Diabolical by Cynthia Leitich Smith Read Free Book Online

outside world.”
    “Let’s not rush to ‘cultish isolation,’” Quince says from behind her laptop at the table. “Do you have any experience with this kind of thing?”
    “GAs don’t engage the enemy directly,” Zach answers. “That’s archangel territory. I’m not knocking on Satan’s schoolhouse door without more information. I learned better than that from you two.”
    Still, his bags are already packed, holy sword and all.
    Quince begins reading from her screen. “Ground was broken on Scholomance Preparatory Academy, a private school in Vermont, just over a year ago.” She glances up. “The land was bought at public auction, and the buyer tore down the main house, which gave the historic preservationists hissy fits. . . .”
    I’m slowly turning yellowed pages. “The consensus is that the flagship school in the Carpathians was originally a benevolent gathering place. It welcomed sorcerers, magi, shamans, and the like. Over the ages, it may have fallen victim to corrupting forces. Some claim it’s a place where good and evil cross swords. Others argue it’s a school of pure villainy. However . . .”
    I reach for a slimmer, more modern-looking volume and open it to a chapter I bookmarked earlier. “A handful of modern scholars — most notably a weresloth from Venezuela — have theorized that it’s a neutral ground. A place where magic makers, the wicked and the honorable, come together on a joint quest for all there is to know.”
    “Ambitious.” Quince takes a drag of porcine blood from her U.T. sports bottle. “Though not necessarily satanic. Is it possible that Lucifer lost interest in the school?”
    Zach leans over my shoulder to read. “Anything’s possible. But my girl sent down the alarm for a reason. From upstairs, she can see for herself what’s happening to Lucy.”
    I move into the living room and turn on the Weather Channel. “Flights have been grounded all over the Northeast,” I call. “But we should be okay on the interstates.”
    In the human world, Zach doesn’t legally exist. He doesn’t have a birth certificate, a social-security number, or any valid form of ID. So he can’t get on a commercial airplane. Plus, there’s the issue of our weapons.
    “You’re not coming along,” he replies, walking in. “If Quincie doesn’t ride up with me, I can’t make the trip. Technically, as her GA, I shouldn’t risk separating —”
    “If Quince’s going, I’m going.”
    “What would you tell your parents?” he wants to know. “What about school?”
    “My parents are Quince’s legal guardians,” I remind him. “My high school is her high school. Nothing much happens the first week of the semester anyway. I’m a straight-A student. Quince rocked her finals last month. I’ll tell my folks we’re going to visit a friend of yours up north. That’s the truth —”
    “Technically,” Quince says at the entryway.
    “We drive,” Zach agrees, muting the TV. “At least if something happens to me, I won’t be abandoning Quincie completely. You two will wait at a hotel while I —”
    “Wait?” Quince says. “What are you talking about? We’re seniors. We’ve faced down monsters before. Do you really think we would let you go off —”
    “Enough!” The angel throws his hands in the air. “For the love of the Big Boss, Quincie, you are my principle assignment. My wholly souled, high-risk, undead principle assignment. It’s my sworn duty to protect you. If you were human . . . Forget it. If you were a freaking martial-arts-master werebear, I wouldn’t let you anywhere near the God-damned place! I might as well renounce the Big Boss and march us both straight to hell.”
    That quiets her.
    “What about me?” I ask. “You may be our resident expert on heaven. But I’ve been studying the demonic since I was old enough to read.” When he doesn’t answer, I add, “You need my help, Zach. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have called.”
    We’re not