Half-Blood Academy 3 Magic Fury an academy reverse harem fantasy romance - Meg Xuemei X Page 0,26

“And from now on, I’ll take on the daytime duty and accompany you to your every class.”

“That’s unnecessary.” I squirmed. “After your men fix the wards, the campus will be safe again.”

Would it ever be for me?

I shook my head, jaw clenched. “I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Come on, Cookie, let’s go to your class,” Axel said, holding my hand as if I hadn’t issued an opinion.

To my fury, every demigod excelled at brushing aside my protests. If I turned fierce, they’d just seal my mouth shut with their hot lips and wicked tongues.

The Demigod of War escorted Nat, Yelena, and me toward our Combat Class. Marie, who had just been reactivated to her duty as my guard, trailed behind.

CHAPTER 8

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We stepped into the classroom. All eyes swept to me, many of them staring at my fingers interlinked with Axel’s. I’d thought that at this point, the students would have gotten used to seeing me and the demigods together. Evidently, that wasn’t the case. They probably expected the demigods to dump me any day now and were surprised when my demigods hadn’t done so.

There were about fifty or so first-year students. All of them were parrying with their partners. Demetra and her clique were in the class, too, glaring at me with loathing.

“I thought One-eighth and her evildoer followers were locked up,” I said.

“Obviously they’re out already,” Yelena said drily. “There’s no justice when it comes to the rich and privileged.”

So they hadn’t been onboard with Brittney selling me out to the demons, which was a bit surprising. Maybe Demetra wouldn’t sink that low to consort with demons.

No matter, she was still my nemesis.

I extracted my hand from Axel to flex my fingers, popping my knuckles. I needed a warm-up. I’d been practicing hand-to-hand combat with Axel and learned many tricks I needed to put to use. When it came to learning to fight, I could never practice with Héctor. He couldn’t see me hurt in the tiniest way.

So he’d been advised not to come to my class. If he saw anyone had left a bruise on me, even in a practice, he might go off and kill that person.

Everyone was terrified of him.

“Who are you looking at?” Axel snapped at the students. “Keep practicing!”

All the students turned away and resumed their parrying.

“They’re late,” Demetra murmured. “Shouldn’t they be punished?”

“Silence!” the instructor barked.

Demetra ceased complaining.

I’d never met this new instructor. Cameron had mentioned that the Dominion officers rotated to train the students when they weren’t on the battlefield.

This instructor looked a lot like Cameron, with the same military crew cut and a hard jaw, but he was leaner and meaner. He also stood straighter and taller than Cameron. I should tell the lieutenant about that next time I saw him so he could make some improvements in his stance.

The instructor pointed at us. “You three, get in line.”

Axel shrugged, trying his best not to interfere.

“Yes, sir!” Yelena and Nat answered and rushed forward.

I scratched my head—damn this head since it suddenly felt itchy—and picked up my pace to catch up with my friends. This time, I really didn’t want to stand out, though that ship might have sailed when I walked in hand-in-hand with a demigod.

But it didn’t mean I wouldn’t salvage what was left of my dignity.

I lifted my chin and walked straight to show that I could be good soldier material. I had tried not to be soldier material, but the Academy had beaten me into the mindset after only two weeks.

The military was no joking matter, man. Once you got in, it was hard to get out without a body bag.

Yelena and Nat were assigned to spar each other with wooden swords. I was left behind as we once again had an odd number of people.

“You, girl,” the instructor said. “You’re the only one left.”

His hard eyes landed on me, evaluating me as if not sure what to do.

“My name is Marigold.” I offered.

“I know who you are,” he snapped.

“I can solve your problem,” I said, smiling in an attempt to create a good impression. I’d turned a new leaf since I’d decided to settle in the Academy with the demigods. “I can parry with...” I looked over my shoulder. My gaze caressed Axel but skimmed over him. He was in a corner engaged in a mental conversion with his cousins, irritation across his handsome face. My eyes landed on my guard. “Marie. She’d like that.”

Marie snorted.

“What?” I grinned at her. “Not up to the challenge, soldier? Did