Page 45 of In the Devil's Shadow

“Oh, I’m mad too, so you’re just as fucked,” Nonna promised, side-eyeing her. “Both of you go to bed, and don’t pull any more stunts for tonight.”

I didn’t bother brushing my teeth or changing out of my sweats, opting to just burrow under the covers instead. The booze buzz was wearing off, giving me a sharp headache. Angie fell asleep almost instantly, which wasn’t a surprise. That bitch could get eight hours of sleep on a swaying bridge in a hurricane and wake up well-rested. It was weird falling asleep without someone’s arms around me, holding me against a rising and falling chest. Just my luck–I would miss my guys when they were all mad at me.

I closed my eyes, hoping that sleep would eventually find me.

Chapter 18

2019, Brooklyn, New York City

Sitting behind the desk, I straightened up the mountain of assignments the teacher had left behind for me to grade while I waited for my twelfth grade AP Literature class to arrive. School had changed a lot since the last two times I attended. There were metal detectors, checkpoints, and no corporal punishments. It was also cliquier, the separation between student groups painfully obvious. Everyone seemed to have a problem with someone, and they had no issue taking it out on each other.

Fate was on my side. One of Diana’s teachers was unfortunate enough to get the flu. I was able to sweet talk her principal into letting me fill the substitute teacher position until the end of next week. Diana had been going through a rough school year, and this was the perfect way to keep an eye on her, especially given what I’d seen. In every vision I had of her recently, these mean girls from the cheerleading squad were bullying her. Last night I saw them do something truly heinous–something that would devastate her. Diana had recently won first place in a short story contest that was open to all the high schools in Brooklyn. During the April assembly, she would read an excerpt from her short story in front of the entire school. The bullies somehow used a net to haul dozens of pastries over the microphone stand, and would drop it at the end of her reading. They rigged a gallon of chocolate sauce to drop afterward. Then the entire cheer squad had little pig stuffed animals they planned to throw at her.

If I were still a guardian angel, I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. Guardian angels were there to guide their charges through difficult periods of their lives, offer them meaningful advice, and watch over them to ensure their safety. A guardian angel would have to sit on their hands, merely watch from the sidelines. Then, depending on how they insinuated themselves into their charge’s life, do damage control after the fact. But not me–I had fallen centuries ago. I could stop it from happening and make sure those bitter bitches got what they deserved.

The bullying had gone from manageable to out of control over the course of the school year. In some of my visions, the bullies knocked Diana’s books out of her hands, or stole her lunch and called her some tired fat insults. In another, they stole her clothes from her gym locker, forcing her to wear sweaty, dirty clothes all day. In my second-to-last vision, they went too far when they gave her a chocolate brownie with laxatives in it. They crowded around her bathroom stall, berating her for getting sick and blowing up the bathroom. After seeing that, I vowed that the next time I’d be there to protect her. So here I was, in a high school, impersonating a substitute teacher to prevent irreparable emotional damage.

I had no clue why they felt justified in tormenting Diana. She was a sweet, shy girl. At least she was the last time I saw her. I hadn’t seen her in person since she started high school when she was fourteen.I can’t believe she’s eighteen now; time really flies.Unless she truly needed me, I tried my best not to interfere. She needed to grow up and learn her own hard lessons so she would become the woman she was meant to be. She needed to build her emotional and mental strength for what was to come. If I watched her too closely like I did after her mother passed away, I knew I’d be too tempted to butt in and help. I had kept my distance for long enough though. I couldn’t let her go through this and suffer the long-term trauma it would cause.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the period.It’s almost time.I straightened my corny bowtie and pulled my long, curly hair into a low bun. Donning my fake, oversized nerd glasses, I hoped they would be enough to conceal my face from Diana. If my visions were right, she’d eventually start traveling to me, and I didn’t want her to recognize me right away. Students started to trickle in and take their seats. I went to the board and wrote my fake name on the wall– Mr. Azel. Before she walked through the door, I felt her presence. A static electricity shivered down my spine and through my wings. Even though they were hidden, I could still feel the current travel all the way to my wingtips. The air shifted in a way I couldn’t describe. When I looked up, I saw Diana standing across from the open doorway. She was talking to a young man with glasses and swooped back hair. I haven’t seen him in any of my visions before… would definitely look into him.

She held a canvas tote bag at her side with the school logo on the side. It was loaded with so many books I could see the outline of one pressed against the side of the bag. She wore black skinny jeans, a white tee shirt, a demon jacket, and red Chuck Taylors that matched her blood red lipstick. Her curly hair was tied into a top knot and her skin glowed with a natural radiance. Diana had done her fair share of growing since the last time I’d seen her in person. My visions were usually snippets, rarely full events unless they were pivotal moments in her life. They didn’t do her justice. Somehow the sweet little teenager I saw four years ago had turned into a beautiful young woman. This Diana possessed a lot more confidence, carried herself in a way that commanded the room. Everyone turned her way and looked at her when she walked by. Many of her classmates said hello to her, spare the two Beverly Hills bimbo wannabes sitting in the back. They just glared at her. She glanced at the board and strode over to me.

