“Well, that answers it then,” Lucian said.
“Answers what?” I asked.
“Why I’m here. You and Khalid make sense because you both have a connection to the veil. You and Liam have some kind of cosmic past life connection. I never really made sense until Liam explained it like that.”
Did he really feel that way? Because I never questioned him being with us, even that first day when he ate all of our food. I wasn’t staying up at night detailing their attributes and uses to me. Being with them just felt right, and it was probably the only gut feeling I had that I trusted right away.
“Mate, you always made sense, even before all that,” Liam said. “Sage needs you andIneed you. You might not hit me, but I need someone to trade barbs or I get in trouble. I don’t actually mean any of the shite I throw at you. I actually like you and think you’re brilliant.”
“I can’t believe I’m actually saying this because I’ve never been like this, but I’m pretty sure if you weren’t one of us, my jackal would have forced the shift and bitten you rather than let you share a bed with our mate.”
“I really need to find out if shifters carry rabies,” Lucian muttered.
“Even if you hadn’t been the original vampire and couldn’t help with the Forsaken Ones, I canfeelthat you’re mine. You’re supposed to be here,” I said.
“Uh, excuse me?” Darian said, raising her hand like she was in class. “I have no idea whatanyof that means, but if involves stopping whoever is hurting people, I’m in. Selene was one of my good friends and she didn’t deserve what happened to her. Selene had no problem shifting into her bat, so all this plan is going to do is get Lucian killed.”
So, we had to let Darian in because I didn’t want her to think we were just sending Lucian in to die for us.
“Basically, big fucking snake, friend. His gaze will paralyze someone long enough for him to bite them. His venom has some kind of toxin that neutralizes magic. Anyway, I’m pretty sure the snake doesn’t have a bunch of googly eyes like the time I got ahold of some stickers before a trip to the museum when I was a wee lad and got into trouble.”
“I have a pet snake named Cabbage. This better not ruin snakes for me,” Darian sighed. “But yeah, if you can keep the snake’s gaze off of Lucian so he doesn’t get frozen and then bitten, he could kill them.”
“They don’t stay dead,” Khalid said. “We don’t actually know how to kill them.”
“Well, gods heal fast, but not as fast as vampires. And even though we heal fast, it takes longer if there is significant damage. Most new vampires have trouble with enhanced speeds and strength. I’m honestly shocked Lucian hasn’t. You could crush someone’s spine by accident if you weren’t careful. If you weretrying,you could obliterate it long enough to bench them while you figure out how to kill them.”
“This is why she’s my new friend,” Liam said proudly.
Lucian looked horrified.
“Are you saying I could hurt Sage without trying?”
“I doubt it. If you were going to lose control, you would have by now. I’m a junior, so I won’t be in the trials until next year. The vampires who were out there with you gathered every vampire on our side of the school to tell us you were back.
“There was basically one of us watching you the entire trials. Nothing personal, but they needed to know what we were dealing with. Vlad was violent, but he was also a hero to his mundane people. Some of Vlad’s reincarnations were actually worse. Vlad the Impaler just wanted the Ottoman empire away from his shit. Some of his reincarnations were master race people and things got really bad.
“Someone was watching you to make sure that wasn’t going to be a thing again. They said you seemed to have exceptional control and figured out your abilities pretty quickly. Anyway, what I’mtryingto say is that if you were going to accidentally hurt someone, you would have done it already. Either during sex or when this one kicks you in the kidneys. Actually, this one being a menace when you were brand new probably helped.”
“See? I was being helpful the whole time!”
“Lucian, this could work, but we know you have strong feelings about it. Do you want to do this?” Khalid asked.
“I’m against violence because there are usually always other ways of solving things. I’ve also never been put in a position where I was facing off against the violent reincarnation of a god and his mate. My computer skills can help figure out who we’re dealing with but if my vampire magic can help finish it, I’m going to do that. I’m just going to need alotof help from the vampires.”
“Sure, I can put together a team, but we’re really going to want to rope Professor Adamastus into things.”
We could manage that through Morgana. She hadn’tsaidhe was the reluctant member of her group because of the age difference and the fact that he was a professor, but he was kind of shit at hiding it.
Of course, we still had no fucking idea who Lola’s mate was in this life.
Iwasn’t sure how we were supposed to deal with our first potions class since Lola tried to assault Liam. Professor Thornheart was pretty firm about no one switching lab partners, but at the same time, Liam shouldn’t have to deal with that. I had a feeling even after everything that happened when we caught her in the act, she still had plans for Liam and wasn’t planning on leaving him alone.
Liam was sitting at his table. He looked nonplussed if you didn’t know him, but Ididknow him. Liam was two seconds from snapping and stabbing someone. His hand was hovering by his sleeve and I knew that was where he had his switchbladehidden. If Lola touched him again, he was going to stab her in the neck.
Lola showed up to all of her classes fashionably late and she liked to make an entrance. Professor Thornheart was always hard to read and half the time, I thought he didn’t like most of us. He seemed to really dislike Lola because she was terrible in potions and never listened to what he had to say.
I watched everything and everyone. My baba knew I never intended to go into law enforcement, but he taught me how to read body language. Professor Thornheart looked cool and collected, but his body language said he was waiting for something to happen. He was watching Lola.
