Sophie followed her and grabbed her hand. “I feel like I’m going to like it here.”
Lamia smiled knowingly at her, leading them out of the building. “Let’s get back to our room. The hetaerae might already be waiting for us.”
?
It hadn’t been easy to get his hands on the Duke files. After Kain left, Alexi had remembered he could always co
unt on someone when he needed something particularly difficult to get – Kvasir. Kvasir was Alexi’s true father and the fourth ranked incubus. Given that cambions never had any kind of relationship with their real parents, Alexi was a huge exception both at Lure and in Kvasir’s life: he was his only son. For reasons he couldn’t comprehend, his mortal women had only given Kvasir girls, so, naturally, he cared a lot about his one boy, and the other incubi and succubi came to accept that eventually. Needless to say that Alexi never had to beg too much for something, because Kvasir would always act promptly on his son’s wishes. And even though this time he needed one hour to convince his father he really needed the files, and another one hour and a half for both of them to convince Ke-sar, who had to convince Lilith, Alexi did get the files.
Unfortunately, by the time he got back to his dorm, he realized he didn’t have time to even throw a quick glance over them. He checked the time and saw he was already late for the Midnight Ceremony. “Shit,” he thought. “When will we give up on this stupid, pretentious fuss and make things simple for everyone involved?” He threw the thick files in a drawer, then stormed out the door and down the stairs. He hadn’t attended the last couple of welcome ceremonies because he had been gone on various missions, but he had to attend this one. At least as thanks to Kvasir and out of respect for Lilith, who had been so nice to let him take the files. As he crossed the large courtyard to Septentrio, Alexi started asking himself questions he hadn’t had the time or inspiration to ponder on before running to Kvasir. “Hmm… it’s weird, though,” he thought. “It did take some effort to convince them I really need to read those files, but why did they even listen to me? It’s incredibly inappropriate to take a cambion’s case files and give them to another to study without even asking for approval. There’s something fishy about this.” He didn’t have time to think more about it, and he didn’t want to either. The fact that he got them and he’d get to read them the next day was all that mattered. He’d think about the Pantheon’s motives and the consequences later.
He jumped over the three steps that led to the tall door of Septentrio and was ready to enter the building when he heard a soft sob coming from somewhere to his right. He let go of the door handle and turned to see who was there and what had happened to them. It was so unusual to hear someone cry at Lure, a place where everyone was cheerful and horny. He took a couple of steps towards the right end of the building, and saw a feminine silhouette hunched over on a bench, elbows resting on her knees, palms covering her face.
“Hey… are you okay?”
The girl jumped in surprise, straightened her back, and wiped her tears with the back of her hand.
“Yes, yes, I’m fine.” Her voice sounded weak and shaky. She hadn’t heard him come and now she was trying to hide her distress.
Alexi got closer and stopped in front of her. She was keeping her head down, her dark brown hair covering her forehead and cheeks. She didn’t look familiar. “You’re new around here.”
“Is it that obvious?”
He gave a short laugh. “No, it’s just that I have very good visual memory, and I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”
The girl wiped the last traces of tears off her cheeks, then looked up at him. “I arrived today.”
Alexi got lost in her brown, teary eyes. Her plump lips were full and sensual, looking as if she had bitten down on them for the past half an hour, and her white skin made the dark green eye shadow stand out. He swallowed heavily, suddenly feeling his mouth dry. He dug his hand into his back pocket for the tissues he always kept there.
“Here. You smeared some of the mascara under your eyes.”
“Oh, crap. Thank you.” She smiled, took the tissue, and started dabbing under her eyes, hoping she’d get most of it.
“I’m Alexi, by the way.”
“Sophie.”
He listened to the echoes of the music that came from the ball room of Septentrio, where the Midnight Ceremony had probably started. It was clear that Sophie should have been inside and that, for some reason, she had run away and hidden here. Normally, he couldn’t have cared less if a new cambion screwed the party, but there was something about Sophie that made him stay rooted into place. He watched her as she was blindly trying to fix her make-up and hair, then decided to sit down next to her.
“So, why did you run away?”
“What? I didn’t. I needed some fresh air before the whole madness started.”
“That’s why you were crying?”
“I wasn’t…” she sighed. “Are you always this blunt?”
Alexi raised his dark eyebrows in confusion. He had never thought of himself as being blunt. She sighed heavily again, then gathered all her hair over her left shoulder. Alexi admired the smooth skin on her neck and the way her long earring dangled from the tiny ear lobe.
“I’m sorry. I… I guess I freaked out.”
“Go on…” he encouraged her. He had always been good with people. His ability to listen and gain the other’s trust was a great advantage he often used to solve his cases.
“I only got here a couple of hours ago, and everything started happening so fast. One moment, Hebe is showing me to my room, the next she says something about a ceremony and how it’s just a simple protocol. Then, a bunch of young girls come to dress me up and make me wear this long, white dress…” She emphasized her point by pulling lightly at the soft material. “I thought I was ready, but I… I guess I was just being naïve.” She let go of the long, flowy skirt, and her hand went to her chest, where she pulled at the material in an attempt to better cover her generous breasts. “I’m not making much sense, am I?” She smiled bitterly, her gaze fixed on her white high-heels.
“I think you’re avoiding what’s really bothering you. Just tell me what it is.” Alexi’s voice was calm and soothing.
Sophie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “All new cambions need a mentor.” There, it was out. The thing that had made her shrink in fear and storm out of the ball room.