Year 1: Renegade: A supernatural academy book for teens (Guardian Angel Academy) Read online

  She’d broken the solemnity, the fear that paralyzed them. Some titters and chuckles echoed from the seats.

  “Each of you has a set of black wings, symbolic of your decision to follow the decree from Shamayim and go to earth. When you finish your second year and become a GIT, you’ll receive a set of white wings. Your assignment and other humans won’t see these wings, and once you graduate from the academy, you can make your wings retract at will. The white wings will be your last set. Though you have these beautiful wings, let me remind you of one thing: flying is not allowed on campus, except at the Skyball pitch. We are not owls, to spend our time flapping about.”

  She smiled to take any sting from her words, and others laughed with her.

  “A few of you, one, maybe two, may end up becoming one of the heavenly hosts. You will understand why as you finish your education.”

  I understood why, and my heathen ichor boiled in my veins. Because war was an eventuality. Sheol knew it. Apparently heaven did too.

  I immediately banished the thoughts. The angel beside me could invade my mind, and I needed this guarded and private.

  “If you feel the call to join the heavenly army, if you have a desire to serve in such a capacity, please let us know.

  “After you manifest today, a master from your particular campus will find you and take you home. This campus, the academy at Yishuv, is home for all Empatya angels. The academy at Zion is for the Metamorfozahs. And the academy at Sinai is for the Teles. Don’t worry if none of those terms mean anything to you; by the end of today, you’ll understand.

  “Your campus is your home, and the angels you meet today are your new family. You will take your meals with them, have classes with them, spar with them, and room with them. They will not take the place of the familial bonds you had with your mortal family, but they will fill a spot you didn’t know was empty. So get to know your fellow angels, and don’t be afraid to open up to them.”

  I studied this woman as she spoke, noting the other angels standing silent guard behind her. Their expressions were calm and benevolent, yet somehow the sight of the six of them, endowed with heavenly power, sent chills down my spine.

  They could destroy me in a matter of moments. They could tear me apart limb by limb until every atom that made up my essence was scattered to the universe.

  It had been done before.

  CHAPTER TWO

  The woman finished speaking, and the lights went on. I shrank even lower and considered crawling out along the floor. I thought they would notice me, but the students did not disperse at once. They formed groups of three or four and talked, their faces glowing, their mouths turning upward in smiles. How did they seem to know each other? Weren’t we all first years?

  “They’ve been trickling in from Gehenna for several weeks,” Barachiel said, and I scowled. “The students gather here until they manifest and are sent to their official campus. First years cling to each other. You’re all in this together.”

  “No, we’re not,” I breathed, and then I winced. I shouldn’t have said that out loud.

  He stepped into the aisle. “Come, Jez.”

  I darted to the archangel’s side. I wished he would pull those massive wings out again and shield me from view.

  He crossed the grass courtyard quickly and led me into an x-shaped building with arching entryways. He pulled open a heavy door, and we stepped into a hallway with marbled flooring. The air inside felt slightly cooler than outside, but without the mild breeze.

  “This is so . . . modern,” I said, thinking of the grand palaces I’d witnessed on earth. “I expected something more . . . ancient.” And less comfortable.

  “GAA looks and feels this way because it is what the students of this generation are familiar with. It has looked and felt very different in times past.” He pushed on a door in the hallway and ushered me into a room.

  A woman turned from where she stood examining the top of a desk, and I recognized her as the one who had spoken to us moments before in the auditorium. “Ah.” She came toward me, a welcoming smile on her face. “Jezbathasat. We are honored to have you here.”

  I examined her closer now. She stood regal and tall, even with her golden wings tucked out of sight. If I had wings like that, I would never hide them.

  But I had no wings, none at all, not even the black wings of a first year.

  “Thank you for meeting us,” Barachiel said. “I know you prefer to be present during the manifestations.”

