Chapter 1 #2
Before I could follow her, Simon stopped me with a hand on my chest. “No need to plot a plan to murder me in my sleep,” he muttered. “Every cadet here is claimed.”
While his words sounded straightforward, his eyes told me there was more to it, sparking my adrenaline. Nobody here could be trusted.
Nobody anywhere could be trusted.
“Just tell us what the fuck we’re supposed to do here.”
With a roll of his eyes, he waved me into the dimly lit building.
As the door shut behind us, I tensed. The building was nothing like the dungeons, but it had no windows, and other than two doors on either side of the long, hallway-like structure and beds lining the walls with no more than a foot between them, it had almost nothing else.
“This is where you’ll be staying.” Simon brushed past us and led the way down the steel corridor, his black combat boots clicking and echoing as he went.
The beds were covered in crisp white linens and empty, though as we passed one after another, I saw the tiny signs of life. Small personal belongings—extra boots, necklaces, wooden trinkets—sat beneath the metal frames of the cots.
“These all belong to mystics?” I asked. “What tiers?”
“This building is for the threes,” he said without looking back. “At least one of each claimed pair residing here is a three here, but don’t let that go to your head. Like I said, the war games are where real ability is determined.”
Great.
At the very end of the corridor, he stopped and held out one arm.
“These last two beds are yours. Attendance at training is required. No exceptions. The bathhouse and the toilets are the first building down the outside path,” he rattled off.
“Meals are served in the mess hall. If you’re late, you don’t eat. ”
Why the fuck should we care about any of this? The question pleaded to be asked, but I kept my mouth shut. Not just for Mags’s sake this time, but for Athena’s, too.
“Fine,” I said instead. “So, what? We train to be the Ministry’s puppets?”
With a not-all-that-friendly smile, Simon stepped closer.
At the same time, Athena leaned into me just a little. Just enough for her arm to brush against mine.
“You’re hesitant. I understand. You’re not the only ones who showed up thinking you’re above the Ministry.
” He surveyed us, his brows lifted. “But survival is in your best interest, so you’ll change your mindset pretty damn quick.
People who don’t assimilate don’t survive long around here.
” He held my gaze a second before backing away.
“Stay sharp. Keep your guards up. Both of you. That’s the best advice I can give you. Training starts in the morning.”
With that, he was gone, footsteps echoing down the steel corridor once more.
Fuck.
Athena let out a breath, the first sign of real life from her since we arrived.
The four steel walls surrounding us caused each of our movements to echo, and the place smelled worse than the damn dungeons—like sweat and stale air.
And another scent lingering beneath it all. Even without my magic, I could sense it.
Fear.
Athena turned and sat on the last cot, burying her head in her hands, covered in bruises, her lip busted.
My stomach flipped. I was sick of people touching what was mine.
For what felt like hours, the two of us sat on our cots in the empty building. Athena breathed. I listened to her breathe. She rubbed her wrists every so often, the movement reminding me of the marks left by the chains, and my chest clenched every fucking time.
They would die. They would all fucking die for this.
Eventually, adrenaline faded and exhaustion crept in, slowing my thoughts, relaxing my heartbeat. Athena’s breathing sounded more and more like a fucking lullaby with every second that passed, and without my permission, my eyelids grew heavy and closed.
What felt like one second later, the sound of more than a dozen footsteps marching toward us ignited the power that had been missing in my bones.
The metal doors slammed open, startling me and sending me to my feet. Athena followed.
Mystics—cadets, Simon had called them—filed into the building. There were at least two dozen. And every one of them was homed in on us.
“Ah.” The woman at the front of the group crossed her arms and stuck her hip out the way I’d seen Mags do it a thousand times when she had an attitude. “New mystics,” she said. “Welcome. Don’t be shy, we don’t bite.”
I identified her type immediately. She thought she was in charge. She thought she could intimidate us because we were new.
I played the same role in the dungeons. I was her.
She wasn’t fucking fooling me with her fire-red hair and sharp eyes. She was simply another puppet in their game—another obstacle in my way to freedom.
I didn’t speak as I shifted my body in front of Athena.
“Cute.” The woman snickered. “You think you’re special, protecting her?
” Some of the guys in the back of the group joined in on the mocking laughter.
“I’ll fill you in on an important piece of information.
Nothing can protect you or your precious claimed.
Welcome to the barracks,” she said. “This is just the beginning.”