by Cara Wylde
“Mr. Apis, do you want to teach this class for me?” the professor growled.
“No sir, I’m fine back here. Thank you.”
“Ms. Lazarov, then?” Oh shit, shit, shit. What had I done?! I wasn’t the one talking. “Maybe you’d like to do us the honor? Your kind has proved time and time again how great they are at telling stories. And you should know these stories better than anyone in this class.”
“N-no. I’m sorry. I… It won’t happen again.”
He furrowed his brows at me, but I forced myself to smile innocently. No one could resist a smile, right? Wrong.
“For our next class, Ms. Lazarov, you’re going to prepare a paper on… let’s see.” He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against his desk. “Well, let’s not make your life harder than necessary. You pick a god or goddess of death.”
I gulped. My mind went blank. Everyone was staring at me, snickering and whispering. I could see they were enjoying this. The human no one wanted getting in trouble on the first day of school.
“H-hades,” I managed.
“Perfect. You’re going to write about Nergal.”
I blinked. Who the hell was Nergal? But the professor was done with me, and I wasn’t about to protest, anyway. I checked my schedule and saw the next Mythology class was the day after the next day. Crap. And he hasn’t given me any instructions on how I should write this paper, or how long it should be. And I’m not going to ask him after class. No way. I guess I’ll just have to do my best. I sighed and focused on the lesson.
“You should probably take me up on my offer,” GC leaned in to whisper in my ear.
I stiffened. He smelled like leather and tobacco. Which was weird. He probably smoked, sure, but I doubted he was wearing leather under his uniform.
“I’m fine.”
“Just saying. I might be able to get you out of that assignment. Tell him it was all my fault, and all that.”
“I don’t need your help,” I hissed. “I can write the damn paper.”
“Ms. Lazarov, if you’re going to make a presentation about Nergal, then include Ereshkigal, too.”
Fuck. I gave GC a murderous look. Thanks to him, my assignment just got doubled. I turned my back to him as best as I could, and focused on my books, covering my face with my left arm. He snorted, and I ignored him. What the hell had possessed him to sit next to me? I was totally fine on my own, then he came along and drew everyone’s attention to me. The girls were whispering and behaving as if I’d stolen something that was theirs, and the professor was watching me like a hawk. Just my fucking luck.
I had Rhetoric with Francis, Pandora, and Sariel, but gladly, the class was uneventful. Sariel ignored me all through it, which made me think that his cruel side came out when Lorna was around, and when she wasn’t, he was the kind of guy who preferred to live in his own world. I sat at the back of the room, as usual, and did my best to focus on the lesson. My eyes drifted to Francis ever so often. He intrigued me. With his noble features and almost neutral expression, I couldn’t help but wonder what was going on in his mind. Why had he defended me the day before? Well, he hadn’t exactly defended me, but he had put an end to the torture, and I was grateful for that. I wondered whether it could be a good idea to thank him at some point.
Rhetoric was one fascinating subject. Apparently, a Grim Reaper sometimes had to have her words with her in case the one she was sent to reap wasn’t ready or thought they could fight the process. There were also those cases when people called on Grim Reapers to reap their souls when it wasn’t their time. That part of the lesson made me feel uncomfortable. I just hoped I’d never have to talk someone out of taking their own life. The professor said it couldn’t be avoided, and all Grim Reapers dealt with such cases almost on a weekly basis. Rhetoric was there to teach us how to handle them better than any help line could. We were forbidden to reap souls before their time, and it was our job not to let ourselves tricked into doing it.
Lunch break came sooner than I was ready. It was an open buffet again, so I thought I could just get my food and go eat somewhere else. My room wasn’t an option. It would take me forever to get there. But I guessed I could eat outside or hide in the bathroom, if the situation proved to be so dire. No such luck. None at all. GC caught up with me and renewed his offer. This time, when I said no, I pushed him away, too. My hand in the middle of his broad chest, I pushed all my weight into it, and shoved him as hard as I could. He knocked into another student, and growled at me, his eyes turning a dark shade of green.
