Page 59 of Fortune Academy: Year Three
“No I am not,” I agreed, propping my hands on my hips. “And I’m going to find him right now and face him, because this shit is getting old. We’re not his enemies and it’s time he sees that. The only reason he has access to the mate-bond in the first place is because he’s one of my mates, too.”
Orion stepped in front of me, blocking me from the exit.
I glowered up at the giant bastard. “Move,” I ordered.
“The mate-bond is healing,” Orion said, pressing one warm hand to my shoulder that sent a tingling sensation through my body. “You’ve figured out Cole’s weakness that’s been pushing us all apart. If he doesn’t want to be a part of the mate-circle, then maybe he shouldn’t be. If we regrouped, we could face the Dean without him.”
“No,” I stated firmly, leaving no room for debate. “Cole is one of my Virtues too, and I’m not leaving him behind whether you think we need him or not.”
“He’s a monster,” Kaito said. “A true monster. He’s not redeemable.”
I glowered. “Really, Kaito? Out of all of us I thought you’d be one to understand.”
“Sounds like she’s made up her mind,” Dante lamented. “I’d let her go.”
“Understand?” Kaito asked, drifting one hand to my hip even as anger wafted like a flame under his skin. “He’s dangerous,Koneko-chan, and powerful. Cole’s been using me to get to the rest of your Virtues. So forgive me if I don’tunderstand.”
“Like a freaking antenna,” Dante remarked with a sneer. “No wonder he could get into my head so easily.” He jabbed Kaito in the shoulder. “Thanks a lot. You could have stopped him.”
My mentor snarled, his eyes flaring with that inner rage that Cole had tapped into. “You don’t think I tried to fight him? I’ve been down here for six months with barely any food or water all whileyou’vebeen dicking around on campus.” He shoved Dante back, although in his current state he didn’t have enough strength to physically move the Hunter. “Did you even try coming for me?”
“Of course we did,” I said, holding onto his arm and wishing I could wipe away the past six months. I’d known that he’d been holed up in the Monster Arena, but I had no idea it was this bad. “There was no way to get to you.”
“We don’t have time for this,” Orion reminded us, his booming voice leaving no room for debate. He grabbed my wrist and yanked it up. “You’ve made a deal with the devil, sweetheart, and time is almost up.”
My Virtues surrounded me as I followed the slight tug toward Cole. Setting him free was the right thing to do, but now that I was about to go through with it, my stomach wouldn’t freaking stop with the jitters.
I stopped when we reached the end of a tunnel that had the worst of the fog. Even my fireball trick didn’t do much to dissipate the mist.
“I can’t see a damn thing,” Orion complained as the darkness overwhelmed his light.
“There are three doors,” Kaito observed. “I suspect this is the last safeguard in place to keep intruders from attempting to tamper with the demon’s prison. Two of these are fakes.”
I held up my handkerchief that had only a speck of blood left on it. “We only get one shot,” I said as I tried to keep my eyes open.
The fog wanted me to sleep, but not just that. It wanted me to enter a dream I’d never escape, one where Cole could infiltrate my mind and finish what he’d started.
Fighting the urge to close my eyes, I surveyed each door and tried to find a clue I was missing.
“They all look the same,” I complained. I ran my fingers over each one, feeling a cold sense of nothingness on the other side that masked which one held Cole captive.
“Use the mate-bond,” Dante suggested. “If he can get to us, you should be able to reverse it.”
I closed my eyes and released a long breath. It didn’t matter. I sensed Kaito, Orion, and Dante, as well as my other Virtues on campus. Logan has sensed something was up and was on his way here. While I appreciated his concern, I didn’t want the wolf to get caught up in this, not when there wasn’t anything he could do.
Hendrik was also aware of our situation and he sent snaps of energy through the bond, punishing me for even thinking of freeing Cole. He joined the wolf on their mission to stop me from making what they thought was a huge mistake, which was exactly why I hadn’t brought them with me.
I suspected the Melinda had told the Dean on us by now, which means she’d be on her way too.
Now was the time to act. Now was the time to set my final Virtue free.
Trusting my gut, I went to the door on the left and started to raise the handkerchief, but Kaito rushed in and stopped me. “Not this one,” he said, panting as if he fought for breath.
“What?” I asked.
He pointed to the opposite door. “It’s that one.”
“How do you know?” I asked, not fully ready to trust him. “If you’re messing with me I’ll—”
