Fortune Academy: Year Three - J.R. Thorn Page 0,48

an unspoken threat that any wrong move would result in certain death. “I didn’t ask who you were, Lilith,” he said his voice silky smooth in ways that made me tremble beneath him. “I want to know who you think you are. I am a demon of rage.” He ran his fingers up my chest and closed them around my neck. I swallowed hard before he blocked my airway. “And you, Lilith, test my patience.”

My thoughts raced as black dots began to sprinkle around my vision. I didn’t know how this demon managed to paralyze me so easily. Maybe it was because it was a dream, or maybe I just didn’t expect one of my Virtues to seriously hurt me—because I had no doubt who this demon was.

“Cole,” I said his name, managing to rasp it from his strangling grasp.

He frowned as if irritated I knew who he was. His grip on me tightened.

He wanted to be an asshole? Fine.

I took a page from the “how-to-deal-with-immortals” book and kicked him right in the balls.

He doubled-over, loosening his grip around my neck enough for me to slip underneath him and escape.

“Get back here!” he roared, but I was already sprinting with all my strength back the way I’d come and out of the mind-sucking void where Cole reigned supreme. When I faced him again, it would be on my terms.

“This is my dream, asshole!” I yelled back over my shoulder. I had super strength, as well as a solid determination not to get killed in my own head.

A low, rumbling laugh rolled over the black fog as it closed around my body and I spent the rest of the night running from a Virtue who was going to be my biggest challenge yet.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” Olivia said, waking me up as she held coffee under my nose.

Still trapped in my relentless need for escape of my sexy but jerk-face dream-demon, I flailed, nearly knocking over the cup as Olivia tried to offer it to me. “Kick the bastard in the balls!” I yelled, my vision going in and out of focus as I tried to pull myself into consciousness.

Olivia jerked back, saving the coffee from dumping over me as she held a hand to her chest. “Holy crap, Lils. Don’t scare me like that.”

When I calmed down, she gave me a raised brow. “Sorry,” I grumbled. “Bad dream.”

She chuckled. “Yeah, I can see that.” She offered me the coffee again, swaying it back and forth under my nose. “So, I was hoping to wake you up peacefully, because he agreed, but there’s a little asterisk to deal with.”

“Who agreed to what?” I grumbled as I wrapped my fingers around the cup and pulled myself upright. I sipped at the warm delicious drink as my eyes fluttered closed. “Gods. Where did you learn to make coffee like this?”

Olivia grinned. “From Trevor. He uses water from Olympus.”

I opened one eye and spit the coffee back into the cup before handing it back to her. “Um, ew.” If I knew anything about Olympus, it was that nymphs bathed naked in it.

“Oh come on!” She set the coffee onto the end table. “A lot has changed since you’ve been gone. And need I remind you that you’re dating five guys, one of them which tried to kill me?”

“Hendrik didn’t try to kill you,” I countered. “He might not care about much, but his clan is his life. The second you Awakened as a Dark Mage you were part of his family and he wouldn’t have let anything happen to you.”

She crossed her arms. “Well, he did a good job of manipulating us by threatening my life all the same whether he was going to go through with it or not. I’m not going to forgive him for that,” she said, narrowing her golden eyes at me. “I’m not getting freaky with him, so maybe your mind is clouded.”

“Oh yeah?” I asked, sitting up. “And your mind isn’t clouded over Trevor? I’m not going to forgive that fishy bastard for using Orion against me,” I said, shrugging. “Guess we’re even.”

She sighed and rummaged through her backpack. “Well, I had hoped to warm you up with coffee, but since that didn’t work out I’m just going to have to do this cold turkey.”

“Or cold fish,” I suggested with a grin.

She rolled her eyes and pulled out a golden bracelet with studded red gems and shoved it at me. “Lucifer agreed, but only if you wear this. That’s the