Chapter Eleven
Igot through my morning classes the next day by a miracle. I was operating on no sleep.
After leaving the atrium, I took a chance that Sirena had left Alex’s room. She had, and I swore up and down that I did not want or welcome Sebastian’s kiss.
Alex put the problem to bed by tossing me on the bed and fucking me senseless. All thoughts of certain opportunistic assholes fled my head. But afterward, while Alex lay next to me, snuggled against my side, I turned the prophecy over and over again in my mind.
One too many Guess the God games made it easy to figure out the weaver was Athena, the goddess of weaving. The deceiver was Zeus, god of cheating, sleazy, piece-of-shit husbands, but the believer...? Who the hell was that?
That question plagued me through battle strategy, then the beginning of history. That is until Madame Remis spun us such a fascinating tale about the birth of the Titan and Olympian gods and why the birth of the fae and wolf gods were left out that no one had time to do anything but listen and, in Sirena’s case, hotly question every word out of her mouth.
“So if there are wolf-shifter gods, are there other shifter gods too?” I asked Daciana on the way to self-mastery.
“Not that I know of. But the goddess teaches us that the universe is infinite and our brains are smaller than a watermelon. We shouldn’t pretend we know everything.”
I laughed. “I like your goddess. She’s wise.”
“Ahem.”
A sound drew my attention to the garden keeper’s shed. A familiar head disappeared around the back.
“You guys go on without me,” I told my friends. “I left something in Remis’s class. I have to run back and get it.”
Backing away, they waved me off. Only when the rest of my class disappeared did I dart across the lawn, and behind the tiny building.
A hand grabbed me, pushing me up against the wood. “Hello, gorgeous. I’m very angry with you.”
“Oh?” I wrapped my arms and legs around Alex, melting into him instantly. “But why? I’ve been so good. Sucked your cock just the way you like last night, then rode him until he popped.”
Said cock snapped to attention, poking my middle for another round.
“Gods, yes, you did,” he gruffed hoarsely. “But then you ignored my notes all through history.”
I nipped his nose. “I had to. Remis wasn’t kidding about calling on me every day, every class. She almost caught me writing back that I wanted you to do that thing again where you hold me up by the knees and drill me from behind.” My eyes rolled up in my head just remembering that steamy shower. I nearly fell out of the tub from coming so hard—twice.
“You were sooo deep inside me I’m pretty sure you shoved a few organs out of your way. My liver is over here now,” I said, pointing.
Alex cracked up, making his hair fall across his eyes and dimples pepper his cheeks. The guy could wake up with bed head, pillow lines, and rumpled clothes and still look like a supermodel. “I guess I’ll forgive you, then, for not reading the dirty, filthy message I sent you.” His grin turned wolfish. “I’d much rather show than tell.”
“What, here? Now? What about self-mastery?”
He kissed me. “Kazran doesn’t teach. He just walks the stadium and watches the proficients kick our asses.” His kisses continued, dropping a light, teasing trail along my chin and over my collarbone. “He won’t notice if we’re late.”
I ran my hands down his chest, marveling that this man was all mine. “Are you sure we should do this here, though? What about the spies watching you? What about them?” My eyes flicked to the waddling dryads flitting through the trees. “They’ll give up information to any guy, anywhere and anytime.”
“His spies will be among our class. People who all have a legitimate reason to be around me night and day. And the dryads like me. They’d never give me away.”
“In that case, down, boy.”
I squealed when he popped my buttons and freed my breasts from their confines. My legs were up and over his shoulders in no time. I grasped the wall behind me as firmly as he grasped my breasts.
Alex buried his head between my legs, devouring my pussy like a starving man. There wasn’t another way to describe it, and I loved that. Alexander always touched, kissed, and made love to me like he couldn’t get enough. Everything about me consumed him. I was his drug.
My fingers tangled in his silky hair. Head thrown back, I moaned from a deep, primal part of me when his tongue slipped past my folds and plundered the treasure trove. Large, warm hands were soft, cupping my breasts while rough, calloused fingers tweaked my nipples mercilessly. The man was undoing my sanity behind a keeper’s shed, and he’d just gotten started.
His tongue darted in and out, tongue-fucking me to distraction. I writhed against the wood, straining not to be too loud. Every point of contact was water thrown on live wires. The current surged and exploded out of control—building and building—until it overwhelmed and shorted my senses out.
