Chapter 2
The Academy burned.
I’d never imagined a siege like this and I hated the sense of helplessness that wafted over my heart. I couldn’t do anything to help my friends.
I was committed to a different battle and it lay ahead of me.
“I can’t let it break,” I said, taking my place at Orion’s side to unfurl my power into the barrier.
Something battered it from the other side. The shockwaves came in greater frequency now, dismantling the shimmering rainbow beauty of the barrier as it broke underneath the strain. The jagged crack peeled open like a flower, allowing in a terrible darkness fit for nightmares.
A heavy mist poured in, red and ominous and filled with the spiked scent of death. It curled all around us, obscuring everything in sight.
When I caught a hint of a movement within the gloom, I didn’t know if it was real or if my eyes played tricks on me.
“Somebody’s coming,” Logan said on the heels of that thought. He took a step forward, head cocked. After a moment, he drew in a long breath through his nose, scenting the air before he hummed in thought. “It’s not Lucifer.”
No, it wasn’t.
Something else broke through the mist—a decidedly feminine form.
At first, all I could see was the soft silhouette with lush curves and a faint red glow, but it wasn’t long before I could make out the finer details that confirmed my suspicions.
Lucifer’s weapon wasn’t a thing… it was a person.
A beautiful woman wearing a sardonic smile on her lips sauntered toward us, each step releasing a powerful shockwave that threatened to bring me to my knees. She boasted a necklace with an unmistakable glowing red gem that seemed to pulse like a heartbeat, beguiling the eye.
I’d know that eerie red glow anywhere.
A Blood Stone.
She swept one hand up the back of her metallic blonde hair, pinned up in a style that left her graceful, swan-like neck bare.
I knew not to mistake her ageless features for youth. At first glance, she could have been just another student.
Her eyes gave her away, an ancient wisdom that gleamed with murder and mystery in their depths.
“Freya?” Olivia asked, her voice filled with shock and a strange tone I didn’t recognize.
Fear.
“You know her?” I asked, wondering how my best friend would know this stranger who waltzed into the Academy, breaking down our barrier with Lucifer’s Hellfire raining down on our streets.
Olivia’s terror grew like a palpable tang in the air, her eyes growing wide as some new realization hit her. “This can’t be right.”
Freya chuckled. “What’s the matter, sweetie? Memories not quite what you’d hoped?”
I shot her a dark look, but she didn’t seem concerned, even when Hendrik drew a glowing, magical blade and slipped it into my grip.
Power filled me, a Dark Mage’s boon of suffering gleaned from sacrifice.
Dante’s sacrifice.
Orion’s.
Logan’s.
Kaito’s.
The power of all of my bonded Virtues burned in the blade, steadying me for the inevitable fight to come.
Olivia’s entire body began to shake, preventing me from striking down the intruder outright. “Olivia,” I begged. “What is it? Who is she?”
She bit her lip, her eyes lost. “She’s my… sister.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Sister?” I turned to glare at the woman who seemed pleased by Olivia’s heart fracturing right before me. “Explain before I cut that smirk off your face.”
Freya chuckled as she stroked the Blood Stone resting on her cleavage. “She means we were once Coven Sisters.” The malice in her eyes glittered as she waited for that information to sink in.
There was only one type of witch who could use the power of a Blood Stone, and that was a Blood Witch, the most vile of them all.
“You’re lying,” I sneered. Olivia had refused to join Hendrik’s Dark Mage clan for many reasons, one of them was because she didn’t want to gain power from the sacrifices of others, even if the sacrifices were of the user’s free will.
A Blood Witch, though, gained power over unwilling sacrifice, a dark, tainted source of magic that festered and made the caster go insane.
“She’s telling the truth,” Olivia whispered, her voice cracking.
Shock rocked through me. “What are you saying, Olivia?”
Tears glittered in her eyes as she shook her head. “I can’t believe I forgot… How is this possible?”
Kaito stepped between me and Freya, blocking the Blood Witch’s sadistic stare.
“The memory wipe was from your angelic abilities, Koneko-chan. However, Olivia is currently a Light Witch. Her abilities are rooted in memory, which was why she had been able to keep the Dean unaware of your presence back when Guinevere had been the Conduit, before Lucifer took that burden from her.” He glanced at Freya.
“It would only take a trigger to bring her memories back.”
I’d known that Olivia would have had a life before Fortune Academy, but slumming it with a coven of Blood Witches? Something didn’t add up.
