Forsaken (Academy of the Fallen #4) Read online

  I give him a puzzled look. “Who caused you to get this bitter?”

  He laughs. “I can’t say it was a person as much as life itself.”

  He gets up and starts to walk away.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’m going to the end of the hallway to see if I can do something about the wards around the portal that brought us here.”

  “Wonderful. And why are you just now mentioning this particular portal?”

  “It didn’t come up before.”

  UGH!

  He leaves the room and I follow him out.

  SIX

  HUNTER

  I refuse to leave the cabin where Kayla left this world. I hope maybe the demon will need to come back at some point. Xavier also thinks that’s possible. He can tell the demon has been here recently, so we wait… and wait…

  As the days and nights go by, I get anxious. I start to feel like we’re wasting time and I find myself at a loss for what to do. At this moment, it seems that my best option is to find Benjamin and get him to help, and I despise the idea of trusting a demon to help me find Kayla.

  The decision to leave is actually made for me.

  As soon as Chase appears in the cabin, I can tell by the look on his face that something really bad happened.

  “What is it?” Xavier and I ask at the same time.

  “Earthquake,” he says. “This one did more damage than any other in history.”

  I stand up, fast. “What about Kayla’s family? Are they okay?”

  He nods. “They’re fine, but that was too close for comfort. I don’t think they’re being targeted by the ones causing the destruction, but I still suggested to have them moved to the Academy to keep them safe.”

  “And?”

  “One of the fallen was sent to talk to them, but they refused the offer. They said Kim is safer there than she ever was and that they don’t want to bring up memories from her life before now.”

  I nod. “Can’t blame them.”

  “Her parents want to talk to you, Hunter.”

  I shake my head. “Absolutely not. I’m not facing them until I have Kayla with me. I was with her when she was taken. I just can’t—”

  “It wasn’t your fault, Hunter,” says Xavier.

  “He’s right,” says Chase.

  “I’m still not going back until I have her.”

  Xavier sighs. “Waiting here is not working. Our best chance is to find Benjamin. I know you hate the idea, and it may take a while to find him through Stephaine, but he really is our best chance. I’m sorry.”

  I nod and glance at Chase. “Please go back and keep an eye on her family. Let them know I need to find her and I have no intention of going back until I do.”

  Chase promises to remain watching over them and leaves.

  I take one look back at the portal where she was taken from and take a deep breath before we leave the cabin and go on a search with no leads. All we have is hope that Xavier gets lucky enough to be able to track Stephaine.

  SEVEN

  KAYLA

  No matter what or how long we tried, nothing could be done about those wards. Our Nephilim abilities, as far as that goes, are mostly useless.

  Fortunately, some of our abilities are still of good use and as soon as we sense the demon near, we run back to the room, close the door, and act like nothing happened.

  I sit on the mattress and Samael sits next to me.

  Suddenly, the demon barges into the room and he doesn’t look too happy.

  Samael and I quickly stand up. Samael automatically gets in front of me and no matter how intimidating the demon looks; I roll my eyes at Samael and step to his side.

  He shakes his head and the demon gives us an amused look.

  “How is training coming along? Soon I’ll need you to train someone else. I need you to be ready.”

  “We are—”

  I cut Samael off. “We’re not ready.”

  The demon’s expression changes completely. He looks infuriated, and Samael gives me a ‘what are you thinking’ look.

  “We aren’t,” I continue, ignoring Samael. “The wards limit our training. I don’t know if half of what Samael taught me is working because I have no way to test it.”

  The demon cocks his head to the side and smiles at me, a smile that makes the hair on my arms stand up.

  He takes a step forward and this time when Samael moves to be in front of me I take a step back. Yeah… I’m not stupid.

  “What exactly do you need to test?” he asks, amused.

  I look over Samael’s shoulder. “There are things we can do to get into people’s heads… to feel what they do and see what they see.”

  “And that is useful how?”

  I shrug. “It can help us anticipate their moves… know what they know. Sometimes, information is more valuable than physical power.”

  Samael gives me a ‘shut up’ look, which I ignore.

  The demon looks at Samael and then back at me, “You’re smart and you look so much like your mother,” says the demon, “but you also have traits that come from your father and besides, I know what you are trying to do, little girl. I’ll move some of the wards, but make no mistake that I’m not removing the ones I need to keep you here. If you want to test getting into people’s heads, well, there are quite a few lost souls roaming around outside that window. They are all yours.”

  I step forward and look straight into his cold and empty eyes. “You’re wrong,” I say, “I may look like Irene, but don’t you ever compare me to either of them again. They didn’t raise me and we are nothing alike.”

  He shakes his head and smiles. “I didn’t exactly raise some of my own either, yet, we are who we are.”

  I open my mouth to tell him he’s wrong, but he quickly turns around and leaves the room. Within seconds, we know he’s gone from the house.

  As soon as he leaves, Samael grabs my wrist, turns me around and looks at me.

  “What the hell are you thinking?”

  “Let go of me!” I yell.

  He gives me an apologetic look and lets go of my wrist. Never once do we lose eye contact.

