Chapter 14
The crack of lightning followed with blinding pain as the card’s magic rushed a blast of wind around Olivia and me. I screamed as it billowed in, sending shards of horrific agony slicing over my skin and revealing my black blood that swept away on its currents.
Olivia likewise held onto me, taken by the magic I had dumbly released. She screwed her eyes shut and bit down on a cry as streaks of red split across her skin.
I should have known better than to trust Kaito. Now we were both going to die.
I wrapped my arms around my friend and held her close as the winds continued to barrage against us.
Instinct told me not to delve into that cold pit of power at my chest. Instead, I pushed it down as far as I could and locked it up tight before it was destroyed.
That part of me would not be welcome where we were going.
The rush of winds and sharp pains went on for ages, making me wonder if this was our new reality until we finally succumbed to being sliced up into a thousand tiny little bits.
The pain finally eased off and warmth spread over me.
I wasn’t sure if it was a new magic inside my chest that had decided to come out, or if it was all the blood that smeared across my skin and I’d finally gone numb.
A bright light flashed and then the winds stopped in a deafening roar that retreated, leaving me to collapse with an unconscious Olivia onto the soft ground. All the blood had been cleaned from our bodies and our uniforms glowed with a healthy golden sheen.
I wept.
I couldn’t remember the last time I cried, but everything felt like it had just changed. The dark, cold parts of me that had been fighting to the surface during my time at the Academy were now sufficiently locked away, leaving me feeling hollow inside.
It should have made me feel relieved.
It didn’t.
“Take deep breaths,” a male voice instructed.
I snapped my gaze up to find Orion beaming down at me with a smile like the cat who ate the canary.
“The fuck I’ll take deep breaths,” I said, quickly wiping away my tears. It felt like I’d been run over by a bullet train and then dunked under boiling water. The last thing I wanted right now was Orion towering over me with his beautiful, smug face.
He knelt so that we were eye-level, because, yeah, I hadn’t been able to get off my ass after that kind of beating. He tugged my arm out of the way and revealed Olivia’s face. I stroked hair out of her eyes, noting that her dark locks had turned completely white.
“Pretty brazen of you to curse here, much less bring a buddy.” He looked like he was going to offer to help me get up, then thought better of it and stood, giving me space. “You’re lucky she survived.”
“Where are we?” I snapped as I staggered to my feet with a limp Olivia in tow.
It surprised me how light she was, then I realized my supernatural strength was still there and even stronger than before.
I lifted Olivia and tucked her into the crook of one arm.
I had thought that my supernatural strength had come from my demonspawn side, but perhaps it was from my third mystery heritage.
I had a feeling I was about to find out what that heritage was.
My eyes had been better suited to seeing in the dark, but this place blazed with golden light everywhere I looked.
I squinted and could barely make out the silhouette of golden buildings and streets.
A distant melody rang out on the horizon, making my heart warm at its beauty.
The scent of a flower I couldn’t name tinged my nose and helped me relax.
I shook off the allure of this place, focusing my attention on the cocky Demigod still grinning at me. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, which just pissed me off even more at how stupidly gorgeous he was. A simple white piece of cloth wrapped around his waist and dangled at his knees.
My gaze swept over him of its own accord. “Well if this is Olympus, you sure do look the part.”
He chuckled, the warm sound settling pleasantly in my chest. His constellation-like freckles gleamed with a healthy glow reaching all the way to his eyes, giving him an otherworldly look.
Even his hair shone with brilliance as if he exuded more power here than I’d ever seen at the Academy.
“This isn’t Olympus. It’s Heaven.” He shrugged.
“Well, at least it’s one of the outer realms where the living can walk around.
Going inside the gates is reserved for spirits.
” He gestured at the distant golden columns that went all the way into the clouds. “No getting past those babies.”
I blinked a few times at him to see if he was joking. “You can’t be serious.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you feel it?
There’s a sense of peace you can’t put your finger on, right?
If you were a spirit, you wouldn’t be able to feel any negative emotion at all.
But…” He pinched my cheek and I flinched away.
“Given your sour expression, I’m glad to see that you’re very much alive. ”
“No touching,” I snipped.
He raised his hands in mock surrender. “As you wish, little star.”
I frowned, studying him again. He was far too happy, which had me wondering if he’d managed to break our Virtue bond. Just the thought of it made me sad. I didn’t realize that my face had fallen until Orion put a finger under my chin.
“What’s on your mind, little star?” he asked with an annoying smugness to his voice.
I wasn’t going to give him the fucking satisfaction. “I was wondering if you’d still be pretty if I gouged one of your eyes out.”
He chuckled, pinching my chin. “Aren’t you sweet,” he said, then moved away again. “Right, no touching.” He smiled before turning and walking.
Seeing as I had nowhere else to go, I followed, hoisting an unconscious Olivia along.
After a moment of agonizing silence, I couldn’t take it anymore. “Say I did have something on my mind. A certain wolf might have told me you came here to break our Virtue bond. Would I feel it if you succeeded? Given how much we hate each other already, and all.”
He chuckled. “Hate and love have a fine line.”
I growled. “You’re not answering my question.”
“I know.”
Fucking bastard. Again with the games.
“Just tell me why you’re here, Orion,” I snapped, shoving in front of him to glower up at his perfect face.
“If you’ve learned anything about the Virtue bond, spill it.
It’s new to me too.” Maybe if I was honest with him he’d actually throw me a bone.
I wanted to know why he was here, the place where Kaito said I’d find answers.
“I have learned quite a bit, actually. Your mother has been very informative.”
“What?” I asked, almost dropping Olivia. “You talked to my mother?”
“Oh yeah,” he said, puffing out his chest. “I came here to see if any of the gods would help me break the bond, but then your mother explained everything to me. She’s a delight, unlike you.”
I shuffled closer to him so he could fully see my glare. “So let me get this straight. You came here to break our bond without even knowing what that would do to me, and then you talk up my mother and get all chummy?”
He whistled. “With a body like hers, I could definitely get more than ‘chummy.’”
“Orion! Ew!”
He chuckled. “Relax. Your mother is off limits.” He sighed. “Unfortunately.”
I rubbed my temple. “You’re giving me a headache.”
We reached a gate and he opened it, revealing a long field of grass with massive waterfalls framing it on all sides.
A shimmering wall swept up the ends, making the whole place look like it was inside of a bubble.
“It’s just the light from the perimeter gates.
We have resting realms tucked all over the place. I prefer this one.”
I wanted to argue with him out of principle, but the sheer brilliance of the gates was getting to me. Two-thirds of my body rejected this place and buried itself as far into my soul as it could go, leaving me feeling incomplete.
Stumbling into the field, I instantly let out a sigh of relief as the intense brilliance lifted and Olivia stirred. “Careful,” I whispered as I gently helped Olivia onto her feet.
She rubbed her face and groaned. “Where are we?” She tried to open her eyes and then winced. “And who hit me on the head? My ears are ringing.”
“Hey, Olivia?” I asked, leaning in closer to her. “Open your eyes again.”
Her brows furrowed as she slit her eyes open once more, revealing the most gorgeous golden irises I’d ever seen.
“What is it?” she asked, touching her cheek with one hand.
Orion chuckled. “Well I’ll be damned. You gave a Dark Mage her soul back.”