Lincoln grinned. “Just be ready for anything,” he added cryptically.
I waved my fingers in front of his face in a spooky gesture. “I got this.”
He took on a serious look, then dropped his gaze to the floor. “I asked Raphael if you could be exempt from competing.”
I stepped back, mouth open in shock. “You what? Why would you do that?” How embarrassing! He thought I couldn’t pass on my own and needed special treatment?
‘I’ll show him what we’re capable of!’ Sera screamed from her place at my hip.
‘Calm down. He’s just trying to help,’ I told her.
Lincoln ran a hand through his hair. “I can’t tell you why, but… the gauntlet is dangerous. Especially for you.”
Especially for me? What the hell does that mean?
“It’s a school thing, so it can’t be that dangerous,” I said casually.
Lincoln just shook his head. “You’ll see. Just keep training, and when you’re in there, use everything you have. Including the black tie.”
We’d affectionately named my dark magic ‘the black tie,’ since it ended up strangling the person I sent it after. But I’d never wanted to use that again, and he knew that. I’d gotten my four-watt-bulb hands to a stunning twenty-watt with a ton of practice; I figured eventually I could blind someone with it or something along those lines.
“I don’t want to go dark,” I told him.
He rested his hands on my shoulders. “You’re not, but you do have dark magic, and you need to use it when necessary.”
Fine. He has a point, I guess.
I nodded.
“Be back here at seven tonight. I have a special training for you.” He started to walk to the corner of the room, where his gym bag and water were.
“What special training thing? Not Carl, right?” Fear gripped me at the thought. I never wanted to train with that lunatic again.
He chuckled. “No, not him. But someone very special is going to teach you a lifesaving skill.”
I sighed. “Cryptic much?”
He chuckled. “Just be here.”
With a chaste kiss, he was off, leaving me to my own thoughts.
It was four o’clock. What was I going to do for three hours?
I decided to pass the time doing pedicures with Shea and Luke back in our dorm.
“When are one of you going to go all the way with your boys? I need sex talk here,” Luke pointed out, while painting lime-green polish on his toes.
I threw my hands into the air. “I’m beginning to think something is wrong with Lincoln. What guy in their right mind denies sex?”
Shea chuckled. “A guy who is like four years older than you, is afraid of breaking you, and has had a lot more sexual experience than you.”
I scowled at her. “Noah is older than you, and more experienced, and yet he tries to have sex with you twice a day.”
Her grin widened. “More like three, if you include the sexting.”
Luke winced. “Throw that poor guy a bone, girlfriend. If you don’t want something more serious with him, then drop him.”
Shea studied her red toenails intently. “Well, I don’t know. Last night he got all weird and asked if we were exclusive, then told me I could borrow his car if I needed it. It was creepy.”
Both Luke and I stopped what we were doing.
“In what universe is any of that creepy?” I asked. I needed to have a private talk with her. She did this a lot, the whole self-sabotage thing. Growing up without a dad, and with a drug addict for a mom had left its marks on her heart. She didn’t trust anyone in this world except my mom, Mikey, and me. That needed to change, or she would die alone.
“Right now it’s fine. If he cuts it off, I can walk away unscathed,” she replied.
“I get it.” Luke answered with a shrug.
Shea’s gaze keenly focused on him. “Maybe I’m bi. I feel like I could trust a chick more than a dude.”
Luke grinned. “Can you imagine rubbing up on a girl’s boobs?”
Her eyes widened in shock and she shook her head. “Ew.”
He busted out laughing. “Then you’re not bi. You’re just scared of getting your heart broken.”
“Okay, now that we’ve all questioned our sexuality, and determined we have relationship issues, I gotta go.” I announced, standing.
They waved me off.
I was wearing flip-flops, yoga pants and an old T-shirt. My muscles were sore as hell, so I was hoping this was more of a cognitive training than a physical one. I made it to the gym at seven sharp. If Carl was in there, I was going to kill Lincoln.
Opening the door, I gasped in shock as Archangel Michael came into view.
“Hello, Brielle,” he greeted in his buttery voice. I had to look away for a second, his skin exuded too much light to look directly at him. The glow suddenly dimmed, as he approached me.
“Hi. Sir, if I’d known it was you, I would’ve dressed a bit better.” I tugged on the hem of my oversized T-shirt.
He waved in dismissal. “Propriety doesn’t interest me. Come as you are.”
I shifted my weight and my muscles screamed in protest. Lincoln had gotten me a training with the most powerful warrior on the planet? I was going to die.
“I’m still sore from my other trainings, but I’ll do my best,” I hedged, kicking off my sandals and moving into a fighting position. I pulled Sera from my thigh holster and held her out before me.
Michael’s eyes glittered as a smile danced at his lips. He was insanely handsome, and said to have taken a human wife, but that was just rumor. I’d yet to see her.
“No, no, this isn’t that kind of training. I’m here to teach you about her.” He pointed to the dagger in my hands.
‘Finally, it’s about me,’ Sera sang.
I smirked at her comment.
“You two speak mentally, don’t you?” he inquired.
I nervously chewed on my lip. I hadn’t really told Shea, Lincoln or anyone about my conversations with my knife. It sounded too weird out loud, so I’d just kept it to myself.
I nodded in acknowledgment.
Michael smiled again. “The seraph blade is an extremely rare weapon. I’ve never seen one on Earth, nor do I know how it could’ve gotten here.”
I shifted my weight again, unsure what to say.
“It’s a rare weapon, even in the kingdom of light. I’ve seen merely a few in all of my existence. The seraphim protect the Creator’s throne with it.”
Whoa. Suddenly fear spiked through me. Was he going to ask for it back? Maybe it’d accidentally found its way into the school cabinet, and he didn’t think I should have it.
‘I dare him to try!’ Sera said boldly.
She had way too much self-confidence. If the Archangel Michael wanted my weapon, he was getting my weapon, and that was that.
“She… picked me, and I’d like to keep her….” I tried and failed to sound bold and confident.
Michael frowned. “Of course. I’d never dream of splitting you up. You’re soul-bound. She’ll help you through your life’s purpose here on Earth. Only death can truly part you.”
Sera and I sighed in relief at the same time. I wasn’t sure that being soul-bound to a weapon was a good thing, but it was what it was. I couldn’t imagine life without her at that point, as weird as that sounded.
“I’m here to teach you a fourth-year technique called weapon retrieval,” he continued.
“Weapon retrieval?” I asked, not sure what he meant.
He nodded and began to circle me. “In the event that you and Sera are separated, I can teach you to call her back to you from up to a hundred feet away.”
My jaw dropped. “Like Thor’s hammer?”
He frowned. “Who?”
I waved it off as excitement bubbled inside of me. “Never mind. So how does it work?”
Michael stopped and looked at me—looked through me, it seemed. “The seraph blade is a soul weapon. I can see your light and hers, intertwined in a way that’s similar to soul mates.”
My eyes grew wide. “Soul mates are real?”