  “I’m thinking that him weakening the wards gives us a better chance to get out of here.”

  “You heard him… he knows what he is doing.”

  “Yeah, well, weakening wards is tricky. If we’re lucky, he’ll make mistakes along the way.”

  Samael shakes his head but leaves it alone.

  I look away from him and down at my wrist. I notice that the bruises that were on my arms before are now completely healed.

  “What happened to my arms before I woke up?” I ask.

  He looks away. “I don’t know.”

  “You’re lying!”

  “Look, before you woke up you were trapped in illusions. That is probably how it happened.”

  “That is not possible,” I say.

  He looks back at me. “What makes you think that?”

  “Because I was with Hunter in those illusions. There was nothing that could have caused the bruises.”

  “Look, I don’t know, okay? Maybe you just remember some illusions but not all of them.”

  Knowing this is another useless argument that’s not getting me anywhere, I turn around, walk over to the window and stare outside. This is the first time I truly look at anything other than the fires and the Otherworld far ahead. I know the demon honored his word and dropped some of the wards because the screams I once heard from a distance are now closer. I even see a couple of the lost souls come near the house where we are.

  Samael gets closer and stands behind me. I hate the way I can feel him breathe down my neck. He stays silent until I try to move. I turn around and he’s right in my face. I avoid looking at him and try to move but he blocks me. “You’re not seriously going to try and get into their heads, are you?”

  “Of course I am. One of them might know a way to get out of here. I’m going to look around for information wh
erever I can.”

  He shakes his head. “You’re the most difficult person I ever met.” He pauses and shakes his head. “I’ll help you.”

  “Whatever you want.”

  EIGHT

  I stare outside and see a woman roaming around. I look over at Samael. “I’m ready to try it.”

  “How can I help?” he asks in an annoyed tone.

  I look at him, ready to tell him to back off and let me do this on my own and I’m surprised to see he’s nervous.

  I take a deep breath to calm myself down. “Stand watch. I’ll be focused on her and I need you to get my attention if the demon comes back.”

  He nods.

  I turn back around and look at the woman. I doubt she can even see me from where she is. I close my eyes, focus, and it doesn’t take long for me to slip into her mind and be taken into her memories.

  There’s so much pain. I feel the tears run down my cheeks but I don’t stop. I can see her at the scene of a car accident. She gets arrested for being under the influence, and is taken away. I can see her in jail grieving for the people whose lives she took. I can see her blame herself every minute of every day all because she made one bad decision at a party. One day, the day she got out of jail, she just took her own life. She walked into her home and her eyes looked emptier than ever before. She was only in there for a few seconds. She grabbed her car keys, went outside and got into the same car that was involved in the accident. She made sure the windows were closed, the doors were locked, and she backed it into her backyard before she drove it into the pool. A neighbor found her dead hours later. I keep my eyes closed. This woman doesn’t belong here. She was never given a chance. She was never forgiven. She just had no guidance and after making mistake after mistake, she ended up here. Out of instinct, I focus on healing her. I have a feeling I shouldn’t, but I can’t stop myself. As soon as I start thinking about the forgiveness that she deserves, I no longer have her memories, but I feel what she is feeling now and I can feel her looking at me. I instantly know that something about her has changed. She is now scared and at peace all at the same time.

  “Kayla,” I hear Samael.

  I don’t respond. I open my eyes and spot someone approach her. She runs. I quickly do the same to him, mostly because I feel protective over her and I don’t want him to hurt her in any way. They are the only two around for now but the way he was looking at her terrified me. I gasp as soon as I’m in his memories. He was one of the fallen at some point. He’s with a young woman who he loves with all his heart. Then, I can see when she’s older and he is still with her. He tells her about how one day, she will be an angel and he tells her the things that she can do to quickly become one of the fallen so they can be together. Telling her that got him sent here, to Hell. I heal him too. When I open my eyes, I find him on his knees looking up and me, and that is how I know it worked.

  “God damn it, Kayla! Stop doing whatever you are doing and look at me!” Samael yells.

  When I do, his eyes are wide open, and I can feel that mine are puffy from crying.

  “What?” I ask.

  He moves his hand toward me and for some reason I don’t flinch. I just stay still. He touches a lock of my hair and I look down. The hair in between his fingers is no longer blonde. It’s black.

  I gasp.

  “What did you do?” he asks. “Your hair… it is all dark except for this streak of blonde hair.”

  “I—I healed them.”

  “Crap! He’s going to find out. There is no way we can hide this.”

  I shrug. “So? He wants us to practice; I’m practicing. There is no mirror around here, is there?”

  He shakes his head. “That’s what you’re concerned about?” he asks.

  I shrug.

  “It doesn’t look terrible,” he says.

  “Oh, thanks! That’s reassuring!”

  He shakes his head. “You look hot, okay? Now can we please move on and stop talking about your hair?”

  I’m stunned that he actually said that and I can’t hold back the smile, not just because of him saying that I look hot, but also because of the whole situation. Here we are, stuck in Hell, and having a somewhat normal conversation… but normal doesn’t last long.

