“Slow down there, killer,” Noah said, tapping my arm.

My eyes snapped open, and suddenly the pain of a thousand burning suns ripped through my body. Nausea rolled into me and I whimpered. Looking down, I saw Shea’s entire arm glowing with a powerful orange light. My healing light.

Her injury was completely gone. I did that.

Noah sighed. “You overdid it, as I thought you would.”

I grabbed my stomach, groaning again. My mouth watered with the nausea. I was going to be sick.

Noah grabbed the back of my neck, and lightly pushed my head down over the bucket between my legs. “Out with it, before it starts doing damage.”

“Wh—” Then I vomited, burning-hot, green acid into the bucket. Twice.

When I was done, I wiped my mouth, and looked up at Noah. “Holy shit. How is that possible?”

So many questions. For starters, how did the acid go through my veins, into my stomach, and out my throat without damaging me?

He chuckled. “I told you, your body was made to heal, and you have a natural talent for it. I hope you’ll think about majoring in healing studies next year.”

I just nodded, then looked at Shea. “Does this mean you owe me Cloud Nine Donuts?”

“That was not the deal.” She answered with a smirk.

Noah leaned over the bed, and kissed Shea’s lips, pulling back only a few inches. “Cloud Nine Donuts are on me, beautiful. I gotta see if Lincoln needs help.” He stood and left the room.

Shea’s gaze followed him through the door with confusion, lips puckered, eyes squinted.

“He likes you. Like likes you, likes you,” I teased.

She frowned. “He’s never kissed me outside of his car. That was weird.”

I tried to breathe through the last of my lingering nausea. “He said you were a bitch to him, and he liked that you always called him out.” Did I translate that right?

Shea’s mouth popped open. “He called me a bitch?”

“No, not like that. It was like a compliment. I think. He likes that you don’t bend over backward for him or something. Said you were one of a kind.” I was awful at that kind of stuff.

Shea crossed her arms. “Whatever, he’s probably dating five other girls at the same time.”

“Well, why don’t you ask him?”

She laid back in her bed and stared at the ceiling. “Because I don’t want to know the answer.”

Denial. It was a nice place to live.

It was probably a horrible time to tell her that Lincoln had called me his girlfriend, so I decided to stuff that away for a later date.

“Dude, you opened a portal to Hell.”

She winced. “Oopsie.”

Drowsiness descended on me then, the healing had totally drained me. Laying my head on Shea’s arm, I sighed. “This is why we can’t have nice things. I’m burping black magic, and you’re opening portals to Hell.”

Shea laughed, resting a hand on my head. “We’d be straight-A students at Tainted Academy.”

I chuckled. She was probably right, and that was a bit depressing.

“We can’t all be Tiffanys,” I stated.

“The world can’t handle any more Tiffanys,” she assured me.

Ain’t that the truth.

Chapter Twenty

The next month nearly killed me. There was a development in the war, and Lincoln was sent away for two weeks at a time, as was Noah. They weren’t allowed to say, but I’d overheard them talking about an increase in demon activity, and losing the eastern border of the city. Lincoln had assigned Carl in his place. Carl was a crotchety forty-year-old Celestial with Archangel Michael powers, who had no sense of reason. He worked me like a dog, and had no pity when I was hurt.

I was walking home from my shift at the clinic—limping, really—when my phone buzzed with a text.

Lincoln: I’m home. Come to the trailer?

I pivoted and started in the direction of the parking lot, nerves bristling through me. I hadn’t seen him in two weeks. I always had this random irrational fear that he’d break up with me for no reason. Now after being apart for weeks on end, with only an occasional email here or there, that was all the more likely.

I knocked, even though I had a key so I could water his one sad succulent plant while he was away.

“Come in,” he muttered.

I stepped up and opened the door, but Lincoln wasn’t in the front room.

“Hello?” I called out, closing the door behind me.

“Back here,” he yelled, his voice strained.

I set my bag down and walked back to the bedroom where we’d made out so many times, I’d lost count. The room where I was hoping he’d rock my world sometime soon. The second I saw the gauze on his abdomen, a few drops of blood coming through, I stopped breathing, all those sexy thoughts flying out of my head.

“You’re hurt!” I ran to his side, sitting at the edge of the bed.

His hand grasped the side of my jaw and neck, pulling me down so my forehead rested against his. His dark hair was tousled against his forehead, and aside from his wound, he looked sexy as all hell.

He inhaled. “I missed the way you smell.”

Then his lips landed on mine and I fell into him, careful not to touch his stomach. I held myself up, relishing the feeling of his lips on mine. God, I loved kissing him; it was electric and amazing.

“You’re hurt,” I repeated, finally pulling away.

