Noah shrugged. “No rules against it, my brother. She’s eighteen.”
I dropped my messenger bag on the floor. “Don’t worry, he’s not my type, anyway,” I shouted across the space.
Darren and Blake did the, “ohhhh snap” thing, but Lincoln’s eyes just burned into me with an expression I couldn’t read.
Noah frowned. “What are you talking about? I’m everyone’s type.” He flexed his bicep and kissed it.
“You’re too pretty,” I told him honestly. I could never date a guy with better-groomed eyebrows than my own.
Noah grinned. “Thank you.”
I rolled my eyes. “So, where do we start? Want me to show you my moves? I grew up in the hood, so I’m probably more advanced than your average student.” I pulled my switchblade from my boot and gave it a twirl.
“She’s adorable,” Darren told the room.
“I’m not adorable. Kittens are adorable. I’m badass. Look, there’s still crusted blood on here from yesterday.” I showed them the blade.
Lincoln stepped forward and sighed. “Put that away before you hurt yourself.”
Party pooper. I retracted the blade, and slipped it back into my boot.
Lincoln looked me up and down. “Pull out your wings. We’ll start with flying.”
My eyes bugged out of my head. Flying? I don’t know why that didn’t even cross my mind.
“Come on, Miss Yoga.” He snapped his fingers as the boys started pulling huge two-foot-thick pads onto the ground.
Oh my God, those are to break my fall.
I looked behind me and twitched my shoulders. Nothing happened. Swallowing hard, I jumped into the air a little and hoped they would pop out upon landing.
No luck.
The back of the suit had two twelve-inch slits for them to come out of, so I knew it wasn’t my shirt keeping them in.
“Umm, how exactly do I get my wings out?” God, it was so embarrassing.
I was sure Lincoln was about to say something jerkish when Blake stepped forward.
“I struggled with it too at first. It’s like learning to walk as a baby. You need to think about raising them, like you would your arms, and they’ll come out. They’ll also appear when you’re in danger.” He was the sweet one, I had decided.
Okay… my eyes closed and I took a deep breath. I imagined my shoulder blades rising, and even arched my back. After an agonizing second, I felt a pop and then a heaviness on my right side. Falling over to my right, I forced my eyes open. All four of them were holding in their laughter.
“What!” I roared. Peering behind me, I saw that I’d only managed to get one wing out.
Kill me now.
Lincoln was the first to be able to control his laughter. He walked over and reached behind me, stroking my exposed left shoulder blade, through the slit in my jumpsuit, with one delicate finger. Chills broke out on my arms as the heat from his skin trailed down my back with the sensual touch. My wing popped out, as I was kneeling there breathlessly, staring at the beautiful asshole who’d been through a tragedy, and then he stepped back.
“Okay, first rule of flying. Don’t die.”
I shook off his sensual touch, and my eyebrows hit my hairline. “Ha. Ha. What are the real rules?”
Noah shrugged. “Our master teachers said the same thing—just don’t die. You’re basically immortal now unless killed, but you can snap your neck if you land wrong.”
I’d been meaning to ask about the immortal rumor but wow, there it was.
Lincoln pointed to a ladder. “Climb up to the top. Let’s see if we can get one good hover before our time is done. You’ll get your weapon in class today, and we’ll start working with it tomorrow.”
“Is now a bad time to mention I’m afraid of heights?”
Lincoln groaned. “Wasting time, Miss Yoga.”
Ugh. I never should’ve said that yoga thing. Maybe I should start doing yoga for real in case he keeps quizzing me.
As I climbed the ladder, I was sure of two things.
All four of them were totally staring at my ass.
I was going to break my neck and die.
Chapter Seven
After mastering a two-second hover where I’d smacked Lincoln in the face with my wing—on complete accident, of course—I’d sat through an hour of history class. Much to my dismay, everyone knew who I was, and stared or pointed at me most of the period. I’d even seen a few of them mouth, “Demon lover.”
Awesome.
I wondered if I should cut bangs to cover my demon slave tattoo, or maybe get some heavy makeup, but what was the point? It’s who I was, and I couldn’t change my future. I might as well live with it.
Now, I was standing in a large gym type of room with walls and walls of every kind of weapon I could think of, nestled in cages with golden locks on them. Our professor, Mr. Claymore, was a Light Mage and looked the part, wearing a long black velvet robe with a silver spiral Light Mage insignia over the breast. His eyes kept flashing silvery gray as he looked each of us in the eye, his gaze lingering on me. I started to squirm as he pinned me with his stare, a heavy feeling pressing on my skin. Then he looked away, and the trance was broken, the feeling fading.
That was intense.
Seeing him all Maged out made me think of Shea. I wondered what she was doing at her delinquent school, wishing she could be with me instead.
“Today is one of the most important days of your life. You’ll find your infinity weapon, and be bound to it for eternity.” His voice boomed around the room, coming at us from all angles.
Say what? Eternity? Bound?
A prissy girl, by the name of Tiffany—who I’d learned from history class was a Light Mage in training—raised her hand. “Is it true that your infinity weapon will speak to you after you’re bonded?”
Either she was high or I hadn’t heard her right. Maybe I was high, because home girl had just asked if our weapons were going to talk to us.
Mr. Claymore shrugged. “It’s different for everyone. A talking infinity weapon is very rare, but each weapon does have a soul, so you’ll feel its personality even if you can’t hear it.”
Everyone is high.
I cleared my throat and raised my hand. “I’m sorry, but how can a weapon have a soul?”
He looked down at his roster and then at my forehead. “Brielle, right?”
Damn this tattoo. I was totally cutting bangs. I nodded.
“In Angel City, we learn all about this in high school, so I’ll forgive you for being unprepared. Infinity weapons were given to us by The Powers. Archangels are humanity’s protectors, and The Powers are the angels of defense, the warriors of Heaven.”
Whoa.
“Right. Cool,” I said. Tiffany released an annoying laugh, causing her flock to laugh with her.
I cut her with a glare, but before I could think more on it the professor clapped, and all of the locks on the cages clicked open, falling to the floor. With another clap, the cages sprung wide open, and we all let out a collective “Ahhh.”
Magic was cool, I’d give him that.
“Now, finding your infinity weapon can be a challenge. Be patient. It’ll call to you—you’ll feel a kindred attraction toward it. A love for it. It’ll feel right, like you’ve been waiting for it your whole life,” he explained.
“If that’s it, then coffee is my infinity weapon,” I muttered softly, making a few students near me giggle.
The professor gestured to the cases. “These weapons will carry you through every battle for the rest of your life, so choose wisely.”
A few students started walking toward the cases while I hung back, firmly in the “do not want to pick first” group. Next to me, a gorgeous young guy with overly tweezed eyebrows and black hair gave me a hip bump. “I’m Luke,” he whispered.
I chuckled at his overfriendly hip bump. “Bri.” My gaydar was going off pretty hard, so I wasn’t worried that he was hitting on me, or anything sleazy.
He nodded. “Let’s just get this out there.” He gestured to my forehead. “My aunt is demon bound, she has that whole forehead thing going on, so I understand, and I’m totally cool with it.”