What: Volleyball, tug-of-war, sand castle competition and more! Come with a team of four. Using powers is allowed.

Dress: Beach wear (Ladies, feel free to wear a bikini. Curvy girls, I’m talking to you too.)

Winner gets a signed copy of a hunky photo of Noah, and bragging rights.

Oh, that flyer had Noah all over it, the little slimebag, but it sounded awesome. I looked up at my friends. “Okay, this is in three days. It’s time to practice.”

I assumed it would be some weird magical game thing, but normal beach games? I was all over it. My competitive side was ready to throw down.

Chapter Fourteen

The beach games were tomorrow after school, and I was so nervous and excited that I could barely sleep last night. My sand castle game was tight. I’d borrowed cake-decorating supplies from Angela’s mom, and I had a design mapped out in my mind. To top that off, with Angela’s Necromancy skills, she was going to add something to my design that I was sure was going to win us that round.

We’d asked around and found out there were five rounds, each worth a certain amount of points: beach volleyball, sand castle design, tug-of-war, swim race, and one random new one Noah picked every year. We’d been practicing sand volleyball each night, and I’d already made and crushed my sand castle, so I was feeling super prepared. The tug-of-war, and swim race competitions were just going to have to be an in-the-moment thing, but I figured we could pull it off.

“So, we get paid tomorrow morning. I say we ditch our last hour, cash our checks, and get new bikinis,” Shea offered, as we walked into the gym locker room to change for battle class.

Bikini. The word that sent every girl screaming internally. No matter how in shape I felt my body was, it scared the shit out of me. Wearing a bathing suit in front of Lincoln made me want to die.

“Okay. Yeah…” I feigned enthusiasm.

Shea rolled her eyes. “Whatever. The beach games aren’t going to know what hit them when we show up.”

A locker door slammed, making me jump, and then suddenly I was staring at Tiffany. “You got invited to the beach games?” She looked horrified.

I grinned. “Yeah, didn’t you?”

Her face recovered and then she was cool, calm, and collected. “Of course. Can’t make it though. Besides, I heard they were deviating from their ‘angel blessed only’ rule, and inviting the riffraff. Now that I see it’s true, I’m glad I’m not going.” She spun on her heel and left.

“That bitch!” Shea roared, charging after her, but I caught her arm.

“Throwing her in the healing clinic will only get you detention, and we need you on the team. She’s lying anyway. Noah doesn’t have some elitist ‘angel blessed only’ rule.”

Right?

Shea shot a death glare at the door Tiffany had gone through, then nodded. “The day we graduate, I’m going to beat her ass within an inch of her life.”

My eyes widened. You can take the girl out of the hood…

“Come on, killer. Let’s just get through this class, and then before you know it, we’ll be bikini shopping.”

She nodded. “Noah texted me that he likes the color red on me.”

I laughed as we walked out to the gym. Noah and Shea were making out in the parking lot every Wednesday night, after his clinic shift and her shift with Mr. Claymore. They’d already had the “we’re just having fun, no exclusivity” talk, so I was no longer worried about her getting her heart broken.

“Then you should totally get a red bikini,” I agreed.

She leaned in close to me. “He also said sky blue is Lincoln’s favorite color.”

The color drained from my face. “Shea, you better not be telling Noah I like him,” I whisper-screamed.

Her mischievous laugh rang around us. “Oh please. He knows. It’s so obvious you both like each other.”

Shea pulled out her phone and showed me the text. Noah had offered his two cents without her even mentioning it.

Oh good, I won’t have to kill her. “Trust me. It’s unrequited,” I informed her, thinking of the hundreds of times he’d scowled at me.

“I don’t think so.” She added with a frown.

A loud whistle rang out, and Mr. Bradstone raised his voice. “No weapons today. Hand-to-hand combat, and for the first time, we’ll use our magic. Pair up with the names I’ve arranged on the board, and begin.”

Shit. No weapons. I looked at my useless hands. I’d maybe gotten up to a four-watt lightbulb, but nothing that was going to hurt anyone.

“Ugh. Sucks to be you,” Shea whispered.

My eyes snapped up to the board to see I was paired with Tiffany.

Freaking perfect.

Tiffany waltzed into one of the battle rings, a ten-foot circle of blue tape, then squatted into a wrestling position, grinning at me like a madwoman. Shea had nearly every class with her and said she was an advanced Mage for her age. Her mother was a Light Mage and her father a Celestial. They helped her outside of school, so she was 100 percent about to kick my ass with some light magic. When I had Sera, or any other weapon, I was definitely on equal playing ground, but using just our magic?

