“Don’t be silly, lamb,” he said out loud.
There was a tinge of disappointment in his rich, husky voice. No one else could tell, but I was bonded to him. I could sense my demigods’ moods without hearing their words.
My heart skipped a beat before flapping like a crazy bat’s wings. What had he expected me to tell him? Had he learned about the other half of my origin already? I shook my head. That couldn’t be unless Paxton had told him, but I doubted the Demigod of Sea would tell anyone.
My dark secret was Paxton’s key to my lock. He wouldn’t give it up easily.
Héctor pressed me to him and kissed the tip of my nose, and I instantly melted into his comforting warmth.
Cameron cleared his throat again.
“Go ahead, Michelle Ann,” the lieutenant encouraged one of the girls who raised their hands.
Michelle had bragged about knowing more about demons than anyone, but now she stuttered and forgot what she was going to say. Maybe she shouldn’t have stared so long at Héctor before she opened her mouth.
“Demons are bad,” she murmured, completely losing her train of thought.
Cameron looked at her with disapproval. “Get your shit together, initiate!” He turned to another pretty girl. “Linley Grande, go. I hope you won’t be a disappointment.”
Linley smiled at Héctor, but he wasn’t looking at her. He stared into the empty distance, his mind somewhere else while he stroked my arm.
“Uh,” Linley said. “I’ve learned all about demons since the time I could walk. I was homeschooled.”
I smiled at her. I could relate to her homeschooling experience. Maybe I would act more approachable to the other students who weren’t mean.
“No one cares if you were homeschooled or not,” Cameron said. “Get to the point.”
He could be such an ass. In my opinion, the Dominion lieutenant could use some therapy. He could afford it, I bet. That reminded me to ask Axel if we all got health insurance at the Academy.
“There are many kinds of demons,” Linley continued. As she talked, she sounded more and more confident. “Some demons can spit acid, some specialize in possession, and some inflict humans with depression, impulse control disorders, and suicidal thoughts. Level five demons can make even the Olympian descendants and other supernaturals hallucinate. Level seven demons can drain their victims’ energy and power, which is calledfeeding.”
My breath hitched at her mention offeeding. Was Héctor picking up on anything? He had kind of stiffened beside me.
“Between levels five and seven is the rank of a succubus, who feeds by sexual intercourse....” The girl kept going, and the male shifters all whistled.
My blood froze in my veins. I bet Héctor had heard it all, even though he didn’t seem to be paying attention to anyone except me on the bus.
I’d fed on all three demigods through sexual intercourse, but I wasn’t exactly a succubus. I was worse. Paxton had teased me about being the queen of the succubi to try and lighten me up, but it had only irked me further.
My hands went cold before I extracted the one in Héctor’s grasp. He took it back, brought it to his lips, and kissed it, then he put it against his heart as if he was trying to tell me something.
“Right, you’ve heard about demons,” Cameron said. “You’ve learned about Hell’s creatures in textbooks or from your mum. You’ve lived a pampered life under the protection of the God of War and the demigods. Now it’s your obligation and duty to protect this realm, our half of Earth. Let me ask you, who among you have met a demon in person or, better, fought one?”
No one raised their hand.
Cameron scanned our faces, then landed on me, despite Héctor’s unfriendly look. The lieutenant sometimes had bigger balls than he appeared to.
Nat raised a hand timidly.
“Yes, first-year,” Cameron said roughly.
“His name is Nat,” I offered. “Nat Matthew Fortune.”
“Fortune, go,” Cameron said.
“Nat prefers to be called Nat,” I offered again.
“Can he talk for himself?” Cameron asked mildly. He wouldn’t banter with me in front of Héctor. Smart man.