Page 15

I liked Khalid, even if we didn’t get to talk that long before he got called to meet with Headmaster Mykene. The deathly hot guy from the hostel was here, but he was lurking like he did at the hostel. He seemed to keep to himself in Amsterdam and so did I, so we never really talked.

We were going to be going to school together, so I was going to go introduce myself after I finished eating. Except he was walking towards me looking like a predator. He had this gorgeous mop of black hair and these insanely blue eyes.

He was tall, but all the guys here seemed to be taller than average. The shortest of them seemed to be six foot four. They were all different builds, from ripped with muscles to fairly lean. The one face I knew from the hostel had the body of a ballet dancer. I only got to see the ballet after I left home because my father thought it was sinful, but I ended up loving it.

He was looking right at me. Shit, he was about to come over and talk to me. Why was I even nervous? I wasn’t really allowed to talk to anyone my father didn’t approve of when I was a teenager, but I got all that out of my system when my parents kicked me out.

Except before he could get to me, a woman stepped between us and cut off our eye connection. Shit, could he feel that, too? I didn’t feel it as much back in the hostel because I was mostly only there to sleep. I worked, saw everything I could, and then I went back and crashed. It was like there was this invisible cord drawing me to him when our eyes met.

I wasn’t a rude person, but I nearly snapped at the woman who broke the connection and had to stop myself.

“Hi, I’m Maya. I’m the campus healer. I’m trained in magical healing, but I also went to medical school with humans so I can treat diseases that affect us both. Do you have time to come get your insulin pump put in? The Headmaster is going to meet with everyone to get a read on them, take any requests, put the teams together, and then you’ll do the ritual and go straight to the trial.”

“Oh, yes. I’ve actually wanted it for a very long time. I should have had one, but my father refused to pay for it.”

“Want me to kill him?”

“Excuse me?”

The Irishman stepped around the healer with a dangerous smirk.

“Liam O’Breen. He played with your life. I could show him what that feels like.”

“Um, that’s okay. I pointed the IRS at him and I’m pretty sure they are going to find a lot more discrepancies than him claiming me as a dependent when he shouldn’t. I also notified them of some videos of his sermons, so his church is probably going to lose their tax-exempt status for getting political.”

He just nodded.

“I can appreciate that kind of justice, but if you want me to gut him, just say the word.”

Was the dick on my pillow some kind of weird gift from Liam? I couldn’t ask because I needed to take care of myself right now. And, oh. Liam intended on coming with us.

“So, is this going to hurt her?” he demanded.

“It’s a fairly simple procedure and if you’re thinking of getting stabby about it, remember that I’m a fully trained witch and can hex you in a number of ways.”

“Seriously? Can you give someone syphilis if I give you something of theirs?”

“Yes, but I won’t because they did nothing to me.”

I interrupted. I’d done my research on insulin pumps because I eventually hoped to be able to afford one, but I also wasn’t expecting to be kidnapped and stuck in the elements doing trials.

“I know I can disconnect it long enough to shower, but how is that going to work in the trials? How am I supposed to bathe?”

“The one we’re giving you is fully waterproof, so you’ll be fine. The beaches here are lovely, but this is not an ideal situation for you. Check your feet for cuts when you’re done.

“Honestly, a lot of people don’t bathe during the trials. They come back bloody ripe. You’ve got about a day per quadrant to find your crystal. There’s not really time to make it back to the beach to wash. Everyone stinks, so no one is judging. Just make sure you take care of your feet.”

“I can do that.”

“She’s going to be on my team,” Liam said. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“I am?”

That was news to me. We hadn’t really discussed that when I was meeting with the headmaster, but we didn’t really have time for that. She had to tell me that my entire life was a lie and I had to make sure proper precautions were taken so I didn’t die getting into this school.

“Oh, yeah. We discussed the existence of were-corgis and teams. You’re on mine.”

“Were-corgis aren’t real,” Maya said. “I read a book once, but they don’t actually exist.”

“It was a five-star read, yeah? But were-corgis could be real if someone gets unholy enough, right?”

“That hasn’t happened in a very long time.”

“Are you wearing your red flags?” I asked.

“Yes. Absolutely. Everyone should. What are you talking about?”

“Your shirt.”

He was wearing a shirt that had a heart with wings being pierced by a dagger that said Sex Pest.

“You were living in Amsterdam and you never heard of Sex Pest? They are this amazing band. It’s like Freddie Mercury is still alive and Queen is still together.”

“ Sex Pest is a supernatural band,” Maya said. “It’s a mix of sirens and incubi. They are all graduates from Ouroboros and met doing karaoke at the tavern on campus. Word to the wise, if you want to get up and sing, make sure you’re good. This isn’t one of those things where you get pissed and have fun. It’s going to be like the debut of Rite of Spring if you get up there and suck.”

“Eh. They’ve never been slagged by the Irish before,” Liam said.

“Several students on both sides of the school are Irish,” Maya pointed out.

“Of course, they are.”

“Any Americans?” I asked.

“Mostly on the supernatural side. The reincarnations generally come from the Native Americans and they handle that themselves. Sometimes, originals and gods pop up there, but it doesn’t happen that often unless one of the reincarnations went there and had a child.”

That still didn’t give me much of a hint who my father was or even a clue who I was supposed to be. Still, I guess I was in the same boat as anyone else who would be on my team.