I pulled away. “We’ll always have Paris,” I quoted from an old romance movie I’d watched with Circe and Jasper.
He frowned. “I’ll take you to Paris after we make sure Ares isn’t a threat anymore.”
I sighed, and a thought swirled in my head. I might have to work out a dating schedule with the demigods to avoid further conflicts.
I unlocked myself from Héctor since I really didn’t want Axel to blow the door away and charge in. I thought I had no brakes; the demigods were worse.
“You’ll spend the night with me tomorrow,” Héctor said, “after you enjoy crème brûlée. I ordered a dozen for you.”
I nodded eagerly.
After he dressed us both with his magic, he carried me out to meet the others.
CHAPTER 7
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Yelena, Nat, and I headed for our next class.
I hadn’t slept in the dormitory I shared with seven other girls since Loki had attempted to grab me, then a god actually succeeded in abducting me.
Héctor insisted that I stay with him every night in his off-campus house, no matter how often I explained to him and other demigods that I wanted to be treated like just any other student.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to spend time with them, but I was fighting not to lose my heart completely to them while I still had some will left. I needed to establish boundaries and hold on to my independence.
“That ship sailed a long time ago, Cookie,” Axel had said last night. “You aren’t like any other student. You aren’t normal.” Over my glare, he added with a smirk, “If you were average, we’d never have been attracted to you. Quit blending in. You’re not a sheep. I tried when I was a first-year, and it didn’t work. I’m a demigod and they’re not, and Cookie, you have more power than all of the students combined in all of the academies. It’s time to embrace your heritage.”
If they only knew the other half of my origin...
I’d stolen a glance at Paxton, only to find his gaze glued to me.
“You always excel at persuasion, Axel,” Paxton had chimed in, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Loki marked you, lamb,” Héctor had said. “As did Ares. They’ll try again to get their uncouth hands on you. I won’t allow that to happen. No one will steal you from me. We can’t let them snatch you. From now on, one of us will always be with you after the sun goes down, and my sentinels will watch you during the daytime.”
I’d squirmed. “That’s too much. I have a life, you know, even in the Academy. I like to spend a night with you now and then, but I need to have my own space, which is my dorm.”
“Then you’ll bring danger to other students in the dorm,” Zak had offered. “And one of them is your friend. Do you want anything bad to happen to your friend?”
I’d opened my mouth and then shut it. That was a low blow, but I’d lost the argument.
So, I’d moved into Héctor’s house temporarily. The other demigods also moved in, despite Héctor’s displeasure. But it was a big place.
After I’d fed from Axel and Héctor, the demigods and I had shared the same bed, except for Paxton. The sea demigod took the couch in the living room without making a fuss, unlike his usual self.
Even though I hadn’t slept in my bunk bed—the last thing I wanted was to bring danger to my friends—I wouldn’t compromise my bonding time with them. I insisted on having breakfast with them every morning. It was unlikely demons would come for me then as they were most active at night.
The demigods were right, however, that Loki would come for me again, though only Paxton knew what the demon prince wanted from me. When it happened, I didn’t want my friends to get caught in the crossfire.
I briefly explained to Yelena and Nat about my current situation. I couldn’t tell them everything, for their and my own safety. And they informed me that One-eighth and her clique had been locked up in a cell for further investigation. If they were found guilty of working with the demons to breach the Academy, like their friend Brittney, they’d suffer grave consequences, such as losing their heads.
The Dominions were merciless when it came to traitors.
My demigods hadn’t said anything about the investigation, but then everything had all happened so fast and we had bigger problems.
“My world is better without One-eighth and her goons,” Yelena said,