Lucifer's Emblem Read online

  Dad would be more disappointed in me than he already was if he ever found out about my network. The thing is, if I cared about school, I would do my own homework instead of getting everyone else to do it for me. I had built a whole network of homework helpers over the last six years. That also meant I had a whole network of favors and secrets to call in whenever I felt like it. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. I liked to keep my network guessing.

  “Attention students,” the daily kidnapper update piped all over the Academy. “Today’s count for total number of missing students has risen to fifty-four. Remember to use the buddy system and always report suspicious activity. That is all.”

  Suspicious activity, my ass. Someone’s kidnapping kids and the board (including Dad) act like it’s some videogame where the higher the body count, the better the score. I wasn’t worried, though. The kidnapper would have to be epically stupid to kidnap me. Dad would bring down all of Heaven and Earth, and maybe even Hell to find me, too. At least I thought he would. I didn’t plan to get kidnapped to find out.

  “Hey, Ant!” I called when he ducked behind one of the soaring pillars to try to get away from me. He couldn’t hide that easily, after all he had my math homework. “Don’t you have something that’s mine?”

  Ant stepped out from behind the pillar. He adjusted his glasses as if he wasn’t being all sketchy. Nice try, dude. “Hey, Miry. How’s Chris?” He attempted to distract me. It was a good tactic as far as tactics go, but I had math in thirty minutes. I needed my homework.

  “I haven’t seen Chris today,” I said. “Maybe he got kidnapped.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Stop playing dumb. You know why I’m talking to you. Did you forget to give me something yesterday?”

  Ant fidgeted—he adjusted his glasses, put his hands in his pockets, and bounced on his heels. Pretty much doing anything to stall. “Chapter 26 Calculus, right? I got it right here.” He rummaged in his backpack and pulled out some crumpled-up sheets of paper. “You should copy it into your own handwriting. It’s not like I can type your math homework for you. Everything you need is right here. Easy A.”

  “I guess this will do.” I tapped my foot, making sure I looked disappointed in his efforts and the fact that I had expected Chapter 26 last night—not this morning. “But just remember the dirt I have on you, Ant. You wouldn’t want my dad to learn about your secrets, now would you?”

  Ant’s pale face managed to go even whiter. “If you don’t tell your dad, I’ll take your Calc test for you too. All you have to do is keep quiet, see, and we’re all good.”

  I made a big show out of thinking it over, but really it was a pretty sweet deal for me. No homework to do. No test to take. Why would I say no? “Just don’t let it happen again,” I said. “This is cutting it way too close.”

  Ant adjusted his glasses again. Jesus. If he kept doing that, I would break them myself. “Got it, Miry. Say hey to Chris for me, okay?”

  “Sure. Whatever you say.”

  “Attention students,” the kidnapper announcement rang through the halls again. “The current total number of kidnapped students has now risen to fifty-five. Remember to always use the buddy system and report any suspicious activity. That is all.”

  Buddy system, my ass I thought again. I ignored the warning like I always did. Instead, I headed for the little alcove by the school knave where I liked to hang out when I didn’t want anyone to bother me. It was the perfect place to copy my homework. I needed to make sure I got some of the answers wrong. Ant was way too good at Math and I wasn’t.

  I almost made it to the alcove. I say almost, because as I passed by the janitor’s closet, someone grabbed me and pulled me inside.

  3

  Zuri

  The damn campus was deceptively big for being situated on a tiny island. I’d wasted most of the night wandering the grounds trying to find a way—any way—into the buildings. I’d finally had to just sit and wait for someone to come outside so I could slip past them inside.

  Damien had blown up my phone all night with dire texts like ‘you’re going to die’ and ‘if they don’t kill you, your dad will.’ I’d turned my phone off around midnight. He was being an alarmist. At least with the part about my dad killing me. I could start World War Three and he’d still defend me. Although Damien wasn’t wrong about what would happen if I got caught by an Archangel.

