By the looks of Karston, the Darkness had every intention of killing him. There’s not an inch of his body that isn’t black and bruised or oozing blood. I don’t know how he’s even fucking alive. As a Demon in charge of my own battalion of fighters, I’ve seen gruesome things, things that would keep children up at night, monsters more horrifying than your darkest nightmares. Karston looks like he’s been in the depths of Hell, fighting hordes of monsters all on his own.
But something saved him.
Or someone…
The Darkness is an entity that has no feelings, no morals or values. It would not have stopped attacking my brother on its own. So what did?
Those thoughts and many more keep me more than preoccupied. I’m downright angry. I can feel my blood becoming molten with fury. How can I possibly hope to win against a foe I can neither track nor fight?
Fuck.
Nothing defeats me. I’m not the lead Demon for no fucking reason. It’s because I have no fear and will stop at nothing to complete a job, sacrificing myself if necessary.
And right now? I feel hopeless. My brother will recover, yes, but what about Hadley?
Where is she?
“Come on, Brax, we need to get to class before the professors realize we’re gone,” Auston whispers while shaking my arm.
“I don’t have any classes until later. I’ll stay with him,” Preston assures us as I slip off the bed and head to the exit. I give him a nod and walk through the door Auston is holding open.
I hate being in the infirmary anyway. It’s filled with bad memories. Every time I look in there, all I see is Hadley’s grayed-out face as the Darkness took hold of my love and forced her body to suck the essence out of Fucking Jake. Honestly, I hope that asshole is still alive, just so I can kill him myself.
Auston stalks down the hallway leading away from the hospital wing and over to the main campus when we see Dominic, Head Demon, up ahead. He has a sour look on his face, which only grows more somber as he flags us down.
“You off to class?” he asks, eyebrows arched.
“Uhh, yeah? Where else would we be going?” Auston snarks.
Dominic narrows his eyes at him. “Oh, I don’t know. Perhaps you’ve been out looking for Hadley?”
I glance at Auston. His jaw is grinding hard on his teeth, and his hands are curled into fists. I put a hand on his shoulder and squeeze, trying to deflate his anger. This is Dominic, a Demon I trust fully.
“Still no sign of her,” I whisper.
Dominic nods his head in defeat. “You know, when this happened a century ago, I was in charge of researching and developing our plan to contain the Darkness.”
Auston perks up at this revelation. “Really? Is there any information pertinent to Hadley’s disappearance you think could help us?”
Dominic scratches his head. “There might be, but for the life of me, I can’t remember where I put it.” I find this odd. Dominic is anything but disorganized and always has a plan of attack. “Well, good luck you two. You’re going to need it.” He gives us a vacant look, like his head is miles away, then walks down the hall, muttering about where he put his research.
“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Auston asks, looking at me with a mischievous grin.
I smile back. “We need to find that research.”
“Mmhmm. But where should we look first? Dominic’s office?”
I shake my head. “No. If it was in there, he’d have found it already. Dominic is not the type of Demon to lose things. My guess is, someone else already found it. Now, who do we know that likes to be in charge, knows everything, and will get what he needs at the expense of everyone else?”
Auston frowns. “Administer.”
“Yep. But the main question isn’t why he did it—because we all want to eradicate the evil from the Academy—but how the fuck are we going to find it?”
“It’s obvious, Brax. We have to infiltrate his office.”
I nod my head agreeing, though I don’t think the task will be as easy as Auston is making it out to be. Administer is a hard man, a stoic Reaper, who shows no emotion whatsoever. He’s also very private. No one really knows much about him, other than he’s been at the Afterworld Academy for as long as anyone can remember, maybe even longer than Stefan, the Headmaster.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” I say with a grin.
Auston’s lips curl into a smile. “Fuck classes. I didn’t want to suffer through another lesson in life documentation anyway.”
With the same goal in mind, we turn right and hustle down the stairs and out of the building. I know we look intimidating. Auston is a huge Guardian Angel with massive white wings and tattoos running up and down his arms. I’m almost as big as him, with my own large wings, though our looks couldn't be more opposite. He is light where I am dark. But together, side by side, we are an impenetrable wall. Students scurry out of our way as we prowl down the path and through the forest.
“I wish Karston was with us. That sneaky little fuck could just make himself invisible and sneak right in there,” Auston grumbles.
“I don’t know about that,” I respond. “Remember how down in the tunnels, there were walls even Karston couldn’t pass through? Well, I expect we’d find the same thing here. He’d be stupid not to protect himself with the Darkness lurking around. We will need a better plan than that.”
“What do you suggest? We can’t just stroll up to his office door with a box of cupcakes, asking for the records.”
I sigh. “No. You’re right. Hopefully, he’s not in there, or we’ll have to lure him out first.”
“Lure who out?” a familiar voice questions from behind me. Auston and I exchange a glance before turning back to find a curious Layla strolling towards us, an inquisitive look on her face. Her eyebrows raise as she waits for us to answer.
“No one,” I respond a little too quickly.
Her eyes narrow, and her lips curl into a sneer. “Don’t give me that shit, Braxton. I can see through your lies.”
“Whoa there, little first year. Chill the fuck out with the hostility,” Auston growls. “Our business is not yours. Keep fucking moving along to your class.”
Layla puts her hands on her hips and cocks her head. “Not until you two tell me what you’re up to. It's about Hadley, isn’t it? Well, I want to know too. Maybe I can help.”
Auston crosses his arms defensively. “Doubtful.”
“Fine. There’s nothing you could find out that I wouldn’t already know anyway. Layla Omnifate always knows.” With that cryptic response, she spins and marches back to the Academy.
“Well, that was fucking weird,” I say, running my fingers through my hair. “Maybe we should be asking her some questions.”
“Yeah, something’s up with her,” Auston notes as we once again head down the forest path. “Ever since she followed us into the tunnels, she’s been acting strange. At first, I thought she was overwhelmed by the loss of Hadley and the revelation of the secret room, but now I’m not so sure. And where the fuck did she disappear to?”
“A problem for another day. For now, let’s focus on getting into Administer’s office. Actually…” I pause when the trees part and the sun beams down on us through the branches. “Care for a flight?”