Page 49 of Keeper of Death (Ouroboros Academy #1)

W e’d formed a bigger group, but not really. We still kept to our teams. I didn’t think the Unseelie would ever give Lucian a chance, and we needed a lot more information before we got close to Ivar and his team.

And it was so fucked up. No one had accused Lucian of beating the shit out of them. The Unseelie had ruled him out themselves for hurting Star. They still wanted nothing to do with him, but Zephyr and two of the Unseelie were fawning over Ivar, Ari, and Alexios, the one with the migraine.

“I’m trying to hate them, but they are all walking ‘book boyfriend’ tropes and they don’t seem like the type to beat the shite out of a girl,” Liam grumped.

“I don’t think they did it,” Lucian said. “Lola might be a blind spot, but they aren’t. I can scent Ari and Ivar all over each other like they are together and Alexios to an extent because they are sharing a tent. I wouldn’t be able to scent Lola on them, but there’s no soap out here. Even if they found water to wash in, they wouldn’t be able to get off everything. Her blood doesn’t have a scent, either, but I’d pick up something.”

“ Wait!” I yelled, jumping up.

Everyone looked startled, but I realized something major and it might be a clue.

“Liam and I didn’t really know each other, but we were staying at the same hostel, so we could have. Ivar and Ari are childhood friends. Someone else here could have known each other from before. Think about it. If you’re awakened and you know you’re this big, bad evil, we went straight from the pool through the portal.

“We might have new abilities, but we’re all the same people we were before. If someone woke up and decided to use their magic for evil, then they were probably not all that great before they got kidnapped. They wouldn’t know someone would be open to working with them unless they knew them before. That’s not really a conversation you can have with a stranger.”

“That makes sense,” Lucian said.

“Ari and I knew each other, but again, this wasn’t us. If your phones have a charge, you can look us up. What other people say about us might tell you what you won’t believe when we say it.”

“And my migraine is so bad, I’m barely sleeping. I woke up when Lola was leaving the tent. She said she was taking a piss, so I didn’t follow. I woke everyone up to look for her when she took too long coming back. Honestly, we thought she ditched us to get the crystal on her own. She asked to be on our team, but she seemed to have a problem with gay men.”

“Listen, it’s perfectly acceptable to beat the shite out of a homophobe if it’s a bloke, but when it’s a lass, you have to ruin her life and not lay a finger on her. That’s the rules. Sorry,” Liam said.

Ivar’s eyes bugged out of his head.

“I don’t hit them when they are men, either.”

“Really? It’s immensely satisfying. Highly recommend.”

“Ruining their life is pretty fun, too,” Lucian said.

“Holy shite, Prince of Darkness, did we just bond?”

“No,” Lucian said, dryly.

“The only other teams we’ve met are yours and one other. Radames and Mazen took Lola to protect her from Lucian.”

“Good call,” Zephyr said.

“She had my blood, jackass,” Lucian snarled.

“It’s mostly worn off,” Radames said, strolling into the clearing we were sitting in while the Unseelie made their traps.

“Have any of you seen a brunette?” Mazen asked. “She was with us before. She left to use the toilet. I thought I stayed close enough to protect her, but far enough not to be a pervert, but she was just gone.”

“Erica didn’t like me,” Lola whispered, hugging herself. “She didn’t like that I’d joined their team. She kept saying I made her uncomfortable, and she didn’t want me around her. She could have run off.”

Zephyr took charge, and I was glad he did. Ivar was the leader of his group, but my group didn’t really have one. We all acknowledged we had different strengths, so if one of us was good at something, we took charge. I didn’t really know the dynamic of Radames and Mazen.

“Something dangerous is out there and could have gotten your friend. Before we let you join us, he’s Anubis, he’s Thor, and he’s Vlad the Impaler, but says he’s not violent. Everyone is going to say what they saw in the pool and what they’ve figured out about themselves so far.”

That was a good idea. The fairies said they took history, but it was supernatural history, unlike what Khalid studied. They could give us some insight.

I wasn’t worried. He covered it quickly and well, but I caught it.

Mazen didn’t want to do this.