“Fine. Suit yourself, normie. See if you survive today.”
He strolled away, and I let out a sigh of relief. Deep down, though, I had my doubts. A kiss wasn’t that much. It certainly wasn’t like I hadn’t kissed a guy before. And, if I were to be honest with myself, the thought of French kissing GC Apis for three minutes (at least) stirred something inside me. As I watched him walk away, I clenched my thighs, the familiar wetness in my panties making me feel uncomfortable and exposed. I looked around me and wondered whether any of the supernaturals in the hall had the kind of heightened senses I was used to reading about in urban fantasy books. Of all, Francis cocked an eyebrow at me, and I blushed to the tips of my ears. What was he? Sariel was an archangel, GC was a false god – and probably a shifter, too, seeing how his features changed all the time, – Paz was a demon, so what was Francis? He averted his gaze as he found his way to the VDC table, and the spell was broken. Spell? What kind of spell? I must be going crazy… But it was true. Every time I locked eyes with Francis, I felt like there was a connection between us. I felt like a bubble of magic descended upon us, and we were alone inside it, no matter how crowded the room was.
I snapped back to reality and headed to the door, food and drink in hand. I was determined to find a quiet place in the closed inner court of the Academy and turn it into my safe haven, where I could eat my meals in peace. If this madness continued any longer, I’d start losing weight, and frankly, I didn’t have any weight to lose. That was if I was fine with losing my boobs and my feminine hips. I was not. My stomach rumbled in approval. I hoped I wouldn’t have to resort to sneaking food to my room and stuffing my face at night, when my metabolism was supposed to rest. That would have the exact opposite of weight loss, and I wasn’t fine with it either.
I walked past Klaus, who tried to stop me, but I waved at him and motioned toward the door.
“Where are you...? Oh, okay.” He winked at me and left me alone.
I wanted to ask if he’d like to join me, but then I saw him meet up with his MDC friends, and my heart ached a bit. I still wasn’t sure Klaus was my friend. He hung out with me even after the cockroach breakfast incident, but he also had his own friends and activities. I could tell he liked spending time with his Cabal.
When I was sure no one was looking, I rushed through the door to my escape. And failed. To escape, that was. I bumped right into Paz, and by sheer divine intervention, I didn’t spill all my food over his chest. My drink of choice consisted of a bottle of sparkling water, so at least I’d been inspired in that department.
“Sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
What the fuck was wrong with me?! The Academy had already broken me. I was apologizing profusely to a jerk face bully who laughed at my suffering every chance he got. I guessed it was just the fact that I wanted to have a peaceful meal, for once. My first ever peaceful meal since I’d gotten here.
“Watch where you’re going, stupid! Oh, it’s you.”
His expression changed from anger to curiosity, maybe slight amusement, too. What now? What’s that look supposed to mean? He was studying me from head to toe, as if he was seeing me for the first time. Or, he was seeing me for the first time up close and realizing I was, indeed, of a different species.
“Where are you going?”
Shit. I tried to shrug nonchalantly. “Just… around.”
He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his dress
pants and cocked an eyebrow. God, he was handsome! A handsome demon, who would have thought? Sure, I’d seen enough movies and shows where demons were depicted as these swoon-worthy, panty-melting beings that could make you sell your soul to the Devil in a mere instant, but I’d never thought they were inspired from reality. I’d always been more inclined to believe movies like the Exorcist and The Evil Dead when it came to hell’s creatures. I’d been wrong, apparently. His olive skin, intense green eyes, and raven black hair made him look so deliciously exotic. And he smelled amazing, too. Like a rich fruit you only got to taste if you traveled far into the Middle East.
I shook my head to chase the offending thoughts away, then cursed myself for acting like an idiot. He probably thought I wasn’t right in the head.
“I’ll join you,” he said. And I thought I’d heard him wrong. “Here, let me carry that for you.” He grabbed my tray before I could protest and walked outside. What else could I do but to follow him obediently?
