“Exactly,” Lucifer said.
“Does it usually happen to monsters as young as us?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No, which is another abnormality for this reincarnation. Though, I’m not really surprised. Cerberus likes to keep us on our toes each time. Last time it was half-octopus and terrorized the oceans, destroying pirate and navy ships alike.”
“So, when it is reincarnated, it uses animals compatible with the monster it is merging with?” I asked. “Hence our bird and wolf hybrid?”
He nodded and smiled. “You three are bright. I’m glad I don’t have to explain much. The last trio was rather stupid and that was likely why they didn’t last long. I warned them not to mess with the humans so much, but they were cocky.”
“Why does this being even exist?” Frances asked. “What is the point of such a strong monster?”
Lucifer shrugged, his shoulders and wings moving up and down with the movement. “Don’t ask me. I didn’t create it. I just found it. Well, it found me and attacked me. We’ve had a few fights since then. I’m glad you are young and new to the power or I might have had to hurt you. I don’t like beating up kids, so it would have left a bad taste in my mouth.”
“How kind of you,” Tsukiko whispered under her breath.
“Did you find out who was helping the humans?” I asked.
He scowled and nodded. “There were some dhampirs and vampires who thought the humans could help them start a business in the human world. They planned to add some verbiage in their contracts that forced the humans to give their souls to them. Honestly, that was pretty smart and I’m really mad I didn’t think of it. However, the humans were planning to double cross them anyway. Plus, I would have found out eventually and punished them. They are being punished currently.”
I didn’t even want to think about the type of punishment they could be receiving.
"And the potion they used on us?" Frances asked.
"Manufactured by a coven of witches that had been captured. We believe that is the main reason that Darla helped them with creating the barrier. They were testing it on the villages that were destroyed. They tested it and then killed the creatures and burned them so we wouldn’t find out. We had some Seers show us the past so we could see what they were really doing while there. We have erased all records of the potion as well as any human who had knowledge of it," he answered.
"You're sure no human will have record or knowledge of it?" I asked.
He smiled. "I can never be one hundred percent certain, but we will deal with it if we find some. We have spies in many areas throughout the human world. Though, it troubles me that this group of humans flew under my radar for so long. Perhaps I need to re-incentivize my operatives."
All three of us tensed.
I was very glad I wasn't one of his operatives.
Lucifer stood and said, “So, you three are going to wait here until I return. When I return, it will be to collect you so you can join your families. I will explain the situation to them so they don’t bombard you with too many questions you aren’t sure how to answer. Okay?”
We nodded.
“I’ll have some food brought for you, too. Tsukiko is looking a little hungry,” he said, winked, and left the room.
“This is...” Frances started, but trailed off.
“Unbelievable,” Tsukiko said. “Even by monster standards.”
And that was saying something.
Chapter 41
FRANCES
Lucifer left us in the room for thirty minutes. In that time, a super submissive werewolf we’d never seen before brought us food before scurrying out like she thought we might devour her instead of the food she brought.
“So, what are we supposed to do with this information?” Loralie asked as she shoved a bread roll in her mouth.
“It certainly explains a few things,” I whispered. “And yet I still have a ton of questions.”
“You always have questions,” Tsukiko mumbled around the meat in her mouth.
I stuck my tongue out at her.
She wasn’t wrong, so I couldn’t argue.
“How do you think the guys are going to take this?” Loralie asked, setting the piece of fruit in her hand back down on the table.
I reached over and squeezed her hand. “It’s going to be okay. We have each other.”
Tsukiko set her hand on top of mine and nodded. “We will face whatever lay before us together.”
Lucifer opened the door and cheerily said, “Follow me, Monsterettes.”
We shared a look, took a collective breath, and followed Lucifer down the hallway to the headmistress’s office.
Inside the office, Tsukiko, Loralie, and my families sat on couches facing Bogden, Dante, and Rathik’s families. Headmistress Gonzalez sat at her desk, her fingers interlocked and her chin resting atop them. No one looked happy.
Standing in front of their families were Dante, Rathik, and Bogden. They were staring at the floor, but their bodies tensed when we walked in.
Lucifer pointed at the carpet in front of our families. “Stand there, please.”
We did. Only a fool disobeyed Lucifer.
He stood between the boys and us, smiling happily. “Everyone has been apprised of the situation. I understand that this is not what you may have planned for your child’s future, but this is not something that can be altered.”
“Except by death,” Baba Yaga muttered.
“Say that again, I dare you,” Kenta said, his lips pulled back in a snarl.
“Enough,” Lucifer snapped. “Do not make me issue punishments because you’re being childish.”
Loralie reached over and grabbed my hand, her pulse raced so hard I could feel it through her hand.
I understood her fear. She had unintentionally bound Baba Yaga’s only son as her future mate. Baba Yaga was not someone you wanted to have as an enemy.
“We didn’t choose this,” I said, surprised and thankful that my voice came out strong instead of shaky.
