Page 38 of Fortune Academy: Year One
“We had a good thing going,” Trevor said mournfully, taking out a bottle of water. He unscrewed the lid and started chugging it.
Zero rolled his eyes. “Do you see what you did Orion? The son of Poseidon reduced to water bottles. It’s pathetic.”
Orion ignored the demigod and zoomed in on me. He approached and loomed over Olivia and me. My best friend stood her ground and straightened.
“Are you interested in joining our alliance?” Olivia asked. Her voice didn’t even waver.
Orion barked a laugh. “Hell no. I’m going to figure out what little spell Hendrik gave you that could have that kind of power.” He sniffed at Olivia. “It’s certainly not you. Your power’s so dried up it’s a miracle you’re still walking.”
Olivia turned her nose up at him. “Whatever.” She tugged on my arm. “Come on, Lils. We’ve got a class to get to.”
I wanted to go with her, but something in my Blood Stone was reacting to Orion’s negative energy. Heat burned along the chain as it soaked up his rage and suffering. I needed to stay in his vicinity to gather the power I owed Hendrik to restore Olivia and get the dark mages off our case. “I’ll be right there,” I promised her with a reassuring smile.
She hesitated, but then untangled her arm from mine and gave me a wave. “If you need me just call out, okay? Don’t take too long.” She gave Orion and the other demigods a warning glare before she ventured down the halls.
Orion stepped closer to me and the Blood Stone around my neck burned with an influx of heat. It glowed, but Orion didn’t seem to notice. His gaze was fixed entirely on mine as he stared down at me, making me feel small. “You must be a Demi,” he said, lowering his voice with accusation. He narrowed his eyes, but I noted that without his constant feed of power the golden light had dimmed, revealing the striking grey shades underneath. “Who’s your divine parent? Is it Loki?” He gripped my arm hard enough to make my muscles ache. “Only Loki’s offspring could fuck with the Demis like this. Just wait for parent-teacher conferences. You think hiding behind the Awakening Arena can prevent the dean from calling him? Fucking think again.”
I couldn’t help but bubble out a laugh. Me? Daughter of Loki? I wish that’s what was wrong with me. I knew that whatever I was, it wasn’t something easily explained away.
“Why are you laughing?” he snarled and shook me.
I twisted out of his grip, which only seemed to piss him off more. My supernatural strength matched his now that he wasn’t being constantly juiced up. “I’m laughing because Loki’s going to be really pissed off when he finds out you’re blaming him. I’m not a Demi, Orion. I’m not what you think.”
His shoulders rolled back. “Yeah, well I’ll figure you out.”
“Why?” I shot back. I had more than enough of his suffering fueling the Blood Stone resting on my chest that it burned. I was ready to move on from Orion and to my next target, but it was more than that. I could feel his suffering and his frustration like a knot in my chest. I was just as confused and fascinated as he was. “Why do you need magic to get laid?” I pressed. I couldn’t help myself and ran my fingers over the thin layer of his shirt, folding my fingers under his tie. He was so fucking gorgeous that he should have no trouble finding a girl interested in him, magical allure or not.
His nostrils flared and he worked his jaw as if my touch stirred something within him. “You don’t even know what you did to me, do you?” His voice came out low and with a dangerous growl that made me both excited and a little bit terrified.
I searched his face, trying to understand the expression that had settled there. Hurt crossed his gold-flecked eyes. “Tell me,” I said, asking this time. I didn’t push any magical compulsion into the question.
Orion’s hand reached up to cup my own and he surprised me with the gentleness of his touch. He rubbed his fingers once over my knuckles. “I can’t feed on anyone else because I don’twantanyone else.” He lowered, his lips brushing my cheek and making a foreign shiver run through my body. “I want you, Lily Fallen.”
This time, I believed him. This wasn’t the same cocky demigod who slept with a hundred girls and didn’t even know their names. I had a hundred percent of his attention and his body screamed for me. I would have blamed my succubus powers for the effect I had on him, but the rune was quiet on my arm, proving that I wasn’t trying to feed on the desire that was wafting off of him. Something else inside of me held onto a connection that marked Orion as mine... and me as his.
Fuck, Orion was one of my Virtues... Wasn’t he? A guardian who would help me face the Third Echo of Calamity and save the world.
Damn Kaito and his hot Asian ass being right.
Orion leaned down to kiss me, his lips tender as they claimed mine with sweet possession.
I didn’t pull away.
Olivia didn’t geta chance to ask me what I had discussed with Orion. The teacher barreled into the topic of humanity’s discovery of the supernatural and how we would eventually interact with the non-supernatural when we left Fortune Academy. This was a freshman class for good reason. By “leave the Academy” she didn’t necessarily mean graduate.
“Some of you will return to Earth sooner than others,” she said with a frown in my direction. “We have study centers across five global cities that can get you a job and integrated safely into society.”
A few of the classmates snickered, making me cross my arms and lean back in my chair with my chin stuck up in defiance. No way I was going to be “safely” integrated into anything. The only thing I was integrating with was my destiny to stop the Third Echo of Calamity—assuming I could get my Virtues to stop trying to control me and work with me.
“Miss Fallen,” she said when the class was over, earning a surprised glance from me.
“Yes?”
She handed me a slip of paper. “You have one more class added to your docket today. It’s in ten minutes.”
I unfurled the note with a frown and then hissed. “This is by the Awakening Arena and that’s definitely more than a ten-minute walk!”
She shrugged. “Guess you’d better hurry then.”
