Sinful As Hell (The Demon Academy #1) - G. Bailey Page 0,34

but Sera and me come into the apartment so no one has asked questions about why there is a broken window with panels across it that can be moved so Javier can come back in without breaking anything.

"But you like me," I say with a chuckle, just as someone knocks on the door. Sera walks to the door and opens it as I stand up, seeing Amethyst stretching herself awake in the corner of my eye.

"A gift for Alexandria Cameron." I hear a man say, but the door angle hides him. "Good day to you both."

"Who was it?" I ask as Sera closes the door and walks over to me holding a small red box

"It was a Heller, and he said this is a gift for you. Do you have some secret admirers you need to tell me about?" she asks.

"Doubtful. Every guy I've been attracted to in this academy has threatened to kill me. I'm starting to wonder if that is my secret—and quite terrible—flirtatious charm," I say, and at least Sera laughs. I'm not joking, but okay. Sera hands me the red box that is about the size of an orange and I undo the bow before pushing it open. A white handwritten note on the shiny red card is resting on top of a necklace, hiding everything but the chain. I pick the note up, reading it out loud.

For my niece, how I am in deep sorrow that I cannot visit you.

This gift is a protection charm, straight from the fires of hell. Shall it protect your young demon life.

Your parents trial has been moved to three months away, on the count they are looking for a lost witness. I am sorry to bring you such news.

Be careful in the academy.

Enemies of our family are closer than you could ever know.

Your uncle,

Harry Snowen

"I’m so sorry about your parents trial, Lexi. What did he mean by that comment about the academy?" Sera asks, and I shrug at her as I put the note down to look at the charm necklace in the box. The charm is delicate gold bands like a cage surrounding a glowing and moving red sphere in the middle. I unclip the necklace from the box and hold it up in the light, seeing how incredible it really is. I try not to think about my parents being locked in that place much longer than they need to be. I can’t think about not seeing them for a long time. It’s always been just them and me, and now I can’t even call them to say hello.

I really miss their voices. I miss my mum’s sarcasm and my dad’s cheesy jokes. I even miss their arguments over which film to watch on a Saturday night.

“I don’t know, Sera,” I answer her.

"I've never seen or heard of anything like it before," Sera comments, her eyes on the necklace.

"It's beautiful, though, right?" I ask.

"Very," Sera agrees.

"Will you help me put it on?" I ask her, and she nods, carefully taking the necklace from me. I move my hair my ponytail out of the way, and she clips the necklace on, and it falls quite low on my chest which will make it easy to hide.

“It suits you, Lexi,” she says when she steps back, and I let my hair fall around me.

“Want to go for a walk? I don’t want to stay in the apartment all day,”

“Sounds lovely. I saw this garden on the other side of the building. The second years were practicing fencing in it the other day,”

“Fencing?” I muse. “Funny enough, my dad took me to fencing classes every other Sunday since I was a kid. Though it’s not funny if you think about it too long, it was just their way of getting me ready for this place without telling me.”

“Lexi—"

“I’m okay. Let’s go,” I say, walking to the door before she can see my emotions so clearly in my eyes. I don’t want to let her into my head right now; it’s not a nice place to be. Sera follows me out of the apartment and closes the door behind us, before moving to walk right in front of me like she always does. Heaven forbid we walk side by side.

“So where do wolf shifters live?” I ask. “As demons are in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean where it’s damn cold.”

“There are over twenty packs in the world, most live in towns, and they don’t bother anyone. The biggest pack, the