“Sorry, I know he was being manipulated, and he’s come around, but he was a raging, violent arsehole to all of us for months. It wasn’t just glares and shoulder checking. He cornered all of us and described exactly how he was going to slowly kill all of us and get rid of our bodies after he got his education and control of his powers,” Alexios said.
“He upset Ari. He cornered him when I wasn’t around and triggered his PTSD. Ari has forgiven him, but I haven’t. I’m not going to do anything to him because I’m not violent, but I’m not going to fuck him, either, even if he’s got that hot bad boy thing going on,” Ivar said.
“Good news. Mazen doesn’t want to fuck you, either, because he’s only into girls. You’ve got one of those, I just don’t know who she is. She’s either not here yet or she’s already graduated.”
“You saw how he got when Lola was manipulating him. I don’t think hecanshare in a relationship,” Alexios said.
“I had opinions about him, too, first,” Khalid said. “But the real Mazen isn’t like that. He told me a bit about himself. When he was just a kid, his sister got attacked right in front of him. Mazen was just seven and got knocked out trying to help. When he finally came to, it was too late. She was dead. He’s basically spent his whole life making sure if he was ever in that situation again, he could stop it.
“I’m not excusing what he did or said to you, but he saw Lola when she was freshly beaten. His mind went straight to his sister. He told Lola about her and Lola kept using that to manipulate him.Shewanted him to kill you all now, but he said something kept making him put it off. Then her story kept changing, so he backed off of you until he found out the truth. Did he apologize after everything?”
“Yes, but there was no excuse for what he said to Ari.”
Ari gave Ivar a look and started signing. I hadn’t been able to learn as much sign language as I wanted to. I could follow this conversation just fine. Ari wanted Ivar to make peace with Mazen. It honestly wouldn’t have shocked me if Ari’s bear had already sensed the connection to Mazen, even if Mazen wasn’t bi, and had been trying to get through to Ivar before he brought it up.
“I can’t. I just can’t. You’ve always been the better man,” Ivar said, storming off.
Just then, everyone’s phone went off at once. It was an alert from the school app.
What now?
Istill had mixed feelings about someone unlocking my phone while I was unconscious and adding apps. Headmaster Mykene apologized, and I accepted, but I was still upset. My phone was private. I had evidence on here.
I hadn’t looked at the social media for supernaturals because I didn’t like most of these people. The people Ididlike, I was around all the time. I could just ask. And I didn’t mind Liam anymore, but I knew his social media was a cesspool of idiotic memes. No thank you.
We’d never gotten a school-wide alert before and with everything going on, I pounced to check. Everyone else did, too, but I was a vampire, so I got to my phone first.
“What the fuck is the lottery and why do I already have ten thousand points?”
All the message said was that Ouroboros Academy was proud to announce their annual lottery. My name was listed with Sage, Khalid, and Liam’s and we all had points next to our names.
“Just to clarify, is this a lottery where we get a prize we will like or a Shirley Jackson type of thing?” Khalid asked.
“So, it’s this game Headmaster Mykene invented to challenge everyone. The professors will be adding points if you unlock new magic or clues, figure out who you are, or do something extraordinary. They’ll be removing points if you fuck up. If you’re bonded, you’ll be working as a team. If you figure out a bond, your points will join. The team with the most points wins the lottery and gets access to their trust funds early. We won last year mostly because Morgana is brilliant,” Elliot said.
“We already have points,” Liam said.
“Yeah, those are Headmaster Mykene’s points. How many did she give you? We were ahead from the start because she gave Morgana five thousand.”
Yeah, I still hadn’t figured out why I had ten. Sage, Liam, and Khalid all had four thousand.
“Here’s your phone back,” Petros said. “I wanted to creep on your points. We can’t play this year because we already won.”
Petros handed my phone back, and I glared at him.
“Howthe fuckdid you steal my phone right out of my hand without me even noticing?” I snarled. “And why did you have to steal mine?”
“Trade secrets. And I stole yours to see if I could. It was a personal challenge since you’re usually glued to that thing. And because your boyfriend-in-law carries a switchblade and has threatened to stab me before. Ten thousand points is impressive. You must have impressed Headmaster Mykene hacking her program.”
“It makes sense,” Khalid said. “Athena wasn’t just a god of wisdom. She was a god of strategy and protector of heroes. She preferred intellect over violence. I think she was tickled you hacked her program.”
“Aren’t you glad she gave you a leg up towards all of us being stinking rich instead of turning you into a Gorgon or a giant spider?” Liam said. “What? I make it a point to know everyone’s strengths in case I piss them off and they want to kill me.”
“Is this going to get crazy?” Sage asked. “Like, crazier than it already is?”
“We’re just sophomores, so I can’t speak toeveryyear, but most people just studied harder. Imayor may not have sabotaged a few people in potions and magical combat, but they were trolls and had it coming,” Elliot said. “Everyone loves money, even the reincarnation of homicidal dipshits. I’d watch your backs.”
Great. So far, Liam was the only one they’d been interested in and they didn’t want him dead. I didn’t need the money, but I knew some of the others did. Particularly Sage who had been disowned with nothing. She was independent, and I knewsheknew that none of us were like the man who raised her, but she’d never put herself in the same situation Blue Matthews forced his wife into. She’d want her own money, and we all wanted her to have it.
