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  Sophie looked into his eyes, incapable of coming up with something clever, or at least decent to say. She could only think of how much she liked him and how different he was from Kain. He was warm, kind, and patient. He’d make a wonderful mentor, she knew it. The song ended, and they stopped moving. They were frozen in the middle of the ball room, in an intimate, yet relaxed embrace. Alexi was the one who took a step back, then lifted her hand to his lips and planted a soft kiss on her knuckles. Sophie took note of his gesture and compared it to Kain’s possessive hold on her and his refusal to let go when she had pushed lightly against his chest. However, could she really choose one over the other and never regret it? The grandfather clock behind the stage struck four.

  ♥

  For what felt like the hundredth time that night, all eyes were on her. Sophie should have gotten used to it by now, but the truth was she just wanted it to be over. It was 5 AM and she’d never been so tired in her life. She was standing in front of the stage with Lilith by her side, the glass goblet with the two claim rings between them. She spotted Alexi leaning against the wall, in the shadows, with a glass of red wine, looking as if he was deliberately trying to isolate himself from the crowd. Kain was on the opposite side of the ball room, perched up on a table like he owned it. Sophie thought it was a bit rude of him but, at the same time, she found it sexy.

  “Sophie,” said Lilith. “We’re all waiting for your decision. The claim rings have their owner’s name engraved on the underside, so you simply have to pick one and slip it on your finger.”

  “Yes…”

  Sophie looked at the transparent goblet, uncertainty dancing in her eyes. She had had three hours to make up her mind, three hours in which she had weighed both possibilities, tried to assess the consequences, and struggled to figure out if she’d regret it if she chose Alexi over Kain, or vice versa. Seven minutes ago the clock had struck 5, and she still hadn’t made a decision. She was in the same place she had been when the two cambions had let their rings drop to the bottom of her goblet.

  “Sophie?” Lilith’s voice was smooth and encouraging, but it didn’t quite reach her to snap her out of her conflicting thoughts.

  “Yes. I… just a second.”

  “Don’t overthink it.”

  “How in hell’s name could I not overthink it?” she thought. She took a deep breath and decided to weigh the two possibilities once more. She swore to herself it was the last time. Kain Svjetlo: hot, stubborn, domineering, most likely the most selfish guy she had ever met, and his aura could burn her like a scorching summer day. Alexander Volkov: sexy, kind, patient, a true gentleman compared to the blond, and his aura tickled her senses like rain tickled the trees before soaking the damp earth. She exhaled softly and her hand reached for the rings. There was only one solution to her dilemma.

  Neither Alexi, nor Kain could see which ring she picked up. They saw her slip it onto her finger and they prepared themselves for Lilith’s announcement. But, when the succubus wanted to speak, Sophie’s hand went back inside the goblet, picked the second ring, and slipped it onto her finger next to the first one. Everyone in the ball room held their breath for a long moment, their eyes wide with disbelief. No, she hadn’t accepted both claim rings, had she? It wasn’t possible. No one in the history of Lure Academy had ever had more than one mentor.

  Kain jumped off the table and walked towards the podium, the cambions around him moving out of his way without him even asking. Alexi watched the blond then finally decided to leave his obscure corner. Neither of them had expected this to happen. It had begun as a challenge, actually, as a game of power. Sophie hadn’t paid attention when it all started because she had been too paralyzed by panic to be aware of her surroundings, but everyone had seen that Alexi had been the first one to drop the claim ring into her goblet. They had both approached the stage then, roughly at the same time, Alexi one step ahead of Kain. If Alexi had chosen Sophie as his apprentice because he hadn’t wanted her to feel alone and unwanted, or so he thought, Kain had chosen her to defy Alexi, to draw his attention and force a reaction out of him. Or so he thought. Now, they were both walking towards Sophie, who was admiring the two rings on her finger. However, when she lifted her eyes and saw their tense expressions, hard eyes, and pursed lips, her heart almost froze in her chest. She thought they would both be pleased with her choice. She couldn’t choose one over the other, so she figured she could get the best of both worlds and not offend either of them. After all, Lilith hadn’t said that she absolutely needed to choose only one mentor.