He looked up at the ceiling. “I’ll be fine after a few days’ rest. Things are getting worse out there.”

I’d asked for more details before and he never gave them, so I didn’t bother now. “Carl is a total psycho. He’s trying to kill me,” I shared.

Lincoln laughed and then winced, clutching his side, but for the few seconds that he’d smiled, his whole face lit up. God, he was handsome. Dark unruly hair, strong jaw, intense eyes. He belonged in a romance novel, not by my side.

“He says you’re getting better at your flying sword lunges.”

“Ha! As if he would ever pay me a compliment. I nearly broke my ankle last week, and he told me to tape it up and keep going!” I huffed. Lincoln grinned, giving me a devilish look. “What?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“He was my trainer. I told him to break you and put you back together again.”

My eyes widened. “Lincoln, he took you seriously!”

His eyes darkened. “Good.”

Sometimes I seriously question the mental stability of this man. I frowned. “Is this just about me passing the gauntlet?”

He was quiet for so long that I almost asked again.

“No.”

Mild terror flushed through my veins. “What else is it about?”

His lips puffed out as he sighed. “Bri, there is a very real possibility that they will one day kidnap you.”

Full-fledged terror burst through my veins, making my heart beat erratically.

Lincoln propped himself up on one elbow, wincing in pain as he did. “I would find you. I will always find you. In the meantime, I need you to be able to take care of yourself. I don’t want to think that any one of them could have their way with you until I could get to you.”

My eyes widened. Oh God. I’d never thought about that. I mean, I’d heard the stories, but…

“Okay” was all I said. All I could say in the face of such horrifying news.

I let my healing power come to the surface of my palm and stroked his arm but his hand come out and grabbed my wrist. He shook his head. “No.”

I frowned. “Why not?”

He ran his fingers from my temple to my jaw. “Because, I don’t ever want to cause you pain.”

Lincoln pushed the inside of the elbow I was leaning on, so I fell on him. I caught myself before slamming into his face, but now we were a few inches apart. He grasped the back of my neck once more, holding me close.

“You saved me from the darkest time of my life. I’m going to take care of you. No matter what.”

My throat tightened with emotion. Deep down, Lincoln was a passionate soul, a loyal friend.

He was freaking perfect.

I’m so in love with him.

The thought actually shocked me. I wasn’t sure when it had happened or how. We were slightly dysfunctional most of the time, but damn, I loved everything about him. I knew that even if we broke up, he’d always make sure I was okay. There was so much respect and love between us. We’d somehow started at each other’s throats, and became closer for it.

Lying back in bed, he pulled me down with him. “Stay with me,” he mumbled.

Shea was waiting to meet up with me so we could practice drills, and I had a paper due the next afternoon that I’d barely started, but I stayed.

Of course I stayed.

“The gauntlet is in ten days! Ten days and your future will be determined!” Lincoln barked as he swung a left hook right at my face. I honestly couldn’t believe I’d survived my first year at Fallen Academy. Well, almost survived. The gauntlet would weed out the weak from the strong.

Yes, my boyfriend was trying to beat me up. All the time. I dodged the jab, then threw a hard knee into his inner thigh.

“If I fail, it’s not the end of the world, Lincoln,” I told him. The pressure he was putting on me was getting to be enormous. I stepped into his body, pushing my pelvis into his. “And I’m pretty sure I can still get you to make good on your promise whether I pass the gauntlet or not.”

His gaze went razor-sharp as his arms lowered. “If you don’t pass, you no longer will be allowed to attend school here. That means you won’t live in the safety and protection of the academy. You’ll get kidnapped, I’ll have to rescue you, and it’s going to be a mess. Just. Pass.”

Geez, that got dark quickly. “Yes, sir,” I said, saluting him.

“Trust me, there are other perks to passing, but I can’t talk about them. Let’s just say your minimum-wage job at the clinic wouldn’t be needed.”

That made my eyes widen a bit. Money? If you passed the gauntlet, were you given money? “I’m listening.” Damn, the bastard knew me inside and out. Money and Cloud Nine Donuts were strong motivators for me.

Lincoln grinned. “Just be ready for anything,” he added cryptically.

I waved my fingers in front of his face in a spooky gesture. “I got this.”

He took on a serious look, then dropped his gaze to the floor. “I asked Raphael if you could be exempt from competing.”

I stepped back, mouth open in shock. “You what? Why would you do that?” How embarrassing! He thought I couldn’t pass on my own and needed special treatment?

‘I’ll show him what we’re capable of!’ Sera screamed from her place at my hip.

‘Calm down. He’s just trying to help,’ I told her.

Lincoln ran a hand through his hair. “I can’t tell you why, but… the gauntlet is dangerous. Especially for you.”