Aria Bliss. Seeing her again brought back so many memories…too many. Like the time we made homemade bombs, stuck them to the toilets in the new recruits’ bathroom and watched them blow crap and urine all over the poor new recruits. Their only crime was going to the bathroom. Now here she is in the flesh after all these years and I don’t know what to say to her.
Her eyes rake over me slowly and then she makes eye contact. I think I see affection in her eyes but its quickly replace by something else…anger. “I’ve been in prison for four years and you have nothing to say to me?” Shadow asks.
Yep. She’s angry, but that doesn’t surprise me, Shadow is always angry with me for some reason. “How was the food?” I reply with indifference.
“That’s it? That’s all you have to say? How was the food?”
“What do you want me to say?”
She stares at me in disbelief and shakes her head. “Just forget it.” She turns to walk away. I could go after her, but I won’t. I know better.
“That was harsh Havoc.” My best friend Aiden, otherwise known as Wake says to me. Wake is his code name…Aiden is the name he was born with. We were all given cool names like that once we ascended.
“You know what my orders are.” I remind him.
“I do.” He nodded. “You only wined about it incessantly for a year and a half.”
“You could have gone a little easy on her though.” My other best friend Heath, also known as Hydro chimes in.
“I could have, but what she did...I have to be careful with her. The only reason she was exonerated was because we need her help. Point blank.”
Our Sensei enters the room and we all stand at attention. He breezes past us as he often does when we have a mission and we follow closely behind him. “As you all know, one of your sisters has returned to you. Part of her agreement with the Magistrate is that she assists you all on the mission I’m about to give you, as Lieutenant General. This mission is of the utmost importance and the fate of the Legion depends upon your success.” He warned us. “For this mission, you will be granted access to the human world where you will operate as Students of Belleview High School until your mission is complete. Your target is a young man known as Asher. He must be activated for our side or we will lose him to the darkness. Go and make haste. Your contact will be waiting for you on the other side of the portal. Havoc has all the information you need, but I must warn you…the Elite have already found him.”
The Elite were our rivals. Where we fought the battles for good, they fought for the exact opposite. The Elite live on Kaalen. After being banished from the heavens the lot of demons were sent to Kaalen to live in purgatory. They aren’t all demons though. Some are fallen Angels who lost their way and did horrible things.
As Angels, or ambassadors of the Gods, it’s our job to protect humankind at all costs. Not all of us are Angel’s either. Some of us are Nephlim, Demi-Angels, Demi-Demons and half-breeds…half Angel, half Demon. Nephlim’s are children of fallen Angels who’ve mated with humans. Many are evil in nature but some turn towards good rather than evil. Then there are the Demi-Angels. These are children of pure Angels and pure humans. All of them are inherently good and do the will of their chosen God. Last, you have the Demi-Demons. These are children of humans and demons. Most are inherently evil but a select few can curb their evil side to fight for the greater good. Half-breeds are just that…half good and half bad.
We hurry and suit up for travel. Going through a portal can take a lot out of you if you aren’t used to it. It makes me wonder if Shadow will blow chunks like she did the first few times. I can’t wait to find out.
I lead the team to the portal and one by one I send them all through, saving the best for last. I step through the portal after her and when I emerge on the other side she has her face in a trashcan, heaving up whatever she ate last. Priceless. Even vomiting into a trashcan she still manages to maintain her beauty. Focus Havoc. I shake the thought from my head. “If you need a powder room break, just let me know.” I twist my face in disgust, handing her a vial. “It will get rid of the nausea.”
She scowls at me, but she takes the vial and drinks it. After a few moments she’s right as rain and we make contact. It’s the Principal at Belleview High, Mr. Marsh. He’s Nephlim. His height gives him away. Nephlim’s are giants and he looks like he’s at least seven feet tall.
“Here are your class schedules, your locker numbers with combinations, and here you’ll be using your given names. Also, here’s the address to where you’ll be staying. You’re all adopted by a very wealthy family-YAY-now go.” He practically shoves us out the door.
I sort the class schedules and hand them to who they’re supposed to go to. We all look at each other wondering what we’re supposed to do. None of us has ever attended a human school before. “We’re the baddest people on the planet right now and we can’t even figure out a simple schedule.” Blaze shakes her head.
“So much for a fearless leader. What kind of leader gets tripped up by a class schedule?” Shadow rolls her eyes. “Just go ask some human. I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to help you out Casanova.”
Casanova? Her tone was deliberate. She was hinting at something. Shadow takes off down the hall but not before I get a glimpse of her schedule. It’s identical to mine. Great. We have every single class together. There’s only so much of her death stare and RBF that I can take. I follow closely behind her and take the seat beside her. She glances over at me and I show her my schedule. She rolls her eyes. The feeling is mutual…
Humans began wafting into the room one by one with their stench. It’s the smell of sin and they’re drowning in it. Every sin decays the soul and the decay seems to happen sooner and sooner with every new generation.
“You must be new.” A blonde-haired boy addresses Shadow, curling his lips into a smile. “I’m Joey.”
I watch carefully as she slowly shifts her eyes to meet his gaze and plant the fakest smile I’ve ever seen. If he knew her like I knew her, he’d put some distance between them. That fake smile is a warning. “Yes I am. My name is Aria.” She replies.
He’s quite smitten. He still hasn’t taken his eyes off of her, but she was used to that kind of attention. Every eligible bachelor in the Legion wanted a piece of Aria Bliss. I’m the only one who’s ever gotten close though. I suffered a few bumps and bruises along the way, but she’s worth it. I only wish…nothing…I wish nothing. I turn my attention back to the teacher and pretend to be a good human boy.
