“I think they dare and they will,” I sighed. “You demigods are the most ruthless, reckless, and atrocious kind.”
He arched an eyebrow at me. “You put me in their ranks?”
I leaned in to kiss his lips hard.
“I need to check on them anyway,” I said as I pulled away. “We’ll always have Paris,” I quoted from an old romance movie I’d watched with Circe and Jasper.
He frowned. “I’ll take you to Paris after we make sure Ares isn’t a threat anymore.”
I sighed, and a thought swirled in my head. I might have to work out a dating schedule with the demigods to avoid further conflicts.
I unlocked myself from Héctor since I really didn’t want Axel to blow the door away and charge in. I thought I had no brakes; the demigods were worse.
“You’ll spend the night with me tomorrow,” Héctor said, “after you enjoy crème brûlée. I ordered a dozen for you.”
I nodded eagerly.
After he dressed us both with his magic, he carried me out to meet the others.
CHAPTER 7
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Yelena, Nat, and Iheaded for our next class.
I hadn’t slept in the dormitory I shared with seven other girls since Loki had attempted to grab me, then a god actually succeeded in abducting me.
Héctor insisted that I stay with him every night in his off-campus house, no matter how often I explained to him and other demigods that I wanted to be treated like just any other student.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to spend time with them, but I was fighting not to lose my heart completely to them while I still had some will left. I needed to establish boundaries and hold on to my independence.
“That ship sailed a long time ago, Cookie,” Axel had said last night. “You aren’t like any other student. You aren’t normal.” Over my glare, he added with a smirk, “If you were average, we’d never have been attracted to you. Quit blending in. You’re not a sheep. I tried when I was a first-year, and it didn’t work. I’m a demigod and they’re not, and Cookie, you have more power than all of the students combined in all of the academies. It’s time to embrace your heritage.”
If they only knew the other half of my origin...
I’d stolen a glance at Paxton, only to find his gaze glued to me.
“You always excel at persuasion, Axel,” Paxton had chimed in, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Loki marked you, lamb,” Héctor had said. “As did Ares. They’ll try again to get their uncouth hands on you. I won’t allow that to happen. No one will steal you from me. We can’t let them snatch you. From now on, one of us will always be with you after the sun goes down, and my sentinels will watch you during the daytime.”
I’d squirmed. “That’s too much. I have a life, you know, even in the Academy. I like to spend a night with you now and then, but I need to have my own space, which is my dorm.”