Page 29 of Fortune Academy: Year Three
No, I can’t think about that.
“Do you have a better idea?” Hendrik asked, crossing his arms.
Sonya rested one hand on Luke’s bicep, always seeming to need some sort of contact with one of her mates. “You could fight the Conduit directly,” she proposed. She gave me a knowing smirk. “You’re… stronger now, are you not?”
“The mate-circle is not yet complete,” Kaito answered for me. Talking about this with my own mother made me blush, but leave it to a demonic mentor to destroy any sense of privacy I might have had. Even though I knew I was more than a research project to him, old habits died hard.
“Oh?” Sonya asked, one brow rising in interest as she glanced at me. “Is that so, dear? These lovely males aren’t enough for you?”
I frowned and looked around the halls. “Are there any windows in this tower I can jump out of?”
She laughed. “I’m a succubus turned vampire and Queen of Hell. The first sin I ever conquered was lust, darling daughter. You really don’t need to be shy with me. Not to mention your father is the Incubus King. Have you ever had the pleasure of meeting an Incubus? Because let me tell you, their dicks are the size of a—”
“Mom!” I shrieked, horrified as I swiped a hand over my face. “I do not need to know about your… experiences.”
She chuckled, clearly enjoying my torment. “As you wish, darling.” She turned to Dante who still held the glimmering orb that sparkled like a thousand diamonds. My blood had vanished, as if absorbed by a stone too pure to tolerate any stain. “As Lilith’s Virtue, you all will be able to handle the angelstone, as well as travel to and from Hell as you please.” She glanced at the red gem hanging around my neck. “Let me bless your Blood Stone, dear, and you’ll have better aim when you wish to come back to Hell again. The veil has thinned for you after coming here once already, so all you have to do is throw the stone at your feet and it’ll break through the realms again.” She leaned in and kissed my temple. “Just think of the place in Hell you want to go, and now that you have a better idea of its layout, you’ll be able to travel there in an instant.
I finally peeled myself from Orion’s embrace, feeling more myself after recuperating from being boiled like a potato by the stupid angelstone. I presented my necklace to my mother and she took it with delicate fingers, turning it over and smiling at the dark ruby red that emanated with eternal warmth.
She brought the gem to her lips and flames trickled across the stone’s surface, continuing over her skin before she gently released the gem. “There we are.” She cleared her throat. “Mage. Hold her hand and summon one of your little portals,” she said without looking at the Dark Mage.
Hendrik frowned. “First of all, they’re notlittleportals, and second—”
“Hendrik,” I warned. “Just do it.”
He glared before snatching up my wrist, but I noticed he’d chosen my unharmed hand. No matter his bravado, he cared about me enough not to want to hurt me.
The Dark Mage pulled me in close so that my Blood Stone nestled between us as he murmured a spell in my ear. The effect sent his breath running down my neck and I bit my lip as warmth spilled around us, filling the air with the aroma of blood and roses.
A streak cracked in the space before us and the void opened up like a giant mirror. It grew until it stabilized, shimmering with a black oily surface before turning translucent and displaying what was supposed to be Fortune Academy.
Most of it looked the same, on the surface, at least. I spotted the endless dark sky, the gothic towers of the Dark Mage dorms, and students wearing uniforms, but the similarities ended there.
Demonspawn ran through the streets, tormenting the students who fought their way through a hoard of vampires and other supernaturals I didn’t recognize, but based on the chaos, they weren’t friendly ones.
“Why are your demons attacking the students?” I snapped, turning on my mother as I clenched my fists. My fingers ached on the hand that had been branded by the angelstone. “Have you been distracting us so you could take over Fortune Academy for yourself?”
She crossed her arms and Luke stiffened, but respected his mate enough to let her defend herself even though I knew he wanted to step between us. “Don’t insult me, daughter. Demonspawn run by their own rules. I might be their Queen, but my duty is to this realm and my role is to keep Hell in one piece. It’s not an easy task, I’ll have you know, especially after the damage the First Echo of Calamity left behind when it tore open the veil between Earth and Hell, and then the Second Echo merged all of the realms on top of one another. Did you not notice the massive avalanche of snow on the surface? Or the hoard of witch spirits clogging the transfer tunnels?” Her eyes blazed with red heat, reflecting the flames of the pits of Hell itself. “I’m barely keeping it together down here. If Hell is torn apart, you don’t want to see what kind of monsters will escape its lower prisons into the other realms.
“Monsters like me?” I spat out before I could stop myself.
My mother softened. “Sweetheart, that’s not—”
“Forget it,” I growled. “I don’t have time to argue with you. If you aren’t after Fortune Academy, then someone is, and I need to get to the Dean before they do.”
“The Conduit is a source of great power,” Kaito agreed as his tattoo shimmered with ruby light, then he frowned. “What if it’s Luc?”
Damn demons. “Then we just have to get to the Dean first,” I said as I shoved my way through my mates.
I didn’t hesitate, didn’t say goodbye to my mother, didn’t let myself think or feel or allow any emotion in because now was the time to act.
I would never forgive myself if we came this far only to be too late to save the world, to save Olivia, and to find my last Virtue who was out there, somewhere, suffering and in pain.
Hold on, Olivia.
Wait for me, Cole.
It won’t be much longer now.
