Page 17 of Messenger of Death
“Definitely. I can’t believe he thought his clothes shifted with him when he turns into a bat. That’s just a thing in movies to avoid nudity. When you figure out how to turn into a crow, you’re going to want to stash clothes all over the grounds like the rest of the shifters. You won’t be able to control it at first, so you might not want to fly super high when you fight. Figure it out.”
“I guess Lucian should keep some clothes in here. Do you mind he keeps sneaking in?”
“I think it’s hilarious. He made that big stink about wanting a single when he was awake, but he’s got other ideas in his sleep.”
“He has this thing about people touching him. I know it’s okay when he touches me, but how am I supposed to touch him back if we get to that point?”
“On his terms and not until he asks. He’ll get there.”
“How are we supposed to do this?”
“Listen, trust the adults with this. I know they kidnapped you and drugged you, but that’s the board, not anyone who works here. You can’t get a job here unless you’re brilliant. It doesn’t go to anyone just because of who they were in a previous life. Professor Adamastus had to earn teaching defense and Professor Kane isn’t even a reincarnation, but she’s teaching them. They’ve all been huddled together trying to figure this out, but you need to tell Headmaster Mykene about Alexios’s prophecy when you do your work study since he hasn’t been able to get to her.”
Yeah, that part was weird. I thought I was going to be working in the kitchen or cleaning classrooms or something. All I knew was that I’d be paying for my education working with the headmaster.
Headmaster Mykene struck me as a woman who didn’t do anything without an excellent reason, so she was up to something.
We were pariahs at breakfast, but weknewAri, Ivar, and Alexios were innocent, so we sat with them, anyway. Morgana, Elliot, and Petros joined us. The sophomore class was about the same size as ours, but the junior and senior classes on this side of the school were pretty small.
They seemed to want to stay out of it, so it was just us against the entire freshman class. Lola was holding court at her table with Mazen and Radames sitting on either side of her. Mazen looked like he was about to go feral if anyone looked at Lolathe wrong way. I couldn’t read Radames at all. He was alert and watching his surroundings, but I couldn’t tell what he was feeling. If he noticed Lola’s story kept changing, he hadn’t come asking questions. And Mazen was so concerned about Lola, but I hadn’t heard him ask a damned thing about the girl he started the trials with, who was also missing.
Breakfast was tense, but we eventually made it to our first class at Ouroboros Academy with no one getting stabbed or a brawl breaking out. Our first class was history. Morgana spoke highly of Professor Kane and seemed to think she might be able to straighten all of this out with her lectures.
I tried to remember that when I laid eyes on her. Professor Kane had frizzy gray hair and glasses that made her eyes look huge. She was standing next to a super cluttered desk drinking a giant thermos of something. Her socksandher shoes didn’t match, but there was something in her eyes that told me she might be a bit of a mess on the outside but inside, she was really sharp.
I could hear Lola making fun of her and I’m sorry, but I was just having a really hard time liking Lola. Khalid stiffened next to me when he heard it and Lucian and Liam let out a little growl. Professor Kane hadn’t even opened her mouth yet. She could have put the wrong shoes and socks on because she was working up some brilliant theory instead of working on her appearance.
“Sit. This is college, not high school,” she said.
Which, yeah, clearly needed to be pointed out to some people.
“So, all of you were raised in the human world. You all come from different countries, economic backgrounds, and even religions. We’re going to start with basic history. Our universe is not the only one. There are many parallel to ours and the inhabitants who lived there made their way here through gateways. Some of you have met the fairies, witches, and demonsand some of you might have some preconceived notions about them. They are merely magic users and refugees from another realm.
“They brought magic to this realm, either willingly or because someone did something awful to them and forced them. There are now multiple different types of magic users. None are better than the other, they just use magic differently. Some can morph into one animal only. Some of you can, too, and some of you can shapeshift into anything.
“The parasitic races like vampires, incubi, and succubae are also magic users, they just get it from a different source. Children of gods also introduced magic into this world.”
Khalid’s hand shot up. Yeah, I had some questions, too, but I didn’t think we were at that point of the lecture.
“Which one are you?” she asked.
“Khalid. I’m your new assistant. I was Anubis. As far as I know, there hasn’t been any new gods in a very long time. Were the original gods refugees from another realm like the fairies, witches, and demons?”
It was a good question, but Professor Kane just lit up. I was pretty sure Khalid just became her favorite student.
“There’s a group of us who think so, but we’ve never found a gateway or any artifacts that mention it. The current approved theory is that the Fates made them during a time people needed them for order and keeps recycling them instead of making new ones because people don’t believe in that so much anymore and some of them let it go to their heads.
“Some of us don’t believe that theory. The Fates spin our threads and eventually decide when to cut it. They fixate on some people and fuck with them more than other people. Some of you might be reincarnations of gods who got a bad rep because stories got changed as they fell out of favor, but some of the old gods really were evil. The Fates spin threads ofevil people and sometimes, they are in positions of power, but godlike powers aren’t really their style.”
Lola’s hand shot up, so Professor Kane called on her.
“Excuse me, but what if everyone is saying someone was a hero in their first life but they are hurting and killing women in this one?” she said, glaring at Ivar, Alexios, and Ari.
“You three, who were you in your first life?”
Professor Kane just scoffed when they told her they were Thor, Apollo, and the original bear shifter.
“I knew we had Anubis here, but I didn’t know who. Anubis helped Kira pass over and learned of her last moments. Thor, Apollo, and the original bear don’t have the kind of magic needed for what happened to Kira. If anything, their magic is the exact polar opposite.”