  The headmistress smiled tensely. She cursed herself for not telling Sophie to settle for one mentor. At least then she would have had to deal with one mad cambion, not two. Alas, the harm had been done and there was no way she could change it. Alexi and Kain working together? That was pure fantasy. She stole a glance at Sophie and wondered how long the girl would last. Such a shame, really. Lilith knew the young cambion had incredible potential. The silent rivalry between Alexi and Kain would ruin it. Sophie would become their battle field.

  “Let’s hear a round of applause for the most unusual triad Lure Academy has ever seen.” Lilith’s voice sounded loud and clear, and it didn’t betray any of her thoughts. The cambions started applauding timidly, but no one cheered. The incubi and succubi chose to remain silent at their isolated table.

  Sophie managed a shy smile. Alexi responded with an almost imperceptible nod, and Kain winked, but the sensuality of the gesture was lost on his straight face and unsmiling lips.

  “Well,” said Kain. “I guess I’ll see you next week for the first session.”

  “Yes…”

  Kain turned to Alexi. “Coming to Occidens, partner?”

  Alexi threw him a sharp look. “I feel like taking a stroll first.”

  Kain smirked. “Suit yourself.” He headed towards the door, ignoring Sophie completely.

  It wasn’t like she was waiting for him to kiss her and bid her good night, but she couldn’t deny she had hoped for a proper smile, at least. Alexi stared at his shoes, waiting for the blond to reach the door and step out into the cold morning air. After he had probably given him enough time to reach their shared dorm, he stole a glance at Sophie and mumbled a weak “see you around”, then nodded towards Lilith and walked out of the ball room.

  Sophie’s left hand flew to her lips and the two claim rings caught the artificial light. She bit lightly on her thumbnail and turned to Lilith.

  “What have a done?”

  The redheaded succubus touched Sophie’s wrist and pulled her hand away from her lips.

  “You’ll be fine.”

  END OF BOOK ONE

  CHAPTER ONE

  Although the classroom for the first course, “Introduction to Demonic History”, wasn’t impossible to find, Lamia made sure Sophie was in the right place, at the right time, which meant ten minutes earlier. Taking in her surroundings, Sophie noticed the classroom was quite small, with a whiteboard and a video projector at the front. There weren’t many students, as this introductive course would only last two weeks, so the newcomers would get used to their new position as defenders of mankind before moving on to the real, complete course of Demonic History, where they would get to study the “Ars Goetia” with all its demons, enigmatic ranks, and complicated sigils.

  Sophie was just about to open her history book when a petite blonde stopped right in front of her desk.

  “Mind if I sit here?”

  Her voice was loud and cheerful. The girl was practically bouncing on her feet, her flowery, frilly skirt seeming to have a will of its own. Sophie was happy to make new friends. “No. Please.”

  “I’m May.”

  “Oh, right! I’m sorry, I didn’t recognize you. Sophie.” The girl looked entirely different since the first time Sophie had seen her, at the Midnight Ceremony. Her hair was tied up in a messy ponytail, and she wasn’t wearing any make-up, which made her look very young.

  “Nice to meet you.” May sat down next to
Sophie and started taking her books out of her bag. “Did you manage to read anything?” She motioned to her desk-mate’s History.

  “No. I arrived three days ago and everything happened so quickly. I didn’t get the chance.”

  “I came here last week. I went through three or four chapters. The first ones are quite boring. History and stuff. Except when you get to the Pantheon.”

  “Right.” Sophie remembered that was exactly what she had intended to do before May interrupted her. She grabbed the book and turned a couple of pages.

  “Here, let me help you.” May took the book from Sophie’s clumsy hands and flipped to page 24. “We have this course with Anahit. Here’s her profile.”

