He took the next freeway exit and my old neighborhood came into view. The happy flower plants that hung over the balconies reminded me of better times.

Fallen Academy was in the beautiful city of Santa Monica, minutes from the beach. It used to be a Catholic school that they built onto across from a beautiful park. As a kid, I dreamed of going there one day.

I guess I got my wish.

“I don’t know,” Lincoln said honestly, “but they’re hoping they’re wrong, or that they can at least train you to be good.”

Of all the things that’d been said, that one stung. “I’m not bad! Just because of my mother’s choice, I’m suddenly the harbinger of evil?”

Lincoln ignored me and turned down a side road that led to the gates of Fallen Academy. The entire school grounds were enclosed by fifteen-foot-high stone walls.

I wasn’t letting him get off that easily.

“I’m not a bad person. My mom isn’t a bad person. We just work for bad people.” Right? My moral lines had blurred since I’d moved into Demon City to save my father’s life.

Lincoln pulled up to the guard gate, and once again they let him through after one look at him. As the gates opened, I sucked in a breath at the sight. I’d never been inside, only seen pictures. The well-manicured grounds and stone buildings had that regal old-world feel. It was breathtaking.

Turning to face me, Lincoln peered into my eyes. “You were given a choice, and you chose to take the mark. To work for everything that’s bad in this world.”

So yesterday was a choice? If I hadn’t crossed that line, Raphael would’ve somehow annulled my demon contract? My mother would’ve been slaughtered.

My mouth opened, aghast. “Weren’t you there? They were going to kill my mother!”

He shrugged, pulling up to the curb in front of the main office. “War has casualties.”

Then he opened the car door and jumped out, slamming it in my face.

Supreme asshole of the year!

I stared at my bagel-less and coffee-less hands as rage boiled within me. I wouldn’t last four years with this guy. I wouldn’t last another hour. I gave myself five minutes alone in the car, practicing the calm breathing techniques my little brother had taught me. When I was ready, I exited the vehicle, and went into the door that Lincoln had gone through.

The second I opened it, a blinding white light filled the space, and I found myself struggling to cover my eyes. Hushed voices cut off the moment I walked in, and the light dimmed to a more manageable level. When my eyes focused on what was before me, I nearly fell to my knees in awe.

“Oh. I thought I was just picking up my schedule,” I explained nervously. Lincoln let me keep four archangels waiting. I would kill him.

“That’s okay, Brielle. Please come join us,” Raphael offered, waving me over to where they stood in a large office.

I surveyed the angels before me. I knew the one with the sword was Michael, but I didn’t recognize the other two. Either way, I was scared shitless. Were they going to hurt me? Expunge the evil out of me?

“No one is going to hurt you, dear,” an angel who stood over seven feet tall with long blond hair stated.

Oh my God. Mind readers. I was so screwed.

I cleared my throat and stepped into the expansive office. Michael was leaning against a bookcase, watching me keenly, his sword hung from his waist.

Lincoln was standing in the corner, arms crossed and scowling at me. “Raph isn’t sure which one of them has endowed you with their gifts, so there will need to be a little ceremony before you can get your tattoo of light,” he explained from where he rested.

Ceremony? Tattoo? I realized then that I knew nothing about this life. These people. I’d been surrounded by demons for the entirety of my teen years, and the Celestials were too rare for me to know anything but rumor. I must’ve looked panicked, because the archangel with the long blond hair stepped closer to me. His wings were massive and hard to look at for too long.

“I’m Gabriel.” He gestured to a dark brown-haired angel, standing in front of the fireplace. “That’s Uriel. You’ve met Raphael, and I’m sure you know Michael since he’s the famous one.” He grinned.

“Jealous of the stories, my brother?” Michael joked, beaming.

Oh. My. God. They were so… normal.

“Hey… I’m Brielle.” I waved nervously. Why is Lincoln still scowling at me? Can’t he just leave?

Raphael stood from his seat behind the desk. “I’ve taken the responsibility of teaching the angel blessed, and standing as guardian over this school, but Michael, Gabriel, and Uriel do not often visit unless it’s a special circumstance. They’re needed elsewhere, tending to the war.”

Oh shit. Am I the special circumstance? My stomach knotted. I just cussed inside my head. I hope he didn’t hear that!

Raphael’s lips curled into a smile. “Normally we would have your Choosing ceremony publicly, but under the circumstances”—he gestured to my back, where my wings would’ve been had they been out—“we thought keeping it private was best.”

I swallowed. I had no freaking clue what a Choosing ceremony was, so I just nodded. “I prefer privacy when at all possible.” Especially when it came to being the only freak with black wings.

Raphael nodded. “Good. If you’ll step forward and produce your wrist, I’ll get it over with quickly.” He opened the snaps of a case on his desk and flipped the lid back, revealing a golden dagger with engravings.

