Chapter 9 #2
His heavy footsteps followed me as I barreled through the halls and left the arena.
I wanted to talk to Olivia and get all of this off my chest. She was the only person I could trust. She wasn’t a Virtue, so I knew any fondness she felt for me was real and not some conjuration of the cosmos.
That’s what I needed right now, to be loved just for me.
Dante caught up to me when I raced to lose him down some of the Academy’s backstreets where the shifters liked to run.
He was fast, but I was pissed off. I spun on him when he grabbed my arm, hissing with pain as his touch grazed the weakening binds Kaito had put on me.
The invisible runes flashed, then sparked and died.
I stared at my skin where tiny droplets of black blood formed. “What did you just do?” I shrieked.
He retracted his fingers and stared at the wound. “Sorry,” he admitted, “I didn’t realize Kaito’s binds on you were so weak. You shouldn’t try to use your powers so much.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Want me to take you to him so he can redo it? I have a charged dagger he can use.”
“I noticed,” I snapped as I ripped off my sleeve and wrapped it around my arm. No one could see I bled black or I was done for. “And no thanks. I’m not going anywhere with you.”
He blinked those gorgeous orange eyes at me.
Up close I could see streaks in his irises that lanced towards his pupil, making his eyes look like tiny works of art.
“Why are you so angry? I thought you would have appreciated a fight with real weapons.” He rested his hand on the hilt of his dagger.
“From what Kaito told me, you still haven’t Awakened, and… ” He let the words drift off.
Then I realized what he meant. The Academy worked on the assumption that the Awakening happened when fear and the instinct to survive kicked in.
If pushed far enough, such as using real weapons in the arena, it would theoretically break down any barriers my mind had put up between me and my powers.
Maybe that was true, but all fear managed to do was drive me closer to the darkness, to my powers as a demonspawn and as a succubus.
The latter kicked in, taking note of Dante’s incredible form, strong arms, and chiseled jaw made for kisses.
My fingers reached out as instinct took hold, wanting to fill that cold emptiness inside of me that had returned with my binds broken.
I stroked my touch over Dante’s wrist, taking his hand and turning it over.
I pressed a kiss to the tender flesh where his veins throbbed, the only tell that I was having an impact on him.
“Lily?” he asked as he shook his head. He pulled away from me and I let his hand fall from my grasp. “We really need to get you to Kaito,” he said, rubbing his temples as he scrunched his brows with concentration.
“No,” I snapped.
I didn’t need Kaito.
I didn’t need Dante.
I didn’t need any of them.
“I’m going to go see Olivia and you’re not going to stop me,” I insisted.
I would never hurt her, and from what I knew about being a succubus, I wouldn’t be able to feed off of women anyway.
She was safe from me, and plus she would know what to do.
She’d been studying spells and I trusted her to help me control my darkness way more than I trusted any of my Virtues to help me do anything right now.
It felt like they all had an agenda and no one was really looking out for my best interests.
Dante frowned and was about to say something when a wolf sauntered up to us. Logan transformed in an instant, his shift a brilliant display of twisting flesh and bone that resulted in a gorgeous naked man who looked down his perfect nose at us with a scowl.
“Don’t tell me,” he said, his voice as sharp as a blade as he glared at me. “You’re looking for more guys to fuck around with?”
I really didn’t have time for this shit. “Logan,” I began as I rubbed a throbbing temple. “I’m—”
He cut me off with a raised hand. “Don’t waste your breath. I came to tell you that Orion has left campus.”
My eyes bulged at that. “What? Why? And… how?”
“Travel isn’t permitted…” Dante began, his voice taking on a gruff authoritative tone.
The shifter leveled his blue eyes at the Hunter as he got in Dante’s face. Dante didn’t budge and made a point not to look intimidated. “You of all people should know better than to tell us to follow the rules,” Logan growled.
The males measured each other up with a stillness that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Logan, for all his adorable quirks, was an Alpha. And Dante, well, he was a badass Bounty Hunter who wasn’t scared of anything or anyone.
“I’ll have to report it,” Dante said, surprising me by behaving all business-like to the shifter. Dante had broken all kinds of rules with me, but to everyone else, the Hunter behaved by the book.
“Have you reported your relationship with Lily?” Logan shot back, his teeth sharpening as his muscles quivered with the need to shift. The raw murder in his eyes said that he would have no problem ripping Dante’s throat out.
What did it say about me that his violent possessiveness turned me on?
“I’m not a teacher or a counselor,” Dante pointed out. “Which means I can fuck whoever I want.”
The shifter emanated a low growl. I didn’t know why Dante was deliberately provoking him.
“Okay then,” I said as I rolled my eyes. “While you two have a pissing match, I’ll be on my way.”
Dante’s hand shot out and grabbed me before I had a chance to leave. Rage flared and claws slid out from what had once been fingernails. “I dare you to try and fucking stop me.”
Logan smirked at my transformation. Do all succubi have claws? he asked, the private thought in my head a taunt more than a legitimate question. He knew I was hiding things from him, but damned if I was going to tell him.
“You leave when I say you can leave,” Dante said, his tone flat and controlled.
A chill ran up my spine, sensing danger.
“Don’t talk to her that way,” Logan snapped, shoving himself between us and breaking Dante’s hold on me.
My fingers ran across his bare, muscular back as he faced the Hunter.
He didn’t even flinch as my claws grazed his skin.
It was almost endearing the level of trust he awarded me whether I deserved it or not.
The two began bickering, but I couldn’t make out the words any longer.
Without Kaito’s binds, the succubus side of me was beginning to take over.
