Miles

"Marriage?" I ask, raising a brow, "That's your solution?"



Simmins shrugged, a smirk on his face as he wallowed in the fact he was able to break me of my stoic expression. "If she's married, she'll no longer be unaffiliated. She'll become part of the Earth, Sky, Underworld, or Sea Kingdom."



"She isn't supposed to be part of one of the four kingdoms. Our mate is meant to unite the kingdoms as one. My cousins won't agree with Katrina, only marrying one of us."



"Too bad there isn't a fifth mate," Simmins replies, far too wise for the old geyser headmaster he pretends to be.



"Yeah, that's too bad," I mumble under my breath, wondering how I will broach this marriage subject with the guys.



"I can keep the BOUA away from the academy for the next two months at least. No one is allowed to interrupt midterms, not even the remaining original gods, but after midterms end, it's up to you to figure out how best to protect your mate from Brahma."



"We have a meeting with the council immediately after midterms; hopefully, when our meeting is over, we can announce the intentions of the four kingdoms merging into one and crown Katrina as Regent Queen."



"I'm sure you already know this, but make sure you have more than one plan. The council won't be as easy to convince as one might believe. Not everyone wants the four kingdoms to unite."



I nod, letting the headmaster know I heard him, before getting up and making my way to the door, only to be stopped by Simmins when my hand reaches the knob.



"And Miles," He calls, "I'll grant your request and allow Luka to live in your quarters, just make sure not to get him into too much trouble, I know he's an adult now and no longer my responsibility, but I'm all he has left in this world."



I look back at Simmins and give him a genuine smile, "Luka has more people in his corner, even more than he realizes. He'll be fine. I can promise you that." I reply, leaving the headmaster's office before he can ask me more questions.



As I exit the office, I glance down at my phone. It's almost lunchtime, and Samael's only sent a thumbs-up emoji back as a response. What the hell is that supposed to signify. Yes, he'll let me know; okay, he's received my message, or everything's good? I rub my head in frustration. I hate emojis; they never make sense, so I only use them to send a coded message.



As I walk into the cafeteria, I hear Katrina's musical laughter. She's laughing at something Aphelion's just told her. I can tell because she's clutching his arm and covering her mouth while trying to calm down her laughter. Beckett's also with the group; his hands are clutching his stomach as if he can't breathe. Katrina has been good for us. I haven't seen Beckett laugh like that since we were young kids. What happened during his first year of school must've taken a toll on him, and I feel guilty for not recognizing something was wrong. As the future head commander, I needed to know how my officers were doing and what they were feeling at all times, and I failed at that simple task with someone I am around daily. Not that the past mattered any longer; I've already pledged to do better in my future, not just for me or my kingdom, but for Katrina.



"What fun am I interrupting?" I ask, startling Katrina as I sneak up on the trio.



"Miles!" She hisses at me playfully, slapping my arm, "Don't scare me."



I take the seat across from her, place her left hand in mine, and kiss her ring finger as I imagine what my ring would look like on her finger. Katrina might see my kiss as a simple gesture of affection, but it may or may not have been a little possessive since my cousins are both rubbing her thighs hungrily under the table.



"So what had Beckett over here looking like he was about to die?" I ask Aphelion, not wanting to bring up my meeting with Simmins yet.



"Oh, I was just narrating this little video clip that was made earlier today. It was sent to be from an anonymous number, and if I knew who'd sent it, I'd dick them down right now." Aphelion replies, mindless to his audience as always.

Katrina lets out a snarl, and Aphelion lets out a hesitant chuckle, "Princess, dick them down is just a phrase. I meant I'd like to express my gratitude."



"Well, you and your gratitude can express yourself elsewhere tonight." She replies, turning away from Aphelion and further into Beckett.