  Every member of the Pantheon had one page in the History. On the top right corner of the page, there was a picture of the incubus or succubus, showing them in human form, a detail which was mentioned in a note underneath the photo: Incubus Humanus or Succubus Humana. Sophie made a mental note to ask someone, maybe Lamia, about the real faces of the Lure demons. She doubted May would be of much help. The pages contained little information, though, most surely ending up frustrating the students who were craving for more. Skimming down the page, Sophie read: “Anahit, The Lady of the Pomegranate; born from the seeds of a pomegranate grown in the Gehenna Tree; this fruit is a symbol of fertility and resurrection; Lady Anahit wears a ruby pomegranate on a gold necklace, which is said to have the ability to resurrect the dead.” The rest of the information was rather dry and factual: the studies she had written, the most important cases she had solved, and the way in which she had contributed to the development of the Academy. Sophie decided she hated dates and years. She wouldn’t remember them anyway. Instead, she couldn’t tear her eyes off the picture of the second in rank succubus.

  “She’s beautiful,” she said.

  “They’re all beautiful. It’s in their nature,” replied May.

  “Well, yes, of course. But she’s my… you know…”

  “Oh, I see.” Understanding what she meant, May got excited and flipped some other pages. “Mine are Erah and Tarini. We’ll get to see Tarini today in ‘Study of the Ancient Texts’.”

  Sophie turned more pages until she found Tarini, The Wandering Star, and Erah, The Lord of the Changing Moon. The names didn’t make sense to her. She suddenly remembered about Ke-sar and wanted to look for his profile, but she didn’t have time as the classroom door opened and a beautiful woman made her way to the front of the room. Beautiful was an inappropriate word, however. Anahit was breathtaking. Sophie remembered the impression Lilith had made on her. She remembered her palms getting all sweaty. Now they were freezing.

  ♥

  As she walked between the two rows of desks, Anahit left a sweet scent behind her. That was the first thing Sophie noticed about the ghostly succubus. The air was filled with a fresh, citrus perfume, combined with the smell of winter, of snow and ice, which made the students imagine an arctic landscape full of frozen fruit. It was highly contradictory but, as Sophie would later find out, Anahit was a demon of contradictions. Unlike Lilith, Anahit was tall, slender, missing the exaggerated curves. She wore a long, white dress which delicately caressed her translucent skin. Her wavy chestnut hair fell down to her waist, and her faded blue gaze rested upon the students for a couple of seconds. After she had taken them all in, she smiled warmly and turned on the video projector. Her movements were fast, smooth and elegant.

  “What you see in these pictures is the reason for which Lure Academy has been fighting for hundreds of years on behalf of mankind.” As she was talking in a hushed voice, Anahit pointed to the large screen behind her. There was a slideshow with pictures showing women burning at tall stakes, terrified people watching the envoys of the Holy Inquisition chanting prayers, banishing imaginary demons. And then, there were men hanging from the arms, their faces twisted in pain, while monks were interrogating them in unimaginable ways. “It was the year of 1466 AD when the Dark Forces came with the idea of reinventing a medieval weapon against mankind.”

  Listening to Anahit’s voice, catching its every inflection, Sophie felt her heart beating faster and goosebumps rising on her skin.

  “The Inquisitors were the successors of the Holy Brotherhood, now also known as the Elders, a hoard of blood-thirsty demons that took action between 1184 and 1230 all over Europe. The trials and death sentences didn’t last long, for in those times humans had greater faith and were able to banish the demons who were claiming to make justice in the name of Heaven. Humans were stronger, they were closer to nature and divinity, they fought evil alone and defeated it.”

  Anahit made a short pause to make sure her words had the desired effect upon her new students.

  “But the Dark Forces knew they would not always be that strong. So, they waited patiently for humans’ faith to weaken, and when that happened a new race of demons was created and sent right in the heart of the Church. The Inquisitors were similar to the Elders, but they were smarter, more wicked, powerful, and deadly creative. They were harder to be identified and banished, especially when humans themselves didn’t know whom to trust anymore. The Inquisitors were cruel. They were never satisfied and they always wanted more victims to burn at their stakes, more souls to feed off and then throw to the depths of Hell. Soon, it didn’t matter anymore if the men and women were sinners or not, they only wanted fresh blood. The incubi and succubi’s contribution did no longer count, for the Inquisitors were slaying sinners and innocents alike. But things got out of control when they began to make no difference between humans and… only half-humans.”

  Making another pause, Anahit took the time to fix each student’s eyes with her own.

  “Yes, the Inquisitors began to torture and burn even cambions. On the 16th of July, 1840, twelve little cambions were brought to the Office by mere peasants and accused of witchcraft. As some of you may know, young cambions can be easily recognized. Can anyone tell me why?”

