It was now the first week of summer vacation, and the entire Fallen Army had been bumped to full-time duty. Even me. Raph was having me train first years who had failed the gauntlet. For the first time in history, he was going to give them a second chance after my summer course. We needed numbers that badly.

Shea was my teaching assistant. Ready to help with any Mage-related issues, as we stood on the field behind the school, to start my first lesson.

I could play this two ways. Mean “drill sergeant teacher” like Lincoln, and tough-love the shit out of them, or be a softy and try to get to know each one individually, helping them where they needed it, while supporting them.

“I’m really sorry you all failed the gauntlet,” I began my speech, having decided to be a nice teacher. The world had enough assholes.

“But you better sack up if you want to survive year two!” Shea roared from her place at my side.

I growled. So much for having a nice first impression. “I got this. No need to bring the heat,” I whispered to my bestie.

She just glared at the poor group of eleven students with a glean in her eye that said, ‘I might kill you.’

“Shea is right,” I continued. “You will need to toughen up. Demons kill the weak.” At my words, one little blonde girl looked like she might faint. “But that’s what I’m here for,” I added.

“Yeah!” Shea shouted. “By the end of this summer course, you will be kicking ass and taking names.”

A grin pulled at the corners of my mouth. Shea and I were teachers. What the hell was Raph thinking when he made that happen?

“Is it true you’ve killed like a thousand demons?” a girl with short brown hair asked me. Her expression looked tough, but she was scrawny as hell, and the shortest person in the class. I’d have to get her lifting weights.

My gaze flicked to her name tag—Tiny.

I chuckled. “Not even close. No.”

“But you have killed some?” an eighteen-year-old male model looking guy asked. His outfit and hair looked way too pristine for the battlefield. I was going to have to teach him to get dirty and lose the hair gel. There was only room for one Noah in this school.

“Yes, I’ve killed a lot,” I replied awkwardly.

“Is it also true that you made a pact with the Devil? To, like, go to Heaven and kill God and all the angels there?” a new girl asked, eyes wide.

What the hell? Is that what the rumor mill is churning out these days?

“Geez! Where are your manners, you little shits? This is your professor! Of course, she didn’t agree to that! Drop and give me ten push-ups. Now!” Shea roared and charged the group with an animalistic growl in her throat.

The students paled, dropping their notebooks and pens, and falling to the ground to do Shea’s bidding.

I schooled my features, trying not to let the girl’s comment get to me, but it was clear the rumor mill was in full effect. How the hell did they even hear about it? My mom had a saying: ‘Tell more than three people a secret, and it becomes a widespread rumor.’ I guess too many people knew. All I could do now was try to control it.

The students were face-down, doing push-ups when I decided to let the rumor go. Nothing I said right now would change anything. They would believe what they wanted, and I didn’t really care either way.

“I spent a year in Hell!” I shouted, deciding to switch to a mix of nice teacher, mean teacher. Technically it was only a few months in Hell from my point of view, but a year sounded more badass. “I am going to teach you what I learned down there about demons, and how to kill them. If you fail the gauntlet a second time, I will take it as a personal attack on my teaching. So, listen the hell up, and do as you’re told,” I boomed.

Shea gave me a grin from where she stood, looming over a first year who was struggling with her push-ups. Now I understood why Lincoln was hard on all of us. It made us better fighters. If I wanted these kids to pass, I was going to have to be their teacher, not their friend.

After making the students do jumping jacks, running sprints, and some random sixty-second planks—where Shea tried to hold in her laughter at how many of them fell over—I stopped the lesson.

“Today was a physical fitness assessment,” I informed them, writing notes next to each name.

“You all pretty much failed by the way. You need to strengthen your muscles,” Shea added, and I cut a glare her way.

“Tomorrow will be a magical assessment, where I will take a look at your gifts, and see how you can use them to fight in the Fallen Army. Class dismissed,” I commanded.

The eleven students, sweaty and panting, sulked off toward the dorms as Shea turned to me. “Oh my God, there is no way they can serve in the Fallen Army. No wonder they failed the gauntlet. That tiny girl couldn’t even do one push-up. One.”

I groaned. “Tiny just needs weight training. She’s got a fighting spirit.”

Shea laughed, hooking her arm with mine as we walked back toward campus. “A fighting spirit won’t do shit against an Abrus demon.”