I was hot and tingling and hoarse. My vision blurred, and my hips rocked, moving back and forth on his mouth—riding the fuck out of that beautiful face. I couldn’t believe I ever once dreamed of losing my virginity to Justin Fuckboy Lewis. Looking back, he screamed sweaty palms, weak pumping, and two minutes before he was out of the game.
Alexander was the real thing. He was patient and generous. He put my needs first and knew when to treat me like a lady and when to treat me like a horny slut. The sexy, quiet confidence set him high above the other Titans. They went around showing off, bullying, and flaunting their power to feed their need for superiority, while Alex knew who he was and didn’t need to make an ass out of himself for attention.
He was everything I wanted, not just in a boyfriend but in a friend. After Kylie and Dina, I didn’t think I’d ever trust another human being again... then I met Alex.
“I love you,” I rasped.
Eyes connecting, Alex latched on to that bundle of nerves and sucked hard.
“Rhea and Cronus!” I bucked, smacking my head against the shed. Fireworks exploded in my mind, sparking bright spots dancing in the air like I stared into the sun. He flicked and teased my helpless clit—giving it no escape and me no chance to catch my breath.
I came so hard I doubled over, almost tumbling over his head.
Alexander held me fast—steady and strong as wave after wave rocked me, spreading pleasure to every corner of my soul.
Chest heaving, I slid onto the grass. Alex kissed the crap out of me, sharing the taste of me on his tongue.
“I love you too.” Rising up, he tipped my chin. “Stay just like that.”
I didn’t know what he meant until he unbuttoned his pants, letting his length spring free.
I had more than a little crush on Alex’s dick. It was both thick and long in all the right ways.
“Gods, you’re beautiful.” One finger traced my lips while his other hand palmed his cock—jerking hard, quick strokes that sent my heart racing with anticipation. “Who could’ve known the best day of my life would be the one where a gorgeous stranger jumped on my head and attacked me?”
I was laughing as hot ropes of cum painted my lips, chin, and chest. Legs giving out, he fell on me—kissing, hugging, rolling, and making out on the grass till we collapsed in an exhausted, happy pile.
“Wow.” I flipped him over and straddled him. “No offense, but I’m really glad you showed and not told on that one.”
Laughing, he tugged off his shirt and began cleaning me. “I’m only sorry we have to keep doing it like this. Behind sheds and closed doors. All I want is to walk down the halls holding your hand for everyone to see.”
“He’ll always hide you.”
The memory dragged the smile off my lips.
“One day we will, right?” I heard myself say. “After we rescue Mom, and your father doesn’t have a reason to see me as a threat anymore, our relationship can be out in the open.”
“Absolutely,” he said without hesitation, “and I know you’ve gotten discouraged because we haven’t found anything yet, but I haven’t given up.”
“You haven’t?”
He shook his head. “I’ve been thinking, there’s no way monsters got through the ward spells to hide your mother somewhere in the castle. The only conclusion is they have someone on the inside working with them.”
“I figured that too,” I admitted.
“Yes, but it’s more than that,” he said strongly, rearing up. “Aella, the wards are only lowered twice a year. No exceptions. It’s the days they let students out and in. That means whoever brought your mother into the academy had to do it on a day when the grounds were swarmed with people coming and going. Someone would’ve noticed a bound-and-gagged mortal woman fighting to get free while the captor dragged them through the gates.”
I frowned. “Wait, you’re right. Someone would’ve noticed, so why didn’t they?”
“Because whoever smuggled your mother through the gates has to have a power that lets them disguise, trick, or camouflage people. Aella, there aren’t a lot of gods that can gift that power, which means their children will be rarer still.
“Every demigod in Olympia has their name and power recorded in the record hall of the imperial palace. Once we know the demigods that have the power it takes to disguise their captive, we can cross-reference with those who had access to the academy two years ago. Why keep searching for where they hide your mother when we can find the bastard and make them tell us?”
“Can you get that list of demigods?” I cried, grabbing his shoulders.
“I’d go and get it today if we were allowed out of this damn place, but since I can’t, I’ve sent a message to a friend of mine back home to do it for me,” he said. “She’ll send it as soon as she has it.”
“Don’t even think about it, girl. Call your lover off!”
You don’t think about it, bitch,I thought back. There’s no way you’ll threaten me into letting the bastards who helped you steal my mother get away scot-free. Everyone involved will pay for the torture both of us have been put through.
