Page 28 of Fortune Academy: Year One
“I killed a girl in the Arena. She didn’t deserve it, but it worked for her and she turned out to be a dark mage. Now Hendrik is saying she owes some blood debt. That’s bullshit, right? And then there’s this wolf, Logan, who was trying to court me. I guess that pissed off Hendrik. You know Hendrik? The dark mage that had a vision about me but isn’t supposed to know about me? Yeah well he’s all sorts of pissed off that his spells don’t work on me, so is Melinda the Muse, so anyway now Hendrik has me coming over tonight for blood duty or else he’ll do something bad to Olivia?—my dark mage friend, that is. Meanwhile Dante is nowhere to be found. What I do know is that he made a bad trade with Hendrik and lost his hand and it’s not growing back. Now he’s missing and I don’t know why he brought me here if he was just going to leave me to the wolves... literally.”
Kaito had dropped his pencil during my tirade and his jaw slacked open. “Well,” he said after a moment, “you’ve had quite the day.” He leaned on his desk and rolled small circles around his temples. “Look. There are rules here. If you’ve made an alliance with a fledgling dark mage, then that’s Hendrik’s territory. He has a right to initiate her into his clan. It is similar to how dark mages work in the real world, so we allow it.” When I crossed my arms and glowered at him, he sighed. “I know it’s a lot, but this is the best place for you even if things don’t seem fair. If Monster Academy had gotten their hands on you...” His words drifted off.
I crossed my arms. “Then what? What would have happened that you’re so afraid of?” Anger washed over me. I was tired of this shit. Tired of other people hiding secrets. Tired of them telling me what to do and thinking that their problems were more important than mine. So he had a lot of paperwork. So fucking what? This was bigger than that and he needed to give me more. “Hey,” I said, slamming my hands onto his desk and sending his papers fluttering in my wake. His gaze matched mine and something deep inside of me snapped. The invisible rune Kaito had placed on my left arm burned, but I ignored it. I had his attention and I tugged on it. He responded by stumbling out of his chair and leaning over the desk to grip onto my wrist.
“Lily,” he said, his eyes wide, “I can’t just, tell you everything. That won’t help. It could just make things worse for you by telling you things I don’t yet understand.”
“Why?” I pressed, pulling on that invisible thread that connected us. He leaned in and I became acutely aware of how attractive he was. His Asian features made him smooth and hard in all the right places and I indulged myself by tracing his jawline with my finger. He shivered under my touch, releasing a pleasant sensation into the air. Instinct made me want to draw that nectar in, but the rune on my arm burned hot, forcing me to allow it to sweep free in the room. “Just give me something, Kaito.”
His mouth parted when my finger ran over his lips, making the aroma of power flush hot in the room.
Then I didn’t just want to know answers anymore, I wanted to taste him. Frustration bubbled inside of me that my body couldn’t do what it wanted because of his stupid binding runes. The least he could give me was the physical component of my sudden need.
His gaze locked onto mine and he knew what I wanted?—what I demanded, and he gripped the back of my head and crushed his mouth to mine. My lips parted for him, surprised and welcoming of the warm kiss after all this time being teased and taunted by the gorgeous supernaturals that I’d met at Fortune Academy. All my frustration and impatience seeped away into sensual delight as Kaito’s hard touch ran down my neck, over my shoulder, then he grazed the invisible bind on my arm and light flashed between us, sending me reeling back.
“Fuck,” Kaito said, grimacing and holding a hand over his eyes. “I should have been prepared for that. I’m sorry.”
Dazed, I stumbled back and fell into a chair. I didn’t understand the lust that had overwhelmed me, nor why it had melted into a dull need that made me want Kaito, but was manageable now. I pinched my thighs together as if that might help. “I’m, uh,” a wave of heat swept over my face and I touched my warmed cheek. Was I blushing? I didnotblush.
Kaito adjusted himself before he sat on the edge of his desk. My eyes went to his crotch and I had no doubt I was blushing now. “One of your powers, one that Monster Academy wants, is banned,” he began.
I bit my lip and forced myself to look up in his face. His gorgeous face that I’d just been slurping at like a piece of candy. “Let me guess,” I said with defeat. “I’m part succubus.”
He smirked. “Yep.”
Fuck.
I buriedmy face in my hands as humiliation set in.
I was one-third succubus.
Jess would have had a field day with that if I ever saw her again.
I groaned and curled my head between my legs. “I knew it. I’m a monster.”
“No,” Kaito said forcefully enough that I snapped up and peeked at him through my fingers. “This is precisely why I didn’t want to tell you what you were. Your supernatural powers don’t define you, Lily. Your actions do.”
“I made you suck my face,” I countered. “That’s a dick move, you know, something amonstermight do.”
He chuckled and his cheeks reddened. “I don’t make much time for romances, so maybe that was a push I needed. Don’t feel sorry for me, anyway.” His gaze flashed to meet mine and he offered me a sexy smile that made me push my thighs together again. “There’s something else that might make you feel better. You have involvement in a prophecy I’ve been researching, which is why Hendrik had a vision about you, although I don’t think even he realizes what he saw yet.”
I scratched at the rune that had burned me and now twinged with retaliation that I’d used my succubus powers in spite of the bind. Kaito’s arousal still lingered in the air and teased me that I couldn’t feed on it. “Prophecy. Great.”
“Hear me out,” he said, lifting a hand. “You know the Echoes of Calamity? Well, I believe that you’re the one meant to face the Third Echo of Calamity that will soon be upon us.”
I froze. From what I knew about the Echoes of Calamity, they were Heaven and Hell, Life and Death sort of shit. The First Echo of Calamity had broken the barrier between separate worlds, the Second had forced them to merge... I didn’t even want to know what the Third Echo of Calamity was meant to do.
“You can’t face an Echo of Calamity alone. That’s why you will draw Virtues to you.” He twisted and rummaged through the papers, producing something that was hardly legible. “That’s what I’ve been doing. Research. All the supernaturals Awakened here bring with them memories and stories from their home realms. Each one has something in common. Each realm has a prophecy that has predicted the Echoes of Calamity and the women who will call upon their Virtues to stop it.”
I frowned. “Virtues?”
He nodded, his face beaming with excitement. “Yes. It wasn’t until I got a recent shifter testimony that I figured it out. Her prophecy doesn’t call them Virtues, but Mates.”
Mates.
I blinked a few times to make sure I’d heard him correctly. “So, you’re saying that I need... mates, plural, in order to stop the end of the world?”
He chuckled and ran his fingers through his hair, upsetting the perfect silver line that ran through his temple. “Well, yeah. That’s exactly what I’m saying, so the fact that you have succubus gifts doesn’t actually surprise me. It’s meant to help you draw your Virtues... your Mates, to you.” He looked down at the paper and an adorable smile lifted the corners of his lips. “I’m honored to accept your advances because that means I’m one of them, Lily. I’m one of the intended guardians to help you grow your power, strengthen your resolve, and by standing by your side, stop the end of the world.”