I was so screwed.

“Come on, Archie. We don’t have all day,” She crooned.

Shea caught my arm, and I turned to meet her eyes. “This might be the only opportunity any one of us has to kick her ass without getting into trouble.” Then she winked.

Ha. I would try my best, but I’d seen Tiffany’s magic at work. It was pretty incredible.

I stepped into the ring and squatted to her level. We’d been learning jujitsu that month, and I was good with takedowns. But so was she. Mr. Bradstone usually let us pick our sparring partner, so I always chose Shea or Luke. Now I was stuck with my nemesis. Lincoln’s “family friend.”

We started to circle each other, hands outstretched, gazes locked.

“You know, Lincoln practically spent all of last summer at my house,” she purred.

Jealousy flared inside of me, but I didn’t let it show. Instead, I swiped my leg out, trying to take her down, but she jumped over it.

“Why in God’s name would he do that?” I gave her the stanky-est face I could muster.

She growled, lunging for me, and yanked me down to the ground. Dammit! With some fast and hard footwork, she had me pinned underneath her.

“Because my parents were best friends with his parents. I’ve known him my whole life, and he’ll be mine one day, so back. The. Fuck. Off.” Spittle flew from her mouth onto my face. She was legit insane. Her hands were wrapped tightly around my wrists, emitting a warm glow that burned my skin.

“Let me go, Tiffany,” I warned her.

My skin grew hotter.

I jerked my pelvis up hard, trying to buck her off in the way Mr. Bradstone taught us, but to no avail. She was in her zone. She’d probably been planning this since the day she met me.

“You’re seriously hurting me!” I shouted in her face.

She grinned.

Bitch! Anger boiled inside of me like heartburn, starting in my chest and working its way up my throat. When I screamed in her face once again, an inky black smoke flew from my mouth, and wrapped around her throat.

Shock ripped through the both of us and she fell backward off me, clutching her throat and trying to breathe. A thick black magical band was strangling her.

Oh frick.

“Mr. Bradstone!” I screamed.

Tiffany’s face was turning blue, the black smoke an iron vise around her neck.

Mr. Bradstone took one look at her on the ground, then at me, and flew into action. Running to the cabinet on the wall, he produced a bottle of holy water and his infinity weapon, a glowing orange blade. Dousing the blade with the holy water, he laid the flat part across her neck. The second the cool steel touched her, the blackness broke apart, and disappeared.

With a huge gasping breath, Tiffany looked at me, terrified. “Archdemon!” she shouted in a raspy voice.

Oh my God. What have I done?

“That was some Exorcist shit,” someone from the class commented. That’s when I ran. Turning around, I bolted out the door, ignoring Shea and Mr. Bradstone’s calls after me.

I was evil.

Something dark and evil flew out of my mouth, and wrapped around Tiffany’s throat, nearly killing her. My legs pumped harder as I burst onto the field, tears streaming down my face. I wanted to run away, hide in shame.

Maybe I was an archdemon.

“I know what you are,” that Abrus demon had said.

My wings burst from my back and I took to the skies. This was only my third time flying, but it came back like muscle memory. I pumped higher and higher as I flew away from the school. The night of The Falling, when the archangels fell from Heaven and warred with the demons, power had lashed out at random. Monsters had been created, and I was one of them.

“I know what you are.”

I flew harder, heading for the ocean.

“Brielle!” The wind carried Lincoln’s voice to me, and I soared faster. He was the last person I wanted to see right then, the last person I wanted to know what I’d done, what I was.

When I hit the beach, my legs crash-landed, and I sort of fell onto the sand. The moment I righted myself, I started running for the pier. I wanted to hide, to crawl into a hole, and be alone.

“Brielle!” he shouted again, closer that time.

I didn’t dare look back when I reached the pier. Slinking down against one of the pillars I pulled my knees up, wrapped my arms around my legs, and buried my face between my knees. Sobs racked my chest as I curled inside of myself and hid from the world.

I stayed there for a full minute, listening to the crashing of waves, and letting the emotions crash through me. Then he found me.

“Brielle.” His voice was so warm, so understanding, it made more tears spill out onto my knees.

“Please go away. I want to be alone.” My voice was muffled, hiding against my legs.

I could feel his body heat against my left side and then his hand on my back. “Shea told me what happened. It’s going to be okay. Just come back to school where it’s safe. Please.”