Page 26 of Fortune Academy: Year Three
“Brother and sister, yes,” Sonya said flippantly as if that was a technicality.
My eyes went so wide I thought they would pop out of my head.
“One hell of a family reunion down here,” Orion grumbled, rubbing the back of his neck as he took one of the larger chairs.
“My… brother?” I asked, gripping the edge of my seat until my knuckles went white. “And you’re human? How is that even possible?”
Nate shrugged. “Our parents had troubles passing on the incubi gene, so you were the lucky one, I guess.”
His tone held a touch of bitterness to it, but I didn’t feel like being a succubus was something to be proud of.
My mother hissed at Nate. “You know the burden it is to be a succubus. I myself accepted Xavier’s proposal to turn me into a vampire just to escape the guilt. Don’t diminish Lilith’s suffering because you still struggle with your sin of envy.”
Nate crossed his arms and cast his gaze to his feet. “Sorry.”
She slapped his wrist. “No apologies in Hell, love. It’s all right.”
The two smirked at one another and seemed to share a moment of understanding before Sonya turned to me again. “Well, now we know the ‘who’ behind the reason you are here, but now it is time for the ‘why.’ Tell me. What is it that I can do for you?” She leaned over her knees and set her empty glass on the floor. “Because if you are here to ask for my help to stop Calamity, there’s not much I can offer you. I am Champion of the First Echo and my time has passed.” She tilted her head and golden strands of hair draped over her shoulders. “I did what I could. I founded Fortune Academy to give the next Champion a chance, wherever or whoever she might be.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Well if you wanted Fortune Academy to benefit me, you should have made it easier to enroll. I had to register illegally.”
Dante rubbed the scar around his wrist. “That’s right. It wasn’t easy to get her in.”
Sonya smirked. “Well, even if you hadn’t gone to Fortune Academy, there was Monster Academy too right here next door. The Champion is always a supernatural one, even if she doesn’t start out that way, so I knew if Evelyn’s version ofeducationcouldn’t benefit you, my school would.”
“Monster Academy?” I asked as tingling crawled down my arms and the urge to release my claws made me clench my fists. “I’m not a monster.”
Sonya patted me on the knee. “Of course you’re not, dear. Monster Academy is just a nickname. Officially it’s called Underworld Academy.” Her gaze sparkled with that wicked gleam I was learning not to trust. “Maybe you’ll get a chance to check it out one day.”
“We’re not here to swap schools,” Orion said, his voice booming through the guest chamber. “We’re here to stop Calamity and salvage our home.”
She gave the demigod a raised eyebrow as she leaned into her hip. “I can’t stop Calamity.”
I got up and stood between my mother and Orion before the snarky demigod got himself in trouble. “I don’t want your help to stop Calamity, Mother. Just… your assistance to contain it.”
She tilted her head. “Contain it? And how do you propose I do that? Calamity is an intangible, unstoppable force. It cannot be defeated, much less contained. It can only besurvivedwith the help of Champions like us who help soften the blow of destruction.”
Kaito rested his hand on mine, giving me strength. “We know who the Conduit is,” he said. “It’s the Dean of Fortune Academy: Guinevere Lancelot.”
Sonya hissed. “What?” She gaped in shock, then snapped her jaw shut as her eyes flashed with red fury. “I told Evelyn that woman was a poor choice. Unbelievable.” She worked her jaw. “That means the Academy has been compromised, yes?”
I nodded. “The Dean has a muse working for her. One of the students named Melinda and she’s no joke. We barely made it here with our lives.”
Sonya grabbed onto Luke and he flinched as her power jolted through him. I expected him to pull away, but instead he wrapped his arms around her and absorbed her energy until the red haze around them dissipated. I realized that the Queen of Hell suffered the weight of sin—sin of all the realms, and her mates kept her grounded.
“We need to give her the angelstone,” Sonya whispered as she curled into Luke’s chest.
“Hmm,” he said, a sound of agreement.
Kaito perked up at that. “Did you say… angelstone?”
Chapter 10
Kaito grilled the Queen about angelstone as we climbed more staircases than I cared to count. While I had super-strength, I definitely didn’t have super-endurance and halfway through my legs started to burn something fierce.
As I slowly trailed behind the group, I envied my mates. Hendrik, a powerful Dark Mage, never seemed to tire. Beneath those robes hid a masculine body powered by the forces of dark magic. He’d literally devoured his soul for that strength, so I didn’t envy the price, but still, not dying while climbing stairs sounded pretty good right about now.
Dante? Hunter.
