I was going to miss Alexios. I liked his dry sense of humor and we were vastly outnumbered in this class since Khalid, Liam, Lucian, and Ari weren’t in it. Since we all knew who we were, we were going to have a lot of classes that were different and I was okay with that.
Hopefully that meant fewer classes with some of the rest of these people as they figured out who they were.
If Apep was also a void creature, then he should also feel like Lola. Radames didn’t feel like Lola. If I’d been my father’s dream son, I imagine I would have felt like what Radames felt like to me—super closed off and very offended at all of this. And yeah, it probably would have made my convictions stronger than make me doubt them.
I still didn’t think it was safe to discuss the whole Apep thing in front of him. I also didn’t want him to think we were looking at the Egyptian students for no reason. Khalid told me what he thought was happening when he got kidnapped here. I didn’t want Radames to think we were connecting Egyptian students to the murders foranyreason other than we’d been visited byshades who told us it was the reincarnation of Apep who was hurting people.
So, I didn’t say a damned thing until he disappeared wherever he went to when he was trying to figure his shit out. Headmaster Mykene was thinking the same thing I was and only asked Radames how he was coming with his research and nothing else. He barely spoke in grunts around her and just said he was working on it and disappeared.
“What is your gut telling you about that one?” she asked when he left.
“Being around Lola sets my teeth on edge. It’s like she sucks everything out of the room. He doesn’t do that, but he’s also hard to read because he’s so repressed.”
“His father is a lot, but not like yours. Copts are the minority in Egypt and sometimes, there are some issues with that. Radames’s dad doesn’t want to change the laws about Coptic churches or change perception so they can coexist. He wants to makeeveryonein Egypt Coptic and that was how he raised Radames. That boy could be trying to figure out who he is so he can do that. It was one of the many reasons I wanted him in here with us. It wasn’tjustbecause his father was a priest.”
“Blue Matthews wasn’t my father. He murdered my father. But he wanted everyone to be a member of his church even if they were just watching on TV because that meant more money for him. He could be trying to do thatnow,but he can’t do it until he figures out who he is and how to use his magic so he can con people. That’s a few years to subtly redirect him. What about the other students? Doyouthink anyone is Apep?”
“Bes is a man in this life. He protects children and women in childbirth. I can pretty much tell you that he’s not lying about being Bes. He grew up in an orphanage and when he aged out, he got a job there to make sure the kids were taken care of. Herefused to stay here unless we made sure those kids were taken care of. That’s what he plans to use his trust for.
“Onuris was a God of War and Hunting. It’s a woman in this life. She gets along famously with the reincarnation of Artemis, but I think she feels like she has something to prove in her defense classes since they are being taught by another war god, so she’s constantly butting heads with Professor Adamastus. She’s not lying, either. Professor Theron and Professor Adamastus both feel a kinship with her.
“Serket is back and there’s no doubt about who she is. She’s a lesbian who wants nothing to do with men. If any of them think they might want to change her mind, she turns into a giant scorpion and terrorizes them. She fully intends to abuse this when she graduates. I honestly don’t blame her.
“You know Bastet, as she’s your roommate. Well, as much as youcanknow Iman when she refuses to shift back. I have my theories about why she’s currently being spoiled rotten by Ivar, Alexios, and Ari, but I won’t know for sure until she decides to stop being a cat.
“WethinkMaahes is back as he turns into a lion. There are actually several Egyptian gods that turn into lions, but he’s done enough research and meditation to be sure he’s Maahes. Maahes was the son of Bastet and the reincarnation of Maahes is a bit of a character. Samir ran at Iman calling her mommy like he wanted a hug. She had no idea who he was, and that was when she shifted the first time. Iman has refused to shift back since.
“You know Set and Anubis. I’m honestly glad you’ve taken Mazen under your wing. He was a ticking time bomb while he was dating Lola and it’s always good when Set is in a helping mood instead of a destructive one. We don’t have Ra, but we do have Khepri, who was associated with the morning sun.
“We have eleven students that are narrowing it down between two gods and are close. Of those eleven, four haveshifted, but there are multiple gods with that animal and they are trying to figure out which one they are. Then, you have Radames, who isn’t really sharing or wants help.
“That narrows it down to eight students we don’t really have definitive proof if they are Apep or not. I couldn’t guess based on their personalities. Some serial killers are very charming. Apep and Hemlock would have been trapped in fairy alone for a very long while before they either starved to death or their life cycle ended. They had a plan when they got back to this realm.”
Yes, but Headmaster Mykene was smarter than I would ever be. I might feel it stronger than everyone else, but everyone I actually cared about here said Lola felt different from everyone else.
“Sorry, but you’ve spent more time around all the students than me. Don’t you know who feels like Lola?”
“That’s the problem, Sage. Hemlock wasn’t a god, she was an original. She was something new. I’ve been around for a very long time and I’ve never met anyone who felt like Lola in my entire life span, much less anyone currently enrolled at this academy.”
Fuck me. That was my one idea for locating who Apep was in this life.
These wankers in the kitchens should probably be stabbed, but they hadn’t really earned my usual reasons for sticking Doris in someone’s neck. Aphrodite was a man in this life and he really got mad when I told everyone how Sage was the prettiest person here with the best legs in the entire world while I was chopping nuts to bake sweets.
The little gobshite told me to shut the fuck up and she wasn’t that hot when I was telling everyone how beautiful her red hair was when the sun hit it. I wasn’t going to stab the bloke because he was jealous my girlfriend was prettier than he was, but I did smash half an onion in his face to let all these bitches knowSage being the best person here was facts, not opinions, and I wouldn’t be questioned.
Markos got his panties twisted after his eyes stopped pissing tears and he informed me he was getting me expelled before storming out. Yeah, that wasn’t happening. I peeped at the file this school had on me. The Amsterdam cops might not have figured out who’d done them a favor and disposed of some rapists, but someone here knew exactly who I gutted with Doris.
So, yeah, Headmaster Mykene knew an onion to the face was pretty minor compared to Doris. I was going to point that out if she seriously thought I was in the wrong for this and wanted me to apologize. Markos was pretty and before Sage, I probably would have hit on him and had a one and done if he hadn’t opened his mouth long enough for me to find out he had an ego on him.
But Ihadmet Sage, and I didn’t see anyone else anymore. And why was this cute li’l vampire with a pixie cut getting in my personal space? I still had the other half of that onion and after Lola, I was going to be a lot more violent if someone didn’t get the hint I wasn’t into them.
“Thanks,” she whispered. “Markos treats the scholarship students from our side of the school like we’re beneath him. That was so satisfying. And for what it’s worth, I think it’s romantic you’re so into your girl, you can’t shut up about her. It’s goals for my relationship with my girlfriend.”
Ah, I just made a new friend. I liked those. We could buddy up against Onion Face because he was a prat. I needed a new nemesis now that it was making me feel bad to kick the Prince of Darkness in the kidneys. Oh, Markos, you vain bastard, you have no idea what you just unleashed. I could make a shiv out of everything in this kitchen if someone hid the knives.
“I don’t mind if you want to tell me how hotyourgirlfriend is. And I’m a petty bitch who loves gossip, so if you want to sharewith me how awful my new nemesis is, it would besuperhelpful as far as motivation.”
“Okay, so we’re all at different power levels on my side of the school. Some of us have ancestors that fell in love with humans and it weakened our magic. It’s different for reincarnations. That’s not me or my family, but some of the weaker people on our side of the school want to boost their magic by marrying one of the reincarnations. Some of the stronger people on our side want to bag a reincarnation for power and money, too. It’s stupid because it never happens like that. Most of them just play us and pair up with a reincarnation or original.
