Page 42 of Fortune Academy: Year Two
Silvia rustled her wings before bringing them tight against her back so that she could duck into the low-ceiling den with us. “My daughter has come here and I was hoping that you and your mates could help her with her struggles. She has yet to Awaken her full potential.” She stroked a strand of hair behind my ear again that had gotten loose. “She’s the Champion of the Third Echo of Calamity, it seems.”
Renee gave me the biggest, genuine smile I had ever seen. “How exciting! Have you found your mates yet?” She tapped her lips as she pondered. “This is the Third Echo, which means that we’re on Virtues now. It doesn’t usually get this far, but I do suppose that’s my fault.”
What on Earth, or Heaven, as it were, was she going on about?
“You’re confusing her, my love,” the warrior angel said as he joined us, somehow squeezing his way into the small room. “I think you should start at the beginning.” He waved his hand and the room widened as the walls morphed into a lighter shade of grey. The piles of pillows and silk sheets transformed into a seating area with sparkling refreshments and a screen erected between us and the weird vampire orgy party going on just outside.
The black-haired angel joined us and grinned at my bewildered expression. “Welcome to purgatory.”
If I had thoughtmy dinner with Orion was awkward, this one took the cake. I sat between Olivia and Silvia while sitting across from Renee and her mates.
Edwin, the angel of Heaven, sipped his drink before clearing his throat. “You’re the third Champion to have appeared, Lily.” He took another sip and I appreciated that he used my preferred name. “You’re a unique creature. I can see why the universe chose you.”
“Because of my heritage,” I supplied.
He nodded.
“Are we going to get into that?” I asked.
Everyone looked at Silvia who bristled. “Well, if you want to jump right into the thick of things, I suppose I should leave.”
Renee patted Silvia’s hand. “We understand your situation. It was sweet of you to even come here.”
Silvia eyed the veil that separated us from the vampires. “Hopefully this doesn’t cross my ascension agreements.”
Edwin grunted. “If there are any problems, I’ll vouch for you. You didn’t know Jason was hosting one of his parties.” He glared at the vampire. “Renee indulges him too much.”
The group chuckled as if this was just another gathering of friends.
I pushed away my untouched plate of delicacies and ignored my drink. I’d had enough of pretending that I wasn’t about to flip the fuck out. “Can you all just stop for one second? I’m in purgatory. There are a bunch of vampires just beyond that wall having sex, or whatever the hell they’re doing, and meanwhile I’m in here speaking to a bunch of angels.” I glanced meaningfully at Silvia. “And one of them is my mother!”
Silvia rested a hand on my shoulder. “I know it’s a lot—”
“Let her finish,” Renee interjected with a raised palm. “Go on, Lily.”
I drew in a deep breath. This had been sitting on my chest for far too long. “Before I arrived at Cindy’s bar covered in someone else’s blood, I had no idea who or what I was. My memories were gone and now I’ve found out that I am the reason that so many other supernaturals have lost their memories, too. I thought that Fortune Academy was where I could figure out where I belonged, but now I’ve met my Virtues and I feel like the universe made a mistake. Fortune Academy isn’t a good place. It locks up human families and makes monsters fight in a cage for reasons I haven’t figured out yet. The students, the professors, the Dean, and most especially my Virtues all have agendas of their own. My Virtues are supposed to be on my side, but they are just using their connection with me to their own advantage, or rejecting me outright.” I slammed my hand on the table, resisting the sting in my eyes as tears threatened to fall. “Orion came here to break his bond with me. What if I don’t want to be the Champion? What if the universe is already so screwed up from the first two Echoes of Calamity that it made a mistake?”
They all stared at me for a long time until finally Renee motioned for the others to leave. “I think it’s best if I’m left alone with Lily to discuss these matters, Champion-to-Champion.”
“Olivia isn’t going anywhere,” I insisted, holding onto her.
“I will take her home,” Edwin offered his hand and Olivia gave me a nod.
“It’s all right,” Olivia said, lowering her voice. “I shouldn’t be here, anyway. Let Edwin take me back.”
“Are you sure?” I didn’t like the idea of splitting up, especially in a place like purgatory.
“Only I can help her return home,” Edwin said. “Unless you want to risk using one of Renee’s cards again.” He gave Renee a knowing look. “Which were not supposed to be on Earth in the first place.”
Renee grimaced and flipped up her hands. “Oops.”
Olivia smiled, looking more confident through the glow of her golden eyes. “Lily, it’s all right. I have asoulagain. No matter what happens to me, I never have to worry that I’ll just cease to exist. I never really wanted to be a Dark Mage, not when I learned what that meant, and now I’m something else entirely. You’ve given me so much, let me do this for you.” She kissed my cheek and squeezed my hands. “You need some one-on-one with this Champion business. Don’t worry about me. Edwin will take me home and I’ll be waiting for you when you’re ready.”
Home. Fortune Academy was a lot of things, but I didn’t know if it really felt like the place I belonged.
“What about Melinda?” I asked.
“I’ll go straight to Hendrik’s. He’ll be dying to study me and I’ll exchange myself for his alliance. I can probably even waive our Blood Debt to him.”
