Page 44 of Fortune Academy: Year Two
I swallowed hard. “Okay.”
“As for your conception, she acted as a medium between the Incubus King and Silvia, in effect transferring her magical gifts onto you.”
I cupped the Blood Stone at my neck. It had gone cool after our travel through the heavenly realms, but it was only subdued like the darkness in my chest. I knew once I got back to Fortune Academy it would return to its full strength.
Renee took note of the stone with a raised brow. “You’re strong to have been able to bring that here. It just shows your heritage.”
“My dark heritage, you mean.” I might be part angel, but two-thirds of me came from the other end of the spectrum.
Renee leaned on her elbow and trailed her finger over the velvet texture of the couch, making three circles that overlapped one another. “Think of your gifts like this. You have three parts, but they all overlap to make something new.” She pointed to the small point in the center. “In order to reach this point, you need to accept who and what you are, and in order to do that, you’ll need to bond with all of your Virtues.” She trailed her finger to the left, intersecting two of the circles. “Right now you are here, and that’s as far as you’re going to get on your own. The universe has blocks in place to keep supernaturals from becoming too powerful. What you can become is unlike anything the cosmos has ever seen and that’s why you need your Virtues. You need them to unlock your potential, to embrace destiny, and to become a Champion of the Third Echo of Calamity and stop its destruction.”
“What will happen if I don’t?” I asked. “I mean, the Champions who came before me didn’t really stop the Echoes of Calamity. You yourself unleashed the initial wave which began the merging of the realms. Fortune Academy taught me all about it, as well as the First and Second Echoes. The first being the merging of Hell and Earth, which was only barely stopped. Demons are still able to sporadically come to Earth.” Mages and Witches had jumped on that one, finding ways to summon them through artifacts that didn’t require sacrificing their souls. “Then the Second Echo was the true merging of the realms that overlapped so much supernaturals found themselves flung to Earth. Supernaturals became public knowledge among the humans and it’s barely controlled chaos right now. What good did the ‘Champions’ really do?”
She narrowed her eyes, flicking her wrist and the room immediately darkened. My eyes tried to adjust, but this wasn’t a natural darkness. An image of a street lined with rundown looking shops came into view with a Fortune Teller’s store in the center.
“This is Fortune Street, where I grew up.” She clicked her tongue and the image transformed, showing nothing but a dark endless void. “If I had not been there to keep a Fate Witch from her goal of ultimate power, everything would have been destroyed. The shockwave that came from our battle began the Echoes of Calamity stronger than they’ve ever been before. Calamity hits whenever the fabric of space-time has been distorted, when magic has been tampered with and Fate itself has been torn. There was no way to avoid the consequences of what happened, but this was the best outcome.”
She grabbed my wrist and brought me closer to the holographic street. It changed and my skin warmed as molten lava ran down the cobblestones and screams spilled from rooftops.
“This is what it would have looked like had the First Echo not been averted.” The image changed again as bridges materialized over the molten surface and a row of prisoners stood in a long line as they shuffled, straining against the chains around their necks. “This is what Sarina would have brought the world to had Evelyn of the Royal Covens not taken her rightful place and embraced her role as the Champion of the Second Echo of Calamity.” She waved her hand and the room transformed back to its original shade, bringing the table of delicacies and lounging furniture back into view. I startled when I matched gazes with Orion who sat, fingers steepled, as he grinned at me.
“If you choose to reject your Virtues, then the world will suffer a similar fate. We can’t know what it’ll look like, but the fabric of Fate itself has been damaged and each Echo will be stronger than the last until Fate has healed itself.” She rested a hand on my shoulder, squeezing lightly as she lowered her voice. “Give them a chance, Lily. The universe might be screwed up, but you are its Champion. It didn’t make a mistake when it chose you, and I’ll let you in on a little secret.”
She leaned closer so only I could hear her.
“You chose your Virtues, not the universe. And if you can’t trust yourself, then you can’t trust anyone.”
Chapter 17
Istared at Orion as I tried to process that.
I had chosen him. Not the universe. Not some grand cosmic power.
Me.
But why? He was such a douchebag.
“You can wipe that cocky smile off your face now,” I growled as I stood. “And how did you get in here, anyway?”
Renee had left us alone and it was quiet minus the soft sounds of the vampire orgy just outside.
Orion’s grin only grew. He was completely at home with this kind of situation. “Renee invited me. And you know, I’m the one who asked Jason to host one of his parties. I missed them.”
I rolled my eyes. “Why am I not surprised.”
Moving past him, I made the mistake of getting too close and he looped an arm around my waist, making me squeak as he dragged me onto his lap. His warmth enveloped me and he ran his fingers up my skirt. He didn’t go any further, but teased me with slow circles with his thumb on the inside of my thigh. “I’m still stuck with you, it seems. Why don’t we make the best of it?”
So he hadn’t broken our bond. It surprised me how relieved that made me feel, and I also kind of hated myself for it. He didn’t deserve for me to want him—but I did.
Squirming in his grip, I tried not to enjoy his tantalizing touch and sultry voice. “I’m still mad at you,” I said, trying to pull away from him.
He held me in place and pressed his face into my chest, nipping at my cleavage. “Angry sex is the best, so I’m okay with that.”
“Orion,” I growled. “I’m serious. I’m not going to have sex with you… not here.”
He chuckled. “Does it bother you?” He pushed aside the edge of my shirt and exposed one nipple as he gently blew on it. My treacherous body reacted, hardening for him. “Your body says otherwise.”
I squirmed again, this time taking note of his growing erection against my hip. He gyrated against me, clearly enjoying my discomfort. His hand on my thigh inched upward, exposing more of my skin.
