“I’ll respect youloadsmore when you start fighting back.”
“Um, I get the feeling Lucian could fuck you up way more with a Wi-Fi connection than with his fists,” Khalid said.
“Bring it on. I can’t make edibles or were-corgis, so I’ll need a game to keep me from getting bored.”
“How do you know Liam is an ancient, but you don’t know what when down when someone got beaten or disappeared?” Sage asked.
Yes, good question because I didn’t even have a chance to say anything, and it wasn’t totally obvious I was growing horns. It had just been a guess.
“So, you’ll learn this, but you can use a spelled mirror to watch areas that haven’t been protected against it. Your dorms and bathrooms have that protection and we’ll teach that to you, too. We were only watching the crystals at first because that was where all the action should have been. We didn’t know to tryto get more mirrors and people watching everything until you started talking about it by the crystals.
“In other circumstances, you would have told me what you saw in your vision and any clues you might have figured out when you got back. But we were watching when you shared all that information with each other. It’s not ideal. Various supernatural races have their ways of telling if someone is lying, but with age comes experience. Someone might be telling the truth, but you can omit details to suit an agenda.”
“Shit. So, someone could be awake and be telling the truth about what they saw,” Khalid said. “They’d just leave out saying they know what it meant.”
“Which means if Mazen was the big bad, he would have said anything other than knowing he was Set because he knew how you would react,” Lucian said.
Khalid just grunted. Yeah, he was gunning for Mazen being the one doing this and I just didn’t think he was. He was vibrating with rage over someone hurting Lola and you just couldn’t fake that.
“Set is complicated,” Headmaster Mykene said. “Yes, his powers are things that can’t be controlled, but sometimes, they are needed. He was villainizedmuchlater in his life and some of it wasn’t exactly fair. He usually only gets reincarnated during times of strife and it always goes one of two ways. He’s a vital part of stopping it or he makes things worse. I don’t think Mazen has decided which way he’s going yet.”
I agreed. Khalid clearly didn’t. We’d have to work on that.
“Sage, I have a pretty good idea of who you are, but I could be wrong. It’s going to depend on when your familiar decides to show her face. Long after his original faded, one of the Horned God’s reincarnations bonded with another reincarnation. Your powers are completely different but related in a serious way. You were partners in crime for several reincarnations because youalways managed to find each other. Of course, I could be wrong. Liam’s soul is as old as this planet and this is a new life.”
“Seriously? He’s the most immature, violent, jackass I’ve ever met,” Lucian said.
“I thought you hated me. It kinda sounds like you’re into me.”
“Did Liam and Lucian know each other in a previous life?” Sage asked. “They took an instant dislike to each other.”
“The Horned God is nature personified and you can’t control nature. He’s been a total anarchist in every life. None of Vlad’s reincarnations have been as violent as he was, despite several people hoping they would. From what I’ve been told, he liked things orderly, and most of his reincarnations do. Nature isn’t orderly, but the two were put together for a reason.”
“Nah, I don’t like him because he’s a gobshite who ate all our food and keeps snuggling Sage in his sleep.”
“Interesting,” Headmaster Mykene said.
“I think Lucian respects book smarts and hasn’t realized you need street smarts sometimes, too,” Khalid said.
“No, I know that, but he’s still an idiot.”
“Enough. You’re all connected to Sage, so you’re going to have to figure this out. We have enough going on without boy drama. Go eat something and charge your phones. I’ll be emailing your dorm assignments and roommates. It’s tradition to sing karaoke after this, but I don’t know if anyone is in the mood.”
Oh, I was in the mood. I had a girl to impress with a soulful rendition ofThe Devil Went Down to Georgia.
Literally, as soon as my phone had a charge, I had the email with my dorm assignment and one of my roommates found me. I had two, and all I knew was that they were sophomores. I couldn’t tell who they were from their names or even if they knew.
A fellow ginger with bright-green eyes came to our table to get me.
“Hi! I’m Morgana. I’ll show you where our room is and then you can meet your friends for karaoke. I was born to witches, so we knew about the birthmark and I had some training before I got here. I was Hecate in my first life, which makessomuchsense. I’m also a triple goddess, so Headmaster Mykene put you with me. We’re both stuck with Iman.”
I liked her so far, but I had a big question.
“What’s wrong with Iman?”
“I actually have no idea. Some of us have familiars. Others access an animal spirit or totem for extra powers. Some of us actually shift into those animals. Everyone takes classes in all of that until you know for sure which one you need. Iman was Bastet in her first life. She turned into a cat in her first shifting class. Everyone thinks she’s stuck and can’t shift back, but I think she just prefers it like that.”
“So, wait, I can shift into a jackal?” Khalid asked.
