Bound to a Devil
Chapter 1

Carina

Humans say you’ll always wake up before hitting the ground in a dream. A jerk, a shudder, a scream into the night. No matter what, you’ll always wake up. And if you don’t… it’ll kill you.

That was true for the dreams plaguing me over the last three weeks. I’d wake with a start, my heart pounding in my chest, my brain running a mile a minute from the terror, and my lungs burning from the exertion. Every night, as soon as I fall into a dream state, I’m flailing through the air, plummeting toward the world below. The circumstances leading up to sleep don’t matter. It doesn’t even matter if I fell asleep naturally, took a sleeping mixture, or drank myself into oblivion like so many humans below. It’s always the same. My broken wings fighting against the current of air rushing beneath me as I tumble head over heels to the ground below.

Until last night, when I dreamed of a fight on top of a skyscraper in a city I’d never been in, and then my would-be assassin threw me off. He shot holes through my wings, breaking them and preventing me from healing or them from catching me. I screamed until my throat burned and my voice escaped me as the ground rushed up to meet me.

And then I hit. The shock radiating through my entire body as bones crushed, skin ripped, pain seared every nerve-ending in my body before disappearing entirely. The last sight my dying mind saw was the figure high above peering over the edge to marvel at their handiwork before darkness overtook.

“Carina!” The shouting and shaking instantly pulled me from the nightmare. “Are you okay? I thought you died for a second there. I think you actually stopped breathing!”

Callie stood over me, staring into my eyes as I slowly blinked away the terror of my nightmare. Her face was red and twisted up in fear and concern, almost matched her glorious hair.

Callie’s wings flew up behind her, the tips gently smoothing against the walls of our small room. We rarely extended them while indoors, but hers had a habit of jumping out without instruction when she was in distress. They had a mind of their own when it came to protecting her. The fight-or-flight response leaned more toward flight with my best friend.

Gasping, hands clamoring to my thunderous heart. “I… what?” I couldn’t put my rampaging thoughts into cohesive words for a few seconds. Breathing was my only task as the images flew through my mind. “He… Oh, God.” I panted, looking over at Callie as she pulled her wings back so she could sit on the edge of the bed. “He killed me, Callie.” I grabbed her hands. “I died!” The sobs couldn’t be held back any longer.

“You’re fine,” she said, rubbing the tops of my hands in a calming, reassuring motion. “You aren’t dead; you’re right here in your bed. Just look.” She twirled a finger around. “Our tiny room inside the Conservatorium.” A gentle, calming smile spread across her face as she pressed her forehead to mine. “You’re okay now. It was just a dream. Deep breaths.”

After a few deep breaths with her, my heart slowed to a normal speed and my nerves calmed to only a slight shudder crawling under my skin. I was still alive. I hadn’t died falling from that building. The look on my murderer’s face as he glared over the edge to admire his handiwork made me shiver as a chill raced up my spine and down my arms. My wings shook behind me, but they knew better than to spring forth without me calling on them. Unlike Callie’s.

Callie slowly rose from the edge of the bed. “You okay now?” I offered a careful nod. “Good. Get dressed; we’ve been summoned.” It didn’t need to be said who had summoned us. We always knew when the Leader of the Angel Order was unhappy with us. Emmanuel wasn’t one to play around; he was the most serious being I’d ever met. You didn’t keep him waiting. At least not if you wanted to stay on his good side.

She turned her back on me and walked to the door. With a glance over her shoulder, she added, “You really have to stop going down there and drinking all night. It’s effecting your state of mind.”

I didn’t want to argue with my best friend. She knew all my secrets and kept them to herself without a second thought. So I lowered my gaze and swung my legs over the edge of the bed without a word. She sighed, and then the door clicked closed behind her. I only wanted a peaceful night’s sleep. No nightmares, no dying, no waking up exhausted and panicked. I’d tried every potion, tea, and herbal tincture the angel medic offered, but none of that worked for more than a few hours. And then the dreams were back, tormenting and killing me repeatedly.

