25.

  Tav woke up later that morning, she stretched her arms out but felt something different. Her eyes shot open as she realized what it was that was different. She reached to her neck for her Glamor and felt nothing.

  “No,” Tav said, “No, no, no,” she reached for her dresser, desperately searching.

  “Looking for this?” Angelica said, standing at the door, dangling the Glamor on her fingers.

  “Give it back, or I swear I will-” Tav gritted her teeth.

  “You’ll use your demon powers and destroy me,” Angelica grinned, “You can’t do anything to me, I am an angel, and you’re a demon,” her eyes narrowed, and she looked with disgust at the horned girl before her. “I knew it, I knew you were wicked,” she scowled, “All year, I’ve seen you, I’ve seen how you tempt men, how you hide in the shadows, how you resist every effort I have made to bring you into the divine light. I exhausted all reasons for your sins and realized the only explanation would be that you are of evil blood,”

  “I’m not evil, I haven’t done anything to you, I haven’t done anything to anyone, you don’t understand. I’m not my blood, I just wanted to be a hunter, I just wanted to be like my father,” Tav said.

  “Your father,” Angelica huffed, “The Betrayer, the man who let lose the EverDemon, his actions caused the death of hundreds, how many deaths will your works cause, you’re probably here to kill the entirety of the student body,” she said.

  “I’m not here to do anything!” Tav said, “I’m just here to be a hunter, please, you’re an angel,” Tav begged.

  “Yes, I am an angel, and I am doing the work of an angel,”

  “If you’re an angel then you should know the ways of forgiveness, and understanding,” Tav begged, “You should know when you see a poor soul who only wants to do what’s right, demon or not, an angel should forgive someone, even if they’ve done nothing wrong, I’ve done nothing wrong, nothing to you or anyone,” Tav said.

  “You are a shame to this academy, you don’t belong here, you’re what we’re meant to hunt,” Angelica said.

  Tav got out of bed, held her hand out, and pulled for her trident. It leaped from the wall and into her hand. She held its three points towards Angelica, “You give it back right now,” she said, her voice full of all the vicious demonic lust for violence Angelica had expected from her.

  “What a surprise, a Demon threatening an angel, I knew you were wicked, you even use a demon's weapon. That was my first clue. You were always hiding something, all year, you don’t talk to any of us, you shower alone, and you avoid any questioning of your betrayer father, I knew you were hiding something, I thought there was some secret you were keeping!” Angelica said, “And so did everyone else. We all know your father betrayed The Hunter’s Order,” Angelica twirled the glamor in her hand, “Tell me, how many men has your mother seduced to the path of darkness, a hundred, two hundred, she must really get around,” Angelica rolled her eyes and had that damn smug smirk of superiority on her face.

  “I will run you through right now, I don’t care what anyone is going to say, give it back, and if you tell anyone I swear-” Tav had her trident pointed right at Angelica. She measured how far she would need to thrust to get to her. She was just an inch out of reach, if Tav made an Attack Angelica could easily dodge, summon her sword and shield, and they would be throwing down right there in the girl's dormitory.

  “You swear?” Angelica laughed, “You’ll be kicked out of the academy if you so much as scrape me, I am an angel, I was conceived with the holy duty to expose your kind, expose your darkness to the world. And that’s what I’m going to do,” Angelica said.

  Tav dropped her trident, “You can’t,” she put her hands together, putting aside any thought of unleashing her inner demon and lunging with hateful lust toward the angel. She reduced herself to begging, “Please, please, you can’t let anyone know. I’m not evil,” she shook her head, tears welling in her eyes, “I’m just different, we’ve fought together, why do you hate me just for being different,” she said, “I’m not my mother, and I’m not my father. I’m a demon hunter, like you,” she pleaded.

  “Like me?” Angelica laughed, “Oh, you’re nothing like me, I am a holy woman blessed by the forces of the above, I am beautiful, sacrosanct, and pure, I am an angel and it is within the full authority of my birth to bring demons like you to heel,” Angelica straightened her shoulders, “I have to stop you, it is my duty to stop you before you corrupt this academy with your demonic ways. You are a blemish on this fine institution,” Angelica said, her hands starting to glow, “Where did you even get this tool,” she brought her hands together and squeezed the Glamor, the radiant light from them starting to melt and warp it.

