Demon Legacy (Hellfire Academy Book 3), page 1
Book Three
of the
Hellfire Academy Series
C. L. Coffey
Axellia Publishing
Demon Hunter
Copyright © 2021 C. L. Coffey
All rights reserved.
First edition, June 2021
Published by Axellia Publishing
Print ISBN: 978-1-912644-12-4
eBook ASIN: B08LBRFYMJ
Cover design by Bewitching Book Covers by Rebecca Frank
Edited by Aethereal Press
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, distributed, stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval systems, in any forms or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, without express permission of the author, unless for the purpose of a review which may quote brief passages for a review purpose.
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locations are used fictitiously. Other characters, names, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblances to actual events, locations, or persons – living or dead – is entirely coincidental.
Contents
Contents
Also By C. L. Coffey
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Acknowledgements
About The Author
Ways To Connect
Also By C. L. Coffey
THE HELLFIRE ACADEMY SERIES
Demon Born
Demon Hunter
Demon Legacy
Demon Shadow
Demon Fury
THE LOUISIANGEL SERIES
Angel in Training
Angel Eclipsed
Angel Tormented
Angel in Crisis
Angel Exalted
Angelic Schemes
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Dedication
For Naomi
Chapter One
“You’re quiet. Don’t you like flying?” Leigh-Ann watched me inquisitively with her blue eyes.
Considering this was the first time I’d ever been on a plane, I couldn’t say that I had much to compare it to, but flying wasn’t as scary as I expected it to be.
Especially not on a private jet.
But flying wasn’t why I was quiet.
In the hours before we boarded the plane, I discovered that Leigh-Ann’s twin brother, Harrison, was a Watcher.
Despite the efforts that Gabriel and I had made to find out what the Watchers even were, we had very little information. All we did know was they were nephilim. A secret line of descendants from an archangel who had been granted permission from God to have a child.
Except, my best friend was a prophet, and she’d begun having dreams, warning us about the Watchers before our college burned to the ground.
Only the males in the family were Watchers. Leigh-Ann’s cousin, Cash, and her uncle, Trent—both of them on the plane with us—as well as her father, seemed to be Watchers.
I had no idea how they would react when they found out Leigh-Ann was a prophet.
No, that wasn’t completely true.
Harrison knew about that.
Glancing past Leigh-Ann, I looked across the aisle of the plane to her twin. His blue eyes were almost hidden under his dark fringe, but he was watching me, warily.
I wasn’t sure why, but I didn’t think Harrison had told anyone about Leigh-Ann.
“More like she’s got a crush,” Ty scoffed.
Scowling, I turned to look at Tyrone Hamilton, Leigh-Ann’s boyfriend.
Also the son of the Beelzebub.
I was willing to bet neither Harrison nor Leigh-Ann had shared that piece of information with their family, otherwise, he wouldn’t have been on the plane either.
Slowly, I raised my fist before miming my middle finger at him.
Leigh-Ann wrinkled her nose, looking first at Ty, then at me before turning completely around in her seat to look at the three other men on the plane. She looked back at Ty in disbelief. “You know she’s with Gabriel, right?”
Ty beamed. “Of course I do, but she’s too easy to wind up.”
With a sigh, I turned and stared out of the window at the clouds below us. I should have been enjoying my first experience on a plane—a private one at that—but I just couldn’t relax.
Cash and Trent, knew what I was. Only yesterday I was in London battling the Fallen to save Siobhan, the angel who knew what the Watchers were. The only reason we’d had to save her in the first place was because a Watcher tried to kill her.
Aside from suspicious side eyes from Cash, neither of them had said anything about me being there. But I hadn’t missed the look they shared as I boarded the plane.
There was a good chance I was walking into the proverbial lion’s den, and I was doing it willingly.
Leigh-Ann left the seat facing me to move to the one beside me. She leaned over, tapping my shoulder. “Seriously, are you okay?” she asked, quietly.
Conscious that Harrison was still staring at me, I gave her a smile. “I didn’t tell Gabriel I was coming,” I told her. “And now we’re on a plane, so I can’t call him.”
“Oh, that’s a myth.”
Blinking, I stared blankly at Leigh-Ann. “Huh?”
“Well, so long as you use an app, you can connect to the plane’s Wi-Fi and call him.”
Glancing at Ty, who just shrugged, I turned to face Leigh-Ann. “Are you serious?” When Leigh-Ann nodded, I reached into my purse and pulled out my phone.
I hadn’t been lying. That morning, I’d had every intention of saying goodbye to Leigh-Ann as she, Ty, and Harrison left to go back to Texas for the summer. Although I’d been invited, my plans had been to stay at the college and catch up on my studies while learning to fight.