I could practically smell the testosterone coming from Logan and Dante.
They were both my Virtues and I wanted them to get along, but it seemed only Kaito was on board with sharing.
I never said I wouldn’t share, Logan growled in my head. He glanced at me over his shoulder just long enough to give me a smirk and add, I’m an Alpha. If you add anyone to our pack, they have to go through me first.
I didn’t know if Dante could hear the silent communication, but his fist went flying straight at Logan’s head as if to make a point.
Logan took the blow with a thump that made me wince. He whipped back from the strike with an enraged snarl.
“Enough!” I shrieked.
Dante’s orange eyes glittered with challenge as his hand gripped the hilt of his dagger until his knuckles turned white.
“Both of you, just stop it. I should let the two of you beat each other to a pulp, but you know what? I’m feeling generous.
” I snapped my fingers. “Logan, you go first.” Magic seeped into my words as sweetness caressed my tongue.
He visibly relaxed and took a step closer to me, running his fingers up my arm.
“First for what?” he asked, his voice taking on a tender tone.
I brushed him away. “The two of you have an agenda and I want to know what it is. So, Logan, you’re going to go first. Why did you seek me out just to tell me Orion left campus?”
He hesitated, as if fighting the magic that pressed him to obey me. I knew it wasn’t fair what I was doing, and it disgusted me to use powers better wielded by the likes of Melinda, but it was time for the truth.
“You are my mate,” he stated simply. “Orion had no business taking what is mine.”
I propped my hands on my hips. “You just said you had no issue sharing.”
He smirked, then ran his tongue across his lower lip as he stared at my mouth.
Lust wafted from him, exuding a sickeningly sweet scent that I wanted to lap up.
“I said I’d share only if any mates you added to the pack were worthy.
You can’t possibly have meant to bond with Orion on purpose.
It was because of that stupid chocolate he made you eat.
I was doing you a favor by getting rid of him. ”
I raised a brow. “By ‘getting rid of him,’ you mean sending him to Earth?”
“He didn’t go to Earth.”
Both Dante and I stilled at that. “Then where?” I asked.
Logan shrugged. “I’m guessing Olympus. He said if anyone could break the spell you put on him, it would be the gods.”
Rage hit me so hard that I saw stars.
How appropriate.
“I can’t believe he wants to break the Virtue bond,” I seethed, then turned to Dante.
I’d heard enough from Logan and if I heard any more, I would want to punch someone in the throat.
“And you? Where were you? What was so important that you had to take an entire year before you could come back to the Academy?” Even if a year hadn’t passed for me, I knew it had for him, and he wasn’t just going to pretend like nothing had happened.
Dante’s jaw bulged and his fist clenched. “I was on a mission,” he said finally.
I took a step closer to him, allowing my new magic to waft over him like a cloud.
His calm exterior trembled at my proximity and I ran my finger down his chest. Indulging in my succubus side reminded me that Dante was one of my untapped Virtues ripe for the taking.
I wanted to peel off his coat and rip off his pants, but that would only cement a Virtue bond I wasn’t willing to make. “What kind of mission?” I asked.
Dante screwed his eyes shut and took a deep breath as my fingers ran lower. I hooked two fingers along his pants line and tugged, bringing his hips closer to mine.
It was getting harder to care about the pitfalls of activating yet another Virtue bond. Dante was all muscle and hard lines and drop dead gorgeous.
Logan growled, so I gave him a bone. Wrap your arms around me, Logan. Maybe you’re pissed off at me, but I’m your mate. You just need to learn who’s Alpha.
He immediately did as I ordered, squeezing me against his hard chest as his teeth clamped down lightly on my neck, I realized in a dominating show of claiming.
He thought he was Alpha.
Cute.
I kept my focus on the Hunter as Logan’s erection dug into my back. It only turned me on more being between two of my Virtues, especially when they were both keen on being violent.
“I asked you a question,” I reminded Dante as I fisted his coat and brought him in closer. His death grip on his weapon released as he reached for me and ran a thumb across my lower lip.
I knew I wasn’t being fair. I was exuding enough sexual magic that I could probably make my Virtues do whatever I wanted right now, but they had both been assholes. They deserved to be dominated for trying to push me around.
And, I had to admit, Logan’s claiming from behind, as well as Dante’s exploration at my front had me wishing this was real.
But it wasn’t… was it?
“I was searching for a way to Awaken your third gift,” Dante said. “Kaito told me that he had a theory that Monster Academy has what you need.”
My eyes widened. “You went to Monster Academy?”
He nodded, as if that was a simple feat. “It took some time on Earth to get through the system. Then when I was there, I couldn’t get close enough to the Monster Mother to grill her for information, but your old friend was dumb enough to walk around alone.”
My old friend?
My breath hitched and I shoved Logan away. Dante released his grip that had gone to my breast and he stared at his hand. “Jess?” I asked with a shriek. “Jess is here?”
“Yeah, I put her in the West Wing with the other monsters,” he said matter-of-factly as he turned his hand over, utterly fascinated. Then he looked up at me and his orange eyes glittered with desire. “You really need to get to Kaito before you make me do something we’ll both regret.”
”Keep it in your pants,” I said, then stormed off and added over my shoulder, “Don’t try to follow me. You’re both on my shit list.”
A crack of bones followed by a quiet patter of retreating steps told me that Logan was humiliated by my domination. That was twice in one day and I imagined he wasn’t going to let that go easily.
He’d get over it.
If Dante followed me, he’d gone full Hunter, because I couldn’t hear a thing.
I didn’t care either way, because Jess was here, and that changed everything.