Page 31 of Fortune Academy: Year Two
“Now you say that?” He held the door open. “We can still turn back.”
“No, not this,” I said, pulling my shirt over my nose to mask the smell of rot and mold. “Thinking that you were actually trying to help me. That just because you’re one of my Virtues that I can trust you.”
He went still, but didn’t deny that he knew what I was talking about. Kaito would have informed him, I was sure of it. “Now is not the time or the place to talk about this,” he said. “If you want to go back to my room we can—”
“No,” I spat. “If you can’t talk to me without magical wards then we’re not having this conversation at all.”
“That’s not—”
His protest was cut off by a sickly wheeze that caught my attention. It was dark in here and my eyes automatically adjusted. Within seconds I could easily make out the walls of individual cages. Bodies slumped in them, unconscious with tubes lined up along the walls.
Sedatives.
Jess was the only one fighting. She had her human appearance again, but it had mingled with her demonspawn body. Long, ribbed horns protruded from her head and her hair had darkened. Black claws extended from her fingertips from one hand as she picked at the tube attached to her arm. I stuffed my hands into my pockets as I approached.
“Damn it all,” she hissed. “All the shit I go through and I’m bested by a piece of fucking tape?”
I giggled and the sound made her shoot her gaze up to me. I was taken aback for a moment by the dark irises that overtook the whites of her eyes, but then I relaxed when I still spotted my friend beneath the demonic exterior. “Hey, Jess.”
A glimmer of hope lit her eyes, then glazed over with anger. She staggered to the bars and pressed her face against them as she showed me her elongated teeth. “Well, look who’s come to collect.” She tilted her head, the jerky movement reminding me she wasn’t human. “Did you send your Hunter boyfriend to kidnap me?” Her gaze shifted to him in the darkness. “What was the payment? Did she finally put out or something?”
I smacked the bars, making her jump away as she hissed. “Enough!” Glancing back at the Hunter, I unclenched my fist. “I think it’s better if you leave, Dante.”
He moved to my side, radiating heat that contrasted against the cool darkness pooling inside of me. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” I itched to run my icy fingers over his skin and leech his warmth, but I knew what that feeling meant now. I was part succubus, which meant I fed on men through touch. Leaving the campus made it all come rushing back, and without Kaito’s binds I was having a hard time resisting the call of my hunger.
“If you stay here, I’m going to feed on you,” I answered honestly.
He was quiet for a long moment, then finally conceded with a grunt. “I’ll be just outside. If I hear anything, I’m coming in.”
Jess chuckled after he’d left. “You really have him on a leash, don’t you?” She scratched at the tape again as she forced her heavy eyelids open. I wondered how much sedative she was hooked up to, and if I should be worried or impressed how hard she fought it.
“I can help with that,” I offered as I reached through the bars. “Come here.”
She smirked at me. “You’re either very brave, or very stupid. You know I could chomp your hand off, right?” She playfully snapped her shark-like teeth at me.
I opened and closed my hand in invitation. “Whatever, Jess. If you want to bite my hand off, go for it, but then you’ll need to remove that IV yourself and you don’t seem to be doing a great job of it.” I grinned. “Plus, Dante will probably kill you, so there’s that too.”
She sighed before complying. Inching closer to me, she offered the bruised wrist. There was no denying I was part demonspawn when I saw familiar black skin scab over into dangerous claws. She and I had more in common than I was willing to admit. Clearing my throat, I worked at the tape. She hissed as I ripped it off. “Bitch,” she grumbled as she scurried back into the corner and cradled her arm.
“I could have left it on,” I replied.
“Not that, you dumb blonde. You’re the reason I’m in here!”
“I’m not,” I said flatly, then crouched and swiped away dirt from the floor before sitting on it. “At least, I’m not the one who ordered Dante to kidnap you. Would you care to tell me how that went down?”
She studied me for a long time with those dark, eerie eyes before replying. “You’re telling the truth.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, duh. The Hunter kidnapped me just as much as he kidnapped you,” I said, the realization hitting me. I looked around at the cages. “He just has a different use for me, and if I fail, I’m going to wind up here.”
It hurt to say it out loud, but I couldn’t deny it. He might be one of my Virtues, but I had no doubt that Dante, Kaito, and all of my other Virtues had agendas of their own that didn’t have my best interests in mind. I fisted my skirt and stuck the other hand into my pocket, finding the badge I’d ripped off. I took it out and toyed with it over my fingers. “Do you know what Dante wants from me?”
She studied me for a long time before replying. “You’re special, Lils. I was supposed to recruit you to Monster Academy, but the Hunter got to you first. I imagine he wants what any Hunter wants—to sell you to the highest bidder.”
“And why does Monster Academy want me?”
She chuckled. “You really don’t know, do you?”
I slammed my palm against the bars, making them rattle. “No! I don’t know anything and if someone doesn’t start giving me answers, I’m going to bust a bitch.”