  “No, you can’t!” Tav lunged and tackled Angelica to the ground.

  “Attacking an angel, I wouldn’t expect any less from a demon,” Angelica pushed off the floor and brought Tav to the ground, “I’m going to show everyone who you are, what you are, you’re just a demon,” she said.

  Tav struggled and fought Angelica, their rumble brought them out into the hallway, and people began to gather around them. Angelica grabbed Tav’s shoulder and using her holy angelic powers summoned sacred fire to her hand, grabbing the side of Tav’s neck and burning her with her scared fury, “This can only hurt demons, only hurt you,” she said as Tav cried out in pain, she tried to pull herself away, falling outside in the hallway. Tav gritted her teeth and brought her palm up to Angelica’s chest, unable to control her emotions, she released her full power against Angelica, knocking her back several feet and into the hallway. Had it not been for Angelica’s angelic resistance to the power of darkness she would have been knocked out cold.

  “That’s just a taste, you give it back or I swear you’ll get more,” Tav said, a violent and damning demonic look in her eyes.

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  Angelica pushed herself to her feet, “Show them, show them all what you really are, demon,” Angelica said.

  The crowd was gathering around the dorm hallway, Tav looked from left to right, all these people, all these people who could see what she really was. She tried in vain to cover her horns, gasping and panting, her neck still sore from Angelica’s attack.

  “No I’m not like this, please,” she looked around, “Please all of you, I’m just a hunter, I’m a hunter like all of you are,“ she said, as she started to cry.

  Angelica stood up, “Fellow students, we have a demon among us, a vile creature of evil and death. She was likely sent here to gather information,” Angelica held up the destroyed and melted Glamor, “She’s been using this, using this to deceive us, she tried to hide who she really was from us so she could corrupt the academy. She is not our friend, she is of her blood, she is of the Morning Star, and here to do the Morning Star’s works,” Angelica said.

  “It’s not true,” Tav was still holding her hands on her head, trying to cover her horns, “I came here to be a hunter, just like the rest of you. I’m not here to do evil, I’m not a demon, I swear I’m not a demon,” she begged.

  “I knew something was off about her,” one of the girls said.

  “The professors need to know,” a boy said.

  “I heard she’s been getting around, trying to seduce the boys,” another girl said.

  “Shut up! Shut up all of you!” Tav screamed as a wave of power went through the halls and knocked everyone back. Angelica was the only one left standing, using her angelic power to fight the force of evil besieging her.

  The voices swirled around Tav like a dark and black ichor surrounding and enveloping her.

  “I can’t believe they let a demon into the academy,”

  “How did the professors not know?”

  “She should be locked in the dungeon,”

  “Should we get our weapons?”

  Tav looked around, she saw scared faces, angry faces, faces that hated her. She saw the faces she had dreaded seeing since the first day she realized that she was different from normal people. She summoned her Trident to her hand, “If any of you want to fight me, you can fight me,” she said, holding it strong before all these accusing eyes. She ran back to her room, reached into her dresser, and collected her ingredients. Some of the other students approached her and she fought them off with just a wave of her trident, “If any of you come near me, I’ll kill you,” she said. “I’m a demon, if you think you can fight me you have no idea what I’m capable of,” she gathered a spell in her palm and threw it forward, knocking the other students out of her way, “Stay away from me, or I’ll be the worst demon you’ve ever fought,” she said, running off to the stairwell.

  The commotion had woken Cole up and he came to the gathered crowd, “What’s going on?” he asked.

  One of the other students turned to him, “Angelica just exposed a demon, there was a demon in the academy, probably sent to spy on us and get information before she killed us,” he said.

  “What? A demon! Tav,” Cole said, looking down.

  “Yeah, that Tavalia girl, she’s a demon, she just ran off. We have to tell the professors, there’s a wild demon running loose in the school. Thank god that Angelica was able to figure her out, she could have killed all of us if Angelica didn’t find her,” he said.

