Page 37 of Fortune Academy: Year Two
Her thralls moved in, shuffling like zombies as they readied their weapons.
Olivia grabbed my hand until all feeling left my fingers. Thoughts raced in my mind, but I couldn’t think of a way out of this one that wouldn’t wind up hurting or killing half of the students here.
“They’re innocents,” I growled. “The Dean is okay with their blood on her hands?”
Melinda snapped her fingers, sending two of the thralls to impale themselves in the stomach with their weapons. They fell to the ground with a soft thud and blood pooled around their still forms. “Does that answer your question?”
“She’s a psycho,” Olivia hissed, pulling me back against the wall. Her frantic eyes darted as her breath came in quick gasps. “I’m going to have to use my magic.”
“No,” I snapped, the word a command. “That would kill you.”
Olivia pleaded with me with her gaze. “What other choice do we have?”
There was another choice, but it meant trusting Kaito.
Damn it all.
I brought out the Fortune card and broke it in half.
Chapter 14
The crack of lightning followed with blinding pain as the card’s magic rushed a blast of wind around Olivia and me. I screamed as it billowed in, sending shards of horrific agony slicing over my skin and revealing my black blood that swept away on its currents.
Olivia likewise held onto me, taken by the magic I had dumbly released. She screwed her eyes shut and bit down on a cry as streaks of red split across her skin.
I should have known better than to trust Kaito. Now we were both going to die.
I wrapped my arms around my friend and held her close as the winds continued to barrage against us. Instinct told me not to delve into that cold pit of power at my chest. Instead, I pushed it down as far as I could and locked it up tight before it was destroyed. That part of me would not be welcome where we were going.
The rush of winds and sharp pains went on for ages, making me wonder if this was our new reality until we finally succumbed to being sliced up into a thousand tiny little bits. The pain finally eased off and warmth spread over me. I wasn’t sure if it was a new magic inside my chest that had decided to come out, or if it was all the blood that smeared across my skin and I’d finally gone numb.
A bright light flashed and then the winds stopped in a deafening roar that retreated, leaving me to collapse with an unconscious Olivia onto the soft ground. All the blood had been cleaned from our bodies and our uniforms glowed with a healthy golden sheen.
I wept.
I couldn’t remember the last time I cried, but everything felt like it had just changed. The dark, cold parts of me that had been fighting to the surface during my time at the Academy were now sufficiently locked away, leaving me feeling hollow inside.
It should have made me feel relieved.
It didn’t.
“Take deep breaths,” a male voice instructed.
I snapped my gaze up to find Orion beaming down at me with a smile like the cat who ate the canary.
“The fuck I’ll take deep breaths,” I said, quickly wiping away my tears. It felt like I’d been run over by a bullet train and then dunked under boiling water. The last thing I wanted right now was Orion towering over me with his beautiful, smug face.
He knelt so that we were eye-level, because, yeah, I hadn’t been able to get off my ass after that kind of beating. He tugged my arm out of the way and revealed Olivia’s face. I stroked hair out of her eyes, noting that her dark locks had turned completely white.
“Pretty brazen of you to curse here, much less bring a buddy.” He looked like he was going to offer to help me get up, then thought better of it and stood, giving me space. “You’re lucky she survived.”
“Where are we?” I snapped as I staggered to my feet with a limp Olivia in tow. It surprised me how light she was, then I realized my supernatural strength was still there and even stronger than before. I lifted Olivia and tucked her into the crook of one arm. I had thought that my supernatural strength had come from my demonspawn side, but perhaps it was from my third mystery heritage.
I had a feeling I was about to find out what that heritage was.
My eyes had been better suited to seeing in the dark, but this place blazed with golden light everywhere I looked. I squinted and could barely make out the silhouette of golden buildings and streets. A distant melody rang out on the horizon, making my heart warm at its beauty. The scent of a flower I couldn’t name tinged my nose and helped me relax.
I shook off the allure of this place, focusing my attention on the cocky Demigod still grinning at me. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, which just pissed me off even more at how stupidly gorgeous he was. A simple white piece of cloth wrapped around his waist and dangled at his knees.
