Half-Blood Academy 3 Magic Fury an academy reverse harem fantasy romance - Meg Xuemei X Page 0,44
getting used to it.
Their touches made my toes curl and my inner vixen purr.
A few times I caught Circe looking at Héctor and me with envy. It worried me that she seemed to want to test if she could touch Héctor, too. Circe had always wanted to prove to the world that she was the best at everything, even back when we’d lived in Crack.
I’d never been stern to her. I’d always spoiled her, no matter how many times she’d crossed the line as my ward, but this time I sent her a firm, warning look. It wasn’t just that Héctor was my man. If she touched him, she’d die an agonizing death.
I was the only woman who could touch him and live.
The buses sped over the heavily guarded bridge, the river and the buildings along both of its banks blurring by.
I turned from the window and beamed at my friends.
I’d lived an isolated life in Crack for twenty years. If Axel hadn’t dragged me to the Academy, I wouldn’t have met so many friends.
And I wouldn’t have a fabulous life with my demigods.
Basking in Héctor’s delicious body heat and utter devotion, I prayed this would never end.
“First years!” Cameron clasped his hands and shouted, jerking me out of my thoughts. “Shut up and pay attention!”
Héctor glared at him because I was one of the first-years.
Cameron stepped a pace back in the middle of the bus.
“This isn’t a vacation,” the lieutenant said, toning down his voice. “We’re heading toward the Queens-Brooklyn border. War breaks out there daily. You’ll get a firsthand look at what the demon-controlled areas look like, what the Great Merge means, and how the war impacts our civilization. As a rule, first-years don’t get this privilege, but the Academies are shaking things up for the coming battles that will decide Earth’s fate.”
Everyone sat straighter, either excited or nervous. Probably both.
Marie was on this bus with us. She sat in the front passenger seat, whispering something to the driver. I recognized him. He’d driven the van that had taken me to the Academy.
We also had two Dominion sentinels from Héctor’s team. They’d been the ones guarding me on the campus.
Esme was on a yellow bus with more first-years and a squad of Dominions. One-eighth was on the same bus as the headmistress.
Yelena, Nat, and I had all cheered that we didn’t have to share a bus with Demetra and her clique. We counted that as today’s first small victory and high-fived three times over it, to Héctor’s puzzlement. Demetra should consider herself lucky. If she’d insulted me in front of my Héctor, he’d toss her out the window while the bus was still moving.
Like it or not, the demigods were above the rules, and they could kill without remorse.
“After graduation, most of you will fight on the frontlines, and some of you will join me.” Cameron darted a meaningful glance at me. “Now there’s no separation between the Olympian descendants and the other supernaturals, so it’s time for you to start acting as one Dominion force and learn to work together.”
To show the lieutenant just that, Yelena, Nat, and I high-fived Clayton and his pack all around. Héctor watched me with amusement. As an ancient demigod, he didn’t mingle with anyone, but he indulged me on anything that I liked to do as long as it didn’t interfere with his security detail on me.
Our bus cut across Brooklyn as Cameron kept narrating, apparently loving the sound of his own deep, bass voice. According to him, we’d passed Bay Ridge and Brooklyn Heights and were headed toward Williamsburg now.
Brooklyn belonged to the demigods, yet it wasn’t blessed with peace. War must have hit here since a lot of neighborhoods we passed by were rundown, some streets abandoned.
I stayed alert. My hand pressed on my gun.
Every student was heavily armed. That was how we rolled as soon as we left the grounds of the Academy.
Guns were useless against demons and mages, but we could use them on humans who fought for the demons.
“Even in the age of the Great Merge,” Cameron narrated, “Brooklyn remains an ethnically mixed neighborhood, and its landscape is colorful and full of diversity.”
“Are you a tour guide or what, Cameron?” Héctor said. “Either get to the point or shut your mouth.”
The other Dominions snickered, and many students joined in. But at Cameron’s hard stare, the students dropped their laughter and looked to the ground.
I grinned at the lieutenant.
“Sorry, Demigod Héctor,” Cameron said. He was more afraid