Page 15 of The Goddess is Awakened
“Anyway, some of these kids are terrible, but let’s face it. Their family name protects them. There were a lot that were working their asses off and show real promise. You’ve got potential, kid. Anyway, what I’mtryingto say is that if you still want to play dodgeball, I can give you private lessons to make that happen.”
Oh, holy fuck. Private lessons from Zion Skinner? I could masturbate over that. Oscar was never the type of man to put all his eggs in one basket. His Abuela was the kind of woman you wanted in your life. Oscar wasn’t just a fantastic dodgeball player. He was a brilliant student and an amazing artist. He had a ton of choices if he didn’t go back to dodgeball.
Still, if he didn’t take Zion up on this, I was calling his abuela and the Paranormal Investigation Bureau.
“I’m a center like Lavinia Crane was. I was always a fan, even before I lost my hearing. She’s not the only deaf player in the league’s history, either. I’d love the private lessons, but if they’d cut me over that without even giving me a chance to prove myself, I’m not sure I want to go back.”
“Good for you, kid. There’s an old sports field on this campus. They built it back in the day for some inferior sport that never took off, and then the Academy decided not to have a dodgeball team because they wanted to be known for academics. They rent the field out for local dodgeball matches, so it’s maintained. Meet me there before dinner on Monday and Wednesday nights.”
“Awesome,” Oscar said.
I wasn’t even remotely smart enough to get accepted here as a student, but it was pretty awesome to be here. I got to watch Zion Skinner mentor a young brujo, and there was the matter of a certain sexy witch I should probably stay away from.
ren
Iwas pretty sure anyone who wasn’t a fucking idiot would be losing their shit over private lessons from Zion Skinner. I knew Oscar was excited, but I wasn’t sure if he’d ever return to dodgeball after what they did to him. They could have stood by him after everything. Or at least given him the chance to prove himself. They dropped him while he was still dealing with the fact that he might never hear again.
Oscar was focusing on his art for now. There was an amazing program at the Academy of the Profane for magical art, so he was doing that. I hadn’t decided what I was going to focus on. My boyfriend always had more plans and backup plans than I did. I was a kitsune. We weren’t so much for plans. I’d figure it out eventually.
West was being typical West. There were two things he was passionate about—dodgeball and pretty women. He didn’t usually profess to be in love immediately after meeting one, but between Zion Skinner teaching magical combat and pairing West with a witch, he was about to shift and run through this campus, knocking everyone over.
“Seriously, you both saw her, right? The twin with the silver eyes? She’s super cool, and she knows her dodgeball. George also managed to zap me a few times when we sparred.”
I was pretty sureeveryonein our history class knew who she was at this point. Kaylee Krauss made sure of that, and then our professor let everyone know her dad was a primordial god and a good friend of his. George Bell didn’t react to any of that in class, but there was just way too much drama around her in one history class for me.
West was a good friend. He was one of us now. Between a kitsune and a lion shifter, we could cause alotof trouble. Oscar was our voice of reason. I thought Church could be too, but we were back in our dorm room, and whatever George Bell obsession was going around, he seemed to have caught it. I hoped it wasn’t contagious. Kitsunes liked stirring up drama, but we didn’t enjoy dating it. If Oscar and I brought a woman into the equation, she was going to have to be insanely cool.
“Do you feel how much power she gives off?” Church asked.
We all could. She was probably the most powerful witch at this school. It made no sense for the weakest witch here to start shit with her, even with her mom being headmaster. Clearly, there was something there I had no interest in being involved in.
“Well, yeah. Her dad is a god,” Oscar said.
“She got her magic early because she nearly drowned,” Church said. “That’s probably why she was able to get you on the first day of magical combat.”
“How do you even know that?” I asked.
“Oh, I did a deep dive on her social media. Get this. Her mom is the librarian of the Library of the Profane, and her aunt runs the museum. Loki is her uncle, and like, she’s got photos of her with LilithandLucifer.”
“Do tell! Did she accept your friend request?” West asked. “Do you think she’d accept mine?”
“I didn’t send her one because we’ve never spoken, but she might accept yours. You totally should, man.”
“Why are you creeping on her social media?” Oscar asked.
Church was kind of intense, but that was a little weird. He could have introduced himself and asked.
“Energy vampire thing,” Church said mysteriously.
“That’s so not an energy vampire thing,” I said. “You’re the first one I’ve met, but you can’t sense a thing from the internet. You would have had better luck using your mojo talking to her in person.”
“I’m not trying to mojo her. She’s the most fascinating girl at this school. I’m admiring from a distance while I figure her out.”
Maybe Church was justreallybad with girls. I truly hoped this didn’t turn into some kind of stalking thing. He’d been cool so far and vibed with us, but that would end quickly if he started mistreating women. I doubted he’d be expelled for it because of his grandfather.
“I want to figure her out. Tell me more,” West said.
“You could just ask her,” Oscar said. “She could have destroyed that girl in history, but she didn’t. She seems kinda cool. Think about it. Freshman year is a giant pissing contest to assert dominance. She’s the strongest witch in this school. Did you see her twin when she was shifted? I don’t think any other shifter is going to fuck with her. Neither of them seemed interested in making a big show and claiming Queen Bee.”
