Chapter 12
Dante grilled me the entire trip back to campus, even when he opened the gate and let me through the barrier that tingled up my spine.
I hated the sigh of relief that escaped me when I slipped past its border.
There was something about the campus that suppressed my hunger and I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing.
“Why won’t you tell me anything?” he growled.
“Because it’s none of your business,” I retorted as I stormed down the street towards Kaito’s office.
“Where are you going?”
“Again, none of your business.” I glanced over my shoulder to see him prowling after me. “Are you going to follow me all night?”
His orange eyes glowed with impatience, but he didn’t move to touch me. “If I have to.”
“Fine,” I snapped, looking forward. “But I’m still not talking to you.”
We sped-walked in silence until I finally started to get tired.
The campus might reduce my hunger, but it also made me feel more…
mortal. I reluctantly paused to catch my breath as I eased onto the edge of a platform that held a variety of exotic plants.
Some glowed with soft magical lights, reminding me that we were nowhere near Earth.
I plucked one and toyed with it over my fingers, sensing its magic.
“There are protection wards all over campus,” Dante admitted when he joined me, indicating the bloom. “Now you know what the flowers are for.”
“Like your room?” I asked. I hadn’t seen any flowers, but as I’d learned with Cindy, sometimes it only took a rune or a spell.
He nodded.
A sigh escaped me and I brushed my hair away from my face. My breath puffed into the air in a little cloud and I shivered, wishing I’d worn more layers.
Dante surprised me by removing his coat and draping it over my shoulders.
Without it I could see the wrappings he kept over the stump at his wrist where he’d lost a hand in payment to Hendrik.
Payment to get me registered as a student.
At the time, I’d thought it was an incredible sacrifice, but he’d only been doing it for himself.
I hadn’t worked out his agenda yet, but he was a Hunter.
It could be something as simple as coin.
My gaze drifted over the rest of his body, unable to resist the delicious hard edges. He only wore a light shirt, which did little to hide his bulging muscles and perfect abs. I might hate him, but I still had eyes.
I forced myself to look away. “Aren’t you cold?”
He smirked. “I thought you weren’t talking to me.”
Glaring, I hugged the coat to my shoulders, hating how I loved its warmth and the smell of him that wrapped around me.
No matter what, he was still one of my Virtues, which was precisely why Kaito had picked him to get to me.
I was weak when it came to a cosmic connection that I couldn’t resist. “Thanks for reminding me,” I snapped and then fell into silence.
Once I’d rested up, I shrugged off the coat and let it fall to the ground behind me as I walked. I heard Dante pick it up without a word.
Kaito wasn’t in his office when we arrived, which I guess I should have expected at this time of night. I was just so used to him working around the clock trying to uncover more information on the prophecy.
I just stood there for a moment like a dumbass until Dante pushed past me. “He has a call button,” he said as he pushed aside a collection of books to reveal an intercom. He pressed it and a low call tone sounded.
I crossed my arms as I waited. Kaito’s bedroom was on the ground floor and I’d only been there a handful of times.
It was risky business. I doubted that the other counselors or the Dean knew of my relationship with Kaito and in spite of everything, I wasn’t going to reveal that he was one of my Virtues.
The less attention I drew to myself right now the better.
I’d finish charging my Blood Stone and then I would get back to Jess.
I still couldn’t wrap my mind around going to Hell, but I’d cross that fiery bridge when I got to it.
Right now, I trusted Jess more than any of my Virtues.
Ten minutes later a disheveled Kaito stumbled into his office with a dagger in hand.
“Is Lily okay?” he mumbled as concern furrowed his brow.
He spotted me behind Dante and relaxed, giving me a smile that melted my heart.
“Thank the gods you’re okay.” He punched Dante.
“Don’t scare me like that, douchebag. You know the call button is only for emergencies. ”
Dante shrugged. “Is it an emergency, Lily? Or did you storm out of the West Wing like your ass was on fire for no reason?”
Kaito’s eyes went wide, then he swiped a hand over his face. “Shit. I’m sorry, Dante. I told her where you were.”
“Maybe, but I’m the one who told her that I brought back her demonspawn friend.”
Kaito raised a brow, glancing at me. “I thought we weren’t going to tell her about that.”
I bristled, but Dante reacted before I could.
“I wouldn’t have, but your stupid binds broke and she seduced it out of me!
” The Hunter moved to whack Kaito upside the head, but my mentor reacted with impressive speed, reminding me that whatever supernatural my mentor was, it was on par with Dante’s powers.