  Cole pushed his way through the crowd, and found Angelica, “What did you do!?” he demanded, looking at the angelic beauty, “What did you do to Tav!?”

  “I exposed the demon, I saved all of us,” Angelica said.

  “Tav isn’t a demon, she’s a hunter as much as any of us,” Cole said.

  “Foolish man, you don’t understand the power of angels, we can sense when there is a demon in our presence,” Angelica approached Cole, she put her hand out and ran it up his chest, “It’s not your fault, she seduced you, she used her demonic magics and charms on you,” Angelica smiled, “It was hard, but I was able to break them, she won’t have any power over you anymore,” she said, “Take your place, fighting for the above,” her smile grew wider, “We’re going to tell the professors, join us,” she looked down, then back up to Cole, flashing all her angelic charm, “We’re Demon Hunters, and we have a demon to hunt, help us won’t you,” her hand slithered up to his neck, and she turned his head to her, “Seventh son of a Seventh son, you’re destined to wipe demons from the land, join us, one demon, one weak little demon girl is nothing compared to the might of the academy,” she said, “Take your sword, light it aflame like your brothers and father before you could,” she said.

  “I would never draw a sword on Tav, she’s my…friend,” Cole said.

  Angelica reached up, and put her hands on Cole’s head, “You’ve been seduced by a demon, it’s nothing to be ashamed about, Demon women are known to be able to seduce even the mightiest warriors, here let me fix you,” Angelica said as her hands started to glow.

  Cole pushed her away, “Get off me, Tav hasn’t done anything to me, Tav is good, she’s kind, she’s not what you think she is,” he said.

  “A demon’s charms can be very seductive, my angelic family told me that I would see this if I went to war with them, please Cole Longdren, Seventh son of a Seventh son, you are a holy warrior and it is best if you do not refuse the aide of an angel,” she said.

  “You’re no angel,” Cole said, gritting his teeth, “You may be half angel, you may be beautiful, you may be able to fool all these people, but you’re no angel, you’re a bitch,” Cole said.

  Angelica stepped back, “Sir, Man of the Longdren line, you don’t mean what you say, you are beguiled, the Demoness Tavalia has worked her dark magics on you and seduced you, your words are not your own,” Angelica said, turning to the crowd, “Do you see!?” she asked them, “Do you see what Demons, what her kind are capable of, Cole is the best of us and her power was so great she could even seduce him, we have to find her, and we have to stop her,” she said.

  “Tav didn’t do anything to me,” Cole said, and looked to the crowd, “She never did anything to any of us, she just wanted to come here and study, she’s not evil, you’ve all been in class with her, she’s just a normal person, no different from any of us,” he turned back to Angelica, “You’re the one that’s bloodthirsty, you’re the one who wants us to turn on someone innocent, it’s you, Angelica,” he looked down, “Damn the angels, and damn whatever right you think you have to pass judgment on people,” Cole looked back to the other students, “Tav has done nothing to any of you, and you were all so quick to push her out, to hell with all of you,” he said, then turned back to Angelica, “That girl never did anything to you, despite everything you’ve done to her, she never showed you a hand of violence until you pushed her too far, if that’s a demon, then maybe demons aren’t so bad, and if you’re an angel, maybe angels aren’t so great after all,” he said.

  “You dare speak ill of the Angelic?” Angelica said, shocked, “You, poor, poor deluded man, what dark evils has she whispered in your ear, what conniving darkness as she weaved into such a great a hero as you could be,” she turned to the crowd, “Do you see this evil, she came here to corrupt the best of you, take arms,” she said, “We must destroy this demon ourselves,” Angelica said.

  “No, I won’t let you,” Cole held his hand out and summoned his sword to his hand. The crowd dove and made a line for the blade as it came it its place in Cole’s hand.

  “If any of you want to hurt Tav, you’re going to have to get through me first,” Cole said, holding up his sword, as a great roaring flame rose from the hilt and encompassed his blade. “I am the seventh son of a seventh son, and I am pledged to wipe evil from this world, if anyone wants to hurt Tav, then know that you are evil to me, and I will purge you,” he said.