Chapter 8
“I can’t wear this thing anymore,” I told Hendrik as I shoved the necklace in his face.
I thought about avoiding the Dark Mage and skipping out on our weekly session, but I was having some serious reservations about continuing to fuel the Blood Stone after what had happened.
I needed to find Dante and make amends with Orion and Logan, but I couldn’t do that if I summoned more demonspawn from Hell.
That was likely to garner unwanted attention from the Dean, to say the least.
Hendrik lounged in front of the fireplace while he sipped his wine. His drink of choice seemed to change every visit. Just when I thought I was figuring him out, he would change things up. It was just another way he kept me on my toes and hid who he really was from me.
It grated on my skin that he made everything look so effortless.
He manipulated the entire school and got away with it, but just looking at the smug look on his face says all he’s thinking about is how he can use me to his own advantage.
There’s always that hint of lust that sparks between us, and I know he has felt me bond with Kaito and now Orion, but he pretends the connection isn’t there.
I’m not sure if he understands it, or maybe he knows exactly what’s going on and he’s keeping me in the dark.
Whatever truth he’s hiding, he’s a complete mystery to me, and I have a feeling that Hendrik prefers it that way.
He waited a moment, matching my gaze before inspecting the stone without reaching out for it.
I always wondered why he bothered with a fireplace.
It turns out that Dark Mages like the cold, a fact that came to light when Olivia started leaving our living room window open to let the icy breeze pour in.
Perhaps there was more to Hendrik than he let on.
He wanted others to find him normal when he was very much a soulless beast.
“It’s not fully charged,” Hendrik pointed out as he took another sip, his eerily dark eyes watching mine without blinking.
I let the stone drop to the floor. It hissed as if put off by such undignified treatment. “You see? It’s powerful enough to hiss at me, not to mention it haphazardly summoned actual demonspawn to torment me. I’m lucky I got away alive.”
Hendrik’s eyes widened, revealing more pitch darkness of his irises. “You summoned another one?”
“I didn’t,” I emphasized as I crossed my arms. “The stone did.”
He hummed thoughtfully as he finally stood. He picked up the stone and examined it, then brought it closer to the fire. Unnatural ruby tones glimmered with red-hot swirls within the gem. “It was just a theory,” he murmured as if to himself.
I leaned in, drawn in by the glowing red in spite of myself. “What theory?”
Hendrik turned the gem over in the palm of his hand.
I watched with morbid fascination how he handled the dark magic so easily.
It pulsed as if purring in his grasp and smoke lingered around his fingertips as if his skin could ignite at any moment.
“The Dean has been running the Mages hard to push Fortune Academy further into the darkness and away from the other realms as a defense against the Third Echo of Calamity, which results in my theory…”
I froze. This was news to me. I’d figured that Merlin had been the one to adjust Fortune Academy’s position in the layers of the universe, but if it was Hendrik and his clan, then he was a whole lot more powerful than I had anticipated.
Fear crept up my spine as he caught my expression and grinned.
He slipped an arm over my shoulder, keeping me from backing away as he brought the stone closer for my inspection.
Electric heat zapped through my body at his touch and I pretended that he didn’t affect me as I stared intently at the stone.
“Go on,” I urged when he’d gone silent.
“Hell,” he said, his voice going low. “My theory is that we aren’t pushing off into a void of nothingness, but rather we’re getting cozy with Hell itself.”
I shivered. “What makes you say that?” I searched for a window, but there wasn’t one. Last I checked it was snowing.
He clutched his grip around the stone. A healthy red glow emanated through his skin and outlined his knuckles.
“There are different circles of Hell. Some are molten hot, but some, well, some are as cold as ice. If we’ve gotten closer to one of the outer realms of Hell, then it wouldn’t take much for demonspawn to push their way through. ”
He set the Blood Stone on the mantle, leaving it to bathe the room in a soft red glow. The thing was a darn show off.
How did he know so much about Hell, anyway?
Maybe I didn’t want to know the answer to that question.
I staggered to one of the chairs and sank into its cushions. “Why would the Dean want us closer to Hell?” I didn’t know much about Hell, ironically, but I would assume the goal would be to stay away from the place of eternal damnation.