  As morning light filtered through the windows, I huddled in an alcove, fighting off the urge to sleep. Giving in to exhaustion was a good way to get caught. Besides, this building was huge and the thief could be hiding anywhere. As I sat there with my knees pressed to my chest, I wondered why someone who was supposedly on the “good” side would want Dad’s Emblem. Besides, I didn’t think they could set foot in Hell. Just like we can’t step back into Heaven. Dad had told me it was a way to keep the sides at a stalemate. Everyone seemed to agree that Earth was neutral territory. Don’t want to terrify the humans. Still the Emblem had some kind of power. It wouldn’t have protected Dad during the war if it didn’t. I had to get it back.

  Blowing out a breath, I stood up and marched down the hall like I was supposed to be there. My wandering led me to the entrance hall, currently decked out in silver and gold streamers with balloons. A giant banner overhead proclaimed ‘Welcome New Students.’ An idea formed in my head. It was foolish and dangerous as shit, but it was still a plan. I needed to blend in long enough to track down the thief and get the emblem back. I couldn’t do that walking around as Zuri bat-Lucifer.

  Luckily, I’d studied religious history on my own time. Sometimes humans could be beautifully useful. In the Jewish tradition, when someone wanted to avoid an encounter with Azrael, they changed their last name to Hayyim. That way, he would be looking for someone with a different name. It seemed like a stupid trick. Azrael was no idiot, but he insisted if the name didn’t match, he couldn’t take the soul.

  So, I had a name. I could be Zuri Hayyim. Still this was a school and a preppy one from the looks of it. My clothes weren’t going to cut it. I studied the photos hanging on the wall of the hall and saw prepubescent kids all the way up to older teens. Which meant young kids came here and probably for years too. I needed an explanation for why I was just showing up now. I could say I only just found out about my angelic parentage. It was a weak excuse. I caught a tiny gold name plate below one of the pictures: graduating class of Middle Eastern campus with Archangel Gabriel.

  Gabriel stood at the back of the pack and even in the photo he looked distracted. “Perfect”.

  “Hi,” a young voice said from behind me.

  I whirled to find a boy no older than twelve standing there in a school uniform that looked remarkably like what the thief had worn. He clutched a piece of paper in his hand.

  “Hi,” I replied. Could he be the thief? “What’s your name?”

  “Max. What’s yours?”

  “Zuri. You new here, too?”

  Max nodded and brandished the paper. “Got my letter. Mom wasn’t sure if I had to bring it with me.”

  “Can I see?”

  He handed it over without question. Damn, he was trusting. I unfolded the single page and skimmed the text. Pretty standard stuff about congratulating him on being accepted to the school. It provided a list of supplies he’d need—things I could probably bribe my way into—and it told him to bring the letter so they could verify his parentage. I turned my back to Max and hastily grabbed a brochure, making a copy of his letter with a reference to my transfer from the Middle East campus. Forging Gabriel’s signature was a crapshoot. Having never seen his handwriting, I winged it.

  “You must be excited,” I commented, handing the letter back to the kid.

  “Is it your first day, too?” He pressed.

  “Yeah. Well, here. I just transferred from the Middle Eastern campus.” I held up my forged letter.

  His brow wrinkled. “I don’t want to sound rude, but you don’t sound like you’re from there.”

  I gave him a d
isarming smile. “I’m not. My mother is in the military and she was stationed there. She got special permission to bring me along when we got the acceptance letter,” I lied effortlessly.

  “Is it as cool as it sounds? All the classes and meeting the Archangels?”

  “I think every campus is different. They’re run by different angels. We didn’t see a lot of Gabriel,” I continued, hoping he believed my words and that there was some truth to them. Lies always went down easier if they contained a little fact.

  Max pointed to my clothes. “Where’s your uniform?”

  “They lost our luggage when we were coming back. I’m sure they have some spares I can use.”

  “Oh.”

