Fortune Academy: Year Three - J.R. Thorn Page 0,37

the way. “Correction, you are mine, Dark Mage, and don’t you forget it.”

A whistle shrieked through the air and the battle all around us stopped. I looked up to see Luc in all his glory, his wings spread as he hovered and a red glow emanated all around him. “Are you done with mommy-dearest already?” he asked with a wicked gleam to his eyes. “I was hoping she’d keep you entertained for a bit longer.”

“Is this your doing?” I yelled up at him as I formed a fireball in my fist. I hefted it, showing off my new skills. “Explain, or this fireball meets your face.”

Murmurs from the students erupted at my display of demonic power, followed by Luc’s booming laughter.

Not quite the reaction I was going for. There was a demon floating in the sky and the students thought I was the enemy? Please.

“You really don’t know who I am, do you?” He spread his arms and flames ignited all over his skin, running up toned muscles and streaming through his hair. I’d never seen such raw Hellfire and he handled it with incredible ease.

How was he? Wait…

Wow. I’m such an idiot.

“Your name wouldn’t happen to be short for something?” I asked up at him. “Would it?”

He boomed another round of laughter, confirming my fears.

Luc was short for Lucifer.

“Your mother was right,” he said as flames fanned to life all around him, building into something that I knew he was about to release down onto us. “Fortune Academy isn’t the school for you. You’re so incredibly uneducated about your own realm. You should have gone to the school she had built for you, but it’s too late now.” His eyes took on a wild madness that struck fear to my core. The flames around him heightened and the air shimmered with heat as he prepared to strike.

Cursing, I grabbed Henrik’s hand and channeled his energy. I wasn’t even sure if I was capable of casting a spell through him, but there wasn’t time to tell him what Lucifer was about to do.

I remembered Olivia studying on the couch and explaining to me how to form a barrier. She thought the Latin sounded funny, so she’d made it a sing-song chant that had driven me nuts.

Now, I wanted to hug that insufferable mage.

I repeated the song from memory, earning a raised brow from Hendrik just as Lucifer released all of his energy. A torrent of flames came down at us and my mates roared, but there was nothing they could do. It all happened too fast.

The flames hit the barrier and warped around us, spilling heat and fire into the ground in a neat circle that sizzled into ash.

“Impressive, Princess,” Lucifer said with a smug smile that suggested he’d just been testing me, even if failure would have meant death. “You catch on quick.”

“Not quick enough,” I complained, then turned around and slapped Kaito on the arm. “You didn’t know he was the Lucifer? Some mentor you are!”

“Lucifer?” Dante said, glancing up at the demon with wide eyes. “Well, shit. That explains a few things.”

Lucifer rolled his eyes. “Really, they don’t make demons like they used to, you know? I’ve shown you my powers, dropped enough hints even a baby could figure it out, and still you underestimated me.” He tucked his wings to his back and fell to the ground, landing with a crash that shook the streets. He brushed off dust as all the students and Demonspawn around us backed away. Lucifer homed in on me and his eyes glowed red with Hellfire. “Your mother sits on a throne that belongs to me, child. Calamity hit Hell first and it tried to upset the balance. Did you know that the First Echo of Calamity took away my memories… me?” He slapped his hands on his chest with dark claws that grazed across his skin. “The King!”

“But you know who you are now,” I confirmed, refusing to back away. I ignored the humming warning in my head as all my mates went on high alert. They’d face anything for me, including an unseated King of Hell.

“That’s right,” he hissed, showing off his pointed teeth. “I know what is rightfully mine and I’m going to use Calamity to do to your mother what it did to me. Sonya doesn’t deserve that throne or the power of Hell. She doesn’t know what to do with it. She just fucks around with her mates and lets me cultivate an army right under