Page 61 of Fortune Academy: Year Three
“You’re mine,” the demon growled, closing his claws around Dante’s neck. He ran his tongue up the Hunter’s face, seeming conflicted if he was going to hurt him or devour him.
Dante flinched when the demon released him and he fell to his knees. When he looked up again, a solid ring of red ran around the orange irises I’d come to love.
“Dante,” I whispered, my heart twisting. He’d just let Cole in and I knew that I’d just lost a part of him forever to the fires of Hell.
He groaned as a shockwave of heat ran through him, funneling fire through his veins as his skin turned hot before cooling again.
“My own personal whipping boy,” Cole said, wrapping an arm around the Hunter as he grinned. “And with your regeneration, just imagine the power you’re going to give me. This is the best deal I think I’ve ever made.”
“And you have to keep up your end of the bargain,” Dante growled. “You have to help Lily banish the Dean—and you can’t kill her.”
Cole threw his head back and roared another humorless laugh. “Yes, yes.” He swirled his wrist and dragged the Hunter out into the darkness. “Let’s go catch us a Dean, shall we?”
Chapter 23
The roar from upstairs came as a surreal contrast to the silent condemnation of the Arena’s dungeons.
I took the lead, far too angry with Dante for sacrificing himself as a plaything to a demon I’d sorely underestimated to face him right now. Orion and Kaito walked beside me, keeping an eye on the demon who still had his arm wrapped around Dante. Every step he’d shot a wave of Hellfire through my Hunter, making him buckle with pain and rage that only made the demon stronger.
I wondered how long Dante could endure this punishment. It seemed like a pretty uneven deal to get the demon to be compliant, but I’d handle that after we took care of the Dean.
Save the world first… then I’d save my Virtues from themselves.
The crowd cheered as we exited the tunnels and spotlights made me shield my eyes.
“Ah, the stars of the show have arrived,” the Dean announced, then clapped. “Merlin, if you would?”
The wizard wearing his favorite navy-blue suit seemed to have aged since the last time I’d seen him. At orientation he’d looked to be around his thirties, but now he had creases around his eyes and gray streaks through his hair. He waved a finger and sent glimmering walls erecting on either side of us leaving only one single path to the center stage.
I drew in a breath when I spotted Logan and Hendrik bound by chains kneeling on the Arena floor. A giant cage glimmered with magic all around them, ensuring that nobody was going to be getting out of here alive.
The crowd began to chant, and I realized that the spectators weren’t spectators at all. Their bodies glowed with red power and they wore long, blood-red robes that marked them as the only witches I knew of that would dress like that.
“It’s the Blood Coven,” Kaito whispered.
While I wasn’t a star student, I’d paid attention when Olivia had told me about the Blood Coven. They were an illegal faction of witches that Evelyn had tried to eradicate, but she was obviously doing a poor job of that.
“Thank you, Merlin, now if you’d kindly join all those who have betrayed me,” she said, kicking him and shoving him off the stage and into the ring.
He landed with a hard thud as he struggled to get to his feet. “Crazy bitch,” he growled.
“Witch,” she corrected as she held up a finger, “and you’re the one who has been helping the Light Mage suppress my memories, so it’s your fault you’re about to die.” She shrugged. “You’ve lived longer than I have, so I’d say you’ve lived long enough.”
“You think this wall will protect you?” Cole asked, unaffected by the chanting Blood Witches on the level below us. He spread his wings and launched himself upward, going straight for her. He hit the wall hard and fell back onto the arena with a growl.
“This is no simple cage,” she gloated and clapped her hands. “Ladies, if you’d please.”
The coven’s chant changed and lowered in tempo, sending the walls around us turning red with heat.
My hairline broke out with sweat and I whirled in a circle. “What are they doing?” I asked, grabbing onto Kaito.
“They’re tuning the playing field into the demon,” he said, keeping his gaze on Cole. “Keep close to us,Koneko-chan. This is about to get rough.”
Cole roared and his wings flared as the dark mist spilled out around him, rolling with bolts of red lightning that threatened to destroy anything it touched.
When it reached Merlin, he jolted upright and clenched his fists. “This is all your fault,” he growled, facing Hendrik and Logan still chained and on their knees.
The fog reached Logan next, making him sneeze, but it didn’t seem to otherwise affect him. Hendrik, however, threw his head back as his black eyes glazed over with fire. When he fell to his hands, he clenched his jaw and took in deep, gulping breaths as his focus landed on Dante. “You,” he growled.