“Aren’t you going to… get something to eat, first?”
“I don’t eat much. Demons don’t actually require food.”
“Oh. I didn’t know that.”
He smiled. “There are many things you don’t know, Mila. And even more things that you don’t know you don’t know.”
Did he just call me by my name? My name?! It felt weird, and… oddly exhilarating. But, wait. Something was wrong. This whole thing was wrong. Where was his fiancé, Pandora? Was I just walking into a trap? I stopped dead in my tracks and pondered turning around, getting another tray of food, and just sitting at the VDC table. If I was really walking into a trap, the consequences could have been worse than getting bullied and laughed at in the dining hall. At least, there were a lot of students there, and also the professors, even though I’d figured out by now that no one was going to stop the bullies from torturing me. There was Francis, too. I turned on my heels. It was better for me to be in the same room as Francis, then go fuck knew where with Paz.
“Where are you going now?” He seemed genuinely surprised at my bipolar behavior. “I thought you wanted to eat outside, away from them.”
I closed my eyes for a second, breathed in deeply, then turned to face him.
“I know what you’re doing. You’re luring me away, taking me some place no one knows, and then… then…” I threw my hands in the air. “Well, I don’t know what you’re going to do to me, but I know it won’t be pretty. So, no thanks. I’d rather eat with them.”
He blinked a few times, completely taken aback. Was it possible that I had read him wrong? No. He was just a good actor, that was all.
“That’s not at all what’s going to happen. Look, I know the others haven’t been very nice to you, but paranoia is not your friend. It’s going to hurt you, not keep you safe.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and tapped my foot impatiently.
“Wise words coming from a bully.”
“I’ve done nothing to you.”
“You laughed at me.”
He grinned. “Well, it was funny. Come on, if you saw someone on YouTube being repeatedly smacked in the face with a steak, wouldn’t you laugh?”
“This is not YouTube. And no, not when that person is me.”
He waved me off, as if I was just making too much of a fuss over something harmless. “Meh. you’re no fun.” He started walking away with my food. “Just so you know, my girlfriend is cheating on me, and I wanted some company,” he threw over his shoulder. “If I go in there, the guys will just piss me off more, and I don’t need that right now. You can still join me if you want.”
My arms fell at my sides, my shoulders slumping. Seriously?! Pandora was cheating on him? On the great, mighty Pazuzu, the demon who could bring a swarm of locusts over the Academy if he felt like it? Okay, how did I know about that, and I didn’t know who Nergal was?
“Okay, okay. Wait up.” I ran after him and let him choose a place to eat, all the while keeping my guard up. If he was going to pull me around a corner, I was more than ready to kick him in the nuts. “She’s cheating on you? Aren’t you guys supposed to get married?”
“Word travels fast, huh?”
He chose a stone table guarded by two basswood trees and sat across from me. I was glad I didn’t have to share a bench with him. Every time I got too close to one of these jerks, no matter how badly they treated me, my body still betrayed me.
“Yeah well, it’s a long story. We’ve been engaged since before we were born.”
“Isn’t that incest?” I asked with my mouth full of mashed potatoes. Oh, it felt so good to finally eat. Wait. Maybe I should skip the chit-chat and eat faster, just in case Lorna comes looking for me with a bag full or worms, or something.
He looked at me like I’d just said the most stupid thing in the world. “And your point is…?”
“Sorry. Incest is frowned upon in my world.”
“In your world, many things are frowned upon. Depending on the culture, some are more ridiculous than others.”
“Okay, so tell me about it.”
“What? About Pandora cheating on me?”
“Yeah. It might make you feel better.”
His green eyes filled with mirth as he threw his head back and laughed heartily. I froze, mouth stuffed with mashed potatoes and chicken strips. What was so funny? I was genuinely trying to help him by lending a non-judgemental ear.
“Her cheating on me isn’t what’s bothering me,” he finally said after he’d had a good laugh. He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. “What’s bothering me is that I’ve already fucked all the girls here, and now I have no one to help me get back at her.”