After London, those plans changed, and I was going to go to Rome, to Gabriel’s house in the Vatican City, to do almost the same, but to also learn as much as we could about the Watchers.
Those plans changed, too, the moment Harrison told me he was one of the Watcher’s we were looking for.
But no matter how much I wanted to call Gabriel, I couldn’t. Considering who else was on the plane, I needed time alone to actually tell him why.
Of course, I’d now been gone for almost five hours, and it was almost time for me to meet Gabriel so we could go to Italy.
Things happened so quickly, and I wasn’t even left alone to pack my bags, so I literally had no opportunity to even call Gabriel, much less run down to the professors’ apartments where he lived on campus.
I was almost certain Cash and his father knew who and what I was, but right now, they didn’t know I knew that. And for some reason, it seemed important to make sure it stayed that way.
However, now I knew my phone would work, so sending a text to Gabriel was something I planned to do. I pulled my phone from my purse and turned it on. The phone automatically connected to the Wi-Fi, but no messages came through.
That didn’t surprise me. Most of the people I knew were on the plane with me anyway. Gabriel wasn’t expecting to see me until later, and my mom . . .
My mom wasn’t going to call.
Quickly, I opened my messages and wrote a text to Gabriel: I’m really sorry, but I went to Houston with Leigh-Ann. I know a text isn’t the best way to tell you this, but it was a last-minute decision. I think I’m going to find out more about the W in Texas than in Italy. Please don’t be mad. I’ll call you later. Xx
Maybe I was being paranoid, but I didn’t want to put too much information into the text message. Needless to say, I wasn’t surprised when Gabriel messaged me back, almost instantly.
Kennedy, where are you? Why would you find out that information there?
I was about to reply when my phone chimed again.
Are you with Leigh-Ann? Are you two in danger?
Before I could reply, the phone started to ring. Quickly, I cancelled the call.
Beside me, Leigh-Ann arched an eyebrow. “You can answer that you know.”
Giving her a pained look before subtly nodding my head in Cash’s direction, I returned my attention to my phone. Can’t talk now. I’m with Leigh-Ann, Harrison, Ty, Cash and Cash’s dad. We’re on a plane somewhere over Texas. I think we’re due to land soon, so I’ll explain everything then. Xx
This time, there was a long pause before Gabriel replied. Be careful. X
Uneasy, I returned my phone to my purse, and my fingers brushed over the dagger.
An advantage to flying in a private plane was having no security. While I might have ha
I hadn’t even realized make-up was an issue until she explained we’d be flying from a special operator facility and therefore there were no security checks.
But it did mean I wasn’t going into the lion’s den without a weapon.
In a little under an hour, we landed. We didn’t even have to walk through an airport building. Instead, we were led straight to two Escalades. Thankfully, Harrison, Cash and Trent got into the first one, leaving me with Ty and Leigh-Ann.
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Leigh-Ann asked the moment the vehicle door closed.
Glancing past her at the driver, I shook my head. “Nothing’s going on. I’m just . . . excited to see Texas.”
“Looks like it,” Ty muttered.
Leigh-Ann turned in her seat to look at the driver before looking back at me. “We’ll talk at the house.”
I nodded, redirecting my attention out the tinted windows. I’d actually lived in Houston before, so in reality, I wasn’t the least bit excited about returning to Texas. Not because I had a problem with the state, so much as I’d already seen it.
Until we turned off the interstate . . .
Leigh-Ann didn’t live in Houston, I’d lived in Houston. In the an area which had one of the cheapest rents in the area, and with it, came a higher-than-average crime rate.
This neighborhood had a gate.
I’d never been in a gated neighborhood before. It was like traveling to a whole new world. Despite the summer months, the grass was green and the flowers in the border in full bloom. Nothing like where I had lived before.
This was a gated community to a collection of gated houses. If this place had a crime rate, it was going to be the white-collar crime.
One SUV pulled up behind the other as they waited for the enormous iron gates to open. The driveway up to the house was like the entrance to the college. When we pulled up in front, my mouth fell open.
Leigh-Ann didn’t live in a house. She lived in a damn castle.
Mottled gray brick, ivy climbing up the side, a porch with gray columns, and on one side of the house, there was an actual turret. The place was huge. Hell, the garage, tucked away on the side of the house, had three double doors.
Hoping my eyes weren’t as wide as saucers, I climbed out of the SUV and stared up. Shading my eyes with my hand, I stared at the building as though the tinted windows of the SUV had some magical property, making things seem bigger than they were.
The front door opened and one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen walked out. Mrs. Sinclair was a former Miss World winner, and she barely looked older than thirty. Her long platinum-blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and her make-up was immaculate. But she was wearing a pair of cutoff shorts and a sleeveless top which didn’t seem to coordinate with the rest of her.