  Anahit scanned the classroom with a delicate smile on her face. The students were enthralled by her story.

  “Yes, May?”

  “They don’t breathe until they turn seven.”

  “That’s correct, May. Thank you.”

  The petite blonde sitting next to Sophie was silently cheering at her first success.

  “Until they turn seven, cambions don’t use their lungs to breathe. They are like small, porcelain dolls, and they look like nothing you could ever find in this world. Also, they do not speak. Their presence is charming and hypnotic, and they communicate only telepathically. Otherwise, their safety depends on their mother, who usually hides and protects them until they start learning the behavior of normal children.”

  Strangely, Sophie couldn’t remember much of her childhood before turning seven. Or eight. She dismissed the thought.

  “So, on that unfortunate day, those poor, terrified peasants brought twelve innocent souls in front of the Inquisitors, hoping their families would be spared any false accusations at the future trials. It didn’t matter to the Inquisitors that they were half-demons; they treated them just like they treated their other victims. That was the last drop of a long series of mistakes. And it cost them. A lot.”

  A new set of pictures appeared on the screen. Demons with long tails and horns were burning, eyes mad with pain and something similar to surprise, their torn cloaks feeding the flames. After no more than five such pictures, the screen went black and all eyes were trained on Anahit. The white demoness took a couple of steps towards the students and put one hand on the nearest desk. The boy sitting there was staring at her wide-eyed.

  “You are the Army we created to defeat the enemies of mankind. Our children, our soldiers, our hope. This war is not about the principles of good and evil. It’s about humans. It’s about these innocent beings who don’t even know their world is an arena for a one-sided battle. The Dark Forces are attacking over and over, and no one has their back. The Angirs are sitting on their little clouds, carefree and careless, t
hey don’t see what’s down here. It’s up to us. We took action because they were killing our children and, maybe, our lovers. Because the Dark was no longer our home. The human world is our home now.”

  Sophie suddenly felt lightheaded as adrenaline ran through her veins. She felt excited, determined, and strong. She was willing to do her best, to start learning and training in that instant.

  “We, incubi and succubi, were created by the Dark Forces. You, our cambions, are half-human and half-demon. You always have to remember that it is not about who you are, but who you choose to be. And we choose to be protectors. We fight evil through evil, for this is our real purpose. The Dark Forces have failed with us.”

  ♥

  The library was in the North Pavilion, occupying almost the entire third floor. To say it was huge would have been an understatement. The library at Lure was the biggest library in the world, given that what could be found at the third floor of Septentrio was actually a joke: entire rows filled with books to simply decorate the reading lounge placed in the middle of the room. There were tables, armchairs and pillows scattered on the floor, most of them already occupied by students. The actual Library was underneath the building, digging deep down inside the mountain. To have access to those huge halls of world knowledge, the cambions had to talk to Tarini, the fourth ranked succubus. But, until then, they had a lot of study material at the upper level, and they rarely needed Tarini’s help. Only when a particular case asked for particular documentation.

  Alexi was sitting at a far table, near a window guarded from the outside by a half-eagle, half-ram gargoyle. He was looking intently, almost angrily, at the files spread before him. All that trouble… for what? And to think he had almost felt guilty for running to Kvasir, taking advantage of his father’s soft spot for him, and convincing him to get him the files which, technically, contained Kain’s past! How silly of him. What had he expected, anyway? After going through twenty cases, his mind started wandering to different places. First, it was Kain’s attitude towards him. He was too pushy, almost clingy. Alexi felt like the blond was following him around, and even though he didn’t know his roommate very well, he was sure it wasn’t in Kain’s nature. Then, he had also claimed Sophie as an apprentice, an action that still boggled Alexi’s mind. Why on earth would Kain suddenly decide he wanted to mentor? He hadn’t mentored in over ten years, and even then he hadn’t showed much interest in his apprentices. There was only one logical explanation: he hadn’t done it for Sophie, he had done it for him, for Alexi. To challenge him? To piss him off? To get his attention? Trying to make sense of the blond’s motives was useless. He was just going in circles.