at the Academy.
“There are many kinds of demons,” Linley continued. As she talked, she sounded more and more confident. “Some demons can spit acid, some specialize in possession, and some inflict humans with depression, impulse control disorders, and suicidal thoughts. Level five demons can make even the Olympian descendants and other supernaturals hallucinate. Level seven demons can drain their victims’ energy and power, which is called feeding.”
My breath hitched at her mention of feeding. Was Héctor picking up on anything? He had kind of stiffened beside me.
“Between levels five and seven is the rank of a succubus, who feeds by sexual intercourse....” The girl kept going, and the male shifters all whistled.
My blood froze in my veins. I bet Héctor had heard it all, even though he didn’t seem to be paying attention to anyone except me on the bus.
I’d fed on all three demigods through sexual intercourse, but I wasn’t exactly a succubus. I was worse. Paxton had teased me about being the queen of the succubi to try and lighten me up, but it had only irked me further.
My hands went cold before I extracted the one in Héctor’s grasp. He took it back, brought it to his lips, and kissed it, then he put it against his heart as if he was trying to tell me something.
“Right, you’ve heard about demons,” Cameron said. “You’ve learned about Hell’s creatures in textbooks or from your mum. You’ve lived a pampered life under the protection of the God of War and the demigods. Now it’s your obligation and duty to protect this realm, our half of Earth. Let me ask you, who among you have met a demon in person or, better, fought one?”
No one raised their hand.
Cameron scanned our faces, then landed on me, despite Héctor’s unfriendly look. The lieutenant sometimes had bigger balls than he appeared to.
Nat raised a hand timidly.
“Yes, first-year,” Cameron said roughly.
“His name is Nat,” I offered. “Nat Matthew Fortune.”
“Fortune, go,” Cameron said.
“Nat prefers to be called Nat,” I offered again.
“Can he talk for himself?” Cameron asked mildly. He wouldn’t banter with me in front of Héctor. Smart man.
“Yes, sir,” Nat started hopefully. “Does fighting a dark mage and his mutants count as fighting a demon?”
“Man, you need to tell us more about how you fought the summoner mage and his beasts and rescued Mari,” Jasper, my former coven member, said.
“Frame by frame,” Clayton added and winked at me when he saw that Héctor wasn’t looking.
Nat flushed as he darted a quick apologetic gaze at me. I smirked at him. I understood that he wanted to impress Jasper, so he’d thrown me under the bus by giving me the role of a damsel-in-distress that needed his rescue.
But Yelena wasn’t having it. She whacked him on the arm.
“Mari needed no rescue,” she hissed. “She was trying to get us away.”
“Yeah, but we helped. We’d never leave a friend behind,” Nat said.
“I’d have been eaten if you two hadn’t charged into the ranks of those monsters so bravely,” I said with a warm smile.
“We have a student here who truly has fought demons,” Cameron said. “Could you share your experience with the class, Marigold, so the class can benefit and learn a thing or two from you?”
He always loved to put me in the spotlight and see me squirm.
“Uh, I—” I said, fretting.
The last thing I wanted to do was talk about demons.
Cameron grinned. “I didn’t expect you to be the bashful type, Marigold.”
“Flirt with my lamb again, Cameron, and you’ll be sorry,” Héctor said.
Cameron dropped his grin right away. “I mean no disrespect, sir. I used to banter with Marigold because she—” He paused to find the right words so he wouldn’t set off the death demigod.
Héctor, darling, let me take care of it, I said in his head. You know I can handle a social situation like this.
Héctor gave me a look. Of course, you’re mine.
The Demigod of Death didn’t come from this era, and he’d spent most of his time on the battlefield. Accompanying me on a bus was probably a first for him. His whole life had been about battling enemies, giving orders to soldiers, and living a life of utter solitude.
It made him all the more dear to me, yet at the same time, I felt tremendously sad for his loneliness. But he had me now.
A gloomy thought churned up to mock me. For how long?
As long as I can have him, I said.
And then he’d lose me forever, or, more like,