Sins of the Fallen

  Academy of the Fallen Series

  Wide Awake

  Nephilim

  Sins of the Fallen

  Forsaken (2013)

  Credits

  Written by

  Daniele Lanzarotta

  Edited by Frank Monahan

  Art Direction Meredith Hancock

  Front cover photography © Suprijono Suharjoto

  Front cover photography © frozenstarro

  Published by Rocket Science Productions

  © Copyright 2012 Daniele Lanzarotta

  All rights reserved

  ISBN-13: 978-1-937121-68-6

  eISBN: 978-1-937121-69-3

  68 80 71 82 79 85 80 32 69 88 67 76 85 83 73 86 69

  Dedication

  For book bloggers, who are awesome for doing everything that they do.

  For Jen H., my Sins of the Fallen beta reader. Thank you!

  And for Hunter’s fans. I hope you enjoy his POV.

  “Some rise by sin, and some by virtues fall.”

  William Shakespeare

  CHAPTER ONE

  Kayla

  I wish I could go back to when life was simple; when I didn’t have to make choices that so many lives depended on. In a way, I could. I had the option of leaving and never looking back, but I knew in my heart that I would never be able to live with that choice. I also knew I would never be free from the beings that haunt me.

  I sat in the library of the Academy where I had arrived just days before. I was supposed to be thinking things through before I gave Clarissa, the angel in charge of this Academy, my final decision; but my decision had already been made the moment I was given my options.

  Things got much worse at the other Academy. Daniels, my biological father, trapped Benjamin and another demon in there with the haunted and fallen angels, but we all knew that it was only a matter of time before Benjamin took over. Benjamin is my half-brother, and unlike me, he is not the offspring of an angel, but of an incubus. The other demon in there with him is Hannah, a succubus who I don’t even like to think about.

  Clarissa told me that as much as they needed me, this was not something I had asked for, and besides, I had my free will. I could go back to my life, with my human parents and sister. Clarissa said if that was my decision, they would do everything in their power to keep me and my family safe. The alternative was for me to stay and help them take the academy back from the hands of my insane father, after all, you have to be insane to love and want to help a demon. If I chose to do that, I would have to stay away from my human family for a long time. Revenge would be inevitable and it was just not safe for me to go back to them.

  If I stayed, Clarissa assured me that they would be watched over and they would be told that I was in boarding school. That part, I didn’t like…. The thought of them giving my parents something unreal to believe in worked like a spell, and it really creeped me out to have someone mess with their minds like that.

  I heard the footsteps coming toward me and I already knew who it was. Hunter approached and sat on the floor, next to me.

  “You haven’t changed your mind, have you?” he asked.

  I shook my head.

  “I didn’t think you would,” he said in a saddened tone.

  “Hunter, I told you before, there are too many people involved for me to turn my back on them. I need to help them. I need to help Kim. She is my sister and I’m not leaving her there.”

  “Kayla, the others will find a way to help them without you risking your life. You seem to forget that unlike them, you are mortal!”

  I shook my head. “Hunter, regardless to who is in charge over there, Daniels, or Benjamin, they will take down the wards for me to go in. This will be faster.”

  I could see how frustrated he was.

  “You have no training, Kayla! We’ll probably just get trapped in there along with the others.”

  I smiled at him. “You know that I won’t be alone, right?”

  “Of course you’re not. I’ll be there with you, but it’s not like I’m trained to fight against them either.”

  I sighed.

  “What?” he asked.

  “I don’t want you to go.”

  I knew if he went, the succubus who had attacked him before would go after him once again.

  “You must have lost your mind.”

  “Hunter, Hannah is going to target you if you go.”

  “I can handle her.”

  “Hunter, she already got to you. TWICE!”

  “You are not going in there without me, Kayla. I don’t care how many of the fallen go with you, I still don’t trust them; if you go, I go.”

  “FINE!”

  I stood up and started to walk away.

  “Where are you going?” he asked.

  “I’m going to give Clarissa my answer… again. And tell her we both need some kind of training before we go in. I don’t want to go in there having to worry about a slutty succubus sucking the life out of you.”

  Hunter smiled. “She can’t suck the life out of me, Kayla. I’m immortal, remember?”

  I rolled my eyes at him. “Yeah, that didn’t seem to stop her from sucking life out of you before. The only difference is that your life is endless and it made her want you even more.”

  Before he could say anything else, I turned around and walked away.

  I rushed to Clarissa’s office with Hunter following me. I knew he wanted to make sure he was going with me no matter what.

  Clarissa was on the phone when we stopped at her office door. She waved us in and rushed to be off the phone.

  “Hello Kayla. Hunter. I suppose you are here about your decision,” she said.

  I nodded. “My decision hasn’t changed.”

  She looked at Hunter who was shaking his head.

  “What about you, Hunter?” she asked.

  “What about me?” he asked.

  “Is that your choice as well?”

  “Kayla’s choice is my choice. If she goes, I go.”

  “Very well. We can’t go unprepared, so you’ll have time to change your minds if you wish. Hunter, Xavier will be training you as much as he can to protect yourself from demons and to fight back if you have to.”