Glaring at the newcomer, I held up my dagger. I’d heard enough. “Whoever you are, you broke through our defenses with Lucifer’s help. You’re going to turn around right now and go back to the pit you crawled out of.”
She licked her lips as she splayed out her hands.
“Oh, are you going to make me leave? Because I’ll leave, as long as I get what I came for.
” She tapped her lip. “I doubt Lucifer will just leave empty-handed, though. He’s here for you, whereas I’m only here for my sister.
” She shrugged. “He asked me to pave the way, so he’ll be here shortly to collect his bounty, I’m sure. ”
That simple statement made my blood run cold. She’d done all of this; the Hellfire, the mist, the mass summoning of Demonspawn—and the destruction of the Academy’s barrier.
Olivia scrambled to her feet and clung to Yuri’s hands. “Freya… We were once close, but… You weren’t like this. I—”
“Don’t strain yourself,” Freya snapped, temporarily losing her composure as a shadow spilled out around her feet.
She straightened and it disappeared as she calmed herself.
“It will all come back. You were a Blood Witch, once—a powerful one, too. And look at you now… all shiny and clean with a soul of your own, but limited power. While the Light Mage thing looks good on you, you won’t get to keep that soul, you know.
” Her eyes flashed with an emotion that went deeper and uglier than rage.
“If you’re intent on losing it, there are better ways to get what you’re after.
” She held out her hand again. “You can come with me, or you can stay here with your new friends. Either way, you can’t go back to the way things were.
Not now when you know the truth of who you are and where you truly belong. ”
Olivia shuddered, swaying in Yuri’s arms.
Rage consumed me, pushing my feet to move when I hadn’t bidden them to do so.
I sprinted and sliced with my dagger, pushing all the power I owned into it.
All of my Virtues buckled at the motion, their energy drawn by my movements as I launched an attack on the Blood Witch toying with my best friend’s heart.
My dagger pinged off of her with a sharp ring, launching me backward as a shockwave shot out around her feet. I saw now where the constant quakes had been coming from.
They’d been coming from Freya.
She grinned as if my attempt at lopping off her head amused her.
“Aren’t you a protective one?” She gave me a poisonously sweet smile.
“Look at you, ready to fight to protect her, even after learning what she is.” She tilted her head.
“She’s not your sister, not by magic or by blood. She doesn’t belong to you.”
“Exactly,” I said. “She doesn’t belong to either of us, and she clearly doesn’t want you here. Why don’t you call it a day and leave us alone?”
“Lily,” Olivia warned as she shakily got to her feet. She kept ahold of Yuri’s hand. The vampire glowered at us. “Maybe I should just go with her. That’s what you want, isn’t it, Freya?”
“Olivia,” I snapped. “Stop trying to sacrifice yourself. Lucifer isn’t going to stop there. I’m the one he wants.”
Freya chuckled. “Sacrifice is what my sister does, I’m afraid.” She waved a hand. “But you’re right, Lilith. Lucifer has big plans for you.”
And here I’d hoped he’d just wanted me dead and out of the way. That would have been easier to deal with.
No, he wanted something from me, and he was going to use everyone I loved to get it.
I didn’t like the gleam in Freya’s eyes, but I refused to give anything away. Instead I glowered at her, trying to find her weakness. She was a Blood Witch, which meant her power stemmed from the Blood Stone around her neck.
Take the Blood Stone. Take out the witch.
Except, I couldn’t get my dagger anywhere near her. That Blood Stone was attuned to her, not to me.
Her full lips pursed in a pout. “My advice, sweetie? Give him what he wants. If you do, this will be easier for all of us.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, making things easier on you is exactly what I live for.”
“Why am I not surprised you’re going to be difficult?” Freya asked, shaking her head. Long dangling earrings glittered over her porcelain skin. “Darling, be smart. You’ll live longer and have an easier time of it if you play nice.”
“Yeah, that’s not really my style.”
As if she hadn’t heard me, she continued,“Working with Lucifer comes with its benefits. I helped Lucifer and now I’m immortal.
Not a bad trade, really.” She tapped her lip, smiling at me.
“Rumor has it you’ve already died once. Unpleasant, was it?
Well, if you put yourself on the right side, maybe you won’t have to go through that again. ”
“By trading her soul away,” Hendrik snapped. “That’s what you did, right? You really think that’s worth it?” He knew the cost of losing one’s soul better than anyone. It was one thing to devour it for power, and another to give it to a creature like Lucifer to use as he wished.