The human world offered more options. Drugs, alcohol, physical exertions all helped… a little. Yet, even they couldn’t keep my death away, but at least it took longer to find me with all of those chemicals swirling through my body. They numbed my mind and threw me into a deep sleep. I knew Callie was tired of keeping my secrets—were there ever really secrets in the angel realm?—but I was at a loss for what to do next. It was against the rules to go to the human realm without permission, but I was so very lost.

I cupped my face in my hands a moment before scrubbing the exhaustion from my eyes with the palms. It didn’t take long for me to change into a clean dress, wash my face, and throw a brush through my mousy brown hair. I was petting down a stray feather when Callie burst open the door.

“Now, Carina!” she shouted before slamming it closed again.

The halls were a buzz with excitement. Chatter echoed throughout the meeting dome as I stepped into the room. A quickly building crowd filed in around the edges, leaving the center open for whatever was about to happen.

Standing on tiptoes, I searched the crowd before finally spotting Callie’s red mane. You could tell just how mad she was by the darkness of her hair color. Right now, she wasn’t too pleased.

I pushed through the crowd of fellow student angels until I stumbled into the side of my best friend. She glared over at me, but her face softened to relief when she realized it was me.

“What’s happening?” I whispered. The surrounding chatter was loud, but she still understood my question.

She shrugged. “No one knows.” She jerked her chin toward one of the higher level students. “Matthew seems to think it’s about the Angel Delegation.” She rolled her eyes. “But we all know how he likes to act like he knows more than he does. So who knows?”

She wasn’t wrong. Matthew was the top of his class. He enjoyed bragging about being our leader’s righthand man. However, none of us saw proof of that claim.

A hush raced over the crowd as our leader walked into the room. The crowd parted wide, allowing him to move toward the center without restriction. Callie and I were so close I could have reached out and stroked the flowing white robes trailing several feet behind him. His black eyes darted to me, holding my gaze for a second before he passed and focused ahead.

“Did he just look at you? Oh, Carina,” she said with a gasp. Her hand fluttered to her mouth. Her eyes widened and she focused ahead. “This can’t be good.”

A tingling icy fear raced down my spine. If he knew even a little of what I’d been doing, nothing could protect me from his punishments. We were half-breed angels being trained at the Conservatorium, and he expected nothing less than complete control from every one of us. We had to prove we were worthy to live among the full-blood angels as equals. The elders tested, trained, and prepared us to live outside this protective bubble. And yet, while here, it was forbidden for us to leave the grounds without explicit permission and a detailed agenda.

I did that regularly, just trying to find a way to sleep. Slipping away to Earth became a skill only Callie knew about. And she was always terrified when I left.

Emmanuel stopped in the center of the crowd. His long gray hair reached almost to the floor as it settled on the tail of his robes. He never allowed his wings to be seen, keeping them shrouded beneath the many layers of heavy fabric. While most angels kept their youthful appearance by choice, Emmanuel allowed his to age. Wrinkles bracketed his black eyes. Creases deepened down the center of his forehead. And the skin beneath his chin had long ago lost all elasticity as it wobbled from side to side when he spoke.

With a tap of his staff on the marble flooring, silence fell across the crowd. When all angels snapped to attention and all eyes looked at their leader, he finally spoke.

“Welcome, students! I apologize for pulling you from your lessons on this glorious morning.” The crowd erupted in applause. “No, no,” he said, motioning for everyone to be quiet. “I have an announcement to make, and I need everyone to be silent.” The silence returned almost instantly.

Callie grabbed my hand without taking her eyes off our leader. She squeezed so tightly it felt like the bones in my hand would crack under her strength.

He swept a hand toward the doorway he’d just come in. “I’d like to introduce everyone to this year’s Angel Delegation!”

A single file line of angels dressed in deep blue robes strode in slowly. Hands clasped in front of them. Heads bowed and covered by hoods. They slipped through the parted crowd until they came around and stood behind Emmanuel.

“Now you may applaud,” he said with a smile.

Thunderous applause filled the room, bouncing off the walls and the dome far above at a level so loud I had the urge to cover my ears. Callie squeezed my hand even tighter, as if she knew what I was about to do. She shook her head and nodded toward the front. I frowned, not understanding what she was trying to say to me. Glancing forward, I watched the five figures lift their heads and throw the hoods back.

