Page 45 of Messenger of Death
“Unless Liam and Lucian stopped to have some kind of fist fight, hopefully they got more research done than we did. I don’t regret doing this instead, though.”
“You still smell good, but your scent isn’t driving me mad now. I think we’ll be able to concentrate next time.”
“Same. They keep telling me the Morrigan was more of a shapeshifter than an actual shifter like you, but you just smelled so good.”
“I’m going to have you again and then tomorrow, we can go back to researching snake gods.”
I groaned, but I turned to face Khalid. I was up for whatever he was.
We were stuck. There were a lot of gods associated with snakes, but we also could have been dealing with an original who someone had tried to erase. Honestly, that was probably what we were dealing with.Someoneknew something or they wouldn’t have been reincarnated.
And then wefinallygot some help. Saffron plopped next to me and stole one of my fries. They were made out of these pink potatoes from Fairy and I got them every time they were served in the fairy line because they put them out with this amazingbrown gravy. I couldn’t get enough. I swatted at Saffron, but I didn’t really care if she stole my food.
“You’ll give meallyour fries when you hear my news. Scorpia agreed to talk to you.”
“Seriously?”
Scorpia was actually Saffron’s great-great grandmother and a fairy elder. Saffron called her granny in their home, but if she was referring to her in her elder capacity, she always called her by her first name. I knew it was a sign of respect, but I was raised by a religious leader, too. People treated me differently, but Blue Matthews would have had an aneurism if I called him by his first name.
“Yes, but she’ll only talk to you. She said this is fairy business and she won’t be the one that tells it to outsiders. The Horned God is revered among the fairies, but you aren’t kin. First things first, Scorpia isveryold. You don’t become a fairy elder just because you age. You have to be a scholaranda warrior. She’s almost three hundred years old, but she’s sharp as a tack and can probably still beat your arse. If she thinks you’re being rude or plan on spreading fairy secrets around, she’ll end the conversation.”
“Wait, I’m mated to Khalid and I’m bonded to Lucian and Liam. Does Scorpia expect me not to tell them what I learn? They are both brilliant and I could use their help.”
“Oh, I’m sure she expects you to tell them. It’s just an understanding you won’t tell anyone else. Fairy loophole.She’snot telling outsiders our secrets because you’re both related to the fairies. She’s giving you the information you need to neutralize a threat. She’s trusting thatyouonly tell people you trust to get rid of the problem. I’m not supposed to tell you this, but don’t tell her you’re going to be telling Lucian, Liam, and Khalid. The fairies will get their revenge if you misuse theinformation, but Scorpia wants a deniability thing by not talking about it. I vouched for you, so I’ll get my revenge, too.”
“You can trust us,” Khalid said. “When does she want to meet with Sage?”
“This weekend. You’ll have to call a ride share to town. The whole town surrounding Ouroboros Academy is supernatural, so if anyone accidentally shifts, it’s no big deal. She lives in one of the fairy neighborhoods.”
“I’ll be kidnapping Lucian and Khalid to check out the rest of town. I have an idea,” Liam said.
“I’mnotgetting my dick pierced. Or a tattoo for that matter.”
“Perish the thought! I have other ideas. Male bonding, you know.”
“That sounds miserable.”
“It’s for Sage,” Liam promised.
“Oh, fine.”
So, it was settled. It was Thursday, so just one more day before we could hopefully get some answers. A group of succubae came up to my table. I was learning how to tell the different supernaturals apart between my history and Arcane Magic classes.
“Hey, you didn’t happen to scream or feel like screaming, do you?”
“No, why?”
“Odessa didn’t come back to our dorm last night.”
My back straightened.
“Does she do that often?”
“I mean, yeah. She’s a succubus. We feed off sex. Sometimes, she was spending the night with someone else. We all do it. We all check in with each other when we get there and before we fall asleep. She missed both check ins.”
“Who was she supposed to be spending the night with last night?”
“Odessa is into powerful people. Doesn’t matter if they are male or female, they have to be really strong magically and physically. There are maybe a few people on our side of the school she’s into. There are powerful people on our side, but they are rather annoying. She’s been seeing a few people on your side of the school.”