Starting with you.
“Alex, that’s amazing,” I said, voice firm. “Why didn’t you tell me you were doing this?”
“I didn’t want to get your hopes up in case it all came to nothing.” He cupped my cheek. “But it’s more important that you know I’m on your side, and I’m helping you always. Anything that hurts you, hurts me. Saving your mother is my first priority. Your happiness... my first priority.”
I bit my lip, penning in a gushy, sloppy reply. I couldn’t believe I almost let Sebastian get into my head and make me doubt him. Alex did choose me over duty. He loved me.
It took a while and more making out, but eventually, we made it to the stadium and broke apart under the arch. I went straight to the line of novices waiting to take on Catherine.
The good news was I didn’t have to deal with Sirena or her handmaidens because they all moved on to another proficient. The bad news was Catherine tossed me around like a doll all over the arena. I didn’t get close to stopping her attack.
“Vanda.” Kazran’s shadow fell over me. “You’re dead.”
I groaned, straining to flip onto my front. “Certainly feels like it, sir.”
He hauled me to my feet. “I suggest a new approach. Standing there and taking a beating doesn’t seem to be working for you.”
Aren’t you a sarcastic smartass? I penned in the reply. Two years in a small space with a homicidal Trixie sharpened my tongue better than her shiv.
But pissing him off won’t help me pass this class.
My teeth ground. “I’m open to any tips, Instructor.”
“Here’s the only one you need: If they’re faster, you need to be smarter.” He strolled off, leaving me to puzzle that out.
A shadow fell over me. “You’re pathetic, Vanda. Even for a Sisyphean.”
I turned on Kristopher. He was the same ignorant fuckwad Titan who called Daciana a dog and told her to be useful or leave Olympia.
“This is my third proficient. My first was a mind-bender. An illusionist,” Kristopher taunted me. “Much harder than a speedster. If you can’t even beat her, you might as well lie down and die right now.”
“After you, then. Show me how it’s done.”
He smirked. “With pleasure.” Kristopher shoved through the line, moving to the front of the pack. Catherine didn’t comment on his rudeness. “I’m ready. Let’s do this.”
“Whatever you—” Catherine blurred.
Dust blasted over our group, and Kristopher followed its path—soaring over our heads. He hit the ground in a crumpled heap, wheezing and clawing for air into his stunned lungs.
My shadow fell over him. “Ahh, so that’s how you lie down and die. Thanks for the demonstration.”
The Sisypheans in my group howled and I couldn’t help joining in.
“Fuck off!” Kristopher bowled me over, running up to Catherine. “Again.”
“You’ll get your chance tomorrow. I’ve got other novices to throw around before the day’s end.”
“I said again!”
Her shifting expression dropped the temperature twenty degrees. “I said stand aside. You’re in my way.”
“You cheated the first time. You were supposed to warn me so I could be ready. A cheat is no winner. I go again.”
“Are you kidding me? You think a bronze bull or a dragon is going to give you a warning? Maybe sit back and stretch their haunches while you warm up? Get some sense, Sisyphean.”
“I’m not a Sisyphean.”
“Then you have no excuse,” she shot back. “You’re an embarrassment. Step aside.”
I didn’t love her bringing my class into it, but I wouldn’t deny my satisfaction at the humiliation on his face. Kristopher stepped aside and stormed all the way out of the arena.
Liza, one of the girls waiting to face Catherine, clapped me on the shoulder. “Am I the only one who loves seeing a Titan eat gravel? I’m so tired of the way they swan around the castle, acting like they own it and we only exist to lick their boots?”
“I wish I didn’t love it, but I do. Especially when it’s jerks like Kristopher.” I tossed my head. “Don’t know why that guy’s so angry all the time. We get it, you’re a son of Prometheus and can start fires with your mind. Blah, blah, get a new thing.”
She giggled. Liza was one of the sweeter, soft-spoken ones in my class. She fell in with Kosma’s group but wisely didn’t hit the paradise tea as hard as they did that fateful morning. From what I saw when I caught glances of the thin, bespectacled, brown-haired girl every night in the library, the daughter of Artemis preferred to read her books—keeping to herself.
“Hey, I was thinking,” I began. “Do you want to team up?”
“Team up?”
I jerked my chin at Catherine. “To beat Catherine. It occurred to me the other day that we’re all taking her on one by one even though Instructor Kazran never said that was a rule.”