Aphelion gives Beckett a look of betrayal, and Beckett shrugs his shoulders in response. "It's like we've been telling you 'Phil. You've got to know your audience." I reply before hitting play on the screen. It's a video of Katrina's performance today in sparring class. Someone had zoomed in and taken clips of every time Hilda got her ass handed to her, making sure to zoom in our her facial expressions after each hit.



"I wonder who took the video," I respond, turning it off and handing Aphelion back his phone, wondering what the council would think when they saw Katrina's ability to simultaneously use all of our gifts. I had wanted to keep the physical evidence of Katrina's abilities a secret, but I guess that won't be possible anymore, not with video proof out there."



"Who cares," Katrina replied, rolling her eyes, clearly still annoyed with Aphelion, "We should be talking about the bigger issue. What am I supposed to do with these?" She asks, groping her breasts in the middle of the cafeteria during peek time, "And this?" She asks, groping her nice voluptuous ass.



"What do you mean do with them? I think they're perfect." Aphelion replies, and I'm sure I can spot drool glistening down his chin, "There's more than enough for all to play now."



I can see Katrina quench her thighs together under the table. She likes Aphelion's suggestion, but knowing Kitten, she won't let him off the hook so easy, "Woah there, down sparky, you're still in trouble." She replies to him haughtily before turning her lust-filled eyes over to Beckett and me, "But you boys can take them for a spin if you want?" She replies seductively, causing me to adjust my pants. When the hell did I become an 11-year-old boy and start getting boners at everything this girl did or said.



The bell chimed, signaling lunch break was over. "Sorry, Darling, we will have to take a rain check."



"Has anyone heard from Samael yet?" I ask as we make our way our the cafeteria.



"Not yet. Just the thumbs up." Beckett and Aphelion reply simultaneously.



"He called me in the locker room. He wanted to let me know he probably won't be back until later tonight. The Etir spread faster than he'd expected. It's covered all of the Acheron River Village and parts of the city of Lethe. He added a small amount of the Freyja's elixir into the Acheron river, which helped clear the Etir there, but trying to clean the valley has proven to be more difficult than he imagined. He's hoping if he uses the purified water to cleanse the underworld of Etir, it'll work, but not having a water affinity, the work is slow." Katrina replies, looking worrisome.



"Why didn't he just ask me for my help?" Beckett grumbles, grabbing Kitten's hand. "Here, I'll walk you to Luka's class, but I'm going to skip out and head to the underworld to help Samael. Luka shouldn't have a problem with me skipping, and I'm sure he'll come up with a good excuse as to why I'm not in class."



"Alright. We'll all meet in the dining hall for dinner then. If Samael's still struggling, make sure you drag his ass here for dinner. It's important that we are all seen together for at least two meals throughout the day. If he still needs help, we will go down to the underworld to help him after dinner." I reply, coming up with a battle plan for the rest of the day.



"I'll pick you up after Luka's for Magical Enhancement Princess," Aphelion says to Katrina as he pulls her in for a hug and a kiss. "I'll be a special guest in your class today." He winks, pulling away from her.



"Well, I can't wait to study you." She responds, her voice husky, her annoyance from earlier during lunch long forgotten.



"I'll see you later, Kitten. We have some important things to discuss tonight in the dorm." I reply, tugging her in for a kiss that ends too soon for my liking.



"What class do you have next?" She asks, looking up at me through her hooded eyes and long lashes.



"I'm free the rest of the day," I reply, smirking at her as I watch her face scowl up.



"Why am I the only one with a full day's worth of classes?" She pouts, crossing her arms, her nose crinkling.



"Because you're first-year Darling," Beckett replies, dragging her back to him, slinging one arm around her shoulders, as he grabs her books with his other.



A glance at the books he's holding shows me she's checked out books on angel and demonic history and at least one on magical enhancement. Taking note that those classes she probably needs the most assistance in, I wave goodbye and head to the parking lot. My cousins might not agree with a marriage or a proposal to buy us some time to keep Katrina safe from Brahma, but I'll grab a ring, just in case, and I could already picture the ring I wanted to give her.