  The front doors opened again and a massive wave of uniform-clad students poured in. Some headed in other directions while some gathered in small clusters in the hall. Max moved to chat with kids his own age. I needed to find a way to snag a uniform. A large winding staircase rose up to the second floor and I spotted a man standing there, lording over the whole thing. He looked tired, almost like this was all such a bore for him. His gaze fell on me and everything changed. His demeanor sharpened and the dullness in his eyes vanished. He rounded the banister to the top of the stairs and strode down. I caught the hint of a limp, but he walked without aid. I stayed put.

  “I don’t recognize you and as head of this campus, I make it a point to know all of my students,” he said in a clipped tone.

  I held out my forged letter. “I’m a transfer from the Middle East campus.”

  He took the letter, unfolded it and skimmed it. “I see.” He tucked it under his arm and scanned my outfit. “You know you aren’t permitted to be out of uniform during the week.”

  I glanced down at my boots, hoping he took the gesture as embarrassment. “I know. My mother and I just returned from her tour of duty. Our luggage hasn’t arrived yet. I was hoping you had some spares?”

  A speaker crackled and an announcement echoed in the space. “Attention students, the current total number of kidnapped students has now risen to fifty-five. Remember to always use the buddy system and report any suspicious activity. That is all.”

  “We can do that. Follow me,” he said, as if the announcement about kidnapped students hadn’t just blared through the whole damn building.

  I turned back and caught Max’s wide-eyed look before following the man down the hall and into a large office. A massive sword hung behind the desk and the nameplate read Headmaster Michael. The Michael.

  My stomach churned and my blood turned cold as the being responsible for my father’s expulsion from Heaven sat down behind the desk and rifled through papers. I wanted to punch him in the face, take that sword, and chop off his pompous, self-righteous head. Instead, I sat on the edge of the chair opposite him and said nothing.

  “I’m sure Headmaster Gabriel will be able to confirm your transfer. You’re about eighteen, yes?”

  “Yes.”

  “And your father …?”

  “Never met him,” I lied.

  “Are you aware of who your father is? We have specific courses for our secondary level students based on parentage.”

  “I know he was an Archangel.” There was no way I was going to be able to hide my wings so I didn’t even try.

  “I see.”

  “All I know is he’s not one of the ones everyone knows,” I added.

  Michael nodded. “Fine.” He passed me a paper with a schedule blocked out. “Here are your classes. You’ll be rooming with my daughter, Miryam.”

  “I don’t need a roommate, sir,” I said.

  “School policy, I’m afraid,” he answered. He waved me off with a dismissive gesture. “I have a meeting with my daughter.” He checked his watch. “She should be arriving shortly. Until then, please remain here.”

  I remained seated, irritation making my neck warm. I needed to be out looking for the thief not sitting here waiting to meet the daughter of my father’s greatest enemy. Michael busied himself with looking over papers and I pulled out my phone, turning it back on. A single new text from Damien waited.

  ‘If you’re being tortured, I’m not saving your ass.’ It read.

  I typed back. ‘That’s up for debate. But I’ve got an in. I’ll be out of here in no time, D. I promise. Just keep things quiet back home, okay?’

  After a few tense seconds, the tiny trio of dots materialized on the screen, indicating he was writing back. ‘Zuri, what exactly are you doing?’ I didn’t need to hear his voice to know the words carried a mixture of annoyance and curiosity.

  ‘What I do best,’ I typed back and stowed the phone in my pocket. I’d suffer through meeting this asshole’s daughter. Then it was time to fool all these suckers and get what was mine.

  4

  Miryam

  A strong hand clamped over my mouth as an equally strong arm wrapped around my chest. Was this it? Was I being kidnapped by some asshole with my dad only a flight of stairs away? I struggled; my screams muffled by his hands. He pulled me closer to him. OMG, dude was getting off on this. I bit down on what I could reach of the dude’s hand closest to my mouth. He yelped and let me go, shoving me toward the door.

  “Christ, Miry, settle down. It’s just me.”

  I pushed my hair out of my face and turned back around toward the sound of my boyfriend’s voice. “Chris? What the hell is wrong with you? Didn’t you hear the announcement? I thought you were the kidnapper.”

  He waved his wounded hand before sticking his index finger in his mouth. “Would it be so bad if I were?”

