“The librarian said sloth shifters weren’t real when you asked for a book,” Lucian said.
“Shh,” Liam said, placing his hand over Lucian’s entire face. “Maybe someone mixed opium with the wrong mushroom, got weird under the full moon, and turned themselves into a sloth by accident. When they realized what they’d done, they ate a different mushroom to end it all.”
“Hey, Iman, didn’t you say Lola keeps that burner phone on her at all times?” Petros asked.
Iman looked slightly relieved to get the attention of five men off of her.
“Yes. She wears it strapped to her ankle under her trousers.”
Petros shrugged.
“If I stole it off of her, how long do you need to get the data off of it before I put it back?”
“Mate, I don’t know how you’ve stolen half my shit, but how are you going to get under her trousers and aren’t you worried Morgana is going to hex your dick for fishing up there?”
“Relax. I’ve got a plan, and it’s going to be immensely satisfying. It just won’t work unless you can get everything off her phone in the time it takes for one lesson.”
“But you aren’t in any of our classes,” I pointed out.
“A certain dingus owes us all a big favor, so that’s not a problem.”
“I had a tool that could do it, but they didn’t pack it when they kidnapped me. Which I’m still mad about, by the way. I’ve been avoiding contacting my parents, but I suppose I’ll have to face them. Ihatepeople going through my things, but I can tell them exactly where it is so they can ship it. I can get with Headmaster Mykene so a supernatural courier can pick it up.”
“Good. Leave it to us and you’ll have the information on that phone,” Elliot said.
Elliot and Petros seemed to have this unspoken communication. I had no idea how they were going to get the phone, but we at least had some semblance of a plan.
Ididn’t know what my parents could possibly say to me after just letting me get kidnapped after knowing my feelings on the subject. I hadn’t texted them, but they hadn’t reached out either to explain a damned thing.
Morgana always knew what her birthmark meant and that she’d end up here. My parents did, too, or thugs wouldn’t have been allowed in our estate to manhandle and drug me. I probably wouldn’t have believed them if they told me I was the reincarnation of Vlad the Impaler and I needed to go to magic school, but they could have just said they decided I was going to a different university than the one I’d chosen and just lied that it had a better computer program. Headmaster Mykene couldhave brought out the magic tricks and her rabid pigeon after I was here.
But I needed my tech, so whether I was ready or not, I needed to contact them. Ishoulddo it alone. This was between me and my parents and I’d always had a fierce independent streak. I’d never needed anyone to hold my hand for difficult things.
But then I met Sage, and I was doing all kinds of things I thought I’d never do and I was completely sure I hated. Yeah, I needed Sage to hold my hand while I did this because it might get ugly. She did it without question and Liam didn’t give me a single ounce of shit about it. He and Khalid left to go help Mazen and Ari draw Adrian’s phoenix out.
I didn’t just need her to hold my hand. Ugh. I needed her to cuddle me. My father had always thought I was defective. I didn’t like being touched and I didn’t enjoy the pastimes he thought were masculine like hunting and boxing. He was never rude or ugly to me about it, but he’d never shown any interest in the things I liked the way he had with my brothers. My mother tried, but I could always see her eyes glaze over when I started talking.
They honestly probably couldn’t wait to get rid of me and that was why they never contacted me to explain anything.
I nuzzled Sage’s neck and took in her scent as she wrapped herself against me. I pulled up my contacts and called my father. They knew it was serious because I loathed talking on the phone. Unexpected phone calls were rude, as were texts that just saidcall me.You should send a text first that there was no emergency, and you felt like talking instead of texting unless it was an actual emergency.
My mother answered my father’s phone. I guess they figured it would be less ugly if it were her instead of him.
“Lucian. We’ve been waiting for you to call or text.”
“You didn’t contact me, either. You didn’t tell me anything at all about my birthmark or why people were constantly trying to kidnap me.”
“We actually didn’t know. We knew your birthmark ran in the family, but we were contacted by a gentleman who said he was on the board of a very special university and your birthmark meant you belonged there. He made it seem like this secret society where you’d be getting the kind of education you needed. He asked for securIty to clear out so they could approach you were no one could see them.
“It was only after we viewed the security footage that we realized you were drugged and taken. Before we could even contact the authorities, all our devices lost the ability to make outgoing calls, but one of them rang. It was the same gentleman who assured us they took all their students this way. We didn’t believe him, of course, but he sent regular photos of you in class looking like you were enjoying yourself. He assured us it was all explained to you and that you’d contact us when you were ready.”
I could have gottenfuriouswith Headmaster Mykene for lying to my face, but then I remembered what Khalid told me. She didn’t agree with how we were taken, but her hands were tied by the board. She even asked Khalid to help her get it changed.
I rather imagine I put her off when we first met since I was very upset about getting kidnapped and any logical person would believe they were hallucinating from drugs rather than magic being real. Still, I’d gotten to know her, and I respected her. If she’d known any of this, she would have told me. I felt like I needed to let her know one of the board members was lying to her.
“You really had no idea what my birthmark means?”
“Just that it shows up in our family and the person born with it is destined for greatness. I know it runs in the family because I’ve seen photos and portraits, but I always thought it was an urban legend that a birthmark could shape a man’s destiny. Are you happy?” my father asked.
