Page 43 of Fortune Academy: Year Two
I really didn’t like the idea of that.
“Come on, Lily,” she pleaded. “We can’t just stay up here forever and we have to play Melinda’s game. If she wants a war, then she’s going to get one.”
With a heavy sigh I finally agreed. “Fine. But if I come back and Hendrik has you cut up in a hundred tiny little pieces, I’m putting you back together so I can kill you again.”
She chuckled as she stood. “Deal.”
Edwin took Olivia by the hand, drawing her away from me. The other angel with dark hair sighed at the array of food. “We only just started. Edwin never puts out this kind of spread when it’s just us.”
“Devon,” Renee warned, and he threw up his hands before he turned, hitting the drapes with his wings on his way out.
Jason, the vampire who’d introduced himself earlier, flashed me a grin with fang before following the others.
Silvia squeezed my shoulder and I turned. She pulled away and clasped her hands. “I might have brought you into this world, but Renee will understand what you’re going through better than anyone.” She smiled. “Except perhaps your second mother.”
“Yeah,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “When do I meet her?”
Silvia and Renee exchanged a look. “I can tell you things about her that Silvia can’t, if you’re interested. But Silvia is going to have to leave the room.”
The angel gave me a look of longing and forced herself to turn away. “Wait,” I said. Silvia turned back to me and I slipped into her embrace, letting my hands run around her tiny frame and graze along the soft down of her feathers that protruded from her back. “I’m glad to have met you, mother.”
She stilled, then chuckled and returned my embrace. “It’s a blessing I never hoped to have. Thank you for coming here, my darling. And promise me you’ll always think with your heart. It will never lead you in the wrong direction.”
I nodded and she pulled away, leaving me alone with Renee, the founder of Fortune Academy and one of the most powerful witches alive.
She toasted me with her drink. “Shall we discuss your future?”
“I’mupset to hear about the imprisoned families,” she began.
I studied her for a long time before deciding she was telling the truth. “You really didn’t know? Aren’t you a founder?” Along with the Fate Witch Evelyn, Renee had built that school from the ground up. My classes praised her like she was a goddess.
Now that I met her in the flesh, so to speak, and in purgatory no less, that felt like an appropriate assumption.
She sighed. “I knew that when we picked Guinevere to be the Dean with Merlin at her side, we were getting a double-edged sword. They’re both powerful immortals and the ideal leaders in my absence, as well as Evelyn’s, but they’re ambitious and ancient beings. They won’t always see things the same way you or I do and they think about long-term goals. When it comes to mortals, they tend to forget how precious and fleeting life is and I am not surprised to hear they’re taking that for granted.”
“For granted?” I snapped. “They’re holding families against their will, and for what? Dante said that they might be affected by the Third Echo of Calamity and turned into supernaturals, is that really so bad? Why do they need to be held hostage?”
She tapped her lip thoughtfully. “It’s something to bring up with them, for sure. I don’t want to jump to any conclusions without hearing their reasoning.”
Sighing, I pulled up a chair and slumped into it. Some help Renee was going to be.
“Why don’t you tell me about your Virtues,” Renee began, making herself comfortable on one of the low-rise sofas. “Why do you feel the universe has made a mistake?”
I reached for a drink and coddled it, hoping it had plenty of alcohol. I took a sip, relieved to feel a pleasant burn down my throat. “You’ve met Orion, I presume?”
She nodded. “The Demigod. What’s wrong with him?”
“Nothing’s wrong with him,” I said with a sigh and threw my head back to rest on the chair’s edge. “He’s perfect, but he came here to break the bond with me after we’d been together. If he’s really some fated mate, how could he do that to me?”
She gave me a knowing smile. “Every relationship is going to be unique. A creature like Orion will struggle with the idea of joining your mate-circle, but he already seems to be coming around.”
“Because of my mother?” I asked with a raised brow. “She’s pretty sexy for an angel.”
Renee chuckled as she set her drink down. “She was a fallen angel for quite some time. She ascended and got her wings back, but she still retains that Earthly allure angels get when they mingle with humanity.”
I hummed. “I see. So, what about my other mother? Can you explain to me how that’s even possible that I have two mothers and who she is?”
Renee nodded. “Your mother is a succubus, as well as a type of demon and your heritage is a royal one when it comes to the Hell-bound realms. She’s asked me not to tell you any more about who she is until you visit Hell yourself to meet her.”