  “Remiel and Sabriel are both present, as well as the eldermasters from the other academies. They can handle it just as well.” She faced me, her expression kind. “Welcome to Yishuv.”

  Her kindness was not unexpected, but I did not know how to respond. I understood fear and formality, not gentleness. I inclined my head. “Yes, my Liege.”

  She gave a soft laugh. “I can see it will be an interesting journey for all of us. I am Archangel Selaphiel, master of the Human Relations class.”

  Another archangel. But I’d known that after I saw her golden wings.

  “Selaphiel,” Archangel Barachiel said, “could you find something for Jez to wear?”

  Selaphiel looked me over, her eyes falling on the dark tattoos embracing my arms. “Of course.” She opened a drawer of her desk and dug around for moment before pulling out a long-sleeved jacket made of some kind of animal skin. “Will this do?”

  I took it from her, fingering the supple, black material, surprised and pleased she hadn’t gone for a different color. I could not keep myself from asking, “You keep a supply of these in your desk?”

  Her eyes sparkled. “Manipulating material to produce what you need and when you need it is a skill you will learn also.”

  I was definitely intrigued. This was not a skill available to the Forsaken in Sheol. This was probably yet another reason Hasatan wanted me to come here.

  I slid my arms into the jacket, marveling at how the material fit to my skin as if it were made for me. Perhaps it had been. I exhaled, my shoulders relaxing. With the tattoos covered, I might not stick out quite as much.

  “It’s time to meet the other new students,” Selaphiel said. “Like you, those just arriving are unsure of where they are and why. They do not have any knowledge beyond their recent deaths and earth life.”

  That certainly encouraged me. I knew more than these new recruits did.

  “To begin with, I’ll take you to the manifestation room, and you’ll be separated by your powers.”

  “I don’t have any powers,” I began, but Selaphiel cut me off with a shake of her head.

  “You don’t know your powers yet, and neither do they. You will be on equal footing.”

  “I’m a Forsaken,” I said, annoyed she seemed to have forgotten. “I’m not gifted like they are. I’m not endowed with Light. The only reason I can tolerate being here is because he—” I jerked my head at Archangel Barachiel— “is shielding me with his Light.”

  The two of them exchanged a look I couldn’t decipher but didn’t like.

  “Eldermaster Barachiel has reason to believe there is Light in you. It’s just been concealed by Darkness for so long, you don’t know it’s there.”

  “It’s not,” I retorted, the anger rising in me again. Wait—had she said Eldermaster?

  “Calm down,” Selaphiel said, reaching for me.

  “Don’t touch her,” Barachiel warned, intercepting her hand. “It is forbidden.”

  Archangel Selaphiel withdrew, confusion flickering on her face.

  Surely she knew this. The law forbidding touch between spiritual beings was created long before I was.

  She gave me a soft smile, keeping her hands where they belonged. “You will not be as out of place here as you fear.”

  “I fear nothing,” I said, but it was a boldfaced lie, and my face flamed. These mind readers would know it. “Do they all have wings?” I demanded, turning to another painful topic. Because that was the biggest thing. I couldn’t hide my lack of wings. br />
  “They all have their first set of wings, yes,” Selaphiel said. “But none of them know how to use them, and many of them will spend the first few weeks trying to hide them.”

  I had never wanted wings as desperately as I did now. The Fallen had wings before they came to Sheol, but their wings were torn from them when they fell, leaving only shadow wings in their place. But the Forsaken and others like me who had never gone to earth to receive a mortal body had no wings. And we never would, because the time to make the choice to go to earth had passed.

  “Come this way,” Selaphiel said.

  Barachiel stopped her before we exited. “Jez, remember you are not to go to Shema,” he warned. “The amount of Light in that room will be too much for you.”

  I nodded. I hadn’t planned on going anywhere that contained a concentration of Light, anyway. But that led me to a question I had.