  “What about Kayla?” he asked.

  Clarissa smiled. “Kayla will receive training of her own. We were able to locate another Nephilim who grew up in our world until he decided to leave. He will teach her what he has learned over the years.”

  Hunter gave me a concerned look.

  I shrugged. “We both need training,” I said. “It makes sense.”

  “You’ll just learn the essentials to help us get in the academy, and keep yourself protected as we take control. If you wish to continue with your training after everything is settled, you can,” said Clarissa.

  We both nodded. I knew I wanted to return home once things were safe, but for some reason I couldn’t bring that up.

  “How are things at the other Academy?” I asked. Last I had heard, Stephaine, one of the angels from this Academy that got stuck in the chaos created by Daniel, was still sending messages about what was happening there. That was one of Stephaine’s abilities.

  Clarissa looked saddened. “No major changes, but it is only a matter of time before things get worse. It seems that Daniels has spent a lot of time talking to Benjamin, but we don’t know what about. The subbucus has just been wandering around. The good news, if you can call it that, is that everyone else has been hiding in their dorms most of the time. It keeps them out of her way and out of danger.”

  “What about Ashley? Any news?”

  “Ashley was sent to live with her grandmother. Her and the child are protected.” It still creeped me out that Benjamin had gotten to
Ashley like he did. She wasn’t the most loyal friend at school, but still, no one deserved that.

  Talking about Ashley, the other Academy, and even the thought of what everyone who was trapped was going through made me uncomfortable. I tried to change topics. “Will I be able to call my parents?” I asked.

  “Of course,” Clarissa said.

  “When does training start?”

  “Hunter can start today. I’m afraid you will have to wait until tomorrow, Kayla.”

  I nodded and we both got up to leave her office.

  “And Kayla,” said Clarissa. I turned around to face her. “Samael, the Nephilim who is coming to help you…” She paused. “Well, you might as well know that he has a challenging personality.”

  “That meaning?” asked Hunter in a concerned tone.

  “He doesn’t exactly want to do this and I’m sure it will show.”

  Hunter looked even more concerned. “So why is he doing this then?”

  “Let’s just say that we helped correct certain mistakes of his in exchange for his help.”

  Hunter looked from Clarissa to me.

  I shrugged. “As long as I learn what I need to, I don’t care.”

  “Kayla, I don’t know about this,” said Hunter.

  “Hunter,” said Clarissa, “You are welcome to watch Kayla’s training whenever you are not busy with yours, and I’ll make sure that is the case during her first training. As much as I hate to admit it, I’m as concerned about Samael helping her as you are.”

  “That doesn’t exactly make me feel any better,” said Hunter.

  “I know, but at least in this academy, we are honest and if I think you need to know the truth about anything that concerns you, I’ll tell you. Unfortunately, as much trouble as Samael is, he’s the only one with the knowledge Kayla requires.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  Hunter

  Stepping out of Clarissa’s office and into the heart of the academy was still a shock.

  Things were different from the other Academy, and I could tell that Kayla felt safer here. As much as I hated to admit it, I didn’t feel like I had to watch my back – and hers – the whole time.

  Unfortunately, I had a hunch that would change with this Samael.

  Neither Kayla nor I said a word as we left Clarrisa’s office. We just walked in silence, wishing there was something I could say to change Kayla’s mind.

  Kayla looked at me as we walked toward the dorms.

  “I can handle myself, you know?”

  I knew that she could. Kayla was capable of doing anything she put her mind to, but I hated that she put herself in this position. It was just too dangerous.

  “I know you can handle yourself.”

  “So what’s the problem?” she asked.

  I stopped walking, and so did she. I stared at her wondering why she could never see things my way. Just months ago she was living a normal life and now, here she was, trying to save the world from creatures stronger than any human.

  I shook my head. “Nothing,” I said. There was no use arguing with Kayla. She made her decision and she was not going to change her mind. She felt as if she owed this to Ethan, Stephaine, and Kim, and well, it was a lost battle. If there was one thing we didn’t have time for, was to go in circles over this.

  I reached for her hand, meeting her gaze. “If this is what you want to do, I will try and support you, but this Sameal guy… just watch your back okay?”

  Kayla laughed. “You know I have trust issues. Watching my back is a given.” She winked.

  We heard a noise and turned around to find Xavier standing there.

  “Are you ready to start training?” he asked me.

  I shrugged. “As ready as I will ever be.”

  I looked at Kayla. “Are you coming?”

  She shook her head. “Maybe another time. I’ll be in my room when you’re done though.” She smiled and squeezed my hand. Then she slowly pulled her hand away and went toward the dorms.

  I stood there for a few seconds, watching her. That was something I always did when she walked away. When I looked back at Xavier, he stood there, watching me patiently.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  I nodded and we went to what looked like a regular classroom.

  Xavier didn’t say anything on the way there, but as soon as we walked in and he closed the door, he pulled up two chairs in the middle of the room and asked me to sit.

