Page 11 of Messenger of Death
“If you won’t let me stab him, you should definitely do that and let us read it if he responds to you.”
I just shrugged.
“Blue Matthews doesn’t deserve a quick death. He deserves to lose everything so he can wonder why his god abandoned him. He deserves to lose it in a way he can never get it back, either. Since that’s never going to happen, I’d rather just forget him.”
Lucian had this unreadable look on his face like he was up to something. He was buried in his phone again. He did that a lot. When he was present, he was present, but there seemed to be something on his phone he found fascinating and he said he hated social media.
“If we aren’t giving our father’s heart attacks, let’s move on,” Morgana said.
She took us through the courtyard to some kind of outdoor amphitheater. Morgana explained that Ouroboros Academy graduates had gone on to be famous performers, either in acting, music, or both.
“Is it true Sex Pest graduated from here? I know someone told me they did, but that’s just wild. I’m a big fan,” Liam said.
“Yes. I saw them perform when they were students when my brother was here. They are amazing.”
“You’ll have to show me their music,” I said.
Because even though I’d only seen him perform once and it was justThe Devil Went Down to Georgia,I already knew Liam was an amazing musician and I wanted to hear the music he loved.
We moved to some kind of sporting field next. I hated sports. Blue Matthews wanted a quarterback, and he got me. He tried to compensate by putting me on basketball and softball teams, but he also did the bare minimum to keep me alive with my diabetes, so I kept having crashes trying to keep up with being the sports star he wanted me to be until he decided it was too embarrassing and stopped trying to force me.
I didn’t even know what kind of field this was. I was that mad about being forced into sports. I didn’t even enjoy watching it.
“A bunch of students have formed an intra academy rugby league and play every Sunday. This is technically Professor Adamastus’s classroom, though. Don’t expect to go inside if the weather is shit. If you complain about it, he’s going to tell youthat if you’re fighting for your life, it’s going to happen in all types of weather conditions and you’re not going to get to pick any of them.”
“I don’t stab people when the weather is shite. It makes me sweaty or my socks get wet. It’s enough to make someone homicidal. You should only start shite when the weather is nice.”
“Not everyone feels that way, you psycho,” Lucian said. “What if we fight better without our fists?”
“Tough shit. There are certain classes you need to graduate and that’s one of them.”
“Any respectable bloke would learn to stop me from kicking him in the kidneys,” Liam said. “What if you give that stink face to a dragon and he eats you?”
Lucian gave him a withering glare.
“I’m going to fuck you up without laying a finger on you. I’m just still in the initial planning phase.”
“Looking forwards to it, Pookie.”
“Do not call me that,” Lucian seethed.
Yeah, Pookie was officially going to be Lucian’s nickname from now on. If he hadn’t reacted, it wouldn’t have stuck, but I could see the glee in Liam’s eyes that Lucian hated it so much.
“Anyway,” Khalid said. “I know we all have different magicks as gods, but is there magicks we all share that we’re going to be trained to fight with?”
“Score one of the hot nerd. Yes. I need to show you the laundry facilities, mail room, and then the rec room. Then, we’ll need to get your books. Just so you know, the Brownies usually do laundry, but they organized several centuries ago. They know exactly what they bring to the table. If they think you’re ungrateful, you’ll be doing your own laundry and cleaning. They love Petros, but Elliot pissed them off the second week.”
“Sorry, what’s a Brownie?” I asked.
“They are household sprites. While you’re sleeping, they use their magic to do chores. They used to take payment in cream or cakes. They still want that. Petros was Hermes in his first life. Hermes was the God of Thieves and Speed, but he was also a God of Commerce and Merchants.
“One of Petros’s previous lives organized the Brownies and pointed out to them the people who typically have someone doing their chores for them have money to pay for that. He suggested they ask for wages in addition to cream and cakes since they were doing all the work people didn’t want to do.
“And honestly, it was right to do that. No one should work for free. Sprites are a type of fairy that can be both helpful or malicious. Brownies didn’t just help with chores. They punished lazy servants. Modern Brownies are a little different, but still the same. If they don’t feel appreciated, they’ll stop showing up at night to clean up after you. They’ll still check in on you and ifyouaren’t picking up the slack, they’ll turn into a total menace until you do.
“They are also stubborn. Once you’re out with the Brownies, you’ll never be back in. Elliot saw one once and asked her if she was a troll because he didn’t know. They’ve hated him since. They love every reincarnation of Hermes, so Petros can do no wrong. He might be the only one who could ever get them to forgive Elliot, but right now, he finds it amusing.”
I grew up with servants, but they mostly waited on my father hand and foot. My mother and I were also practically his servants. I was supposed to be learning how to run a household for my future husband. It was a little strange to havemagicalpeople cleaning up after me. Even if I was warned they were easily offended, Ineverintended to treat them the way my father treated his.