  “How do you keep so much Light in Arcadia?” I asked. I knew it was just another dimension of earth, and earth could not retain Light. “How do you keep other demons out?” I tried hard not to flinch at the word, as I was considered a demon.

  “We have a generator. It receives Light directly from Shamayim and maintains a shield around the campus, much as I’m using my Light to shield you from the Light of Arcadia, except in reverse.”

  A shield within a shield. So much to wrap my mind around.

  “And we keep the location of Arcadia, and the campuses in a particular, a carefully guarded secret,” Selaphiel added.

  Barachiel went one way, and Selaphiel guided me from the room. We walked down the corridor and out a door at the back of the building.

  “Did you say—you called him Eldermaster,” I said, trying to sound bold even though speaking to her took tremendous courage.

  “Barachiel is not only an archangel,” she said, crossing a dirt path and leading me to another large building, this one with a tall, arched roof. “He’s the Eldermaster of the academy at Yishuv.”

  I should have known. As if being an archangel wasn’t enough, he had the most power of all the master angels at this campus.

  “Here’s the Manifestation Hall,” she said, coming to a stop. “It’s also the greenhouse.”

  I tilted my head to examine the building. She opened the door, and I kept my head back as we entered, taking in the tall ceiling full of large windows curving over us. Though tall enough for multiple stories, it only contained one.

  Hundreds of other adolescents crowded the room, looking a lot like me in their mortal clothing. A few glanced at me, but not with any more curiosity than they eyed each other.

  “Join them,” Selaphiel whispered, inclining her head toward the group. “You are one of them.”

  I moved closer, my eyes captivated by the black wings sprouting from the shoulder blades of the nearest girl. I looked over her in her earthly apparel, all the way down to the pink shoes.

  She saw me staring and shot a glance at her wings as well. “I keep forgetting they’re there,” she said in a hushed voice. Leaning toward me, she said, “Did you hide yours under your jacket? I tried to pull my shirt over them, but they won’t fit.” She blinked, blue eyes wide. “I guess we’re dead. One second I was cruising in the car with my boyfriend, and the next, I was in—what did they call that place? The waiting place.”

  “Gehenna,” I supplied.

  “Yeah! I was there, being told all kinds of crazy stuff.”

  I nodded. “Yeah.” The word stuck to my tongue. Communicating with other beings wasn’t something I had much experience with. Not unless I was tempting them to commit a sin.

  She offered a fragile smile. “I’m Kenzie. At least—I was. They told me I have a different name here. I can’t remember it.” Her smile wobbled, and liquid shone in her blue eyes.

  I studied her. She seemed distraught. That never bothered me before. Why did it now? “I’m sure they’ll remind you.”

  “What’s your name?”

  “Jez.”

  “Is that your earth name or—”

  “My real name.”

  She nodded. “Jez. Do you think my boyfriend’s here? No one will tell me if he died also.”

  “I—I don’t know.” Her questions were making my head ache, and I didn’t want to talk anymore.

  “Welcome, new students!”

  Our eyes were drawn toward the front of the massive room, where Selaphiel and Barachiel and several other angels stood in a line, smiling at us. While she was dressed in typical modern earth clothing, others were dressed in loose robes or form-fitting apparel.

  “You may call me Master Selaphiel. I know you’re still accepting where you are and what this means, but let me reassure you, your life is far from over. There is so much to accomplish as a heavenly being, and many of you will find missions and journeys to fulfill in this part of your life. This is in reality your third existence, and as such, we will use that word more often. We have gathered you here in this room because it is thick with life and creative energy. Perhaps during your mortal existence, you sometimes felt like you could do more. Like you could be more. You sensed a power deep within you, urging to get out. But you were restricted to the limits of a physical body in a physical realm.

  “The energies in this room will encourage your gifts to manifest. Discovering where your talents lie will help us know what campus to assign you to. However, as you develop your potential, you may find you’re better suited for a different course. If at any time any of you wish to exit GAA, we will honor your choice and discuss your options with you.

