Feros and the Underworld Prince (29 page)

“
Of course you can say hi, just don’t explain exactly how you know me; say I’m an old friend or something.” I tell her. We finish breakfast and then I return to Lila’s room to find my clothes and get dressed.

“
I need to get going. See you around Lila and feel free to text me anytime you want to talk.” I say with a smile.

“
Alright, thanks for breakfast Cole!” Lila says cheerfully.

I walk out of Lila’s penthouse and down the hall to the elevator. I ride the elevator down to the lobby where I pass by a security checkpoint before exiting the building that is in the ritzy part of town. I walk to the subway and take it back to the university. When I reach the forest, I check to make sure no one is around before taking a full sprint towards Graythorn. Instead of walking for thirty minutes, I reach the edge of the forest near Graythorn in under five.

“
Looks like someone had a long night.” Nagi says from behind me, causing me to jump.

“
Dammit! Would you stop doing that!?” I shout.

“
But it’s so much fun!” Nagi exclaims.

“
Whatever… I was rushed last night, but I have some questions for you.” I tell her.

“
Alright, let’s head up to your room.” Nagi says so we head inside and up the six flights of stairs to my room.

“
I suppose the first thing that you want to know is exactly how big my breasts are, right?” Nagi jokes.

“
Who is my brother? And my father for that matter?” I ask straight to demonstrate that I’m not in the mood for jokes.

“
Sorry… I’m not allowed to answer that… but your tongue should be able to give you a clue.” Nagi hints.

I take out my phone, open up the camera app, and flip it to the front camera view. I stick out my tongue and look at my phone; there’s something silver on my tongue. I zoom in as much as possible before holding the phone steady to take a picture. The picture is a silver yantra, but it isn’t the same yantra as the one on my bracelet, which Sara identified as Kali’s yantra. This yantra has the same square with T’s sticking out of each side, but it has a circle, sun shape, triangle, and then a six-point star at the center. I’m pretty sure it’s safe to assume that this is my brother’s yantra, but only gods have yantras.

“
Wait, how can my brother have a yantra? Only gods have yantras and I’m not even a demigod so it doesn’t make sense for my brother to have one!” I say.

Nagi just smiles in response. I don’t think I’ll be getting anymore answers from her. Well, the first thing I need to do is identify this yantra, and then I can go from there; I need to talk to Sara.

“
How is this supposed to keep me from killing myself?” I ask.

“
It’s supposed to—how did he put it?—calm your mind.” Nagi says rather cryptically. I have a suspicion that she might be getting off on my confusion.

“
Hey Cole! Are you there? Rita said she saw you come back!” Travis shouts through my door after knocking. I walk over and answer the door.

“
Hey, let’s go for a jog, I have stuff I need to talk to you about.” Travis says while wearing a track suit. I quickly swap my jeans for a pair of basketball shorts before putting on my running shoes.

“
Bye Nagi.” I say as I shut the door behind me.

Travis and I jog down the stairs and out the door. We start a circuit around the school and we get more than halfway through before Travis finally speaks.

“
Did you have sex with your little sister last night?” Travis asks seriously.

“
I saw you leave with her and you were both pretty trashed.” Travis adds.

“
Yes, I did leave with her and I did sleep in her bed last night, but we didn’t have sex.” I explain.

“
Oh, thank gods. I was thinking that the first friend I’d made here was about to go to jail for pedophilia haha!” Travis chuckles as we pass the three-quarter mark, i.e. the elevator portal bank that I arrived in.

“
Okay, here they come. You guys know the drill.” My hearing picks up coming from the forest.

“
Hey Travis… wait up…” I say while breathing heavily to feign exhaustion. Travis stops and jogs over to me.

“
What’s up?” Travis asks.

“
They seem to have stopped.”

“
Why did they stop?”

“
Should we just rush them now?”

“
No, just wait.” the group of voices says. I’d say that there are six in total.

“
There’s a group of people up there waiting to jump me. You should probably get out of here.” I tell Travis.

“
What!? I’m not just going to bail on you, bro!” Travis says with a determined look.

“
Listen carefully: I’m working undercover with The Agency on an investigation. My guess is that my cover was somehow blown and these guys have been sent to kill me. I’m not going to get you mixed up in my problems and let you risk your life.” I explain.

“
Well, since I’m planning on joining The Agency anyway, I figure that it’s better for my career to help you now.” Travis says with a smug grin.

“
I don’t understand why we do this every year. Isn’t there a better way to test potential recruits besides jumping them like a group of thugs?” I hear from the forest.

“
Shit… my mistake, this is recruitment for the fight club.” I say, deflated because I just blew my cover for no reason.

“
Well, let’s go kick their asses and assure our spots on the team!” Travis says excitedly.

Travis and I resume our jog. Three werewolves, two vampires, and a wizard, whom are all enhanced, emerge from the trees. Instead of all six rushing us at the same time, they come in waves. Travis plunges both of his hands into the ground and pulls out two gloves that look like cinderblocks. He delivers an uppercut to a werewolf that sends the werewolf flying.

