Vala Eminence (5 page)

“Mr. Collins,” the dull voice of Mr. Thantos said from behind Denver. He spun to face the teacher, not smiling or giving any other kind of fake pleasantries. A lot of the students liked to pretend nice with the fallen angel, or at the very least be polite. Denver didn't bother. He didn't like when people were fake to him, so why be the same way to anyone else?

“Yeah?” Denver asked.

“I would like to arrange a schedule for our lessons. I am not aware of how in-depth you would like for them to be, nor how frequent. In fact, I am not aware of much beyond that you wanted them,” Mr. Thantos stated. He waved for Denver to enter into his classroom. “I have a few minutes to discuss this matter now, and then I will request you bring further inquiries to my office.”

Denver walked into the classroom and took a seat in the nearest desk he could find. “I didn't come to you.”

“No, you did not.” Mr. Thantos sat at his desk and stretched out what remained of his black wings.

The angel had fallen in an attack from Lucifer himself, or so the rumor went. He had been stabbed by a powerful weapon, the Sword of Vile. Legend said that the sword could change anything good, pure, or wonderful about a person, into death and darkness. Mr. Thantos had been created for the sole purpose of being a guardian angel. On the day of his attack, all of that changed. He gained the abilities of an angel of death, and began to fight the evil that coursed through his veins as a result of being infected by the sword's magic. When he refused to bend his morals and join the demons, Lucifer's minions tortured him and decimated his wings. One was completely ripped from his body, leaving nothing more than a small stub of bone. The other was tattered and shredded with only a small portion of his feathers remaining.

Mr. Thantos stared up at him expressionlessly. “I am glad you find my history to be so fascinating, but please do not let it distract you. While I said I am willing to discuss my schedule with you, I did mean it when I said I only had a few minutes.”

The angel could also read minds, and unlike most of the students and staff in the school with the ability, he didn't care for invading other people's privacy.

“Okay, few minutes, got it. I'll keep it simple then. I wanna learn more about my magic because no one else is willing to teach me anything. You know about the other things I've learned recently… about my heritage. Tell me how I can make the most of my magic so I can come into my full power and take back everything that's mine,” Denver said.

For a moment, Mr. Thantos watched him. Denver could almost see the gears turning inside of his head with thought. “I am glad you have found out the truth at last. To be honest with you, I think learning how to control your magical capabilities is to everyone's benefit, not just your own. While you have some rather questionable behaviors, keeping you in the dark is unethical. Of course, the staff does not listen to me much. If I were in charge, this school would be run much differently.”

“I'm guessing you wouldn't cater to the Divine families as much and wouldn't let them stomp all over you like a rug under their feet?” Denver raised an eyebrow, surprised that Mr. Thantos actually agreed with him. That could have been the sign of the apocalypse right then and there.

“Among other things,” the angel said. “There are a few conditions to my taking you on as a magical pupil. First and foremost, I will only be teaching you until Mr. Orinda returns from his… business. I believe his skills are more along the same type as yours and so that would be more beneficial to you in the long run. Even if you have more power, he will be able to teach you more of the hands-on material. Spells, control, that sort of thing.”

Snorting, Denver folded his arms in front of him. “So what are you going to teach me?”

“How to use dark magic for good.” Mr. Thantos' black eyes locked with Denver's. “Because dark magic is not the same as evil magic. A common misconception. If you can protect your spirit, soul, and body, then you are one step ahead of a lot of individuals. This benefits you in a number of ways. Obviously, it will be good for your eternity, it will help with ruling your future domain properly, and it will increase your overall power. I am sure the only one of those reasons that interests you is the last one, but I can hope there is a small bit of decency left inside of you.”

“If you'd have said that to me a week ago, the answer would have been no,” Denver said with all seriousness. The angel only nodded. “How many people here know who I am?”

Mr. Thantos leaned back in his chair, putting his arms behind his head in a casual position that looked far too awkward for him to do. “Dr. Warhol knows as well. She seems to be more informed than she lets on about everything, but it is her business to know the psychological well-being of our students. The Principal knows, but Ms. Lis has not told any of her staff. Lucien would not like it.”

“Huh, and here I thought Ms. Lis wasn't cool enough to hang with the demons.” Chuckling, Denver got up and walked over to the blackboard. He picked up a piece of chalk and randomly began to doodle.

