Page 47 of Messenger of Death (Ouroboros Academy #2)
L inking my potions grade with my lab partners was fucking stupid. Especially since I never asked for Lola to be my partner. I wanted Sage. Khalid would have done in a pinch and I was even starting to like Lucian, so even he would have been better than Lola.
There was a time and place to shoot your shot and you should always back off when someone said they weren’t interested. There was a reason I’d been obsessing over the red-haired beauty at the hostel, but didn’t talk to her until we both got kidnapped. The timing had never been right.
But now we were talking, and I was shouting from the rooftop that I was hers. Even the horny tree fairies had backed off and respected that. Lola had not, and it was gross. It made me uncomfortable.
Usually, if I saw a bloke making a lass uncomfortable by not accepting no was a full sentence, I’d pretend to be her brother or boyfriend until he got the hint. If he annoyed me after that or I was getting vibes, I’d find him later and stab him.
I didn’t kill women. And Lola had already been brutalized. But I was really wanting to stab her, and that was confusing me. I didn’t do that. I didn’t know why I wanted to do that now. Ouroboros had a school counselor, but my kind of issues weren’t exactly appropriate for therapy.
If I talked about my daddy issues, it was snitching and they’d probably call the authorities. Someone would get murdered. Probably a lot of people and therapists didn’t sign up for that shit.
I didn’t feel like I could talk about it with Sage and my group, either. I didn’t want any of them to think I’d eventually get violent with Sage. I worshipped that girl. She could rip my heart out and stomp on it and I wouldn’t feel like how I was feeling towards Lola.
It was confusing and I couldn’t just marinate on my new stabby feelings because Professor Thornheart suggested I tutor Lola so I didn’t flunk, too. Which was fucking stupid because she was dating Mazen and Mazen seemed pretty gifted in potions.
It was this whole arse-awkward scene when Professor Thornheart mentioned a tutor and Mazen said he would do it, but then Lola completely blew him off and said she would rather I do it.
A whole thunderstorm started outside and then Mazen tore through his clothes as he shifted into this badass-looking, giant black dog. He bared his teeth and stormed out.
Yeah, if Mazen ever decided to come at me for how his girlfriend was acting, we’d most likely break this entire school. He was probably the one person here who could challenge me in a fight. But he didn’t seem mad at me.
I was supposed to tutor Lola, but I sought out Mazen first. He was in the library reading.
I should have been meeting Lola in the library, but she wanted to meet in my dorm room.
I refused because I didn’t want to be alone with her.
She actually threatened my potions grade and place at this academy by not showing up unless we did it in my room.
She would have gotten expelled, too, but she was committed to this.
Mazen looked up in surprise when I sat across from him.
“I’m not into your girl. I’d actually prefer she stay away from me, but I’m stuck with her as a lab partner. You’re much better in potions than I am, so I don’t even know what game she’s playing.”
“She’s doing this to piss me off. You’ve heard Professor Gefn.
She still hasn’t managed the birth control spell and her body burned through her shot.
I didn’t exactly have the best upbringing and if I have kids, it’s going to be when I know I can give them the best life possible.
I’m not remotely ready for that now. She keeps saying she hates condoms and doesn’t want to use them.
She said it’s fine if she gets pregnant with my baby, but I don’t want that right now.
She’s using you to make me jealous, so I just ignore my very strong feelings on the subject and don’t use condoms.”
“Gross. You can get out of that whole arrangement if she’s making you miserable, you know.”
“Everyone says we have bonds in this life. I don’t feel any connection with anyone here. Lola literally appeared to me beaten and broken and triggered all my protective instincts. This is probably a test.”
“Have you ever thought you can protect her, but she’s not the one? Artemis and Apollo shared a womb, but they were born to different parents years apart in this life. The person you are bonded to might not be here yet or they might have already graduated?”
Someone had to say it. Khalid thought the breeze was going to blow the wrong way and Mazen was going to go evil, but I got him and I trusted Sage’s read on people.
Lola triggered my protective instincts at first, too, and still did to a point, but now I was starting to see she wasn’t very nice.
I’d jump in to protect her and I probably wouldn’t make good on stabbing her, but I didn’t really want to be around her.
Maybe there was some secret side of Lola that only Mazen saw, but she was rude to our professors and she made fun of people all the time. She didn’t understand consent at all because I’d repeatedly asked her to stop touching me and I had to guard my cauldron so she didn’t sabotage me.
“I just don’t know. All of this is such a mess. I didn’t believe in any of this stuff when I got kidnapped. I had my ideas and my past and that was enough. Then I find out I’m a reincarnation of an old god and it’s that god and I don’t understand anything anymore. I’m not a bad person.”
“You know my girlfriend, Sage? The really hot one with legs for days? Actually, don’t notice her legs, even if your girlfriend won’t leave me alone.
She’s got this foretelling thing going on.
Khalid has some feelings about you being Set, but Sage’s feelings actually mean something and she thinks you’re a good person. ”
“I’m not a cheater and I don’t creep on girls who are taken. But thank you for telling me that. I’ve actually been reading about the Morrigan. She might be the one who figures this out.”
“We’re working on it. But remember what I said. You might not be a cheater, but Lola might be. And the Fates are bitches, but this might not be a test. It could just be you being unhappy for nothing. Your mate could be out there somewhere.”
“Noted. If Sage finds anything out about who is hurting people, can you bring me in on it?”
“Yeah, mate.”
Because yeah, Khalid was worried about Evil Set but I imagined if we had Good Set on our side, he could do some damage. We all needed to befriend Mazen because if Lola was making me stabby, she could be that thing Sage said would push Mazen over the edge.
And I had to tamp down the stabby feelings because I had to go be alone with that girl so I didn’t flunk potions.