Callie mouthed Only five at me, and that’s when I realized what she was insinuating. There were only five people standing up there; the Angel Delegation is always six. Someone was missing.

When the applause died down, Emmanuel raised his hand to silence the murmurings. “As you can see, your fellow students have risen to the ranks of Angel Delegation through hard work and dedication, but we’re also missing one. That was not an oversight.” His eyes cast a hard glare in my direction, narrowing enough to deepen all of his creases. Looking over heads and between shoulders, I watched as he moved through the crowd, coming in my direction.

“Oh, God,” Callie hissed under her breath. She tightened her hold on me enough for something to pop. “This can’t be good.” Our eyes locked; hers filling with tears instantly.

“It will be all right.” My voice cracked as I spoke. Yet, I knew it wasn’t an accurate statement.

The crowd parted with his every step, allowing our leader to follow his desired path until he stood directly in front of me. Callie squeezed my hand harder, holding on with both of hers now. She pulled me back a step and pressed herself against my side. As much as I loved her, my best friend wouldn’t be able to stop what was coming next. I would take whatever my punishment was without breaking our trust. No one would ever know Callie had any knowledge of my discrepancies.

“Carina!” His voice boomed throughout the dome. Whispers and gasps surrounded us. “Daughter of the angel Magalena, sired by the human Jacob, I hereby summon you to stand as the sixth member of the Angel Delegation.”

A thundering uproar surrounded us. Shouts of disagreements, declarations of unfairness. Why would this mediocre half-breed be allowed such a prestigious position? She never worked for such an achievement, and now he’s throwing it at her! She does nothing of notability. It’s not fair!

The questioning, demanding, and all-out anger continued as Emmanuel took my hand, forcefully yanking me from Callie’s outstretched, grasping fingers. I looked back, reaching for her, but her fingers slipped from mine and I was pushed ahead of our leader.

As I stood in the center of the room, all eyes on me while others shouted their displeasure over the assignment, my nerve-endings fired in succession. Though I felt uncontrollably teeth-chattering cold, a heated blush crept up my neck and settled over my face. I wanted to curl into myself; disappear into a ball of nothingness. The hundreds of eyes bored holes into my terrified soul. The only friendly set was hard to see as everyone pushed in closer, blocking her soothing view.

“That’s enough!” Emmanuel struck his staff on the floor once more. Thunder rumbled and windows creaked from the power. Mouths snapped shut as the other students quaked in fear. He allowed a lot of personal choice, but when our leader had enough, you sure as Heaven better snap those mouths shut.

“Carina hasn’t been chosen because of her accolades.” He shook his head. “Oh, no. Carina has been chosen because she needs another course of action to correct her current predicament.” He looked over at me. “Would you like to tell the other students? Or should I?”

I couldn’t move, much less speak. A sound squeaked from my throat, but it wasn’t any particular word. Frozen, yet shaking from the cold sweat, there wasn’t anything I could do or say to make the situation any better. So why bother?

“Very well,” he said with a nod. “Carina has been going to Earth.” A gasp echoed through the room. “She lives a dangerous lifestyle full of human distractions and pitfalls. Drugs and alcohol fill her time.” He looked down at me with disgust. “Like a mere mortal,” he spat. He raised his staff into the air and addressed the crowd once more. “Carina is being sent as the concubine for The Devil’s middle son! Maybe she will soon understand the difference between obedience and personal desires.”

“Nooo!” I shouted.

It was the only sound I could get out, but no one else heard it when the crowd erupted in gasps, sobs, and cheers of agreement. Maybe the sobs were mine, or possibly Callie’s. When I found my best friend’s gaze, tears flowed down her face at a matching pace to my own.

Emmanuel’s declaration was an eternal death sentence. And all because I spent time on Earth when I should have been studying and preparing to be the best angel I could be. I crumpled to the floor in a heap of tears, fear, and crestfallen potential. There was no escape. He’d sentenced me to death in the darkest depths of Hell.