“We know,” Mom said behind me. “No one is blaming you, Frances.”
Doctor Frankenstein burst into the room, her eyes wide and mouth open. “I need to observe them!”
Lucifer sighed, ran his hand down his face, and asked, “How did you find out?”
She scoffed. “Like word of monsters merging wouldn’t be spread like wildfire by gossip.” With a fast spin, she turned to face us, then set her hands on each of my cheeks. “I always knew you were special. You are my greatest creation.”
“Hey!” Dad snapped.
She ignored him. “We might need to upgrade your parts. You already popped a stitch because of the wear and tear you recklessly cause. I’m not sure how much magic your body will be able to channel.”
“You can talk to them later. We are having a serious discussion,” Lucifer said.
She pouted. “Luci, you’re so mean.”
Luci? Had she really just referred to the ruler of the Underworld as “Luci”?
He pointed at the door she’d left open.
After stomping her foot like an angry child, she walked out and closed the doors behind her.
Lucifer ran his hand down his face while muttering in another language, recomposed himself, and raised his head. “Okay. So, here we go. Everyone knows what’s happened and their parts in this situation. Now, let’s hear from anyone who wants to speak.”
Baba Yaga opened her mouth.
He interrupted her. “No threats or suggestions of killing any of the six children or I will have a private chat with you later.”
She closed her mouth.
“We’re sorry we dragged you into this,” Tsukiko whispered to the guys. “We didn’t do it on purpose. If there’s a way to separate you from us, we’ll try to find one.”
“There isn’t,” Lucifer said.
“They don’t have to stay near us, right?” Loralie asked Lucifer. “They could go on with their lives and—”
“We don’t want that,
” Bogden said, interrupting her.
“You haven’t even asked how we felt,” Rathik said. “You just started apologizing. Though, that is pretty typical for you three.”
“They always assume the worst,” Dante said.
“How do you feel?” I asked, a lump forming in my throat.
“Did any of you open your gifts from us?” Dante asked, folding his arms across his chest.
We all looked down. I shook my head and saw Loralie and Tsukiko do the same out of the corner of my eye.
“Did you throw them away?” Rathik asked.
“No,” Tsukiko said. “We just put them in a box.”
“In the closet,” Loralie added.
“Girls!” Sakura gasped. “Why would you do such a thing?”
“I swear, there has to be someone doing this to us just to torment us,” Loralie whispered.
“What do you mean?” Loralie’s mom asked.
“Terrified of fire,” Loralie said and pointed at me. She pointed at Dante. “Phoenix.” She pointed at Tsukiko. “Terrified of snakes.” She pointed at Rathik. “Naga.” Her hand dropped.
“Immortal,” Tsukiko said and pointed at Bogden. “Death,” she said and pointed at Loralie.
Loralie’s eyes narrowed at Tsukiko, but Tsukiko just smiled at her.
There was silence in the room for a heartbeat or two. Then, every single adult burst into belly-clutching, tears-streaming laughter.
Chapter 42
TSUKIKO
I couldn’t remember the last time I had seen our families laugh so hard.
The fact that it was about something serious regarding us really irked me.
Growling, I snapped, “I’m glad this is so funny for you.”
Grandfather wiped his eyes and said, “Child, we are not laughing at you.”
“A little bit,” Dad said.
“We are laughing at the irony and the humor in the situation. You three bound yourselves to males who embody your worst fears,” Grandfather finished.
“It’s not funny,” Frances said, folded her arms across her chest, and dropped her head.
She was about two seconds from crying.
I reached towards her hand to grab it, but Dante walked forward and distracted me.
He squatted down so he could look up at her face. “We were touching most of today, remember? Did I burn you? Were you hyperventilating?”
She sniffled. “No.”
“You were doing what most of the day?” Frances’s dad asked.
“What if in the future, we decide to have a kid?” Frances asked.
“Over my dead body,” Frances’s dad growled.
“You’re already dead,” Dante’s dad said with a wide smile. He was a handsome phoenix with almost white flames for hair. The amount of power he had in order to have his hair made of flames that were so high in temperature was mind boggling.
“What if the baby goes phoenix and I drop it?” Frances finished.
“You’re infertile,” Dr. Frankenstein said from outside the door.
Lucifer groaned and dropped his head while shaking it. “That human is such a pain in my feathers. Doc, you might as well come in since you’re already eavesdropping.”
“Gathering intel,” she corrected as she came back inside.
“I’m...what?” Frances asked.
“Your parents had me make you, remember?” Dr. Frankenstein asked, her tone the most gentle I had ever heard it.
Who knew the doc had a bedside manner?
“So, it won’t be a problem, but that makes another problem,” Frances said and looked at Dante.
Dante smiled. “It’s not a problem. If, in the distant future, we decide we want a child, we could adopt or something.”
“We could always make one,” Dr. Frankenstein said, her eyes bright and smile almost splitting her face in half. “I’d love to try to make a phoenix hybrid.”