A frown pulled at the corners of my lips, and I looked at my best friend. She’d matured since we started here. Her body was leaner and packed with more muscle, but there was a sadness to her eyes that wasn’t there before, a sadness that said she’d lived through some shit. I imagined I had the same. And on her finger—both of our fingers, actually—were rings. We’d grown up.

“Raph believes in them, and I do too. I can get them in fighting shape. They just need extra attention,” I informed her.

Shea grinned. “You will never change. Always believing the best in people.”

I would get these eleven students in fighting shape in the next eight weeks, even if it killed me. Raph thought I had what it took, and I was going to prove him right.

“I’ve got to drop off my training notes with Raph, and then I have my Emberly lesson,” I reminded, detaching from Shea, and beginning to make my way toward Raphael’s office.

“I’ll have Lincoln, or someone meet you outside the gym after your lesson!” she called out, heading in the opposite direction.

I swear Shea and Lincoln had some unspoken rule. If I wasn’t with someone powerful like Raph, Emberly, or a professor, they made sure one of the two of them was there to escort me places. It was maddening, but I understood it made them feel calm and in control, so I allowed it without complaint.

I had just reached Raph’s door when I heard a low female voice. She sounded angry.

“Humans aren’t as weak as you think they are, Raphael. It’s time we prepared them for the legacy we’re leaving them,” the female argued.

There was silence.

“I don’t think they’re weak, but I’d rather the Fallen Academy students protect humans, and fight the demons like we have for years.”

She scoffed. “And what about when there aren’t any more Fallen students? What then? You have a few more graduating classes, and then all the angel blessed who survived the Fallen War will be grown. Everyone under eighteen will be human. It’s time to pass the torch!” She sounded furious, and I was dying to know who she was.

“Come in, Brielle,” Raphael called out, and I stiffened.

Shit. Freaking mind reader!

Swallowing hard, I opened the door and took in the scene.

Raph was sitting behind his desk, wings fanned out as he pinched the bridge of his nose. In front of him, was some badass female with knee-high, black leather boots, a sword on one hip, and a gun on the other. She loomed over Raphael, and looked to be in her late thirties. The moment she spun to face me, I knew who she was, because she looked exactly like Emberly. Her stern face softened when she saw me, and a radiant smile lit up her features.

“Brielle! I’ve been dying to meet you. I’m Emberly’s mom, Grace.”

My eyebrows popped up in surprise a little at her name. It was so delicate and fitting for the wife of an angel.

“Hello,” I offered shyly.

Grace stepped closer to me. “May I walk you to your lesson?” Her hair was like a long sheet of white silk. It didn’t glow because she was human, but it almost did. She was absolutely stunning, and I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

Raphael looked relieved that she was offering to leave his office, so I nodded to her, finally gathering my wits and set the notes about my students on his desk.

“We aren’t even close to being done with this conversation, Raphael. See you at dinner this Saturday?” She looked over her shoulder.

Raph groaned. “Yes. I’ll be there.”

Grace nodded. “Good. Bring a lady friend, or I’m inviting one of mine to keep you company. You need to get out more.”

I chewed on the inside of my cheeks to keep from grinning at Raphael’s shocked expression, then left the office with Grace.

As we walked to the gym, I glanced at her gear. This lady was totally ready for battle.

“Are you in the army?” I asked her. She looked ready to throw down.

“God, no!” she scoffed. “They wouldn’t dare recruit a weak human.” The sarcasm dripped from her words as she walked in long, confident strides, and I found myself grinning at her sarcastic personality.

“I think it’s a great idea,” I told her. “That you want to train humans to fight the demons, I mean.”

She gave me a quizzical side glance. “Thank you. Raphael was open to the idea too, but the more we get into logistics, I can see he’s afraid they’ll get hurt. He treats us as if we’re so fragile.”

Humans were the most fragile among all of Earth’s inhabitants, but I didn’t think she wanted to hear that. “With the right weapons and training, I think humans would be valuable members of the Fallen Army,” I offered instead.

She stopped and faced me, a seriousness coming over her expression. “Next year is the last year of Awakening ceremonies, the last year of first year candidates. Everyone who was small during the Fallen War will be grown up, and I think this school could be put to better use as a Demon Hunter Academy. Humans only.”