Page 33 of Messenger of Death
I was guessing Radames’s father and Blue Matthews believed in the same god, but followed wildly different interpretations of the exact same book. I was just guessing here, but I was guessing Radames’s father didn’t swindle private jets and new cars from his parishioners.
Radames and I looked at each other, sizing each other up before I turned away.
“I have no problem with any of this, but my knowledge is limited because I couldn’t even read books likePercy Jacksongrowing up. We might be having a different conversation if I’d been a boy, but I’mgladI’m not.”
Radames just didn’t say anything. I got some people only shared when they had something to say, but Headmaster Mykene was giving him a chance to either unload about the unfairness of all this or tell her he was fine with it and ask for help.
Because I knew who I was now and I still needed a fuck ton of it. I was behind on everything. Blue Matthews was obsessed with witches and I’d heard of werewolves, but thought it was fiction. The only fairies I knew about was the one on a friend’sbackpack that the elementary school told her she couldn’t bring again because the company that made the movie was evil. I didn’t knowanythingabout other gods.
When we were talking about what we saw in the pool during the trials, everyone went into a lot of detail except Lola and Radames. They might not have seen very much, but he had a god known for her smarts here to ask and he wasn’t doing that either. Headmaster Mykene stared at him for a moment and then just sighed.
“I’m going to have you both doing research, but what do you need?”
“Research should help me,” I said. “I don’t know aboutanyof this. Morgana and Khalid are helping me. I’m going to ask Lucian to help me buy a new laptop and computer. Are they going to come with the apps you snuck on ours? Because Lucian is mad about that.”
“Tell Lucian he’s not as smart as he thinks and I’m not going to reveal his secret,” she said with a smile. “But yes, if you use your student discount, they’ll put the apps on there as long as you buy it from a supernatural company who can actually deliver it here.”
Yeah, Lucian was smart, but he wasn’t God of Wisdom smart.Of course,Headmaster Mykene knew he hacked her app, and we made everyone think Blaize was a goat fucker. She seemed to think it was funny and didn’t ask why we did it. Maybe Blaize had sent her a nude, too. She was an attractive woman.
“He’s going to take that as a challenge.”
“I hope he does. The battle of wits I’d be in with Lucian is the kind I prefer. I’m not sure I’m ready for whatever Liam O’Breen is going to bring to this campus. What about you, Radames? What do you need?”
“My baba raised me to fix my own problems. I have my methods that have always worked for me. I’ll find my own path.”
Men could be so stubborn sometimes. If there wasanytime to ask for help, it was now. I was finally gettingsomekind of read on him. He wasn’t refusing help because a woman was offering it. He honestly didn’t care. Radames really wanted to do this himself.
“I can accept that. For the rest of your work study hours for today, why don’t you go do that? The library has a pretty vast section on Egyptian gods and magical beings if you wanted to start there, but I’ll leave it up to you.”
When we were alone, I didn’t know whatIwas supposed to do for the rest of my work study. There were things I needed to say, though.
“Did Alexios tell you his prophecy?”
“No. Apparently, he’s terrified of me. Apollo and Artemis are opposite sides of the same coin. Sometimes, they come back from the same mother and sometimes, it’s like it is now where they are just meeting for the first time. They are always close no matter what. He told Phoebe, and she told me. I gave her Apollo’s bow so she could start teaching him to protect himself.”
“Ivar could use his hammer. Sorry, I wasn’t even allowed to watch the Marvel movies, so I keep forgetting what it’s called.”
“Giving Ivar Mjölnir before he’s ready could raze this entire town to the ground. Putting the word out Alexios can give diseases with his arrows should hopefully, calm some people down.”
“Oh! I have a theory. Alexios was the one who had the prophecy that we’re dealing with the Forsaken Ones. He might eventually be the one who names them, too. Someone is trying really hard to frame him and his team. What if these Forsaken Ones have a way of seeing who we used to be? We know one of them has some weird darkness power that can stop a dragon from shifting, but Alexios is a sun god. What if they are tryingthis hard to incite violence against the one group who might be able to name them because Alexios’s light might hurt them?”
“It’s an excellent theory that I think we need to explore more, but I don’t think you’re realizing something. You have some foretelling ability, too. You’re just as likely to figure out who the Forsaken Ones are.”
Well, fuck.
The bitches in the kitchen called me a menace and as soon as I finished frosting my cupcakes, they suggested I go join the search for the missing students and let them finish dinner. Ingrates. My frosting was what orgasms were made of. I tried to see if I could make that a thing now that I knew I was a fertility god, but I’d only know if my magical intention worked if people started clenching their thighs or covering the wet spot with a napkin.
Maybe a cupcake orgasm would dislodge some sticks from some arses. Then again, it also might give those tree fairies some ideas.
I shoved my hand in my pocket and met Sage as she was coming out of her work study. I presented Headmaster Mykene with a cupcake I stole because I liked the woman and I made them. She took a bite without even questioning me.
“Thanks. I’m famished. I worked through lunch. This is delicious.”
“I ordered my secret ingredient when you agreed to let me work in the kitchen. It arrived just in time.”
She paused mid bite and stared at me in horror.
“Oh, it’s this vanilla blossom infused honey from Italy, not psychedelics. Can you have those delivered via courier in the supernatural world? Can I get the link?”
