Descendants Academy: Young Adult Urban Fantasy by Belle Malory (most important books of all time txt) 📗

wing. Everyone assumed she sympathized because her brother was a defector, but they didn’t know she was the one who’d trapped me in the net. She despised me from the start, which meant this whole owing Xander a favor thing was legit. Whatever Ione’s reasons, her methods were working. The gossips were moving on to other students and scandals.

As we waited for class to begin, I swiveled my ottoman toward Ione. “Hey, do you know where I can find Xander? I really need to speak to him.”

It was all I had been thinking about since the lake.

He said he wouldn’t answer any more questions, but I would regret it if I didn’t try again. It was bad enough Dad wouldn’t talk about my mom, and I still wanted to know what Xander meant when he said I looked just like her. Had he seen an old picture? Or did he—I gulped—know firsthand? One way or another, he had to tell me.

“Why?” Ione pulled out a fancy bedazzled notebook and a pink ballpoint pen, setting them both neatly on the table. “What is this thing with you two anyway? Why does he protect you?”

I blinked once. “There is no thing.” Other than the fact that I was embarrassingly attracted to the guy, and he was sort of, kind of, oddly nice to me.

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

“So?” I asked again. “Do you know where I can find him?”

“Next period, he’s on the Ares training fields. But he won’t talk to you there.”

“Why not?”

“Because he’s Ares’s house leader, and you’re a defector. He won’t be seen with you.”

“Seriously?” He didn’t seem like the type to care about what other people thought, especially since he’d been the only one willing to free me from that net. Then again, there hadn’t been anyone else around to witness it.

“Try if you want,” she said with a shrug. “But you’re wasting your time.”

“Then where will he talk to me?”

She swiveled around to face me. “Do you want my advice, fire-blood? Don’t go there, don’t be seen with him—don’t be seen with any Ares descendant. If you want the acceptance of House Aphrodite, you need to fully invest yourself here.”

All valid points, and if this weren’t so important, I would gladly take her advice.

“This class, for instance,” she continued, nodding to our surroundings. “Is one of the cornerstones of the curriculum. This is where you should apply yourself.”

I tried not to groan. “Seduction Principles, really?” I was surprised it was a real class, much less a cornerstone.

Ione’s nose twitched. “It’s the foundation of our magic. You would do well to take it seriously.”

“I don’t get it.” I dug inside my messenger bag for my textbook. “Why do we have to learn this stuff? I mean, maybe if I wanted to be a prostitute…” I stopped as a shadow loomed over the table. It suddenly occurred to me that the room had gone silent. I looked up to find a busty, plump woman with bright red hair staring at me through gold-framed lenses.

Oh god.

Please don’t let this woman be the professor.

“Let me guess. Miss Thorne?” Each syllable dripped with derision.

I winced, wishing I was anyone else. The entire classroom stared at me like I was in for it, and I probably was. I’d just compared her life’s magic to prostitution, and I laid the condescension on pretty thick while doing so. Oh, why couldn’t I have kept my stupid mouth shut?

“Sheridan Thorne?” she said, again.

“Yes, ma’am,” I sighed.

“Ma’am.” She snorted, mocking me. “I’m sure your South-Eastern tutelage taught you that word to show manners, but in this class, I consider it an insult.”

I swallowed. “Sorry.”

“Professor Lilyworth,” she corrected me.

“Sorry, Professor Lilyworth.”

“Now, then. Since you held up the start of the class with your offensive chatter, why don’t you help me demonstrate its importance? Let’s find out if you know anything about seduction.”

I nodded, my face hot with shame. “Sure.”

“The following three questions will be on your final exam. If you answer correctly, I won’t give you detention this weekend.”

Great. I hadn’t even served out the detention from yesterday, and I was already adding another round. Grandpa was going to have my head for supper.

“First question,” she began, her voice sharp. “What item of clothing did Aphrodite use to attract love to her subjects before she began working with Cupid?”

Oh, I knew this one.

“A belt.”

She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “You would be wro—” Her jaw dropped slightly. “Actually, that’s correct. I suppose it was an easy question.”

Her red heels clicked against the floor as she slowly paced in front of me. She hadn’t thought I would answer correctly, but I would’ve known without having magically downloaded the entire textbook to my mind last night. My dad, being the mythology nerd that he was, made sure Riley and I knew all the stories about the so-called Olympian gods and goddesses.

But I’d bet my life her next question wouldn’t be so easy.

“What is the most powerful aphrodisiac created by any mage or mortal?” she said, her voice echoing throughout the room.

I paused, remembering the section on aphrodisiacs. There were so many, but the most powerful was an elixir that was said to tempt even the most nonsexual of beings, and it was also the most difficult to brew. “Amaridonna.”

Professor Lilyworth stopped pacing, her nostrils flaring. “What are its ingredients?”

Part of me wondered if I was supposed to answer correctly, but I did so anyway. I didn’t want to risk another detention. “Mettle-twig, rose water, gryndleberry, belladonna, and,” I paused, swallowing, “falcon sperm.”

Her voice rose several octaves. “How did you know that?”

I cleared my throat. “It’s, um, in the textbook.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, jutting one leg out as she studied me. “Most sexual color any man or woman can wear?”

“Red.”

“Why?”

“Because of the association with blood.”

She scowled. “What is the purpose of dannellion?”

“I-I thought there were only three questions,” I said nervously. This was beginning to feel like an inquisition.

Lilyworth flattened her palms against my