Miles

"Nice of you two to finally show up," I state, acknowledging Samael and Beckett as they take their seats opposite Katrina.

"You could have a least cleaned up first." Aphelion replies, looking up from his vegetables that he's been aggressively stabbing for an hour and taking in the haggard appearance.

Instead of looking at my cousins, I watch my beautiful mate's eyes take in the appearance of her other lovers. I watch as she slowly studies them, glancing from top to bottom, checking for any signs that they've been harmed. I listen to her breath quicken and become captivated by the sight of her tongue licking across her lips while she leisurely looks over their toned muscles; their shirts are soaked and cling tightly to them, leaving nothing to the imagination.

"Do you like what you, Kitten?" I whisper, watching as her cheeks flush a delicate red.

Katrina clears her throat while simultaneously elbowing me in the gut, causing me to groan, turning the trios attention to us.

"Aphelion's right." Katrina states, pushing her unfinished dinner plate away and crossing her chest as she tries to appear upset with Beckett and Samael, "You're drawing attention to us. I thought having dinner together was supposed to be for the council's benefit, but with the two of you looking the way you do, it'll draw more unnecessary attention to us."

"Ah-ah, Princess. You don't get to pull that card." Aphelion states chiding our mate, "I don't think the boys' appearance will draw any more attention than you already did today."

Samael's head lifts at Aphelion's words, grabbing his attention.

"We'll discuss it after dinner," I whisper, noticing Hermes approaching our table.

Hermes has always disgusted me. He has greasy salt and pepper hair balding at the top, a rounded belly that sticks out of his shirts that are at least two sizes too small, and long pointed fingers nails that look as if they've never been touched, but his smell, alone is enough to make anyone keep their distance. He smells like death, what I'd imagine a zombie smelled like. A scent that's pungent yet sickly sweet; imagine a rotting piece of meat mixed with a candy-scented woman's perfume. Whenever he's near, it makes me want to vomit. I have to recall my years of stringent training under my father's wrathful gaze to keep a straight face when he is near.

Unfortunately, Katrina isn't as trained as I am, and I watch her face turn sickly green when he nears the table; her cute little nose is scrunched up, and her mouth is pursed as if she's trying to hold down vomit. It's hard to contain the chuckle that threatens to escape due to her facial expressions.

"Aphelion," Hermes calls, his voice high-pitched yet somehow raspy at the same time, "You never acknowledge your father's request for Katrina," He pauses and looks my mate up and down, his eyes staying a bit too long on her perky breasts, "to attend dinner at the sky kingdom this weekend."

Out of my peripheral, I can see Beckett and Samael's heads snap up, looking toward Hermes, as they pay attention to the words spewing from Hermes' mouth. My full focus is on Aphelion. I'm trying not to leer over at him, but this isn't information he should have kept to himself until after dinner. This is something he should have sent us immediately, so we had a plan.

Katrina's voice broke my glare down with Aphelion as she took the initiative to respond to Hermes' question, "Unfortunately, I won't be able to accept Zeus's invitation to the Sky Kingdom. With midterms coming up, I need to spend as much time as possible catching up on lessons I've missed. Professor Luka has graciously offered his time to help me and a few other remedial students catch up on work."

"And Professor Luka will verify this?" The rat-looking man asked, looking down his nose at my mate.

"Without a doubt," Katrina replied, nodding her head, her eyes wide, making her appear innocent.

Once again, I find myself hiding my smile. Katrina will make the perfect Queen for all five kingdoms; she's coy, intelligent, charming, and occasionally devious when needed. She's everything and more bundled up in one perfect little feisty package.

"Speaking of the professor," Samael states, his gaze on the door across the cafeteria, where a very calm and collected Professor Luka is. He's shed his suit jacket and has his white button-up shirt uncuffed, the sleeves pushed up past his forearms, the top two buttons on his collar are undone, and his tie is loosened. He looks relaxed, appearing closer to his students' age than his colleagues. Which makes sense, considering he's at least two decades younger than his youngest colleague.

"Professor Luka," Hermes calls loudly, drawing the teacher's attention.

Luka looks surprised that Hermes is calling him to our table, and his gaze sweeps over us quickly before he recomposes himself, his face stoic, hiding his feelings deep inside.

"Interesting," Hermes mumbles, a sinister smile appearing on his face as he looks from Luka to Katrina and back again. I can tell he noticed their magical bond, which shines brighter the closer he gets to her. Their magic cannot help but mingle whenever they're near each other, his black and her white aura melding together to create multiple grey spectrums unlike any seen before.

"And your connection to Professor Luka?" Hermes asks Katrina, narrowing his focus back on her.

"I am his student, and he is my professor. That is all." Katrina responds, keeping her answer short and simple.

"Your magic, the way it connects, signifies there is more than you're letting on."

"Our magic connected when he was trying to draw mine out. I had only just learned about my magic and wasn't aware of how to draw it back inside of me, which ended up us sharing magic longer than normal. Without Professor Luka's ability to throw my magic from his body, I fear our magic would have been bound forever." Katrina replies, repeating what we'd rehearsed the night before returning to school.

"I see," Hermes states, suspicion still clear in his eyes; this won't be something he'll let go of.

"You called me?" Luka inquires, breaking Hermes' scrutiny of Katrina.

"Ah, yes. I wanted to see what you have planned for this weekend. Zeus is considering getting together with the Norse God Loki, and he wanted Loki's closest descendant by his side." Hermes replies, lying through his teeth.

"Unfortunately, he will need to find another descendant of Loki's. I am tutoring a few of my remedial students. As a professor, I'd hate to see students fail because they lacked the help a professor could provide them."

"And will... Ms... erm...Katrina, be attending your class?" Hermes asks, squinting his beady black eyes.

"Yes. Her Angelic and Demonic studies and Magical Enhancement teacher have expressed how she is seriously behind in their classes. Since I am the only professor offering to tutor, I found it fitting to have her join in on my sessions. I'd also like to inform Ms. Katrina that I will have private tutoring sessions with her. I was just barely informed that I would be relocated to living with the heirs and their mate to ensure our future Queen is fit to be a ruler." Luka stated, somehow maintaining the authority of a professor even though he was dressed down.

"I see," Hermes replied, not at all impressed with Luka's explanation. "Also, I'd love to know why is it as a teacher who is as well versed with divine gifts as you are that you let your magic become melded with a student... with such... low pedigree?"

Luka chuckled, his laughter humorless. "Hermes, you're supposed to be the all-knowing, an informer to the mighty god Zeus himself, yet you still assume the princes of the four kingdoms mate is of low pedigree. Have you not heard the stories surrounding her appearance in the Divine World? How as someone whose magic had barely emerged, she was able to take out an incubus who'd graduated from Divine Academy two years prior. Or how about how she defeated Thor's daughter today in her sparring class? Or how could she call upon her mates' magic in my classroom today and form an impenetrable shield against the power of all four kingdoms? If you have heard these and still think her pedigree to be low, then you're not as smart as you claim to be." Luka states, barely containing his anger.

Even if Hermes can tell that Luka's pissed, Luka covers it well with his next statement. "To accuse me of not being a strong teacher is asinine. If you were as much of a sleuth as it is claimed, you'd know already that my record is impeccable. I have yet to have a student fail one of my classes."

"I...I..I" Hermes stutters over his words, not knowing what to say.

"Now, if you'll excuse us, I was coming down here to find the heirs so they can show me to my new quarters. It's been a long night, and I have tomorrow's class to prepare for."