  “While you are a student here, there are many regulations we expect you to adhere to. None of these are meant to restrict your freedom, but to keep your future choices open. When you arrive in your dormitory, you will find a bag with your school supplies on your desk. You will be given a special book, called an agenda, particular to you and your needs at the academy. Study the rules because ignorance is not an excuse for infractions. If you choose not to abide by the regulations, you also choose not to continue as a student here. Not everyone graduates, and that’s okay. There are many roles in Shamayim and many ways for you to serve in the Kingdom without a formal education.”

  Right. I sneered. Did they really think they had a choice? If they didn’t adhere to the commandments of the academy, they’d join the Fallen in Sheol. I personally knew hundreds of angels who had suffered this fate.

  “Whichever campus you’re assigned to, there will be a second-year student to help you learn the ropes of the academy. This student is referred to as the Team Lead, and they’ll help you understand everything expected of you here at the academy as you transition to this new existence. You’ll stick together by dorms but begin to separate out based on your specializations, which you won’t discover until later. And the academy masters will help you with your gift.”

  “Gift?” The girl called Kenzie ran her hands together in nervousness, but my eyes were drawn to her wings, which fluttered and touched their tips together.

  “Now,” Master Selaphiel continued. “Each one of you close your eyes and draw on your earthly memories. Find something or someone that represents love and light and hope to you. Think on that memory. Let it grow within you until it fills your entire being.”

  I looked around at the other students with their eyes closed. There was no need for me to do this exercise. I had never experienced love or joy or happiness. Not that I was unhappy or discontented. I simply was.

  Not the case for these students. Their faces showed various emotions, from rapture to pleasure, even to tears. A shower of sparks sprouted over the head of a boy, and he opened his eyes with a gasp.

  “Did I—?”

  One of the master angels had already descended to him, smiling and nodding.

  “Congratulations. You are an Empatya. You’ll stay here, at Yishuv. This is your campus.”

  “What does that mean?” a girl said, looking more alarmed than excited.

  “His gift lies with emotions.”

&n
bsp; Another girl gave a cry as rose petals formed in midair and dropped around her feet. “These are the petals from my quinciñera! How can they be here?”

  Another angel, this one dressed in loose pants and a tight long-sleeved shirt, stepped up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “You’re a Tele. You’ll learn more about your gift at the campus at Sinai. You are able to accomplish things with your mind. I’m a master from that campus, and I’ll lead you there once we’ve found all the other Teles.”

  Around me, students were discovering their powers. One boy transformed into a small dog, yipping and wagging his small tail.

  “Metamorfozah,” a woman master said, smiling at him and patting his head. “You’ll accompany me to the campus at Zion.”

  I swiveled, marveling, and I noticed I wasn’t the only one doing nothing. Another human boy stood a few paces from me, his eyes narrowed, peering at the excitement and wonder around us as if it were all a trick.

  Yet I could see his power, even if he didn’t. Darkness radiated off of him like the sun during an eclipse, brilliantly hidden and deceptively blinding. It called to me, drawing me toward him. Without even meaning to, I moved his direction.

  CHAPTER THREE

  His eyes lighted on me, and his head turned slightly to watch my approach. Did he see the same Darkness in me?

  “Who are you?” he asked when I halted inches from him. “Are you a teacher?”

  I shook my head. “No. I’m a new student. Like you.”

  “Where are your wings?”

  I stole the first lie that came to my mind, thanks to the girl called Kenzie. “I hid them beneath my jacket.”

  His lip quirked upward, amusement sparking in his eye. “So you’re not any more excited to be here than I am.”

  It wasn’t a question, and I didn’t deign to answer it. I stepped closer still. “I can see your power.” It called to me, beckoned me. It felt familiar to me in a way that was almost comforting. I closed my eyes and inhaled, and when I opened them, I saw an aura around him, a redness so dark it blended with the shadow peeling off him.