manipulation. He convinced people to join him.

My lips thinned. Anyone that can convince someone to rise up and fight Valcrum, can never be underestimated.

Also, Derrick will have to be dealt with as soon as the coward come out of hiding.

The door swung open and Claire ran inside. Her long blonde hair flowed about her shoulders and her green eyes were wide. She ran to the desk.

She’s gone. I can’t believe it. She’s gone, said Claire. She tossed off her jacket and slumped in the chair. Her face had lost its color.

Who’s gone? Start from the beginning. My voice was much sharper than I intended it to be. My nerves were getting the better of me. Whatever was going on had shaken Claire to her core.

Frowning, I glanced at Maximus. I didn’t know much about Claire, but it didn’t take much to see that something was very wrong. Her chest heaved and tears ran down her cheeks.

They have taken Alexa.

Maximus cursed. He stood up suddenly, knocking his chair to the ground. Alexa is Claire’s baby sister.

2

Trevor

Iopened my eyes. I’m either dead and Valcrum has decided that he will allow me to die or this was torture. I was back in Xundar. The water parted and Victoria surfaced, swimming toward me. It’s funny how every time I lose my life, or something bad happens, I end up right back here. How did Victoria bring me back to Xundar?

She had the power all along to bring me back here and she didn’t