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“No, sir,” Marie said. “I waited. Marigold was bantering with a fellow first-year, and both of them traded some serious threats. She ordered the other girl to fuck off in the end, and then she made a few jokes with her friends at the table while she sipped her coffee. Her jokes weren’t funny, in my humble opinion. Her friends didn’t laugh, either, and that just proves my point that Marigold might have many talents, but telling jokes isn’t one of them. And she’d had at least a dozen rashers of bacon before I approached her.”
My jaw dropped at how she really perceived me.
“So, you like bacon, Cookie?” Axel asked with interest.
The mischievous, amused look in his golden eyes warned me that he might change my name from Cookie to Bacon.
I gave him a steely look that announced, “Don’t you dare.”
“Is the air conditioning on, Esme?” Héctor asked, but he wasn’t looking at her. His heated gaze kept roaming over me, threatening to combust me. I appreciated that he was more attentive to my comfort than anyone else, but I should probably ask him to restrain from looking at me like that in public. “If it’s not on, please have someone turn it on right away.”
The headmistress rolled her eyes. “The air conditioning is fine, Demigod Héctor.”
When her green eyes rolled back, they landed on me with unexpected warmth in them.
“Marigold,” she said, leaning forward. “We need to discuss a few matters with you. Please take a seat.”
I squinted my eyes. “You didn’t call me here to discipline me or kick me out?”
She blinked in confusion. “Why would I want to do that? Did you do anything horrible that I’m not aware of? I was away and just returned last night.”
That was why she hadn’t been around during the Ritual of the Blood Runes.
She gave the demigods a sweeping gaze, and they all put blank masks on their handsome faces.
“No!” I said. “Of course not. I don’t even know how to do horrible things, except for tellingbadjokes.” I sent Marie a chiding glance.
She pretended not to see that, but Axel chuckled. The headmistress gave him a stern look.
“I was just having breakfast with my friends when One-eighth came to harass and threaten me,” I continued, using the chance to rat out that bad apple. “To protect my honor, I told her politely to take a hike.”
Marie stifled a snort.
The headmistress raised an eyebrow.
“Sorry, not many people know who One-eighth is,” I murmured on a sigh.
Marie opened her mouth, ready to explain who the heck One-eighth was, but Héctor stood up and beat her to it.
“Expel this One-eighth or throw her into the dungeon,” he said coldly. “Then she’ll know better than to threaten my lamb.”
I nearly squirmed at the pet name he’d called me in front of everyone. But Héctor took my every word seriously. I’d better watch my mouth from now on if I didn’t want to get anyone else in trouble. My Héctor was an overprotective alpha demigod, and he was ancient. I wouldn’t tempt the fates by thinking it was possible to change him overnight.
I didn’t even want to change him. He’d accepted me as a whole package, so I’d return the same courtesy.
“Relax, Demigod Héctor, please,” Esme said dryly, rubbing her temples with her long, elegant fingers. “My hair is going to turn gray with all of you gathered in my Academy. What Marigold had was just a harmless girls’ fight, which is absolutely normal. There are mean girls in every school, and I’m not even sure if Marigold is meaner or thisOne-eighth.”
“If my lamb ever bites, it’s for a sound reason,” Héctor said.
He was really confident in me, but the others in the room didn’t seem to share his faith.
“None of you demigods have tended to the administrative duties in any Academy,” Esme said. “We all play different roles. As warriors, you focus on leading our armies to battle Lucifer’s demons, so you might not realize that a catfight on campus is different than fighting fiends from Hell.”
“Are you being condescending, Esme?” Zak said. “We could easily reverse roles and send you to the frontline of the battlefield so you can set a good example there.”
Axel grinned. “You can’t win this argument even if Ares interferes, Esme, no matter how tight you are with my father. Ares is only one god, and the four of us can override him if necessary.”
“I’m not picking a fight with you,” Esme sighed. “I have no ill intentions toward Marigold, but it’s also my duty to protect every student here.”
