Especially for me? What the hell does that mean?

“It’s a school thing, so it can’t be that dangerous,” I said casually.

Lincoln just shook his head. “You’ll see. Just keep training, and when you’re in there, use everything you have. Including the black tie.”

We’d affectionately named my dark magic ‘the black tie,’ since it ended up strangling the person I sent it after. But I’d never wanted to use that again, and he knew that. I’d gotten my four-watt-bulb hands to a stunning twenty-watt with a ton of practice; I figured eventually I could blind someone with it or something along those lines.

“I don’t want to go dark,” I told him.

He rested his hands on my shoulders. “You’re not, but you do have dark magic, and you need to use it when necessary.”

Fine. He has a point, I guess.

I nodded.

“Be back here at seven tonight. I have a special training for you.” He started to walk to the corner of the room, where his gym bag and water were.

“What special training thing? Not Carl, right?” Fear gripped me at the thought. I never wanted to train with that lunatic again.

He chuckled. “No, not him. But someone very special is going to teach you a lifesaving skill.”

I sighed. “Cryptic much?”

He chuckled. “Just be here.”

With a chaste kiss, he was off, leaving me to my own thoughts.

It was four o’clock. What was I going to do for three hours?

I decided to pass the time doing pedicures with Shea and Luke back in our dorm.

“When are one of you going to go all the way with your boys? I need sex talk here,” Luke pointed out, while painting lime-green polish on his toes.

I threw my hands into the air. “I’m beginning to think something is wrong with Lincoln. What guy in their right mind denies sex?”

Shea chuckled. “A guy who is like four years older than you, is afraid of breaking you, and has had a lot more sexual experience than you.”

I scowled at her. “Noah is older than you, and more experienced, and yet he tries to have sex with you twice a day.”

Her grin widened. “More like three, if you include the sexting.”

Luke winced. “Throw that poor guy a bone, girlfriend. If you don’t want something more serious with him, then drop him.”

Shea studied her red toenails intently. “Well, I don’t know. Last night he got all weird and asked if we were exclusive, then told me I could borrow his car if I needed it. It was creepy.”

Both Luke and I stopped what we were doing.

“In what universe is any of that creepy?” I asked. I needed to have a private talk with her. She did this a lot, the whole self-sabotage thing. Growing up without a dad, and with a drug addict for a mom had left its marks on her heart. She didn’t trust anyone in this world except my mom, Mikey, and me. That needed to change, or she would die alone.

“Right now it’s fine. If he cuts it off, I can walk away unscathed,” she replied.

“I get it.” Luke answered with a shrug.

Shea’s gaze keenly focused on him. “Maybe I’m bi. I feel like I could trust a chick more than a dude.”

Luke grinned. “Can you imagine rubbing up on a girl’s boobs?”

Her eyes widened in shock and she shook her head. “Ew.”

He busted out laughing. “Then you’re not bi. You’re just scared of getting your heart broken.”

“Okay, now that we’ve all questioned our sexuality, and determined we have relationship issues, I gotta go.” I announced, standing.

They waved me off.

I was wearing flip-flops, yoga pants and an old T-shirt. My muscles were sore as hell, so I was hoping this was more of a cognitive training than a physical one. I made it to the gym at seven sharp. If Carl was in there, I was going to kill Lincoln.

Opening the door, I gasped in shock as Archangel Michael came into view.

“Hello, Brielle,” he greeted in his buttery voice. I had to look away for a second, his skin exuded too much light to look directly at him. The glow suddenly dimmed, as he approached me.

“Hi. Sir, if I’d known it was you, I would’ve dressed a bit better.” I tugged on the hem of my oversized T-shirt.

He waved in dismissal. “Propriety doesn’t interest me. Come as you are.”

I shifted my weight and my muscles screamed in protest. Lincoln had gotten me a training with the most powerful warrior on the planet? I was going to die.

“I’m still sore from my other trainings, but I’ll do my best,” I hedged, kicking off my sandals and moving into a fighting position. I pulled Sera from my thigh holster and held her out before me.

Michael’s eyes glittered as a smile danced at his lips. He was insanely handsome, and said to have taken a human wife, but that was just rumor. I’d yet to see her.

“No, no, this isn’t that kind of training. I’m here to teach you about her.” He pointed to the dagger in my hands.

‘Finally, it’s about me,’ Sera sang.

I smirked at her comment.

“You two speak mentally, don’t you?” he inquired.

I nervously chewed on my lip. I hadn’t really told Shea, Lincoln or anyone about my conversations with my knife. It sounded too weird out loud, so I’d just kept it to myself.

I nodded in acknowledgment.

