Page 39 of Fortune Academy: Year One
Cursing, I grabbed my bag which thankfully had a few bandages stuffed in the bottom. If this was a surprise Arena run then I was going to need them.
Olivia brushed my arm just before I hurried out. “What is it?” she asked, her pitch-black eyes wide with concern.They’d taken on a foggy texture, like a dog that was too old, and I knew we didn’t have much time to rekindle her magic before she started feeling the effects.
I held up my paper for her to see. “New class, apparently.” I stuffed the note in my skirt pocket and sighed. “Going to have to use my super strength to make this one on time. See you later?”
She nodded. “Yeah, okay. Just be careful.”
“Always,” I promised, giving her shoulder a squeeze before I bolted out of the classroom.
This time of day the campus was way too packed for a full-out run for class, but I didn’t have much choice. My professors liked to surprise me and see if I’d fail a new challenge. I wasn’t going to give anyone a reason to put me in a study center. I needed to stay at Fortune Academy and figure out who and what I was. I felt like I was so close and if what Kaito believed about me to be true, then it was up to me to prevent the end of the world. No pressure.
I shoved past a Mindfreak bitch who screeched as I barreled by. “Watch it!” she yelled after me.
A snap of magic hit the back of my legs where she tried to compel me to trip, but the command bounced right off of me and ricocheted into a nearby shifter pack of panthers in their human form. Mewls sounded as one of the girls tripped over her own feet.
I wanted to turn back around and teach that Mindfreak to mind her own manners, but I didn’t have time. I had bigger supernatural fish to fry.
I made it into class just as a buzzer sounded and the door hissed closed with an audibleclick. I blinked at it and tested the doorknob. Yep, locked. That wasn’t a good sign.
“Lily Fallen. Glad you could join us,” came the cool voice of a professor that sounded oddly... familiar.
I turned to find four students kneeling on the floor, each with a vial in hand and the professor looming over them.
The professor was none other than Kaito himself. What the fuck was he up to?
If I didn’t have my powers, I would have thought Kaito a stranger. He gave me a once-over with complete professional decorum, his silver streak in his hair perfectly in place, but I felt the lust between us just hovering underneath the surface. I wanted to mess up his hair and all it would take was one touch to set those flames alight again and he’d be mine.
As if he sensed my thoughts, he narrowed his eyes and pointed to the last open spot on the floor.
Right, behaving. I can do that.
I gave Kaito a healthy glare in return, because he knew very well that he’d made me rush all the way across campus just to get here and he’d better have a damn good reason to make me jump through hoops.
“All of you are here because you’ve struggled to awaken your supernatural gifts,” he said, pacing in front of us. He brought me a vial like the other students were holding.
I took it and turned it sideways, grimacing as the black liquid inside sloshed slowly to the side.
“This is an experimental class,” he continued, marching away from me. “You are the lucky chosen few to get this last chance before more drastic measures are taken. Usually students who do not respond to the Awakening Arena are taken to the Monster Arena.” He turned, as if for dramatic effect. “Also known as the West Wing.”
I rolled my eyes.
The other students didn’t seem as amused by Kaito’s demonstration. He was trying to scare me, but it wasn’t working. If he really wanted to frighten me he should have had someone else teach the class. Kaito had far too much invested in me for me to fear for my well-being enough to bring out my supernatural instincts, much less fear for my life.
Kaito clapped his hands and the students startled. “Drink your vials. You will be taken into a trance and there you will face your worst fears. You won’t be in mortal danger, but your mind won’t know the difference.”
Oh.
The students stared down at their vials. One girl popped off the cork and tossed the contents back with a determined grimace. We all watched her as she slowly closed her eyes and went still. The air around us popped and the girl’s skin took on a grey sheen.
“All of you now,” Kaito said, no emotion in his voice at all.
I swallowed hard and looked back at the vial. What was in this stuff? Would I react badly to it? My body liked to fend off any dangerous magical interventions, but Kaito had said that this wouldn’t be dangerous. It would just feel dangerous, so my defenses might not try to fend it off until I was already in the trance.
I hesitated long enough for the other students to have taken their vial and go into similar statue-like trances. Kaito kneeled and gave me a weak smile. “I’m sorry to trick you here, but the dean didn’t give me much time.” He lifted my hand and popped the cork off the vial. “You know I wouldn’t do anything to put you in danger. You can trust me.”
Our connection electrified between us from the mere graze of his touch and I sucked in a breath. I ran my finger up the left side of his cheek, following his tattoo into the silver streak of his hairline. He leaned into it, then flinched away. “I know you wouldn’t hurt me,” I admitted. As much as I wanted to believe that everyone had a secret agenda, Kaito was one of my Virtues. His soul was slowly intertwining with mine... I couldfeelit and my heart ached, wanting to explore more of him. I needed to know his hopes, dreams, and I needed him to know me.
“Then take the vial,” he said, lifting it to my lips. “This is how I can help you.”