“Hi, Mr. Azel, my name’s Diana Rossi,” she said, extending her hand to me.

“Nice to meet you, Ms. Rossi,” I replied as I lightly shook her hand. My hand swallowed hers, and it was so small compared to mine that I could barely see the tips of her red fingernails.

She giggled, most likely at my formality, as I lost myself in her steel blue eyes. How had I never noticed how enchanting they were before? Framed by dark, full lashes, their swirling mix of blue and gray reminded me of Celestite crystals. They sparkled with a vitality I rarely saw these days.

“Oh, my God, you’re such a suck up. Why don’t you suck his dick, you pathetic teacher’s pet,” one of the girls in the back of the class shouted at Diana. The girl closed her fist and pumped it in front of her mouth to mimic her suggestion.

Her little sidekick got a good laugh out of that. Every seat in the room was almost full, and all eyes were on Diana.

“I don’t make a habit of seducing teachers, Torie,” Diana replied coolly. “I guess you have to, though, considering how you’ve already sucked all the male students’ dicks at this school. At least the ones that don’t care about getting herpes.” Diana dropped her bag on the desk and sat down, front and center.

My mouth dropped. This was not the Diana I met four years ago. Some students smiled at her, and a lot of them laughed at her barb. The girls in the back huffed, whispering to each other with sour faces. Diana took out a book and a notebook with a leopard pen, and acted like they weren’t even there, as if they were beneath her.

I had thought she may need me to protect her from bullies, but maybe she didn’t need me, afterall. Her newfound confidence led to a smart-ass mouth that was bound to either get her into trouble, or be her saving grace. If she learned how to wield her words like a sword, they could serve as protection for what was to come.

Present Day

I woke up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. Sometimes I’d get flashback visions in my sleep, but it hadn’t happened for a while.Maybe sleeping next to Diana triggered it?Either way, I took it for what it was–an omen. Seeing a flashback of Diana conquering her enemies was hopefully prophetic. Diana would need every kind of weapon and strength in her upcoming fight against Red, but if she was properly equipped, she had a chance at changing the world’s fate for the better. Her wit and intellect were her greatest strengths, and so was her ability to think on her feet. But her lack of magical knowledge was a weakness. So was her lack of familiarity with the magical world. We needed to get a jump on her magical education, ASAP.I’ll talk to Desmond about that today.

Diana’s prone form was peaceful in sleep and blissfully unaware of the drama I foresaw going down at the meeting tonight. Not all of my visions held true; the present was forever shifting, hanging by a thread of possibilities like a flame in the wind. The tiniest of actions could have ripple-effect consequences that changed everything. Hopefully, tonight worked out in our favor.

I wasn’t supposed to wake up next to Diana, but she had mindlinked me sometime last night, unable to sleep alone in bed. I suspected that would happen, so I faded in to get her without waking her sister up. Diana was a fiercely independent woman, no doubt, but she still enjoyed being cuddled at night. She craved love, support, and approval–even if she wouldn’t admit it–and I was more than happy to give her that.

The other guys were all different shades of red, from furious to mildly annoyed, about what happened. I was the only one that wasn’t mad at Diana. She was twenty-two-years old and had just found out that she was not only magical, but was set to change the world’s future. Her immortality, fathers’ legacies, and family drama hadn’t even begun to sink in for her yet. I knew those emotional break-downs were coming, and I would be there for her when they did. She was going to make mistakes and hopefully learn from them. The next year would be a huge period of growth for her. I guessed it helped that I had the Sight, and could see that her time-hop had no negative impacts down the road, too. I had a lot of insight on her actions for the next few months, actually.

We slept in her bed together. Last night and tonight I shared with Bash, and doubted she wanted to sleep next to him in his current mood. I also warded both our minds against his intrusion for the night, in case he felt like being petty. He claimed to have changed since the last time we dated, but it was always better to be safe than sorry with him. It was ironic how he faulted Diana for her impulsivity, when he was one of the most impulsive people I had ever met.

She yawned, turning away from me and snuggling her back into my chest. Her ass sat firmly against my groin, making it hard for me to focus on anything else we had going on today. Forget about last night’s drama and today’s impending meeting. I simply wanted to snuggle with Diana under my wing and listen to her talk in her sleep more. She had said my name last night, and for a moment I wished I knew what she was dreaming about. I wanted to know everything about her, from how her mind worked, to her favorite icecream flavor. Being with her in real life was so much better than watching over her from afar. I meant what I said last night to her grandma–I didn’t regret starting a relationship with her. Yes, it came with some unexpected surprises–and my exes–but we were all stronger as a unit. And my feelings for Bash and Desmond had never completely faded either.

“Good morning, honey,” I cooed as I nuzzled my face into her hair, licking the outer shell of her ear to wake her up. I brushed my wing against her bare arm, leaving goose pimples in its wake.

“No,” she said, burrowing herself deeper into me. Heaven in a handbasket, her ass was so warm as it molded to my dick. “It’s not time to wake up until my alarm goes off.”

“Diana, you didn’t set an alarm…you never do,” I pointed out. We really needed to get her on a better schedule for her training.

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