Her mouth opened, but nothing came out—her expression freezing. She knew I was right. Kazran never said these were one-on-one fights. We all made that up for ourselves.
“No wonder he tells us to be smarter,” she muttered. “Bet he’s been laughing and shaking his head at us the whole time. But why should I team up with you? No offense, but you’re ranked so low even Vasili pities you, and the man was born without sympathy.”
“But that’s why we should team up. Catherine stopped seeing me as a threat after the second lesson. She drops her guard whenever she faces me,” I said. “Artemis was the goddess of the forest and hills. I know that’s your power.”
I wobbled off my feet—throwing out my hand and catching myself when the ground moved beneath me. A small mound of earth lifted me up, illustrating my point.
“You make hills,” I announced, stepping off. “Catherine knows it’s coming when she faces you, so you haven’t been able to trip her. But if she’s focused on me—”
“—down she goes.” We smacked palms. “Let’s do it.”
After quickly discussing our plan, I stepped to the head of the line. “Proficient Catherine, do you mind if I go again? I know what to do now.”
She cocked her brow, scoffing. “Oh, do you? This I’ve got to see.” Catherine crouched, getting in her runner’s stance. “Prepare yourself, Sisyphean. This is going to hurt.”
Yeah, you, but not me.
Taking a breath, I said, “Read—”
Catherine blurred.
A mound of earth erupted in front of me.
“Ahhhhhh!”
Our heads snapped up. Catherine went flying—her legs and hands spinning out like she was revolving on the tip of a finger. She struck the ground with an audible thud that ripped hisses out of me, Liza, and three other people.
That hurt. A lot.
“Catherine?” I called. “Are you okay?”
The red-haired girl didn’t move or raise her head.
“Whoa. Is she dead?” someone whispered.
“Catherine?” Worry crept into the name. “Say something.”
Kazran appeared next to me, making me jerk. “She’s fine. You and you,” he barked at two guys. “Help her to the infirmary.”
They picked up the dazed, head-lolling Catherine and carried her away.
Kazran turned on me and Liza. “Are you two responsible for this?”
Sharing a look, I swear the thought went through both our heads to cut and run. He couldn’t catch us both if we split in opposite directions.
You wouldn’t get far, Vanda. There’s no way out of this place.
I stepped forward. “Yes, sir. It was my idea. You never said we had to face the proficients one on one, and it wouldn’t make sense to. When we’re out there fighting these monsters, we’ll be doing it as a team. Why shouldn’t we fight as a team now?”
“Vanda.” Kazran gave me a long, shrinking look. “Well done.”
What did he say?
“I’ve been waiting for one of you novices to wise up. Every year, I set the new recruits on the proficients, and they immediately get it into their heads that this is their chance to show off. It doesn’t occur to them that we live, fight, and die as a team—which is why I don’t allow Titans and Sisypheans to stand apart in my class.”
We drew a crowd. Titans and Sisypheans stopped what they were doing, moving in on us.
“When you’re out there on the battlefield, this whole Titan-versus-Sisyphean bullshit doesn’t matter. A man with a supposedly useless power of turning into a rooster saved my life from a nest of empousas. Every power is a resource at our disposal.” He winked at me. “Even if it’s being a pretty little target.”
“Started off good, then veered straight into inappropriate again, sir.”
He chuckled. “One and two.”
“What?”
“Your ranks in my class. Number two,” he said to Liza, “and number one.”
“What!” The uproar was immediate. Titans shouted, ranted, and argued their heads off, but there was no denying it. Kazran was looking at me.
I was number one in his class.
“But she’s a Sisyphean!”
“She didn’t even do anything. She just stood there.”
“I’ve beaten five proficients already,” Hyacinth argued. “You can’t rank a Sisyphean over me just because she stood around like the useless trash she is! When my father hears about this, you’ll never teach at this academy again!”
“—can’t believe you did that, Sirena. You’re supposed to be my friend. I trusted you!”
“You trusted me?!”
Kazran, Liza, and I were suddenly forgotten. All eyes flew to Alexander and Sirena. They stood by the platform, facing off.
“You dare to say I’ve broken your trust when you’ve been lying to my face!”
My eyes were bugged as wide as everyone watching. I’d never heard Sirena so much as raise her voice to Alex, let alone lay into him like she was then.
“I asked you if you were sleeping with anybody and you said no!”
