Chapter 9
I thought I had known rage before, but after my worst encounter yet with Hendrik, I was positively livid. Now I knew what it felt like to want to smash my fist through someone’s face over and over again until they stopped moving.
And then kick them in the balls.
Hendrik and I might have a Virtue connection, but right now all I wanted to do was fuck him and then kill him like I was a black widow.
“Someone shit in your shoes?” Melinda drawled, shocking me from my red-haze of rage induced fog.
I’d nearly forgotten about my archnemesis, the Muse that hated my guts just because she couldn’t control me.
She could get in line.
“Did someone shit on your face?” I countered. “Oh, wait, that’s just your makeup.” I flashed my best grin. “Looking good.”
She scowled as she hooked the arm of one of her groupies. The Mind Freaks got away with a lot, but they couldn’t control the stronger supernaturals. Logan, Hendrik, and the Demis didn’t have to worry about their antics, and it bugged Melinda to no end that I was included in that group.
“Keep talking, dud, while you can.” She flashed her teeth at me. It might have been intended as a smile, but it looked more like a snarl. “Once Hendrik’s done with you, you’re all mine.”
I shoved past her, letting my shoulder bump against hers. She jostled and screeched at me, casting threats, but I ignored her.
I had much bigger supernaturals to fry.
Needing to burn off some steam, I headed straight for the Awakening Arena. It was the only place in all the realms where I could actually murder someone and not suffer the consequences. It did wonders for my rage.
Professor Payne gave me some freedom when it came to my attendance at the arena. No one could beat me and I’d been a dud long enough that I was becoming quite the fighter, which only frustrated me more. How was I supposed to Awaken if I was undefeated?
That’s probably why Kaito had given me that special “class.” I remembered drinking that vile liquid with a cringe.
It was intended to be used to kickstart my Awakening…
instead it had taken me to my deepest, darkest nightmare, which happened to be a very real memory.
It was enough to tell me I was a demonspawn, and start some rather unpleasant and unwanted transformations, but it wasn’t enough to help me unlock my full potential.
Kaito insisted there was something good in me, something wonderful that would redeem all the darkness that lingered in my heart. I sure hoped he was right.
When I entered the arena, Professor Payne scowled down at me from his elevated throne. The dwarf must have thought he was intimidating, but he always looked like a Troll doll on a high chair to me.
“Well look who decided to show,” he said with a grin. The motion made his beard puff out like a cute furry rat. “Get ready, students! We have a special treat. Lily’s here to Awaken some of you.”
The group of students huddled against the wall eyed me warily.
I might have felt bad for them, but their dud status made them as good as shit between Professor Payne’s toes as far as the rest of the Academy was concerned.
Getting them to unlock their supernatural powers did them a favor, and at least I could let off some steam at the same time.
I grabbed a longsword and hefted the weight before choosing a lighter one.
The dwarf’s assistant, a panther shifter named Nikki, scanned the small group of duds with a slitted gaze. “You,” she said, pointing a taloned finger at the largest male. “You’re up.”
I drew in a shocked breath when Dante emerged from the shadows with his arm tucked into his coat that hid the stump at his wrist. Even with a missing appendage, he didn’t cease to take my breath away.
His once short hair now was long enough to pull back in a messy warrior’s tail, which made him look even hotter.
“Hey, babe,” he said with one of those grins that flashed his dimples. “Long time no see.”
“What are you doing here?” I hissed.
He shrugged. “Hendrik gave me a call. Said he had pissed you off and you were heading for the Arena.” He gave me a raised brow. “What, afraid to pick on someone your own size?”
The bastard Mage put a tag on me? I patted down my uniform and cursed when I found a magicked artifact tucked underneath my collar.
He must have planted it on me when he was getting me all hot and bothered.
I tossed it on the ground and crushed it beneath my shoe until it gave me a satisfying pop, then I proceeded to glare at the Hunter.
I wanted to ask Dante so many questions. Where had he been all this time? Had he thought about me at all? And most importantly, why was he doing Hendrik’s bidding?
“Can’t have you decimating the poor newbies,” he added with a smirk, glancing at the duds who nodded along in wholehearted agreement.
“Fine,” I snapped. “You want to do this? Let’s do this.”