My eyes bugged out and I backed up. “Wait, what?”

“You frightened her,” Michael said, sounding annoyed with Raphael.

Raphael frowned. “That was not my intention.”

“May I?” Lincoln offered. “You have to explain things in detail with humans. They don’t trust unconditionally like you all do.” He stepped from the corner to approach me.

Did he just tell a room full of archangels that I didn’t trust them?

Murder. Dead.

Raphael’s brow knotted.

Shit. Kidding. Happiness and rainbows.

Now he was trying to hold in a laugh. Frick, they could totally read my mind.

“Brielle,” Lincoln said, pulling my attention to him. He rolled up his sleeves, showcasing two tattoos, one on each forearm. One was a magnificent sword, a brilliant blue. The other was a pair of cupped hands glowing an orangish yellow. “When I found out I was a Celestial, Raphael made a small cut on my wrist. Two symbols on the knife glowed, indicating I had powers from both Michael and Raphael. Then I got these tattoos to ignite their individual powers within me.”

Oh. So that’s the Choosing ceremony.

“Okay.” I shrugged.

Lincoln nodded and then stepped back into the corner of the room, taking his warmth with him, and leaving me suddenly alone.

“Now that we’ve awakened your powers, you’ll need the tattoo of light to help harness the angel light that lives within you,” Michael stated. “That’s what this ceremony does. Without it, you would… experience discomfort as your powers emerged. Your tattoos will help you harness the archangel’s power you possess, without harming your human body.”

Oh. Wow. I hadn’t even thought about what powers I might have, beyond that of my freakish black wings and flying. I missed Shea right then. She was the strong one who would stick her wrist out and say “Let’s get this over with!”

I decided to channel her before I lost my nerve, stepping forward, and holding out my wrist to Raphael. “Will that thing show if I’m an archdemon?” I blurted out.

So much for being brave.

Raphael looked shocked. “Who told you that you might be an archdemon?”

I tried to clear my thoughts but I was too nervous. Lincoln popped into my head, and Raphael turned over his shoulder, pinning Lincoln to the wall with his gaze.

Lincoln squirmed. “I merely repeated a rumor.”

Michael stood taller. “I’ve seen rumors start wars.”

Lincoln stared at his own feet.

Shit, I got him in trouble. He’s going to hate me more than he already does.

“Brielle, let me tell you something.” Raphael cupped my hand, and warmth went through my arm. “No one, and I mean no one, is born evil. Even those who turn down the wrong path can always come back from it. No matter what.”

I swallowed hard, and my eyes flicked to Lincoln, who was still staring at his shoes. It wasn’t lost on me that he’d not answered my question about being an archdemon.

“Ready?” Raphael asked.

The moment my head bobbed in consent, the blade licked across my skin. I hissed as he squeezed a few droplets onto the hilt and then released my hand.

“Sorry, child.”

Lincoln was suddenly there, reaching for my arm. “Would you like me to heal it?”

He could do that? Of course he could; he was some hybrid healer-warrior poster child.

“I’m fine,” I told him, putting pressure on the cut with my other hand.

Lincoln frowned. “Come on, just let me heal it. You don’t have to be so stubborn about it.”

I glared at him, giving him my best ‘I will cut you’ look.

“Free will. She said no,” Michael reminded Lincoln.

Lincoln grumbled something under his breath, and walked away.

The other three archangels started to come forward then, pressing their collective power in on me. It felt like the air had charged with static electricity. The dagger was doing a crazy glowy thing.

Peeking forward, I saw a sword symbol light up. “Ahh, lovely. Michael, she’s one of yours,” Raphael said enthusiastically.

A thrill of excitement went through me and I looked over at the archangel with the powerful muscles and sword. Michael grinned, but then his face morphed into a mask of confusion. I followed his gaze just as another symbol lit up, glowing hands. That was the same symbol on Lincoln’s arm, Raphael’s. I was a dual Celestial hybrid like Lincoln?

I was about to say something when another symbol lit up, a pen, and another, a flame. Finally a fifth one began to light up, but Raphael covered the dagger with his palm, and shoved it back in the case before I could see what it was. His expression was complete and utter shock, but there was something else there.

Fear.

What on Earth would be so bad that it would scare an archangel?

“She is blessed by all of us,” he declared in a haunting tone.

The room started to sway. I didn’t know if it was from standing too close to the archangels, or finding out I had all of their powers, but it was too much.

I started falling backward and the blackness took me.

Chapter Four

The first thing that came back to me was sound. I could hear hushed voices talking over me.

“Do you think she’s the one from the prophecy?” I recognized Michael’s voice.

“I don’t know, but I do know she’s an innocent child in all of this, and we should do our best to protect and guide her.” That one was Raphael.