“I’m not sleeping with anyone,” Alex voiced through clenched teeth. “How many times do I have to tell you that?”
“Then explain this!” She ripped something out of her pocket and threw it in his face. I recognized it immediately.
Oh, shit. This isn’t good.
“You don’t have the right to be mad,” Alex returned. “You shouldn’t have been snooping in my room.”
“It’s a good thing I was snooping, or I wouldn’t have found all the little notes this whore sent you. Who is she!”
“Uh-oh.” Sebastian appeared at my side. “I better stay close in case you need my protection, partner.”
“We’re not partners, and I don’t need anything from you.” I was careful not to reply too loud. My friends were coming close, falling in around me. Everyone was, including the Hell Boys.
Dimitri, Jason, and Castor joined us—enjoying the show.
“There isn’t a she.” I could tell Alex was straining to hold on to his natural good charm. “I get notes like that all the time from hundreds of women and more than a few guys. You know that better than anyone.”
“Oh, really? Just some random woman, huh?” She snatched my notes off the ground. “Last night was incredible, baby.” “I love you so much.” “I can’t wait until we don’t have to hide.”
“Tonight, I want to jack you off with my tits until you explode on my chest like a cum fountain.”
I flushed hot at the oohs and wolf whistles that went up around the stadium.
Sebastian laughed out loud. “Vanda, I’ve been told to tell you, and I quote, ‘Damn, girl, you’re a freak.’”
It took everything in me not to punch him in the face. “I would like to upgrade my I don’t like you to I hate you.”
He only laughed louder.
“Those were from a girl I met while training with the Wardens of War this summer,” Alex shot back. “We ended it months ago. I kept the notes. Are you happy now? Is the interrogation over?”
She planted her hands on her hips. “You’re telling me you don’t have anything going on with anyone here, even though that stupid Sisyphean said you’re in love with someone?”
He looked her dead in the face, expression blank. “I’ve been telling you that. Repeatedly. I’ve also told you that you and I are just friends. Even if I was in love with someone, that’s between me and her and no one else.”
“Notice how easily and convincingly Golden Boy lies,” Sebastian said in my ear. “Not the best trait in a lover, but far be it for me to judge your taste in men.”
A vein in my brow jumped with the strain of keeping my tongue in check. More than ever, I was glad I didn’t fall into his trap and beg to hear my father speak through him—despite how badly I wanted to. Nothing good came from Sebastian Barba having something to hold over your head.
Eyes flashing, razor-thin claws shredded my notes to confetti. “Now I know you’re lying,” Sirena gritted, “because you just said that we’re only friends bullshit for her benefit—which means she’s listening and watching us right now!”
“Can I just say,” Daciana whispered, “demigod academies are way more interesting than werewolf academies.”
Ionna, Nitsa, Theron, and Tycho bobbed their heads in agreement.
“Listen up, bitch!” She rounded on her audience. “I don’t know what he told you, but you’re nothing but a collection of warm holes. Xander and I have been together since before we could walk. We belong together. The marriage contract is already written, and your name isn’t and never will be on it.”
“Sirena, stop this,” Alex shouted.
“You’re nothing but a bit of fun he’s having before he marries me, and too bad for you.” Eyes like slits swept over us. “When I find you, and I will find you, I’ll beat you so badly the fountain I make of your blood and brain matter will sicken the next ten generations. Stay away from my man, all of you!” She looked straight at me. “Look scared if you understand.”
A heavy, smothering silence fell over the stadium. No one knew where to look. No one knew what to say. Kazran stood off to the side, watching like none of this had to do with him.
Sirena turned back around.
“Pbtfffff.”
Raucous laughter broke out among the Sisypheans. Sirena spun, face reddening deep and fast.
“Pbtfffff.” Kosma sounded off again. “Once again, nothing but bullshit falls out of your mouth. Stop dragging us all into your relationship problems.”
“Is she on paradise flowers again?” Tycho hissed. “What is she doing?”
“What we’ve all wanted to do,” Nitsa replied.
“She’s not on paradise flowers. She’s on Lethe water.”
Our heads snapped to Dimitri and those strange, piercing eyes. “She said she wanted to forget her fears,” rolled that deep baritone. “Seems she also forgot why she’s afraid of the imperial heirs.”
Tycho stepped toward him. “It can be that specific?”
Dimitri nodded, the corner of his mouth quirking up. “Tempted?”
