Page 29 of Fortune Academy: Year One
I didn’t know much about Kaito, not yet, but I got the sense that this was the culmination of his life’s work, but I didn’t just want to be a means to an end, even for someone like Kaito. If I took a mate, or...mates, then it was going to be because of a genuine connection, not because I had to, prophecy of the end of the world be damned.
I jumped to my feet, nearly stumbling over myself and into Kaito’s lap. He caught me and another jolt of desire swept through my body at his touch. He let go with some visible effort and swallowed. “Lily, don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?” I snapped. “Like I just found out that I’m a research project to you? That you just want to fuck me and write about it in some dusty paperwork for your precious Academy?”
Hurt crossed his expression. “No, of course not. What I feel for you isn’t contrived. With a bind on you, your powers can’t force intimacy that isn’t already there, and plus I would never?—”
“Enough,” I snapped. We’d only just met and I wasn’t buying his act. “Just tell me where Dante is. I need to talk to him.” This shit with Hendrik was getting out of hand and Kaito had his head so far up his own ass that I wasn’t going to get any help from him. Plus, just being around him made me want to do things that were definitely not student-counselor relationship appropriate.
He folded the paper he’d shown me in half, slowly lining the crease with his thumb. Gods, even that was sexy. “Dante’s been sent off-campus on a mission.”
I stiffened. “What mission?”
“He wouldn’t tell me. He just barged in demanding I keep an eye on you and then he was gone.”
“You’ve been doing a stellar job of keeping an eye on me,” I countered. “If I don’t show up at Hendrik’s place tonight then he’s going to hurt Olivia.”
Kaito grimaced. “There isn’t much I can do about that, but maybe you should go along with it for now. If Hendrik suspects you’re from his vision, he won’t hurt you. And since you say Hendrik made Dante give a permanent blood sacrifice, my guess would be Dante is up to something dangerous. We need to figure out what it is. Hendrik might have more information.”
I leaned back, locking my knees so I didn’t sway on my feet. “But I bleed black, Kaito. I can’t give Hendrik what he wants, not without revealing what I am.” I didn’t say it aloud. I was a monster.
He ventured past the tense arousal between us and rested a gentle touch on my hand. “You have a dark mage ally, right? Get her to work a spell that’ll make him see what you want him to see. You can give the blood sacrifice without revealing anything if you’re careful.”
It sounded way too risky.
“Do you hear yourself?” I shrieked. “She only just found out she’s a dark mage today and she’s been through hell. She’s exhausted. I can’t possibly ask her to do that even if she is capable.”
Kaito sighed then swiveled off the desk and kneeled in front of me. “I don’t like to use my magic,” he muttered, then eased his fingers onto my temples. “I’ll make it so you appear to bleed red to anyone who sees you. It’ll hold for as long as you want it to.” He looked up expectantly.
I swallowed hard. “Okay,” I agreed.
His eyes fluttered closed and his mouth parted. I felt something sweep over me, more like an invisible warm blanket than any sort of spell I’d felt so far. It worked its way over my entire body before tightening like elastic wrap. Just when the sensation was starting to get uncomfortable, it faded and he opened his eyes again.
“It’s done.”
I tilted my head. “So, what are you?” I ventured. “That didn’t feel like a spell. I don’t think you’re a warlock or a dark mage.”
He smirked. “Observant. No, I’m neither of those things, but what I am is a secret, for now.”
Great, more secrets.
I sighed. “So, how do I get Dante to come back?” If he was really out on some dangerous mission, then it definitely had something to do with me, making it my responsibility to make sure he was okay.
Kaito’s gaze dropped. “You don’t. Dante is a hunter, Lily. This is what he does. He’s my friend, I get it. It’s hard, but I’ve come to accept that one day he might go on a mission and he won’t be coming back.”
Something in me twisted at that thought. I cared what happened to him. Did that mean that Dante was one of my... Virtues? I shoved that thought aside. “Well, thanks for nothing,” I snapped. “I’m going to go back to my dorms before I deal with Hendrik. Then I have another exciting day of killing people in the Awakening Arena tomorrow.”
He stood and opened the door for me with a gentlemanly stance, which only managed to piss me off more. “Take as much time as you need, Lily. I know this is a lot to take in and I don’t expect your supernatural gifts to unfurl all at once. The binds are holding two-thirds of who you are at bay so that you have a chance to bring out the hidden part of you that will be vital in fulfilling this prophecy.”
“I don’t know if you realize this,” I said, snarling the words, “but I don’t give two shits about some stupid prophecy. You’re not going to put the fate of all the realms on my shoulders, okay? That’s not what’s happening here. I’m going to figure out who and what I am and then you’ll see that there’s nothing special between us. I’m just a succubus trying to feed on you. Someone else can save the world and you can go marry them, all right?”
His expressionless features left me with nothing. I wasn’t going to change his mind about me by yelling at him, which meant I just had to go through with all of this Awakening Arena bullshit. It didn’t change anything. I still didn’t know what I was, and whatever Kaito thought I was... it clearly was wrong. I wasn’t prophecy material.
I left Kaito’s office with a stone in my chest because in spite of everything... a small part of me wondered if he was right.
What if the world was ending… and I was the only one who could stop it?
Yep, I’m doomed.
