Page 39 of Fortune Academy: Year Three
Satisfied, I ventured onward in search of Hendrik and Kaito, only to slam right into a wall.
Damn Dark Mage.
I spread my fingers over the smooth, onyx barrier, sensing Hendrik on the other side. I felt the shift in the air as he took note of my presence.
Rapping my knuckles on the barrier, I attempted to get his attention. “Hendrik? You okay over there?”
Silence.
“Okay… I guess you don’t want to talk right now. Go ahead and get your sulking over with, because I’m going to be checking again on you later!”
A slight breeze carrying the scent of roses and blood was the only indicator that he’d heard me.
“Stubborn bastard,” I grumbled as I ran my fingers along the wall.
I understood maybe he needed his space right now, and I’d give it to him, just not forever because whether he liked it or not, he was my mate and I cared about him. The Dark Mage had lost his role in his clan and I knew how important his mages were to him. Unlike Logan, the only family he’d ever had wouldn’t innately recognize his hierarchy in the group, much less the sacrifices he’d already made for them over the years. And if they’d learned to move on without him, they might have decided they didn’t need him as a leader whether they believed his story or not. I decided that’s probably what bothered him the most.
Moving down the final path that turned to a dusty road, I searched for my Japanese Mentor. I wandered deeper into the fog that curled around my ankles and ran a cold chill up my legs.
Deafening silence closed in around me, making me feel closed off from my mate-circle as I delved deeper into the unnatural void, but Kaito had to be around here somewhere. A frown tugged at my lips as I searched for his familiar heat and mystery that had been ever-present in the mate-bond. Now that I knew what Kaito was, I knew what to look for. His powers stemmed from the same eternal sorrow that created a permanent knot in my stomach. Hell’s powers stemmed from the weight of sin itself, the suffering it brought on those who fell into its trap and all the emotions that came with it. Learning how to use that power made me go into places of myself that I wasn’t entirely comfortable exploring, but with my mate-circle as my anchor, it didn’t matter how far I sank, I’d never have to fear hitting rock bottom because they would always pull me out again.
That’s what I had to do for my mates now. Kaito, in particular. The martyr had gotten himself captured and he’d better not get himself killed, or I’d find him in Hell and resurrect him so that I could kill him myself.
Still, I wandered the dark fog of my dreams looking for him. After I turned into a particularly dark corner, I felt a surge of all of my Virtues tugging in the back of my mind warning me not to continue, but it bothered me that Kaito was somewhere I couldn’t reach. I had to see where he was hiding.
“Who are you?” asked a male voice with a sexy low rumble to it that made me jump.
“Who’s there?” I asked the black fog, turning around in a circle as it swirled around my ankles.
A looming presence in the distance made me freeze as a warning chill ran up my spine. The connection to the rest of my mates thinned and strained against the overpowering aura coming from this… creature.
Long, bat-like wings spread from the male and he stepped through the fog, revealing a wickedly gorgeous demon face and red eyes that danced with the fires of Hell itself.
Power emanated from him and banished the fog around our feet. He tilted his head in a predatory way as his gaze ran over me.
Realizing I was completely naked—because my dreams loved to play cruel jokes on me—I covered myself as best as I could with my hands. “Who areyou?” I countered. “Some kind of dream-peeping demon?”
He chuckled and the sound went straight through my body, vibrating in my chest like I’d wandered too close to one of those bass speakers at a concert. “You’re the one who summoned me, Lilith.”
I flinched at the way he said my name, as if he knew exactly who and what I was. “My name’s Lily,” I countered.
He smirked, taking a step closer. I tried to back up but my ass ran into a wall that hadn’t been there a moment before. It wasn’t like Henrik’s barrier. This one radiated heat and spread immediate warmth through my body that made me relax despite the demon closing in on me.
He kept on his approach, slowly caging me in with his broad wings as his arms boxed me in from either side. A screech sounded as the talons on the ends of the arches scratched along the wall behind me, working as an unspoken threat that any wrong move would result in certain death. “I didn’t askwhoyou were, Lilith,” he said his voice silky smooth in ways that made me tremble beneath him. “I want to know who youthinkyou are. I am a demon of rage.” He ran his fingers up my chest and closed them around my neck. I swallowed hard before he blocked my airway. “And you, Lilith, test my patience.”
My thoughts raced as black dots began to sprinkle around my vision. I didn’t know how this demon managed to paralyze me so easily. Maybe it was because it was a dream, or maybe I just didn’t expect one of my Virtues to seriously hurt me—because I had no doubt who this demon was.
“Cole,” I said his name, managing to rasp it from his strangling grasp.
He frowned as if irritated I knew who he was. His grip on me tightened.
He wanted to be an asshole? Fine.
I took a page from the “how-to-deal-with-immortals” book and kicked him right in the balls.
He doubled-over, loosening his grip around my neck enough for me to slip underneath him and escape.
“Get back here!” he roared, but I was already sprinting with all my strength back the way I’d come and out of the mind-sucking void where Cole reigned supreme. When I faced him again, it would be onmyterms.
