Fortune Academy: Year Three - J.R. Thorn Page 0,70

body, jolting Orion and Dante away as I ran to my mentor and wrapped my arms around his neck, giving him a long kiss.

He kissed me back without hesitation, putting a hold on his confusion and his weariness because right now, I was all that mattered.

I knew that because I felt it in the mate-bond that jerked to life.

Only… something pulled back in retaliation the instant I tried to connect to my mates.

Kaito released me from our kiss. The silver tattoo running up his cheek glowed with faint power. “What was that?” he asked, keeping his voice low as he scanned the dark room.

Orion and Dante crowded in on us, Dante holding up his dagger at the ready. “I felt it too,” the Hunter said. “The demon isn’t very happy you’re messing with his compulsion. He wants us to fight against one another and devour ourselves with our rage, but you’re not playing by the rules.”

“No I am not,” I agreed, propping my hands on my hips. “And I’m going to find him right now and face him, because this shit is getting old. We’re not his enemies and it’s time he sees that. The only reason he has access to the mate-bond in the first place is because he’s one of my mates, too.”

Orion stepped in front of me, blocking me from the exit.

I glowered up at the giant bastard. “Move,” I ordered.

“The mate-bond is healing,” Orion said, pressing one warm hand to my shoulder that sent a tingling sensation through my body. “You’ve figured out Cole’s weakness that’s been pushing us all apart. If he doesn’t want to be a part of the mate-circle, then maybe he shouldn’t be. If we regrouped, we could face the Dean without him.”

“No,” I stated firmly, leaving no room for debate. “Cole is one of my Virtues too, and I’m not leaving him behind whether you think we need him or not.”

“He’s a monster,” Kaito said. “A true monster. He’s not redeemable.”

I glowered. “Really, Kaito? Out of all of us I thought you’d be one to understand.”

“Sounds like she’s made up her mind,” Dante lamented. “I’d let her go.”

“Understand?” Kaito asked, drifting one hand to my hip even as anger wafted like a flame under his skin. “He’s dangerous, Koneko-chan, and powerful. Cole’s been using me to get to the rest of your Virtues. So forgive me if I don’t understand.”

“Like a freaking antenna,” Dante remarked with a sneer. “No wonder he could get into my head so easily.” He jabbed Kaito in the shoulder. “Thanks a lot. You could have stopped him.”

My mentor snarled, his eyes flaring with that inner rage that Cole had tapped into. “You don’t think I tried to fight him? I’ve been down here for six months with barely any food or water all while you’ve been dicking around on campus.” He shoved Dante back, although in his current state he didn’t have enough strength to physically move the Hunter. “Did you even try coming for me?”

“Of course we did,” I said, holding onto his arm and wishing I could wipe away the past six months. I’d known that he’d been holed up in the Monster Arena, but I had no idea it was this bad. “There was no way to get to you.”

“We don’t have time for this,” Orion reminded us, his booming voice leaving no room for debate. He grabbed my wrist and yanked it up. “You’ve made a deal with the devil, sweetheart, and time is almost up.”

My Virtues surrounded me as I followed the slight tug toward Cole. Setting him free was the right thing to do, but now that I was about to go through with it, my stomach wouldn’t freaking stop with the jitters.

I stopped when we reached the end of a tunnel that had the worst of the fog. Even my fireball trick didn’t do much to dissipate the mist.

“I can’t see a damn thing,” Orion complained as the darkness overwhelmed his light.

“There are three doors,” Kaito observed. “I suspect this is the last safeguard in place to keep intruders from attempting to tamper with the demon’s prison. Two of these are fakes.”

I held up my handkerchief that had only a speck of blood left on it. “We only get one shot,” I said as I tried to keep my eyes open.

The fog wanted me to sleep, but not just that. It wanted me to enter a dream I’d never escape, one where Cole could infiltrate my mind and finish