Tycho took another step and walked into my outstretched palm. “No,” I said to Dimitri but looked straight at Sebastian. “He’s not.”
Except for Nitsa’s dalliance with paradise tea—and Jason—our group had yet to get caught up in the Hell Boys’ web. With the more I learned of Sebastian, it was clear we needed to stay that way.
Kosma wasn’t done. “We couldn’t give a shit that your fiancé is fucking around on you. Instead of yelling at us, why don’t you try hearing him and accepting that he doesn’t want you? Get the fuck over it al—”
Sirena blurred. A silver streak shot over our heads, grabbed Kosma, and lifted her into the sky. A strange, dragon-like creature held a screaming Kosma in her claws.
“No,” I screamed. “Don’t do it!”
Kazran bolted from his spot, mowing down novices to get to her.
Sirena let go.
“Ahhhhh—!” Thud.
Her body smacked the concrete—the impact reverberating under my shoes and into my soul where it’d live forever, haunting me.
“Kosma!”
Her friends and Liza rushed to her. Sirena hit the ground and her wings flashed out, blocking their way. “Don’t you dare. No one helps that worthless, disrespectful trash. You Sisypheans have been getting above yourself, but that ends today.”
Through the pressing bodies, I saw Kosma’s fingers twitch.
Thank goodness she was alive, but if she didn’t get help soon, I wouldn’t be saying that for long.
I moved around Nitsa, straining for an opening to reach her and help. My new angle gave me a view of her hand slipping into her pocket.
“From now on, if one of you disrespects your betters, all of you pay.”
Kosma’s hand flashed, throwing a small, black object at Sirena’s head. It smashed across her cheek.
She screamed.
Red weeping seams split Sirena’s skin all over her face, arms, neck, and where I couldn’t see—red spots blooming on her clothes. Horror punched me in the gut as blue, purple, and black bruises erupted over her body. Sirena looked like an invisible force beat her to a pulp, then sliced her to ribbons.
“Ahhh!” Screaming, wailing, crying—Sirena’s wings crumpled and brought her down, a heavy silver weight pinning her to the ground.
Chara shot behind her and grasped Kosma’s forehead, filling her with healing power. Kosma shot to her feet and bellowed, “Now!”
Sisypheans descended on Sirena like lions on a carcass. Kicking, hitting, punching—they broke what the hellstone didn’t.
“Stop!”
Titans burst into action, led by Alex, Ajax, and Calix. Sisypheans snapped around like that was their cue. They each had something in their hands.
“Alex, get down!” I shouted.
They let loose. Hellstones soared through the air, taking out victims in one hit, and or smashing on the ground and finding their mark with ricocheting, scattered pieces. Titans went down in a hail of screaming, writhing misery.
“Fuck it to hades, where did they get all those hellstones!” Sebastian cried, whirling on Castor.
The reincarnation of the torturous, frightening pit of hell shrugged. “Someone bought two hundred off me last night,” Castor drawled. “Four thousand drachmas. Couldn’t turn it down.”
“Shit! This isn’t good.” The nightmarish scene around me, and it was the look on Sebastian’s face that filled me with fear. “This will not be good.”
A whirling, spraying water funnel surrounded Ajax—capturing the thrown hellstones. Water blasted out, tossing Sisypheans off their feet, scattering part of their defensive wall.
Pink, sparkly clouds wafted over Sirena’s attackers—filling their noses, spreading into their lungs. They dropped their hands and rocks immediately.
“Calix, I’m sorry!”
“Calix, I love you!”
They kicked, pushed, and knocked each other down trying to get to him—confessions of undying love and devotion spilling from their lips. They cleared the way for Alex to Sirena. Anyone who raised their hand at my love dropped, screaming as loud as the Titans under the effect of the hellstones.
This was the power of the imperial heirs.
“I’m sorry,” Alex bellowed. “Stop attacking and I won’t have to hurt you! Just let me get Sirena.”
“Now!” Kosma’s shout pierced the air.
Hellstones flew in an arch over my head, heading straight for Alex’s, Calix’s, and Ajax’s backs. Calix’s admirers threw themselves in their path, catching all but—
“Ahh!” Calix dropped amid the clutch of bodies.
“Cal!” Tycho was gone like a shot, running to help Calix.
His harem lost their minds, torn between helping Calix and attacking anyone and everyone they thought hurt him.