“
Irruptus-way Irmavi-fay!” The wizard with a red aura says while his aura flares twice. He rushes at me in a burst of speed before delivering a punch towards my stomach. I move my left hand in the way and watch as the wizard snaps both his radius and ulna, forcing both to protrude from his skin.

“
Okay, that’s enough!” A werewolf with a red aura commands from his position at the back of the group and they all fall in line.

“
You two have definitely proven yourselves; how would you like to join the fight club?” The werewolf asks as he steps forward.

“
What benefits come with being in the club?” Travis inquires as his rock gauntlets fall into piles of gravel on the ground.

“
You get to fight as much as you want, you get the chance to represent Fogquartz in the annual tournament, and then there are prizes for winning at the annual tournament.” A vampire says.

“
Sounds good to me! Are you in, Cole?” Travis asks.

“
Count me in.” I reply.

“
Alright, we will have someone guide you to the location from your dorm this Friday at about 6:30pm.” The lead werewolf replies and then they all walk off; the werewolf that Travis gave the uppercut to having already regained consciousness. The wizard’s aura flares again as he mumbles something that I don’t quite catch, but it appears to be a spell for healing his bones.

“
Dude, those rock gauntlets were pretty badass.” I tell Travis.

“
Yeah, my dad has some control over the earth so using the earth to my benefit is easier for me; then it’s just a matter of using magic to get it to stay put. I’ve gotta ask how you did that though. That wizard used spells to enhance his speed and to harden his bones to strengthen his punch; there’s no way that you should have been able to block that, especially with an injured arm.” Travis says.

“
Well you already know my main secret, so I guess that showing you the other one can’t hurt. Come on; let’s head back to my room.” I tell him. We jog back to Graythorn and up the stairs to my now vacant room. I unwrap my bandages to show Travis my arm.

“
Whoa! What is that thing made out of?” Travis asks.

“
I’m not too sure, but I have a suspicion that it is made out of some kind of nanotubes because it’s insanely hard, but it isn’t brittle.” I inform him.

“
Dude, what are you?” Travis asks.

“
Haha that’s a good question!” I reply. That’s something that I’d also like to know.

“
By the way, what language was that wizard speaking?” I ask.

“
It was a precursor to Latin that is used for all spells.” Travis replies.

“
Sounds mysterious.” I reply.

“
Not really; it’s actually just Latin Pig Latin. Everyone who uses magic is supposed to just call it a precursor to Latin because Latin Pig Latin sounds stupid, despite how fun it is to say.” Travis informs me.

“
Latin Pig Latin… Anyway, I have some stuff to take care of so I’ll see you later.” I say and we both leave my room.

“
Okay, see you later bro.” Travis says as we exit my room.

I head down the stairs, out the front door, and into the woods, keeping an ear out for anyone that is following me. When I’m in the clear, I pull out my phone and call Natasha.

“
Hello?” Natasha answers.

“
Hey Natasha, we have a problem.” I tell her.

“
YES! WOOHOO!” Natasha screams.

“
Umm, Natasha?” I ask.

“
You blew your cover right!?” Natasha ecstatically asks.

“
Umm yeah, I did. Why are you happy about this?” I inquire, failing to see how this could be a good thing.

“
Because I won! I chose today for the pool and I won!” Natasha exclaims.

“
What?” I ask.

“
The office had a pool going as to when you would blow your cover, and I chose today so I win! Now, how many people know that are still alive and how many dead people knew?” Natasha questions.

“
Umm, just Travis knows… oh and Lila’s bodyguard, Charlotte. Nobody else, living or dead, knows.” I lie. I decide to keep Nagi to myself until I have more information.

“
Tsk… my vote was for forty-three… oh well, I still won the main bet!” Natasha exclaims.

“
Why was everybody betting on when I’d blow my cover anyway?” I ask, slightly peeved upon realizing that the reason Natasha was worried about my cover being blown the other day was because she hadn’t bet on that day.

“
Cole… you are one of the most unsubtle people I’ve ever met.” Natasha tells me in a fashion that is similar to a doctor telling their patient that they have a terminal disease.

“
What? How is that even possible? Ryuji has fucking wings!” I point out.

“
Yeah and I’d still trust him to do a better job at sneaking into someplace than you; at least he wouldn’t use explosives to start a stampede as a distraction. The office’s faith in your ability to do this mission stealthily was nonexistent; so much so that when Carla brought up what we should do in the event that you actually complete the mission without blowing your cover, the whole office gave each other these little glances before everyone burst out laughing.” Natasha recants.

“
Great… anyway, what should we do about Travis?” I inquire.

“
Hmm… Let’s just hire him and bring him in on the mission! Have you seen him fight yet?” Natasha asks.

“
Yeah, earlier today when we were jumped by the fight club, whom I thought were assassins which led to me telling Travis about my identity. He knocked a werewolf out with one punch.” I tell her.

“
Sweet! He sounds perfect! He wanted to work for The Agency anyway, right? Tell him he’s hired and that he is to pass on any information to you.” Natasha says, which translates to ‘Hire him, but I don’t want more work so I’m going to give that extra work to you.’