Chapter 13
Of course, Melinda’s muse powers didn’t work on me, but she didn’t know that. And since my Virtues had already bonded with me, her mind tricks didn’t work on them, but we all played our parts and turned on our zombie faces as she asked us a series of questions.
We kept the story simple. We’d gone to Hell, traveled into the lower layers and fended off witch spirits until we were able to use a portal to get ourselves back. When we did, we found Fortune Academy in chaos and everyone had lost their damn minds.
Appeased, Melinda finished off her third beer and burped, giggling as she covered her mouth. “Excuse me!”
I resisted the urge to raise my brow at her and kept my zombie face in place.
“Do you have everything you need?” Olivia asked.
“I think it’s safe to say they can reintegrate into the classrooms.” She touched my arm.
“Actually, Lily here was mentoring the other students with me before she… left. I propose that she resumes her role immediately, and the same goes for Hendrik, Dante, and Orion.”
Melinda nodded in agreement, swaying slightly as she grabbed another beer. “Yep. Totes agree.” She tapped me on the nose. “You’re free, Miss Lily.” She brushed her fingers over each of my guys, lingering a little too long on Dante’s broad shoulders than I cared for.
“All of you are free to go, too, just keep in mind that I’m watching!” She made an “o” with one hand and stared through it at us. “And I can make you do anything I want!” She sighed as she looked at Dante. “Well, almost anything. I don’t want to get expelled.”
“Melinda,” Olivia warned.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m leaving.” She gave a little curtsey before she grabbed one of her thralls for support. “Come on, girls. Let’s go finish this party back at my place.”
They giggled as they followed her, which sounded more like creepy robot sounds than anything else.
I released a breath when she closed the door behind her. “Finally. I thought she’d never leave.”
“Seriously,” Orion agreed as he grabbed me around my waist and hoisted me onto his lap. He kissed my head as his arm brushed upward, copping a feel over my breast. “I’ve been dying for some intermission.”
Olivia rolled her eyes and began cleaning up the empty beer bottles Melinda had left behind. “I so don’t want to see that.”
Chuckling, I pushed Orion’s hand down, which was ineffective because he took that as an invitation to touch me somewhere… else. “Orion,” I hissed.
“Fine. But if you’re horny later, it’s not my fault.” He set me on the couch and got up as he adjusted his pants. “We wouldn’t be able to crash here by any chance, could we?” Orion asked.
Olivia shook her head. “Absolutely not.”
Logan whined, still in wolf form as he curled up on my feet, obviously not intent on going anywhere. I scratched behind his ears.
“Look, Melinda and the rest may have lost their memories, but it’s a temporary thing.
Melinda lost all of her Mindfreak buddies in that last battle, or did you not notice she’s an alcoholic with only thralls for friends?
She doesn’t remember what happened, but a part of her is grieving, so that means this thing I’ve done isn’t going to stick.
Luckily I figured that out pretty quickly and I’ve been keeping the Dean’s memories suppressed, but all of you need to take up your lives as they were before you met Lily, got it?
If you do anything out of the ordinary, it could trigger the Dean’s memories.
She’s powerful and it’s taking all of my efforts to keep her memories suppressed as it is. ”
“Where are you getting that kind of power?” Hendrik asked as he cocked his head. “You were a weakling barely suited to join my clan the last time I saw you.”
“I got my soul back, remember?” she asked, pointing at her golden eyes. “Where do you think I’m getting it?”
I gasped. “Olivia! Do not tell me that I got you your soul back and you’re just going to devour it again.”
She waved me away. “Relax. I won’t use it all up completely. I was trying to figure something out with the Dark Mages, but now that you’re here, maybe we’ve got a shot.” She threw the empty bottles into the trash and tapped her lip. “Maybe Yuri can help.”
“Who’s Yuri?” Dante asked as he crossed his arms. “Why does that name sound familiar?”
“Because she’s an annoying vampire from Monster Academy who’s going to help us get to Cole. And by the sounds of it, Cole is how we get to the Dean, right?”
Olivia looked at me for confirmation and I gave a half-hearted nod. “Well, yes, once Cole becomes my Virtue I suspect I’ll awaken my full potential, but I can’t just go in there and… you know…” I waved my hands. “I’m going to need some time to get to know the guy, or something.”
Orion came up from behind me and squeezed my ass. “Or we just help that little succubus in you come out to play. She won’t have any trouble—”
“Orion! I swear I will kick you in the balls again if you don’t stop groping me.”
He brought his hands up in surrender. “All right. Just trying to help.”
I rubbed my temples as I sank into the couch. “When did this get so complicated?”
Olivia chuckled as she sat next to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
“Because you’re trying to look at the big picture.
Maybe you just need to look at the next step.
Right now, the guys need to go back to their lives.
” She looked up and glared at Hendrik, Dante, and Orion, then nudged the wolf with her toe. “All of them.”
“Well, I had a lot of sex before I met Lily,” Orion countered, waggling his eyebrows for effect. “So I can still drop by without risking the Dean’s memories, right?”
“Fine,” Olivia conceded, but threw up a hand against the other hopeful looks. “Nobody else. Unless we have more playboy demigods I wasn’t aware of?”
My Virtues pleaded with me with their worried stares, but I knew Olivia was right. This plan only worked if we took up a familiar routine that the Dean wouldn’t question. “You heard her.”
Dante rested his hand on his dagger. “Are you sure? We could just attack the Monster Arena now and get you to Cole. And Orion’s got a point about your succubus side.” He grinned. “You can get a little… forward, when you want to be.”
“You can’t just go into the Arena, not anymore,” Olivia said.
“The Dean might not have her memories, but she is paranoid. She’s locked up any of the more valuable prisoners with a personal key that’s part of her bracelet.
Nobody can get in those cages, not even me.
If you want to get to Cole, then you’re going to need the Dean’s trust.”
I sighed. “And Kaito.”
“And Kaito,” she agreed.
“Well this sucks,” Hendrik grumbled as he leaned against the wall. “My mages don’t even remember who I am.” The sadness in his voice touched me. His clan was his life and without them, his life’s work would have no meaning. Everything he had done was for his clan, even mating with me.
“Then remind them,” I said. “They don’t need their memories to know that you are their rightful leader. Go to them and show them they can trust you, that they can rely on you, just like you’ve done for me.”
Hendrik rewarded me with a rare smile, a genuine one that touched his dark eyes. “You surprise me sometimes, pet.” He leaned down and gave me a long kiss, running his tongue over mine before he patted me on the head. “There’s a good girl. Stay.”
I rolled my eyes as he waltzed out the door.
Dante, Orion, and Logan said their goodbyes as well. Orion copped one more feel while Dante brushed his fingers through my hair, whispering promises that we’d all be together again soon.
Logan refused to shift to kiss me, his version of punishment when he knew I longed to touch his lips as he pattered out of the room and my heart twisted with regret.
Olivia scoffed. “How do you deal with so many…”
“Sexy males?” I asked.
“I was going to say penises.”
I burst out laughing as she counted them on her hand. “I mean that’s one, two… three, four, five. Five!” She held up her hand and spread her fingers. “How does that even work? Have you been with, you know, all of them at once?”
I chuckled even as my face turned bright red. “Yes, and it was amazing.”
“I repeat, how does that even work?” she asked as she threw up her hands.
Doubling-over with laughter as my side pinched, I pushed her away. “It just does, all right! Stop with the interrogation!”
She rolled her eyes as she got up and shut the door. “Okay, fine, but the second Melinda’s mind tricks work on you, I’m bringing her over for answers.”
I nodded as I wiped tears from my eyes. “Deal.”