I tried running to Alex and was knocked aside, crashing into Sebastian and Jason. A wave of hellstone-armed Sisypheans surged from behind us—trampling Daciana, Nitsa, Theron, and Ionna in their lust to take out the Titans. They were ready for this fight. They wanted it.
“Guys, are you okay?” I screamed. “I don’t understand this? Is there another child of Eris in our group? Why has everyone gone mad!”
“It’s the hellstones!” Sebastian and Jason put me back on my feet, then Jason ran to help Nitsa, Daciana, and Ionna—stepping on Theron and kicking him away in the process. “They punish the target, but amplify the viciousness and sadism in the holder,” Sebastian said. “It’s so those condemned to Tartarus don’t even have the comfort of making friends or allies. Everything and everyone down there want to rip you apart.”
“No wonder they call it hell.”
Ajax turned to face the onslaught. Hands to the sky, a ten—fifteen—thirty-foot wave rose behind him, capturing the sun in shifting, fractured light.
“Ajax, no!” A guy ran out in front of the Sisypheans, reaching for him. “Don’t do this, please.”
“Mother?”
Mother?
Ajax gaped at the young male novice. “Mother, what—? What are you doing here—?”
Roaring, his mother snapped and threw something in his face, soaking him head to toe.
Ajax blinked at him, tipping his head. The wave surging behind him evaporated into vapor. “Who are you— Wait? Who am I?”
“They have Lethe water too?” Sebastian’s rage was a palpable thing. “How much?”
Dimitri shrugged. “Five thousand drachmas’ worth. Why the fuck are you glaring at us like that? You told us to sell and sell hard. We need the coin.”
“Idiots! No one needs nine thousand drachmas’ worth of hellstones and Lethe water unless they’re planning something bad for all of us.” They looked at him uncaringly. “We’re being set up!”
Understanding bled into their eyes.
“Set up?” Dimitri said. “We are?”
“Of course we are. Don’t you remember the last time Sisypheans went to battle with the Titans? That son of Eris was kicked out of the academy and sentenced to hard labor. Someone wants us to go down for this, and it won’t be Drakos who comes for our heads, it’ll be the council. It’ll be him. If anyone dies, we’re done. We’re out of the academy. We’re dead!”
Cold understanding bled into me too. “You did this,” I hissed at the bracelet.
Selene’s laughter rang in my ears.
It was mayhem. Everywhere I looked, Sisypheans attacked, jumped on, used their power, and flung hellstones at any Titan in their path. Titans still on their feet fought back just as hard, with equally devastating effect.
“Your hair are snakes. Kill them,” Cora ordered. “That stone is the sweetest apple. Eat it.”
Marika went nuts—tearing and pounding her scalp. The hellstone she brought was snatched up by Zale, who cracked his teeth chomping down. Choking, his strangled screams tore from his blistered, ruined throat.
Standing back-to-back with Cora was Penelope. She was surrounded by a ring of olive trees.
I couldn’t see my friends in the crush. Had Jason helped and gotten them out? I couldn’t see Alex, let alone tell if he got to Sirena and helped her.
“What do we do!” I spun on Sebastian, Dimitri, and Castor.
They were gone.
“Bastards!”
I had to do something. I had to help.
My power.
If I can go back to when Sirena went off, I can stop Kosma from letting loose on her. Even more, if I got back far enough, I could warn Alex that Sirena searched his room, and he needed to confront her somewhere private.
“It takes time to learn how to open the connection when we decide to, but you can and will learn.”
I hated that his voice out of all came into my head, but I needed someone’s assurance that I could do this. The two times I did this, I was panicked, in pain, and afraid for my life. I had plenty of all three going right now.
A hellstone whizzed past my head. Darting through the fighting, I plastered against the wall and tried to focus—imagining that space beyond time and reality. Today, I am your master, bitch. Open. Let me in. Open!
“Novices!” Kazran leaped on the platform. “Put them down. Drop them!” Making fists, he flexed them toward the heavens as if raising a heavy burden. Snakes slithered out of the black, terrifying hellstones.
I screamed.
Raising a smooth, diamond-stamped head, a snake tangled me in its gaze—tongue scenting the air. I froze. Not breathing, not moving, not thinking.
It lunged.
“Ahh—!” The snake snatched a hellstone out of the air, catching it inches from my temple. I didn’t know what my sins were, but it saved me being punished by them in the worst way.