Michael smiled again. “The seraph blade is an extremely rare weapon. I’ve never seen one on Earth, nor do I know how it could’ve gotten here.”

I shifted my weight again, unsure what to say.

“It’s a rare weapon, even in the kingdom of light. I’ve seen merely a few in all of my existence. The seraphim protect the Creator’s throne with it.”

Whoa. Suddenly fear spiked through me. Was he going to ask for it back? Maybe it’d accidentally found its way into the school cabinet, and he didn’t think I should have it.

‘I dare him to try!’ Sera said boldly.

She had way too much self-confidence. If the Archangel Michael wanted my weapon, he was getting my weapon, and that was that.

“She… picked me, and I’d like to keep her….” I tried and failed to sound bold and confident.

Michael frowned. “Of course. I’d never dream of splitting you up. You’re soul-bound. She’ll help you through your life’s purpose here on Earth. Only death can truly part you.”

Sera and I sighed in relief at the same time. I wasn’t sure that being soul-bound to a weapon was a good thing, but it was what it was. I couldn’t imagine life without her at that point, as weird as that sounded.

“I’m here to teach you a fourth-year technique called weapon retrieval,” he continued.

“Weapon retrieval?” I asked, not sure what he meant.

He nodded and began to circle me. “In the event that you and Sera are separated, I can teach you to call her back to you from up to a hundred feet away.”

My jaw dropped. “Like Thor’s hammer?”

He frowned. “Who?”

I waved it off as excitement bubbled inside of me. “Never mind. So how does it work?”

Michael stopped and looked at me—looked through me, it seemed. “The seraph blade is a soul weapon. I can see your light and hers, intertwined in a way that’s similar to soul mates.”

My eyes grew wide. “Soul mates are real?”

Michael laughed. “Of course they are. Humans love the concept of soul mates, but in reality, soul mate relationships are the hardest of your life. They challenge you, and force you to grow much more than any other relationship.”

I was having a freaking conversation with an honest-to-God archangel. Tell me all the things. I wasn’t a religious person, but I was curious about something. And now seemed as good a time as any to ask.

“So… do Christians have it right? I mean….” I wasn’t sure how to delicately word my question so as not to offend him.

Michael laughed. “No one religion has it all right. The Creator doesn’t care which path you take to find Him, and all paths lead to Him.”

Hmm, that kind of made my brain turn into a pretzel. I still wasn’t sure where I stood on religion, but it sounded a little more tolerable after that.

I was about to ask him if dogs went to heaven when he reached out to me. “May I have her?” he asked kindly.

With a little apprehension, I handed her over.

The second she touched his palm, his face took on a look of surprise. “Magnificent. I can actually sense your energy within her.”

“Umm, cool.”

Michael studied the blade a moment longer, then set it on the ground. “Now, as a slow start, we’ll have you call her to you from the ground, close by.” I raised one eyebrow and he grinned. “Just close your eyes, open your energy, and call to her.”

‘Do you know what he’s talking about?’ I asked Sera. I usually let her handle things like this.

‘Not really, but I can sense you, and I can sense you’re not touching me, so I guess I could manipulate the energies around me to gravitate toward yours… if I tried.’

That was all way over my head.

‘Okay, try that,’ I replied.

I kept my palm open and took a deep breath in and out, praying she wouldn’t cut my hand.

Then the cold steel slapped into my palm and my eyes snapped open.

“Holy shit!” I said, then realized I was in a room with an archangel. “Sorry.” I winced.

“They’re just words.” He smiled.

Truth.

“That was easier than I thought!” I exclaimed, bouncing Sera in my palm.

He smirked. “Because she did all the work.” He scooped her up from my hand, before walking all the way across the room.

‘He smells good,’ Sera told me.

My face scrunched up. ‘What? You don’t have a nose. That’s ridiculous.’

‘And yet I smell him, and he smells so good.’

Okay, I’m not even going to go there.

When Michael reached the very farthest corner of the room, he set her down, and stepped back.

“Now, call her to you.” He was wearing a wicked grin.

What kind of angel takes pleasure in someone’s failure? Ugh, he’s been spending too much time with Lincoln.

I widened my stance, held out both hands palms up and took a deep breath. ‘All right, Sera. Show him what we’ve got. Come to me,’ I beckoned. I kind of felt like I was calling a dog, but it was best not to tell her that.

She was silent a minute, and I began to grow worried. ‘I got nothing, sorry.” She confessed. ‘I sense your general direction, but I can’t move myself to you from this far away.’

That ruined the really cool vision I had of her flying to me from across the room. I’d take her in my hand, raise her to the ceiling, and she’d send out a burst of light to top the whole thing off.