“They beseeched their god to break the bonds of the people they did love and forge new ones between the two of them. Gods don’t really work like that, so it didn’t happen. They came up with potions that would do that.
“Most people aren’t dumb enough to try a love potion. They are unreliable and usually backfire. Usually, the person you’re spelling gets obsessed and hurts either you or someone you love. If you do somehow have one that works, you have to keep dosing people, or it wears off.”
“Lola is willing to flunk potions when she’s clearly awake. She took a pretty bad beating to get any suspicion off of her. Hemlock might have been a master at fairy potions. The old gods were used to worship and sacrifices. Apep got banished to a realm no one knew him. The fairies weren’t signing up to be his new subjects. He wouldn’t have paid much attention to one fairy long enough to fall in love and turn her into an original unless she was of use to him,” I said.
“Okay, so it’s hard to slip a potion to someone once, much less an entire semester. And we don’t know what Lola wants with Liam, but why isn’t she giving himthatpotion to get what she wants instead of the one she did drug him with?” Morgana asked.
“Gross,” Liam said. “She’s not my type even if I hadn’t met Sage. Before Sage, I’d chat up anyone who met my fancy, but my gaze would have passed over her. She gives off vibes she only wants to fuck missionary, under the covers, with the lights off.”
“She’s vanilla, but notthatvanilla,” Mazen said. “Does have a bit of a breeding kink.”
I had a feeling that was important, but Morgana brought up a good point. If she could easily drug most of our class, why weren’t we getting the same potions and why did Liam get a different one? I was about to throw another wrench into it with another one.
“Remember when Headmaster Mykene said Hades and Persephone have been reincarnated more than once as twins? Lola and Apep might not be romantically linked in this life. Like, I can appreciate that another woman is attractive, but I have zero desire to be with them that way. I find the idea revolting. I think that’s biological for all of us. I’m not a violent person, but I’d probably shift and kill anyone Sage slept with that my jackal didn’t think was one of us. The rest of you would, too. Apepand Lola might not be romantically related because Lola seems interested in a lot of other men.”
“I mean, I’d gut them with Doris and getreallycreative about it. Apep and his mate are psychopaths, but they don’t have a code like me. They might view Lola fucking around differently if it’s part of some big plot. If Apep is a man in this life, he could be dicking students, too, and that’s why most of the missing students are female.”
“Have any of you seen Iman? She usually meets us in the dining hall after her classes,” Ivar asked.
Well, shit. That could mean a million things. Imancouldbe a victim to Lola and Apep or she could just be off being a cat. I liked animals. I was both a cat person and a dog person. Cats wanted affection when they wanted it and other times, they wanted nothing to do with you. That could be the case, too.
“Want to go running and look for her?” Mazen asked.
It was weird. I had so many opinions about this man because of his tattoos and then because he was the reincarnation of Set, but it just seemed so stupid now. He had to figure out shifting because Lola kept setting him off. We weren’t quite there in our class yet because the majority of our classes either didn’t know if they could shift or hadn’t figured out how to yet.
Mazen was helping me, even if I’d been a dick to him. It was like when we shifted and ran together, all that nonsense just fell away and I could sense him better. He was complicated, but a good man.
“Fuck, yes,” I said, holding out my fist.
Mazen bumped it and grinned at me. We tried to run together as often as we could. We basically took any excuse. Alexios just rolled his eyes.
“Do keep an eye out for a flame point cat while you’re tearing ass around campus. We’ve been doing our own research and Bastet and Apep were foes back in the day. She defeated himmore than once, he just never stayed dead. Iman could be a target.”
I knew that, but I wasn’t sure how many people in my year knew the reincarnation of Bastet was a sophomore here. They weren’t really interested in anyone but each other and Iman never shifted back. They might think she was someone’s familiar. Still, I was going to search for her because she could be in danger.
Mazen and I were itching to get out and run, but Headmaster Mykene was coming towards our table and she looked rather pissed. I knew I hadn’t done anything, but my stomach instantly dropped to my butt because this woman was brilliant enough to get really creative when she was pissed.
“Mr. O’Breen, did you, or did you not assault one of your coworkers with an onion?”
“Maybe, but what Ididn’tdo was stab him.”
“That doesn’t really make it better.”
“Eh. The bloke said Sage wasn’t the hottest person in this academy.”
“Has it occurred to you that the rest of the student body have similar bonds and feelings as you do and they also think their mates are the most beautiful people here?”
“I dunno, mate. That just sounds fake. Sage isobviouslythe hottest person here. Have you seen her legs?”
“Uh, Liam, there are definitely better-looking people here. What did you do with the onion?” Sage asked.
Because really, Liam assaulting someone with an onion could mean literally anything and some of those scenarios were rather alarming.
“Relax, I just smashed it in his face. I didn’t try to give him an enema with it.”
“Maybe just be the better person and let Markos have his thoughts?” Headmaster Mykene sighed.
“I’mnotthe better person, though. I’m a petty bitch with a switchblade named Doris who knows how to dispose of a body.”