“Moron,” Dante grumbled and crossed his arms, tucking his stumped wrist into the folds of his coat.
I swallowed as I reconsidered going demonspawn on Kaito’s ass, at least with Dante here. He knew I was up to something and he wasn’t letting me out of his sight.
Kaito pushed past the Hunter and came to me, wrapping me in an embrace.
I stiffened when I felt the hard press of the hilt of his blade against my back, but then he realized he was still holding onto it and he placed it on his desk.
He pinched my chin and tilted my face up to look at him. “Are you okay, Koneko-chan?”
Gods. He was so beautiful. So sweet. I wanted to believe that he loved me.
Our Virtue bond sang with harmony and I couldn’t resist the urge to lean in and kiss him.
My stomach tightened when I managed to pull away.
“I’m tired of all the secrets,” I admitted.
“I’m tired of everyone trying to use me for their own agenda. ”
A puzzled look swept over his face. It was no surprise I was tired of secrets, but I hadn’t yet admitted to him that I knew he had an agenda. That he was just using me and how much that hurt.
“Do you think you’re ready to learn what you are?
” he asked. “I’ve been hoping you could Awaken after enough time, but I’m afraid that’s the one thing we’re running out of.
” He swept his touch over my cheek and his thumb ran over my lower lip.
“I think I was afraid to push you, but I can see the hurt in your eyes. I’m being selfish by keeping you here. ”
I ran my touch over his fingers, relishing his warmth and enjoying it while I could. “You mean, I don’t belong at the Academy?” I had figured out as much by now, but I wanted to hear him say it.
He smiled, and his genuine delight confused me. “Oh, Lily. This place was made for you.”
“You mean the cages in the West Wing were made for me,” I said, managing to pull away again. I flashed a glance at the Hunter who was waiting quietly in the corner. I knew not to underestimate his still composure. That’s when he was the most alert—the most dangerous.
Kaito’s smile dimmed and he insulted me with the confused look on his face. He turned to Dante. “What did you tell her?”
Dante shrugged. “Nothing. She came barging into the Monster Arena’s underground and would have gotten caught.
She wanted to see the demonspawn that I spent a year tracking down.
” He slipped his grip over the hilt of his blade, the motion subtle enough that I would have missed it had I not been looking for it.
“I made the mistake of leaving her alone with it. I don’t know what she said, or did, but she’s pissed off and I don’t want her taking it out on you. ”
Kaito turned back to me, his shoulders slumping. This wasn’t the reaction I had been expecting from someone who had been using me. Did he really expect me never to find out? To love him in spite of it all?
“I know you’re using me, Kaito,” I said with finality, securing that stitch in my side that came with rejecting one of my bonded Virtues. It would take more than this to sever the bond, but I sensed voicing my findings would begin the process.
“That’s not true,” he said, easing onto the edge of the desk as he clasped his hands. It was the posture he always took with me when he was treating me like a troubled student. “I’m trying to help you.”
“Oh yeah?” I snapped, shoving into his face. “Then why didn’t you tell me that I’m the reason everyone lost their memories? Or are you going to pretend you didn’t know that as well?”
Silence engulfed the room, revealing that both Dante and Kaito knew very well that I was the epicenter of one of the worst catastrophes to befall supernaturals.
“I was going to—”
“No you weren’t!” I cut him off, digging my nails into his thighs and drawing blood.
I didn’t realize that I had shoved my way between his legs, but now I let my claws come out. Kaito flinched, but didn’t move to defend himself.
He cleared his throat. “Dante. Give her the Fortune Card.”
I glanced at the Hunter. “The what?”
Dante’s eyes had taken on a dangerous hue and his white-knuckled grip on his dagger said he was seconds away from lopping my head off.
“I did not spend a year of my life tracking that thing down so that you could rush her into using it. Look at her, Kaito. She’s embracing the darkness.
Giving her the card will not make this better.
When she breaks it and releases its magic, it’ll rip her apart. She’s not ready for it.”
I dug my fingers further into Kaito’s muscles, eliciting a groan from his lips. I thought that Dante had spent a year looking for Cindy or Jess, but now the truth was coming out. “Why did Dante go on a mission to retrieve a card?”
Kaito went still. “Because I asked him to.”
I twisted my grip. “And what will it do?”
Kaito’s silver eyes watched mine with an unflinching gaze. “Take you to meet your mother.” His jaw worked before he added, “One of them, at least.”