  I stood there as I was. “I thought we were training?”

  “We are. Consider this an orientation. You need to understand your objectives before we move forward with your training.”

  “I thought our objective was to get in the Academy and keep the wards down, trap the demons and take over the place.”

  He shook his head, his expression serious. “The obvious answer is not always the correct answer. Please sit down.”

  I sat down and he took the chair across from me.

  “On a subconscious level, you already know what your objective is.”

  I gave him a confused look but didn’t say anything.

  “You already do it everyday. You won’t be able to go in and worry about wards or demons, because there is only one thing in your mind and it will be a waste to try and get you assigned to any task other than protecting Kayla.”

  I couldn’t argue with that.

  “You have strong protective instincts. I believe that is why Stephaine said that you and Kayla are stronger when you are together, but I worry that you cannot control these same instincts. Being overprotective can put both of you at risk.”

  I crossed my arms, starting to get frustrated with this conversation.

  “That meaning?” I asked.

  “Kayla is a Nephilim. She has powers that you can’t possibly imagine. You need to give her room to learn and to use her powers. Basically, you need to learn to limit your concerns to watching her back and protecting her from a distance, until the situation calls for you to intervene.”

  I was already getting a headache. I just agreed to whatever he said. “Fine. I’ll work on that.” I stood up. “Anything else?”

  “Now, we begin your training on how to defend yourself and how to hunt demons.” Xavier stood up and smiled. “Come,” he said.

  I followed him to the academy’s gym, and then to a locked room at the back. Inside, there were a number of swords and daggers.

  “Those can kill demons? Just like that?” I asked.

  “I never said anything about killing them. Only hunting them. These weapons are made in a specific way. They’ll hurt the demons and make them retreat. That is, if you manage to pierce their heart when they are most vulnerable.”

  “When is that?” I asked.

  “It depends on the demon. Assuming that no others were allowed in the Academy, we are dealing with a succubus and an incubus. From what I’ve learned, we know that the incubus’ weakness is his family history, his mother to be specific. We’ll have to figure out a way to hurt him with that. The succubus will be the easy one.”

  I gave him a puzzled look.

  “From what I understand, she tasted your immortality. I have no doubt that you will be her weakness.”

  I laughed. “Oh yes, that will go really well with Kayla.”

  “Well, I doubt that you’ll be leaving Kayla out of your sight, but you’ll have to know how to defend yourself from the demon. You’ll have to learn how to defeat the succubus’ charm. That should be enough to make her vulnerable, especially in front of Kayla. Succubi don’t deal well with jealousy.”

  “The succubus already got to me twice. What if she gets to me again and then goes after Kayla?”

  “The daggers and swords will take little training. Resisting the succubus will be the part of your training that we’ll have to work on.”

  “If Kayla sees Hannah, she’ll get in the way.”

  “I’ll be there to prevent that.”

  I nodded. “Wait. How exactly are we going to be sure that this resisting
to succubi training works?”

  Xavier sighed. I guess he already knew I would not like this part.

  We went back to the classroom. He faced the corner of the room, where I noticed an opening on the floor. “That takes us to the basement of the Academy.”

  “Hmm. Okay.”

  “That is where you will find the demons that we have trapped over the years. Some, serve us as punishment.”

  “I’m sorry, WHAT?” Surely I had not heard that right.

  “We have succubi ready to be a part of your training.”

  I put my head down and ran my fingers through my hair, knowing he was right. That was the only way to do this.

  ***

  Xavier dismissed me after the so-called orientation. He said I needed time to take this all in. Well, that was an understatement.

  I went to Kayla’s room after that, but she wasn’t there. My first instinct was to go look for her, but I couldn’t. I needed time to process all of this. For one thing, I hated that I would have to keep this from Kayla, and what I hated even more was that Xavier wanted my training at the same exact time as hers. He said that would avoid questions, making it easier to keep this from her. I laughed remembering him saying that. He obviously didn’t know Kayla at all. It was only a matter of time before she figured out something was going on. I hoped all of this would be over with soon.

  Minutes passed and Kayla wasn’t back. Still, I decided to wait for Kayla in her room. I lay down on her bed and closed my eyes. The smell of her was enough to make me relax and know that what I was about to do was needed. It was for her protection, and the fastest we got this done, the sooner I could take her away from all of this.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Kayla

  As soon as I walked in the dorms, I rushed to Jennifer’s room. Throughout the few days we had already been here, Hunter kept me from talking to her. I understood his reasons. He was afraid that my reminding the angel of her human life could lead to bad consequences, but I just wanted to poke around and find out if she remembered Ethan. I owed him that much.

  I’ll never forget the way I felt when Ethan told me that trying to save Jennifer from her terminal disease was what led him to become one of the fallen. The pain in his tone was almost tangible. Just hearing him talk about how she did what she could to hide her pain from her family, and about her ability to see him, even as human, was more than I could bear. Honestly, I couldn’t care less about their so-called angel/fallen angel responsibilities. They deserved a chance to be together and after having to leave Ethan behind and, well, I was going to make sure they got together again.