  “You know, since we—well, I’m probably already in trouble anyway, I want to get into the demon’s head to see what he’s up to,” I say.

  “No freaking way!”

  “What? If I get caught—”

  “Which you will!” he says.

  “Well, I’ll just say it was an accident. That I didn’t mean for it to happen.”

  He shakes his head and he is clearly irritated. “No. I’ll do it. If anyone has to take the risk, it should be me.”

  “No.”

  “Either I do it or no one does it.”

  “ARGH! Fine!” I finally agree.

  NINE

  “Let’s do this,” he says.

  “You don’t have to.”

  “But I do, because I know how damn difficult you are and I know if I don’t do this, you’ll end up doing it yourself. Now, stand by the door. If you hear anything, get my attention. I’m not going to push it too far in the hopes that he doesn’t notice.”

  I nod.

  Samael stays where he is and closes his eyes and next thing I know, he’s lying on the floor, curled up in pain.

  I run toward him and kneel down on the floor. His eyes are still closed. “Samael, look at me. Are you okay? What happened?”

  He looks so scared that it scares me.

  “I know what he wants. I’m sorry, Kayla. I’m so sorry.”

  “Why are you apologizing?”

  “Because I—”

  The demon opens the door with such strength that it practically comes off the hinges.

  He stops when he sees that Samael lying on the floor. I stand up and move in front of Samael.

  “Kayla, don’t—” says Samael in a weak tone.

  The demon interrupts him. “You couldn’t leave things alone, could you? You are lucky I need you around. And you!” he says as he looks at me. “What happened to your hair?”

  I shrug, “I don’t know.” And it’s partially true.

  At that moment, I feel the pressure and I know that he is trying to do something to my head and by the expression on Samael’s face, the same is happening to him.

  ***

  I can’t remember what just happened but it doesn’t matter because I can now see Hunter. This time, I know it’s an illusion, but I don’t care. I take what I can get just as long as I can be with him. I run toward Hunter and he throws his arms around me. He feels so real. His warmth, the way he breathes on neck while he hugs me.

  “I missed you,” he says.

  “I missed you too.”

  He kisses me and illusion becomes my reality, a reality where we live at the Academy, alone, away from everything and everyone. It’s just Hunter and me. We’re by the lake on a summer day. I lay down with my head on his lap and I feel so relaxed. There are no threats anymore. I hear someone cry, but I ignore it and I never hear that sound again. It’s just the two of us. Day in and day out, we spend every second of every day together. He tells me sweet things and reminds me about his promise and how he will always be by my side.

  There are moments when I feel like something is missing, but he pulls me toward him and makes me promise to stay with him… forever, but I can’t. I remind him that’s impossible. He is immortal and I’m not. He gives me a sexy smile and tells me that’s okay. One day I’ll be an angel and he knows that I’ll do what I need to do so that I become one of the fallen and then, we’ll be together for eternity.

  I don’t feel well. I remember… even in the illusion, I remember the one I healed. I look at my hair, expecting it to be blonde and my healing that man to have been the actual illusion. I’m relieved when I see that my hair is blonde, but as I watch it, my hair slowly darkens.

  I feel terrified and confused. When I look back at Hunter, it i
s no longer Hunter who I see. The one in front of me is Tucker. I remember him from when I first arrived at the academy and I remember that somehow, he can make himself look like other people. I now know he’s actually a demon and I don’t understand how he was at the Academy before. I step away from him and run away. He calls after me, but I keep running. I run and run, until everything goes dark. Then my eyes open and I see Samael sleeping by my side.

  The demon stands next to the mattress. I abruptly get up and even though I feel dizzy, I manage to stand in front of him.

  “Oh good. Now that you’re awake, get him back here. I’ll be back tomorrow and I need both of you.

  The demon leaves and I call Samael, I move him around, and nothing. I have no clue how to wake him up other than to go into his head and bring him back from his illusion.

  Ugh. I don’t want to do this, but I don’t want him defenseless if the demon comes back.

  I easily slip into his mind.

  I know right away that there is something wrong. My illusion was mostly a happy one; his is dark. He’s in the human world, at a school, but hiding. He’s watching a girl and it’s not until I get close to him that I realize he’s warding her, keeping her from being haunted by her worst nightmare.

  My abilities go into overdrive and I subconsciously do something I never did before. I project myself into his vision and I slowly approach him.

  “Samael?”

  He slowly turns around and gives me a confused look.

  “Why are you here?” he asks.

  “This is not real. I came to take you back.”

  He looks back at her, “But I can’t leave her unprotected.”

  There is something fragile about the way he looks. I lower my tone. “She’s not real, Samael. None of this is.”

  He looks saddened. He nods and looks at her one more time then we start to walk away, side by side, into the darkness.

  TEN

  HUNTER

  Xavier makes me promise that I will take a night off from hunting demons and go see Kim and the rest Kayla’s family. I avoided this for as long as I could, but he says Kim asked me to go see her and well, I need a break. He’s been saying that for a while now. It seems that with time, what happened became less significant and they lost hope, Xavier included. I’m now the only one looking for ways to get to her, and I look for it nonstop.