Descendants Academy: Young Adult Urban Fantasy by Belle Malory (best books to read .txt) 📕

Finally, the last class of the day was Mirror Realm. I meant to ask Waddley what it was, but we got sidetracked, and I’d forgotten before I had the chance.

Someone tapped my shoulder from behind. I set my schedule aside, then turned around to find a short chubby kid with rosy pillowy cheeks and the biggest green eyes I’d ever seen. He wore a white toga and a gold laurel leaf around his head full of silky brown curls. I smiled, unable to help it. He was the cutest thing I’d ever seen.

“Hello,” he said, gripping a clipboard against his chest. “I’m Zack. I’ve been assigned to you.”

“Assigned to me?” He couldn’t be my assistant. He was way too young. “What are you, like ten?”

“Eight, actually.”

Oh hell no.

It was bad enough I’d been housed in Aphrodite. Had I also been enrolled in the Mythonian version of the third grade? I clenched my hands into fists, ready to scream.

“We’re not in the same classes.” His mouth curved on one side.

I breathed a sigh of relief. “Good to know.”

“Every Aphrodite student has to have an archer. That’s where I come in—we’ll be paired up during fieldwork.”

I noticed the pack of arrows on his back. They were made out of a metal I’d never seen before, crystalized and opaque at the same time. They also looked viciously sharp. If the ends of those babies hit their intended target, they’d do some serious damage. I couldn’t help but let out a breath, envisioning all the ways I could use them.

I shook myself.

The Fates were specific in their lecture about my heritage. No way would they push me into situations involving violence. “Wait a second.” I pressed my hand against my hip. “Why does a student of Aphrodite need an archer?”

Zack grinned so hard his cheeks turned red. “These are special arrows, Sheridan. We can’t change the will of humans and force them to fall in love, but we can do something that helps move things along. These arrows are full of lust.”

I blinked several times. “Excuse me?”

“I’m sure you’ve heard of it. Insatiable attraction. Sexual desire.”

Was this kid for real?

He rolled his eyes as if he was talking to an idiot. “You know, wet panties and boners, everything leading up to the big mom—”

I slapped my hand over his mouth, cutting him off. Heat crept into my cheeks as I looked around the marbled hallway to see if anyone overheard. Once I was sure it was empty, I glared at Zack. “You are eight. Why are you talking to me about this stuff?”

He made muffled noises beneath my hand until I released him. Then I realized he was laughing. He was laughing so hard, he gripped his stomach.

“What is so funny?” I said, frowning.

“Kidding earlier—just wanted to see your reaction. I’m actually one hundred and eight. We cupids age much slower than mages and humans.”

I didn’t get what he was talking about, so he pointed to the painted ceiling overhead. I looked up. It was a sky full of angels and cherubs.

“Cupid. Every Aphrodite student works with a cupid. That’s how this works. You call the shots. I take them.”

I pressed my lips together. Arrows full of…lust. The idea almost made me gag. So much for my dreams of blood and violence.

I let out a resigned breath and looked Zack over once more. He was just a chunk of a kid, rosy cheeks, and cherubic in a way I hadn’t noticed before. Give him wings and stick him up there on the ceiling with the other baby angels, and he’d fit right in.

“Partners, huh?”

He nodded, looking more excited than I felt.

“All right then.” I shook my head, still baffled by the world I’d stepped into. “Show me around, partner.”

He stepped forward, waving for me to follow. “This way. The grounds can be confusing if you don’t know where you’re going. There are plenty of secret passages, confusing hallways, gardens with mazes, booby traps, and—”

“Booby traps?” I tightened my grip on the handle of my suitcase.

Zack laughed. “Don’t wear your new girl card so obviously. Now listen. There are seven houses, but only five you’ll interact with on a regular basis. House Hades is located on the other side of the island along with House Creatura, and they like to keep to themselves. The other five are all connected right here, in the shape of a pentagram. You’ve got Zeus, Ares, Aphrodite, Poseidon and Athena.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but I remember there being more gods and goddesses.”

“Those original six are the core representations of all guardians. They banded together during a dark time in human history, deciding to use their gifts to serve mankind. That’s why humans saw them as gods. We don’t know much about the originals that aren’t made-up stories, but their individual lives aren’t important anyway. It’s their names that live on. Their names have become ideals to live by. Aphrodite isn’t a person—it’s our chosen practice of magic. We create love and beauty where it’s needed.”

“And Ares creates war?” I asked, raising a brow. “Don’t most people hope for world peace?”

“Conflict is needed where there is resistance to change,” Zack said. “Ares fights the good fight, not always to promote one side over the other, but to give stagnant nations or forces the change needed to evolve.”

I nodded, appreciating the concept. In a way, I understood my link to Ares and felt the strength of it. But…the Fates asked me to break that link. If the only way to get back to my dad was to thrive in House Aphrodite, so be it. I’d shoot arrows full of lust and help people fall in love, even if the idea disgusted me.

“What about Zeus? And the others?”

“Leadership and electric magic. They’re famous for their lightning bolts.”

Dang. Every house sounded better than sucky Aphrodite and stupid love magic.

“There’s a cluster of Apollo descendants that study in Zeus that have