“Had you asked us, instead of assuming the worst, we would have told you that we are fine with this. We have been trying to convince you three to date us all year and besides, you didn’t do this out of malice,” Bogden said.
I looked at Rathik, my tail in my hands to keep it from twitching behind me. I tried to keep my ears up, too, but they drooped no matter how hard I tried. “You’ve been rather quiet. Do you really feel the same? I’m not infertile, though I’m not sure we could crossbreed anyway since our races are so different.” I asked him.
“Oh, you totally can,” Dr. Frankenstein said. “I’ve seen them.”
“Them?” I asked, my eyes widening. I glanced at my parents, but they were staring at Dr. Frankenstein like they could make her explode just from their glares alone.
Lucifer snarled. “What have you been doing in the Sahara Desert, Doc?”
She blanched. “Uh...”
“We can take precautions to prevent that,” Rathik said and shrugged. “I’m not too worried about it. Hopefully, by then, you’ll be a little more over your fear of snakes.”
This was really happening? They were really okay with being tied to us?
“Wait,” Frances gasped. “If we are all tied together and Bogden and Loralie are immortal, does that mean—”
Lucifer beamed like a proud parent. “I told you they were smart! Yes, it seems the reincarnation cycle has ended.”
Baba Yaga moaned and then fainted on the couch, her head falling over into Rathik’s mother’s lap.
Everyone stared in silence.
“Frances, I think you should get an award or something,” Dad whispered. “You’re the first person in history to make Baba Yaga faint.”
The room erupted in laughter once again, but this time it was something we could join in on.
Life returned to normal, or as normal as a monster academy could be. The guys declared themselves our boyfriends and took their jobs as our protectors very seriously.
Some students were scared of us, but most treated us like Ainsley did. She asked a billion questions and kept trying to convince us to merge again.
Lucifer gave us strict orders not to merge unless it was an absolute emergency, though.
He had also smacked the backs of our heads when he learned that we were trying to protect not only our families, but him as well. “I am perfectly capable of protecting myself from some humans,” he’d snarled.
We knew he was right, but at the time we weren’t really thinking about how strong he was.
The next months passed quickly and before we knew it, the prom was upon us. We'd been lectured because we had skipped so many planning meetings, but offered to spend a ton of our free time decorating for it. We did feel bad that we had ended up only attending one meeting, so we did a ton of work preparing and gathering everything we needed for decorating.
Ainsley twirled in front of the mirror, her bright pink dress had a tattered hem and showed off her color matching freshly painted talons. It had taken her an hour just to curl her hair, but it looked gorgeous and bounced as she moved. “Tonight, is going to be amazing,” she squealed.
I smiled and pulled my tail through the slit in my dress. “I’m actually looking forward to a dance for the first time in my life,” I said.
She rolled her eyes. “That’s because you have the hottest guys in the school for dates. I need to find some new wing women or I might be single forever.”
Loralie pulled her black lace gloves on and then patted Ainsley on the head. “You’ll find the right male for you, Ainsley. I can feel it.”
“Don’t you usually just sense death?” she asked, her mouth open in horror.
Loralie smacked her arm, and Ainsley cackled before returning to examine her makeup one more time.
Frances brushed down some of my tail’s fur. “Let me help.”
“Thanks,” I said with a smile in the mirror. “It’s hard to see it well.”
“Ready?” Loralie asked from the door.
She wore a black dress that hugged her curves, had a corset around the waist, and tied up in the b
ack with bright purple laces. Her lace gloves and fishnet stockings completed the look.
I checked my reflection, adjusting my hair around my ears before nodding. “Yep.”
The four of us walked with wide smiles out of the dorms and to the multipurpose room in subfloor five where all events were held.
We had spent two days decorating the room for our Heaven and Hell theme. Instead of the usual splitting of top and bottom for heaven and hell, we had split the room in half. One half of the room was decorated in dark purple and black with red flames in small pits lined with skulls. The other half of the room was decorated in white and gold with some splashes of red to commemorate the angels who had been slain by Lucifer.
We had gotten Lucifer’s approval for the theme first, of course. To our surprise, he had been thrilled with the idea.
Lucifer sat on a throne of papier-mâché bones and wood crates designed specifically for him, in a beautiful half white and half black suit, and smiled as he watched the students dancing before him.
We waved to him as we headed to the center of the room, not wanting to stand in the doorway and block it.
He waved back and resumed watching everyone else while tapping his foot along to the beat of the music.
There were several parent chaperones and much to my dismay, my parents were among them. As was my grandfather who I could see dancing with my grandmother.
Were chaperones allowed to dance? Not that anyone would likely tell my grandparents to stop, or that they would listen.
“Where are they?” Frances asked, fidgeting with the flame pendant necklace Dante had given her.
We had all finally opened our gifts from them and found that they were gifts that related to them specifically with a note asking about starting to date. Mine had been a pendant with one of Rathik's scales encased in resin. Loralie's had been a ring shaped like a raven with the wings wrapped around her finger.
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