Page 15 of Fortune Academy: Year One
Not sure what problems I had caused. The bitch came after me first.
“And stolen one of the hottest guys,” grumbled her friend.
Yeah, Dante was hot, but he wouldn’t touch these girls with a nine-foot-pole. Somehow I just knew he wouldn’t be into snooty bitches no matter how gorgeous they were and I decided I liked him even more for that fact.
A small crowd had formed around us and tension cut the air. Now that I got a better look at the girls I shared the dormitory with, I noticed they were all drop-dead gorgeous. If the girls were this hot... I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to meet the guys. Based on my experience so far with Dante, Kaito, and the wolf shifter, supernaturals had an affinity for good looks.
“Look,” I said, dropping my voice and turning my body to the side, hoping that the gesture came off as non-threatening, “I’ve had a long day. If you want to go for Dante, then I’m not going to stand in your way. Really.”
The muse narrowed her eyes at me and she crossed her arms, her breasts plumping underneath her towel with the movement. “I’ll figure out what you are tomorrow at orientation,” she said and I got the sense that her words were supposed to be a threat. “Until then, I’m not going to waste energy on you, so having a nice night.” She turned on her heel and her friend’s eyes widened before scampering after her.
With a sigh I glared at the crowd until it dispersed, leaving me alone. I stalked into the showers, found a box with travel-size toiletries and helped myself.
By the time I towel-dried my hair, got into my dusty PJs, and made it back to my room without incident, I was exhausted. For some reason thwarting whatever compulsive magic Melinda had tried to use on me had worn me out. I felt the lingering tingling of what she’d tried to do to me.
Come orientation, I certainly hoped I could figure out what I was so that I’d have a better chance to survive this place before I got the hell out.
As long as I didn’t bleed… I should be okay.
The wolf rested motionless in the nearby bed, but I was too exhausted to care. If he wanted to maul me in my sleep, let him try. I still had the conjuring artifact, then panicked when I realized that I’d left it in my pants pocket. I rummaged through my dirtied clothes and plucked out the translucent orb. It swirled with a deep ruby red energy and made me feel queasy to look at it too long, but it was functional.
My pajamas didn’t have pockets, so I tucked the orb underneath my pillow. I used two pillows to make sure I wouldn’t accidentally crush the orb in my sleep and unleash hell in the middle of the night, but if I needed it then it would be there.
I left the main light on. It didn’t seem to bother the wolf and had been on the whole time I’d been in the showers, so I decided I’d rather not sleep in the dark tonight.
Closing my eyes and finding darkness in my mind, I drifted off into a restless sleep with only the sounds of a wolf’s soft snoring to keep me company.
Orientation
The next morning I woke up and had already forgotten where I was. An instant of panic set in as I frantically looked around the room, only to have everything from the night before rushing back to me. I glanced at the bed, but aside from tousled sheets and loose fur, there was no wolf to be found. Guess he’d gone back to his own dorms come sunrise.
I wasn’t sure how he’d gotten out, since the bedroom had only one window and it was boarded up, but then I noticed the small chewed out hole and rolled my eyes. A thick black sheet laid out folded neatly on the floor which must have been what he’d used to cover up the hole to keep it pitch black in here. Yet, he’d let me sleep with the light on and hadn’t turned it off when I’d gone to take a shower. Maybe he was trying to show me that he could be trusted.
Whatever the wolf’s motivations, the image of his perfect body and even more perfect cock flashed through my mind. I pinched myself as punishment. “No sex with wolves,” I reminded myself. “No sex with anyone here.” The last thing I needed was to make myself vulnerable or build attachments with dangerous supernaturals I didn’t yet understand. I didn’t even know if I was a virgin or not—one of the many downsides of having lost my memory of who I was before Cindy’s bar. I needed to focus on myself before I did anything like that, even if my body disagreed with me.
I was used to feeling cold, but the thought of the wolf shifter’s plain advances made me shiver. Then I remembered I would get to see Dante again today and another shiver went through my body, sending unforgiving heat to my core.
Fuck, I needed to get laid.
An annoying cascade of laughter poorly muffled by the wall reminded me that I needed to “follow the herd” as Dante had said it. I didn’t know where orientation was and I doubted he would come to guide me personally. Everyone would be out on the streets by now and I wasn’t interested in drawing any more attention to myself than I already had. Walking around with a hunter hadn’t done me any favors so far with the local students.
I got ready as fast as I could and found a uniform to wear that fit me, although a bit too snugly for my taste. I was too tall for most things I tried to wear and I didn’t have a mirror to check myself out, but I felt like I was showing off a little too much thigh. Whatever. I was sure the dress code around here would be flimsy at best given the show the wolf shifter had given me last night. I found my demon conjuring artifact still snuggled under my pillow, so I plucked it out and put it in one of the skirt pockets. If I had to wear a skirt... at least it had a practical side to it.
I combed out my hair with a brush I’d procured from the toiletry bin in the showers and even found some makeup, although I didn’t bother to put any on. Jess had always fussed at me that makeup existed to be used, but I hated the stuff.
My heart twisted thinking about Jess.
Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and inspected the gaggle of girls swarming like hornets around their queen. There was Melinda all dolled up with her gorgeous black hair unfurling in voluptuous waves over her shoulders. She cast me a venomous glare as if daring me to approach.
I mean, it was a one-way hall to the rest of the dormitory and there was only one exit that I knew of, so Melinda the Muse was just going to have to fucking deal.
Holding my chin high, I marched down the hall. The group grew quiet as I approached. By the time I reached them, I wasn’t sure what to do next. I knew I had to go down three flights of stairs, but my sense of direction was horrible to say the least.
“We’ll be keeping an eye on you,” Melinda said, her sneer flashing before she smiled sweetly and then stalked off, her entourage in tow.
I wondered what the other girls were who followed her out. They all looked like a normal group of university students with tight-fitting uniforms that put my own modesty concerns to shame, hair up in ponytails or down loose around their shoulders, and each of them had a tiny notebook in hand. I frowned. Dante never mentioned a notebook.
Keeping my distance, I followed the girls outside and took in the Academy in the broad light of day, or at least what passed for day in what was clearly not Earth. What I had thought was the sunrise was actually a soft glow that overtook the campus, but I couldn’t spot a source. It felt like the sky was a hazy orb, kind of like we were inside of my conjuring artifact, and it made me feel uneasy.