For the wife of a senator and a Watcher, in this house, I had been expecting someone like Pinnosa.
That idea was wiped from my mind the moment she gave her daughter the widest smile. “Leigh-Ann,” she all but hollered, hurrying over the white pebbled drive so she could wrap her arms around her.
“Momma,” Leigh-Ann squealed back.
I gave Ty a sideways glance, finding him hanging back, toeing the gravel.
Cool, confident, cocky Ty was . . . nervous about meeting Leigh-Ann’s mom? That was equal parts amusing and sweet.
“Harrison, come here,” Mrs. Sinclair called when Harrison got out of the first SUV.
He glanced over at me before hurrying over to his mom. As I looked over at the Escalade he’d gotten out of, I noticed Cash and his dad standing beside it, watching me.
So, they were probably talking about me before getting out. Perfect.
After greeting her children, Mrs. Sinclair turned to me and Ty, giving us a friendly smile, as she walked over with Leigh-Ann by her side. “You must be my daughter’s boyfriend,” she said, folding her arms and pursing her lips.
Beside me, Ty’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down before he nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I’m Tyrone—Ty—Hamilton. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Mrs. Sinclair held out her hand and then her eyes went wide. “Oh my lord, I am so sorry.”
After a battle with his father and an archangel, Ty had lost one of his hands—the one Mrs. Sinclair was trying to shake.
“It’s fine,” Ty mumbled, quickly holding out the other hand.
“Nope,” Mrs. Sinclair said, firmly shaking his hand. “Leigh-Ann mentioned it before, but I had forgotten, which is rude and unacceptable.” She quickly shook his other hand before pulling him into a hug. “While you’re in this house, you are family.”
“Ooh.” She shook her head. “None of that ma’am stuff. That’s how we address Colin’s momma, and she’s nearly seventy. Call me Kelly-Ann.” She turned to me. “And you must be Kennedy.”
I nodded. “Thank you for letting me stay with you.”
Kelly-Ann gave me a dismissive wave. “Nonsense. I love meeting Leigh-Ann’s friends.” She took a step back so she could look at the four of us. “You must be tired after all the traveling. Leigh-Ann, why don’t you show Ty and Kennedy to the pool house?”
“The pool house? Mom!” Leigh-Ann’s mouth dropped open.
Kelly-Ann gave her daughter a disapproving look. “I have your uncle Trent in one guest room, and Cash, in the other. Where, pray tell, were you expecting Tyrone and Kennedy to sleep?”
Her mom’s tone was light and teasing, but with the way Leigh-Ann’s cheeks flamed, it was obvious where she had expected Ty, at least, to be sleeping. “I’ll show them,” Leigh-Ann mumbled.
We went to the back of the SUV to grab our bags. Unlike me who only had one bag, both Ty and Leigh-Ann had two suitcases each. While Leigh-Ann left hers in the back of the vehicle, Ty grabbed his, lifting them like they weighed nothing.
After realizing what he’d just done, Ty glanced back at Kelly-Ann, but she was busy talking to Trent.
“You’re fine,” I muttered.
Like me, Ty had supernatural strength, which he was supposed to tone down to avoid drawing too much attention to himself. It was strangely reassuring to know I wasn’t the only one who forgot about it sometimes.
Leigh-Ann led us away from the others and along the side of the house. As soon as we turned the corner, she let out a long sigh. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think she’d put you in the pool house.”
I kept quiet. It wasn’t that I minded being in the pool house over the main house—the fact that the pool had a house was a confusing concept as it was. But I’d watched a few episodes of some TV shows, and the pool houses seemed to be one big open plan room with a little kitchenette.
Sharing that space with Ty would be awkward. He was dating my best friend. If Gabriel was sharing a room with another woman, I’d be jealous. And not because I didn’t trust him, but because it seemed . . . inappropriate.
We rounded the back of the house, and I stopped suddenly. Between the house and the pool was an area of the patio which looked like it was paved with marble. Then there was the pool. In one corner was a freaking waterfall. It may well have been put there specifically for the pool, but seriously. Who the hell had a waterfall in their backyard?
Neither Leigh-Ann nor Ty slowed, so when I realized I had fallen behind, I hurried to catch up.
Leigh-Ann led us past the pool. Once again, I found my mouth falling open.
When Kelly-Ann had said pool house, I wasn’t expecting an actual house.
The front of it had windows which seemed to replace the wall. Inside was a couch which had been sank into the floor, a dining table for six with a fan spinning lazily above it. At the back was a kitchen with an island. There wasn’t a single apartment I’d been in that had a kitchen as big as this.
And to one side, curling upwards, was a spiral staircase.