“Everyone, we have two new students in class today. Aria Bliss and Thien Youngblood. Welcome you two, we’re very happy to have you. They’re from Maine and I expect you all to give them a warm welcome.” Mrs. Gillian warns them.
“I have a warm welcome you can have.” Joey announces loud enough for everyone to hear. The class erupted into quiet snickering. Did he get that pick up line from the ‘how to be lame’ handbook?
Without missing a beat, “There isn’t a microscope in the world big enough to help you find it.” Shadow quips.
“Oooooooh.” The class erupts into quiet snickering for the second time. This time it’s at his expense. Burn.
He picked the wrong girl to use that cheesy pickup line on and she shut his ego down faster than the health department at a restaurant with a rodent problem. All it seemed to do was make him want her even more. If he wasn’t really interested in her before, he was now. I could see his thoughts. Joey was taken in every feature she had as if he was suddenly aware of her presence for the first time.
Every human in this room was well aware of our presence. It’s not their fault. They didn’t have a choice. Being what we were, when coming in contact with the human world and all its imperfections, our features stood out. We were made to be perfect. So were they until the first human defied their God Yahweh. As punishment, they were stripped of their perfection and became sinners. It’s similar to being banished to Kaalen. Now the contrast between our kinds is noticeable. And they ALWAYS notice whenever we walk into a room.
The human girls are the worst. I’ve seen their thoughts. When they aren’t scribbling my name in notebooks or daydreaming, they actually work up the nerve to talk to one of us, but we know better. Mating with humans is forbidden unless you’re a fallen Angel. One kiss from my lips could mean sudden death to these fragile creatures if I couldn’t control my energy.
“Hey dipstick.” Aria calls out to me. “Get out of your head and focus. Which one of these soul-bags is Asher?”
Aria is the only wing that knows how to push the right button to set me off. “Don’t be disrespectful or I’ll demote you to a Sergeant.” I warn. She narrows her eyes at me, folds her arms across her chest and looks away. I was pissed when they gave her the title of General instead of me. Then she went and screwed everything up. Not just her life either. Her betrayal called the House of Muerte into question.
We’d barely started dating then. In fact, we’d only gone out once, but once was enough for me to...Shut up Havoc. None of that matters anymore. Not after what she did. She got caught with the corpse of Myra Bolton a week later and then it was off to prison. No more walks in the park. No more holding hands. No more midnight flights to wherever we wanted. Nothing.
Myra Bolton was the Queen of the Royal House of Superious. She was also one of Aria’s mentors. When pressed for information, the Magistrate grew impatient with her lack of cooperation and sentenced her to life at the Fortress. Most inmates of the Fortress aren’t given a second chance at life, but her deadly reputation, and her father’s influence has won Aria another chance at freedom. For now.
An entire hour passed and it felt like I’d blinked. School is a horrible invention created by horrible humans to get away from their children.
Aria blares past me out into the hall. She looks back ever so often to see if I’m still following her and picks up the pace when she realizes I am. That’s when it happens. She slams face first into a group of girls and they all fall backwards onto the floor. Aria does the same. Her delayed reaction isn’t noticeable to the human eye, but to a wing, it was very noticeable.
“Watch where you’re going!” The fiery blonde in the group shouts at Aria.
I watch and wait. Aria doesn’t take very kindly to being yelled at. To my amazement, she apologizes profusely. The blonde is still going off and Aria is just…taking it. “You’re right, I’m sorry.” She apologizes for the tenth time.
The blonde’s eyes land on me and her demeanor quickly changes. Her cheeks flush red and if she bats her eyes any harder she’d probably take flight. “Its cool, just watch where you’re going next time.” The blonde softens her tone. “I’m Desiree and these are my friends Denise and Darla. We’re known as triple D.” She holds out her hand for Aria to shake, but her eyes are still on me.
Aria slowly turns to follow her gaze. She realizes I’m the reason Desiree is changing her tune and she scoffs, narrowing her eyes at me. She quickly turns to triple D and feigns a smile. “Nice to meet you.” Aria shakes their hand.
“So, um…do you know him?” Desiree motions to me. “Does he have a girlfriend?”
“His name is Thien and he’s gay.” Aria smirks. She knew I was listening but she made a habit of sticking knives in my ego.
Triple D all turn to each other and laugh. “What a waste.” Desiree bites her bottom lip, dragging it from beneath her teeth while she undresses me with her eyes. “All that muscle and he’d rather snuggle up to a dude.”
“I’m not gay.” I finally speak for myself. Aria can hardly contain her smile at this point. “And I can hear you, I’m standing right here.”
“Oh I’m sorry, did I say Gay?” Aria pretends to be innocent. “I meant he’s a DOUCHEBAG.”
“If I’m a douchebag then why do you want me so badly?” I undress her with my eyes.
Her wings become erect and her cheeks heat up. Humans can’t see them because…well, they’re human, but I can. They reveal she still has feelings for me, but I already knew that. Her fierce green eyes soften and she flicks her long dark brown hair behind her shoulder. “Who says I still want you?” She asks. Her fake veil of conviction is flimsy at best.
I nod my head upwards pointing to her wings. “GRR!” She growls at me and storms off down the hall.
“Ooookay…moody much.” Desiree shakes her head.
“Its not her fault. She’s got it bad for me.” I say loud enough for her to hear.
“I thought you were all like…I don’t know…siblings.”
“We’re adopted, but they’re not my real family.” I explain. It was partially true.
“Well I’m having a beach party at my house this Friday.” Desiree handed me an invitation. “Leave the sand at home.”
She walked away, gliding her hands over my abs. I thought about throwing the invitation in the trash, but we were supposed to be blending in. Snubbing what I’m sure is probably the most popular girl at school isn’t exactly a good idea. We need her social connections.
ns 15.158.61.7da2