  I crossed my arms over my chest, determined to make him work for my forgiveness. “Seriously, don’t joke about something like that. Fifty-five missing kids isn’t a prank.”

  “Guess we’ll just have to be better about using the buddy system.” Chris blew on his hand. “Do I need to get a tetanus shot for this?”

  I held out my hand, palm up. “Get over here.”

  He placed his injured hand in mine. I put my other hand over the top of it and hummed. It was a song older than time. Uncle Raphael taught it to me to see if I had any of his healing abilities. Turned out I did too. I couldn’t bring people back from the dead or anything that extreme, but I could heal small wounds. The space between my hands glowed gold as I hummed. When I lifted my top hand, Chris was healed. He waved his hand again, as if testing out my skills. I’d been at Celestial Academy since I was twelve. I easily knew how to heal a bite wound by now.

  “Thanks.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest again. “What are you doing pulling me into a coat closet right after the kidnapper announcement anyway?”

  He hopped up onto a dusty folding table. “It’s not a coat closet, it’s a janitor’s closet.”

  “Same difference,” I sighed. “What do you want, Chris?”

  “Do I need an excuse to want to hang with my girlfriend? I missed you, Miry. Is that such a crime?”

  “It is when I’ve already kept my dad waiting for three hours when he summoned me for a meeting.”

  Chris hopped off the table and walked slowly toward me. He smiled, which he knew was like a flashy fishing lure to me. Cast the smile, lure me in. Between the smile and his classic boy next door—blonde hair, blue eyes—good looks, he appeared more angelic than most of the actual angel kids here. My feet moved on their own accord. Lure me in. I ended up meeting him halfway across the empty classroom being used as a janitor’s junk closet.

  “Fine,” I said. “What do you think you can do in thirty minutes?”

  His smile widened to a grin. “Oh, you know what I can do in thirty minutes.”

  I tip-toed to kiss him. Lure me in.

  “You’re late,” Dad barked when I finally appeared in his office. “Hours, in fact.”

  I adjusted my skirt, school uniform tie, and double checked that all my shirt buttons were buttoned correctly before answering. “Sorry. I lost track of time.”

  Dad stood. He was wearing what I called his ‘re
gular clothes’ today instead of the Greco-Roman red toga and armor he liked wearing to look more like the religious paintings of himself. It impressed new students to see the expected Archangel Michael look. I thought his suit and tie were more intimidating than any armor he could ever throw on though.

  “How many times do I have to tell you, when I call, you come?” Dad moved from behind his desk. He limped slightly. It was an old War in Heaven injury that seemed to plague him as much as I did. “You don’t ignore a summons, Miryam ... Ever.”

  “I said I was sorry.” I scuffed my toe on the Venetian tile floor. “I was doing homework.”

  Dad’s nostrils flared which was never a good sign. I closed my eyes, waiting to be torn into for what I knew he saw as my lack of potential leadership ability and, really, just inability to follow his rules.

  “We have a new student,” Dad said. “She is your responsibility now.”

  I cracked an eye open. Wait, what? A new student? That wasn’t what I had expected him to say. “Define responsibility?”

  “You will learn the full meaning of ‘the buddy system.’” Dad paced the room, his hands laced behind his back. “Starting now. That includes sharing a room with our new student.”

  “Share my room?” I shake my head as if being upset about something would change Dad’s mind about it. “But what’s the point of having you as my dad if I can’t get some perks like a single dorm room? Chris says—” I clamped my hands over my mouth. Holy Hell, I almost brought all manners of angelic wrath down on Chris and I both by outing our sleeping arrangements.

  Dad narrowed his eyes. “I’m well aware where Christopher sleeps at night. He is lucky I’ve looked the other way for this long. Your new roommate is Zuri Hayyim.” He motioned toward the shadows of his ginormous office. A girl stepped into the light. She wore all black—black shirt, black pants, black combat boots. She was either goth or from Hell. I’d say “or both,” but I know there’s no way anyone from Hell could get into Celestial Academy. We have wards for keeping out the riff-raff.