Ever since I had unlocked the darker parts of me, the need for violence and sex consumed me.
Even though I’d had my share of sex today, I still craved something more, especially now that one of my untapped Virtues was in front of me completely oblivious to his crime, which made me even angrier and fueled my need for brutality.
He had abandoned me.
If he thought he could just waltz back into my life, he had another thing coming.
I stepped into the Arena and readied a fighting stance. The Hunter matched me on the other side of the messy sands and he would have been intimidating had I not been so furious. My rage made my vision narrow in on him, fading out all sights and sounds around us until it was only me and the Hunter.
“Fight!” Professor Payne gleefully barked, and I lunged.
Dante waited for my strike, standing still. Anyone else thought I might have had him in one blow, but I knew not to underestimate him.
Proving my suspicions correct, Dante plucked out a silver glowing dagger that smelled suspiciously like roses and blood. I cursed, diverting at the last moment, but I was too late.
He shot out his blade, sending a hot zap of energy to shoot across the sands. It hit my arm and left a streak of blistering flesh.
“I don’t think that’s an Arena blade,” one of the duds observed.
No shit.
Nikki started shouting, but Professor Payne yelled at her to let things play out.
Fear swelled in my chest. The Arena was a place where death had a loophole. All the weapons were spelled by the Dark Mages to undo any damage dealt to their opponent, lethal or otherwise.
But Dante had brought a real weapon, one that had enough magic humming within it to end me with a single swipe of his wrist. He spun it in a small circle, leaving a burn mark in the air in its wake. He was just toying with me.
Cursing again, I reevaluated everything I thought I had learned about the Hunter. He had recruited me because Kaito wanted me at the Academy. But, what if he was only using Kaito? What if the Hunter really worked for the Dark Mage, and Hendrik had decided to test me?
Whatever kind of test this was, there was only one score.
Pass, or die.
I’d seen Dante fight before and he was lightning fast, which meant that I needed an edge.
I faked a step to my right, noting how the Hunter shifted in response, then I pushed all of my supernatural strength into a new course that brought me within arm’s reach.
I tossed sand into his eyes as I ducked, barely avoiding his swing that missed its target only because I had put him off balance.
A buzz of power warmed the air over my head and adrenaline spiked in my system.
His coat parted and I aimed for his well-defined chest as I struck. He deflected the blow. Even blind, he was an incredible fighter.
“Nice try,” he said with a smirk, eyes still closed, then grunted in pain as I struck again.
He hadn’t seen my second weapon.
My demonspawn claws that had come out to play.
The onlookers went dead silent as Dante’s blood dripped to the sands. My claws scratched against bone and the Hunter buckled over, hissing as I forced him to concede.
“Did she just Awaken?” a dud wondered aloud.
Nikki cleared her throat. “We have a stalemate!”
I glowered. How was this a stalemate when—
Hot magic hissed against my neck where Dante’s blade rested against my throat. He smirked.
Bastard.
I extracted my claws from the Hunter’s side and warm blood trickled down my fingertips. Guilt hit my chest with a sharp pang when he staggered, but his smug grin never faltered.
By the look on Professor Payne’s face, a stalemate was a first in the arena, but then again, so were real weapons.
“I think that’s enough demonstration for now,” the dwarf said with a clap. “You two get out of my arena! We have other students to get through their studies today.” And by studies, he meant death and maiming.
A grumble came from the crowd, but a sharp glare from Nikki sent them into silence.
I stared at my fingers until they transitioned back to human, then rolled my shoulders.
Maybe I was getting the hang of this new power, but I still didn’t like using it.
Every time I explored the darker parts of my gifts, I felt like I was getting further and further away from unlocking my third power that could redeem me.
Dante sheathed his dagger into a small scabbard at his hip, then tugged his coat to cover it. I glared at him and spun on my heel to get out of his sight. He wasn’t who I thought he was, and he couldn’t be trusted.
I didn’t want to admit how much that hurt me.
Dante was the first of my Virtues that I’d ever met, and even if my heart skipped a beat around him, it didn’t mean that he was destined to be mine.
Kaito had said that Virtues could reject one another, but what he hadn’t said was how painful that rejection would be.
I had thought that Dante was my ally in all of this, when in fact he was a double-crossing bastard who didn’t deserve another second of my time.