“But don’t you… love each other?”
“Love? What we have is not love, dearie. Competition. Now, that’s something a healthy relationship is based on. If she cheats on me, I cheat on her. If I cheat on her, she finds some poor fellow to fuck. It goes on and on, and it’s fun, too. But this time, the whole thing is a bummer. She started it, she got herself two idiots from the Neutral Death Cabal, and I’m already bored of the sad pussy the Academy has chosen as its next Grim Reapers. Yeah, right. I’m starting to think you’re the only girl who’s going to make a decent Grim Reaper this generation. That, or I cannot imagine why else you ended up in the Violent Death Cabal.”
I swallowed heavily, and a piece of chicken got stuck, for a second, in my throat. I gulped down some water. Okay, so that’s why Paz was being nice to me. I was the only girl at school he hadn’t put his dick in. Marvelous! I started cleaning up, my appetite suddenly gone.
“How did you even sleep with all the girls, already? It’s the first day!”
He laughed that joyful, charming laugh of his. “The supernatural community is small, dearie. You’re the first exciting thing that has happened in a while.”
“Dearie… Are you going to call me that now?”
“What? You don’t like it?” He wiggled his brows at me. “Dearie, dearie, dearie.”
I rolled my eyes and headed back to the dining hall. Lunch break was over. I had to run up to my room to get my scythe for the next class.
“Stick with me in PE,” he said, running after me. “You were a good listener today, so how about I make sure no one decapitates you. By accident, of course.”
I didn’t like it, but I felt like I had to say yes, this time. It didn’t mean anything. Just that I valued my life.
CHAPTER NINE
PE went smoothly, at least until Pandora made her way to where Paz and I were practicing our scythe swinging and declared out loud:
“If you put your dick in her, you can say goodbye to our engagement. I’ll convince Dad to cancel the wedding and find me a better suitor, a suitor who doesn’t fuck filthy humans.”
She threw me a profoundly disgusted look and walked away, not even giving Paz a chance to explain himself. Or me a chance to tell her to cool her tits because I had no intention to bed her boyfriend. The but
terflies in my stomach begged to differ, but I was in charge, and I chose to ignore them. There was something about these guys, the four jerks who somehow found a way to be up in my space every minute of every day, and even though I didn’t know what it was, I was sure it would pass at some point. My poor, mortal genitals were confused. While my brain knew they were bad for me, worse than rat poison – because I felt like exaggerating a bit, yeah, – my nether parts were suddenly wide awake, producing enough flooding down there, that I’d probably have to go upstairs and change my panties before the end of the day.
Paz rolled his eyes and went back to swinging his scythe gracefully, back and forth, as if he was cutting something diagonally.
“Don’t worry about her. She’s just jealous.”
“She didn’t look jealous to me.”
“She knows that if I get into your pants, she won’t be able to out-cheat me.”
“Out… cheat? Is that a thing?”
“It is when Satan’s your dad, and your dad says you have to marry your half-sister.”
He didn’t seem happy about that, but I didn’t ask. After all, I wasn’t Paz’s therapist. Or, was I? In the past hour, he’d spoken to me and me alone more than he’d spoken to anyone else. He hadn’t spent a single minute with his homies – Sariel, GC, Francis. Honestly, since he’d started hanging around, everything had been unusually peaceful.
“Anyway, she’s not jealous, she’s disgusted and outraged. You two seem to speak different languages, and you’re not doing your part in learning hers.”
“Trust me, dearie.” He turned to me and gave me one of those breathtaking smiles of his. “She’s jealous. I sleep with you, she’ll have to sleep with a human. And where is she going to get a human? Supernaturals are forbidden from having relationships with humans.”
Well, that was interesting. I thought about it for a minute.
“But there are hybrids,” I said. “We’ve just learned in History. Mrs. Morgan said one of the present Reapers is a nephilim, so the son of an archangel and a mortal woman.”