He shrugged. “Good question.” He snapped his fingers. “New job for you. You’re going to find out for me.”
My jaw fell open. “You can’t be serious.”
He smirked as those dark eyes glinted with victory. He just loved to get under my skin and make ridiculous demands. “I’m always serious.”
I crossed my arms. “No. I’m not going to make myself a target.
I’ve got enough on my plate as it is.” He didn’t need to know that I was here illegally.
The last thing I needed was to undo all of Kaito’s hard work to make me blend in by snooping around the Dean.
“Plus, once I recharge your stupid stone then my debt to you is paid. Olivia is free to draw from the clan’s magic and you can’t bother me anymore. ”
He grinned. “I thought you were afraid to summon more demonspawn?”
I cursed, jumping from my chair as I snatched the stupid stone off of the mantle.
I looped it over my head and glared at him with all the hatred I could muster.
“That’s just a risk I’m going to have to take.
See? I’m wearing it. You can’t make me do more shit for you than what we already agreed upon.
I’m not one of your Mages you can boss around. ”
Hendrik leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers. “Oh, you’re going to do whatever I ask.”
I glowered. “Because?”
He tapped his fingers before replying. “I assume you don’t want the Dean to know you’re a demonspawn?” He swept his gaze over me. “Prettier than I expected, but a demonspawn all the same.”
I locked my knees to keep from collapsing in a heap. “What did you just say?”
He positively beamed at me. “Please. We get closer to Hell and you summon yet another one of your little buddies? That all but confirms my suspicions. I know what you are… Lilith.”
Fuck.
I swiped one hand over my face as my heartbeat kicked up a notch. Blood thrummed through my ears as a million thoughts raced through my head and I blurted the first thing that came to mind.
When in doubt, deny.
“I don’t know what kind of sick games you’re playing, but I’m just a dud.
” That was a half-truth, or more accurately, a one-third truth.
I had awakened my powers over my demonspawn and succubus sides, but there was a third supernatural breed within me that had yet to be unlocked.
That was the one Kaito wanted me to embrace and validated his claim that I belonged here.
That was what I clung to when I spiraled into my worst fear that I might be a monster.
“Deny all you want, but I saw you out on the field with Logan.” His gaze dropped to my hands which I promptly put behind my back. “Others might have missed your little show, but I know what I’m looking for.” He winked at me. “I keep an eye on my pets.”
I wanted to strangle him. He looked so smug and comfortable as he shifted in his chair. I adjusted my stance as I decided if I should run or attack.
“Are you going to run, little pet?” he asked with a grin.
I shifted my weight to do just that. I wasn’t a match for the Dark Mage, at least not here, not on his turf under his terms.
I should have heard him whisper the spell, but when my nostrils flared as I was hit by the scent of roses and blood, it was too late.
The Dark Mage disappeared, only to materialize at my side.
He rushed me and I went tumbling to the floor with a squeak.
He pinned both wrists over my head and leered down at me, clearly enjoying grating his hips into mine to keep me pinned.
I went rigid when I realized he had a total hard-on right now.
“I’ll scream,” I threatened.
He laughed in my face. “Go ahead. See what good that’ll do you.”
Right, he probably spelled this room a long time ago to keep any and all sounds in his personal torture chamber locked up tight.
Rage built up within me and I tried to wedge my leg between his thighs to kick him in the balls. It had worked on Orion to get him off my case, didn’t see why the Dark Mage would be any different.
Except, where Orion probably couldn’t have imagined me being so unladylike, Hendrik clearly was expecting it. He slammed his shin down on my thigh, making me cry out, followed by the other one, leaving me spread-eagled beneath him as my face warmed with rage. “Get the fuck off me!”
He leaned in, pausing for dramatic effect. “No.”
I growled as I frantically tried to think of a way to get out of this mess. Hendrik had never outright attacked me. When Kaito heard of this…
Kaito. He had sway when it came to the students and their standing. Hendrik wouldn’t want to piss off a counselor.
“Are you trying to get yourself expelled? When Kaito hears of this, you’re going to be in deep shit.”