“Your activities this fall were not the only reason the wards against the demons have fallen across the campus. From what I understand, this is a new development and part of Lucien's plan to destroy you. Naturally, he is hoping to get rid of you before your father dies so he can obtain your power and birthright. Ownership of the underworld will go to whoever is conveniently available and voted in by the Divine. He has almost half of the Greek Divine wrapped around his finger.”

Hmph.
Denver erased his artwork. “You sure know a lot about this stuff. Care to tell me how?”

Mr. Thantos sat forward in his chair again. “It is my business to know for your protection. I do not want Lucien to succeed. He is more evil than you can imagine, and I would know him far better than anyone else. We used to be partners, after all, and angels do not take that bond lightly even if it is only business. I guess you can equate us to being brothers.”

“Can't say I understand, but I'm sure it's all touching and mushy. Still doesn't explain
how
you know things.”

“Perhaps at a later date I will teach you. It depends on how much I decide to trust you in the future.”

Denver's lips twitched into a smirk. “If there's one thing I like about you, it's that you don't lie to spare my feelings. I hate that kind of crap.”

“It is not beneficial to either of us for me to lie to you,” Mr. Thantos said. “I believe your time is up. Please go to my office and schedule when you are available for lessons. I suggest reserving between one and two hours at a time. No more, no less. I do not want to overwhelm you, nor do I want to cut things short.”

“Got it. I have things I wanna do anyway, so I have no problem with going.” Denver shoved his hands into his pockets and walked out, not bothering to say goodbye. He rounded the corner and made his way through the hallway until he came upon the section designated for most of the teaching staff. On Mr. Thantos's door he found a sign up list for one-on-one time with the teacher. Denver made sure his name was written down on every day for the next two weeks — two hours, every night from eight until ten.

Satisfied, he walked back to the dorms. The dinner hour for the high school students was almost over. He was hungry, but food didn't sound appealing to him. Instead he wanted blood — Cheyenne's blood, to be more exact. Drinking from her was a part of their relationship he was still trying to understand. The basic gist seemed to be that her blood belonged in his veins and pleaded for him to take it. There had to be a complicated reason as to why.

He entered Cheyenne's dorm, using his key-card to unlock the main door. Until visiting hours ended, he could get into any of the dormitories without a problem. Even after visiting hours he didn't have too many problems since he had a nice bag of summoning stones to use. With his magic, each stone had a unique power inside of it for him to unlock. It was one of the few things he had in common with Jewl. She too had the ability, but couldn't tap into it nearly as strong as him. Jewl also didn't know much about her Divine magic, another thing for the two of them to bond over once he decided if he wanted to trust her with the secret or not.

Jewl seems safe enough. I don't think she's told her boyfriend
… thing…
about all of our adventures. Not like they're any of his business, or even worth telling, but that should mean something to me.
Jewl had a way of making things make sense. She was as close to a friend as he'd ever get. Hopefully, someday he'd feel comfortable enough to let her in on the secret as well.

The students at Athena Hall were getting more used to seeing him around. Not that he'd never graced the dorm's presence before Cheyenne, but it hadn't been anywhere near as frequent. A few of his conquests had stayed there in the past. Every time he entered he got a solid glare from the Resident Assistant. Oddly enough, the warlock in charge of regulating the teenagers was being much nicer to Denver than he had been in the past. That might have something to do with the fact that Denver was no longer causing as many problems. The last thing he wanted to do was give Cheyenne any heartbreak. Somehow the warlock must have known that the relationship between her and Denver was uncharacteristically pure.

Casually, Denver made his way to the girls' side of the dorm. Cheyenne lived on the main floor. He walked to her room and gave a firm knock on the door. There was some shuffling from the other side, and then the door opened revealing Halyn, the obnoxious roommate who would never approve of him.

“Ugh,” she groaned. “Chey, your…”

“Boyfriend,” he snapped.

“Boy… friend…” She gagged on the word. “He's here.”

Cheyenne moved next to her roommate. She was wrapped in a large fleece blanket, her skin more pale than usual. A smile was on her face, but he could tell she wasn't feeling the greatest.

Frowning, he walked in. “You shouldn't be out of bed.”

“I got bored with lying around and trying to sleep,” she said.

“Only trying to sleep? Have you gotten any rest today?” he asked, sitting on the couch.