Scrambling over the bodies and snakes, I tore for the exit. There was no concentrating while dodging death and torture. The entire stadium was pandemonium. Fighting, screaming, and powers flying. Calix’s defenders were vicious in their protection of him, turning on their own friends. I hissed, seeing Liza jump on Kosma’s back and clamp her teeth on the screaming girl’s ear.
Theron gasped against the platform, covered in writhing snakes. My stomach heaved even though I knew they were under Kazran’s control. I skidded to a stop. He was my friend, I couldn’t leave him.
“Theron?” I approached him, scream leaking through my teeth. I was not fond of snakes. “Come with me. Please, I’ll get you out of here.”
“—help me,” he gasped, eyes so wide they were almost all white. “Aella, help me— Get them off— Can’t— Can’t—”
“Oh no, are you having a panic attack?” Fighting back against my fear, I tugged and unwound the beasts, trying to get them off. They held fast—snapping and throwing me back for the trouble. “They’re trying to protect you,” I cried.
Looking around, I saw more students stumbling and freaking out to find themselves covered head to toe in snakes. “So the hellstones and Lethe water can’t touch you.”
“Can’t... control. Aella!” he burst out, startling me. “I h-hate them. Hate snakes. I can’t control it. You have to get me out of here!”
Realization dawned like a punch to the face. Son of Ares, full of fear and hatred. He was about to blow.
“Get off him!” I screeched at the snakes. An entirely appropriate response considering I was kneeling next to an actually ticking bomb. “You’re making it worse! People are going to die unless you let him go! Please, understand me!”
“Aella!” Someone skidded to a stop next to me.
Alex.
I didn’t give a shit who saw, I threw my arms around him. “Alex, you’re okay.”
“I am, thanks to Sebastian.”
“Sebastian?”
“He took a hellstone to the face that was meant for me. When he went down, Dimitri and Castor grabbed Sirena out of here to get help. Jason’s going around throwing paradise flowers at everyone—out-blissing their hatred.”
Not bastards. They didn’t abandon us to our own mess. They’re helping. They’re trying to stop this fight.
“I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” Alex kissed me full on the mouth. He didn’t care who was watching either. “Are you okay? I need to get you out of here.”
“Not without Theron. If we don’t get these snakes off him, he’s going to blow.”
“Say no more.” Alex made two fists and punched them together.
The snakes seized. Curling, writhing, whipping their tails—the snakes’ jaws cracked open. I swear they were screaming.
Alex released his power and they fled—scattering in every direction as fast as their legless bodies could carry them.
“I couldn’t kill them,” Alex said. “They’re innocent. They were just trying to protect him.”
I loved him so much in that moment, I wanted to kiss him again. Even in the midst of hell, Alexander Damien was kind.
“Let’s get him out of here and away from these triggers.” We moved on either side of Theron and lifted him by the shoulders.
Our trek to the entrance saw the tide turning. Paradise flowers were all over the place. Hellstones affected people, but I knew from experience that paradise flowers packed the same punch. Just looking at one made you want it more than air. Other demigods felt the same way, going by how quickly they dropped their rocks and weapons and dove for them. More than a few were now giggling, drooling heaps on the ground—inhaling the sweet, drug-like aroma of the flowers.
“This could’ve been horrible,” Alex said. We were almost out. “If a Sisyphean had died, we’d be back to separate classes, separate wings, and separate mess halls. I’d never get to see you.”
I wouldn’t lie, it warmed my heart that his horrible was being separated from me.
“But if a Titan died because Sisypheans attacked using items they got from other Titans, the council would’ve gotten involved. You know what my father wanted to do the last time. He’d go through with it this time. No one could stop him,” he said. “And Sebastian and his friends... They’d face a fate worse than you can believe. There’s a long-standing grudge in Olympia against children of Hades who cause uprisings.”
Midas.
But if they hate children of Hades so much for what Midas did, how much more do they hate children of fate like the one who enabled him to rise to power?another voice asked. I’m beginning to understand why everyone who knows of my power shouts at me not to tell another soul.
“Alex,” I heard myself. “What exactly is the fate of anyone accused of bringing about another Midas?”
He winced. I already didn’t like what I was about to hear. “The council would—”
“Was it you!” Liza shot between us and the exit, eyes wild. “Did you hurt my Calix! My love. My reason for living.”
“Liza, calm—”
“You’ll pay!” Her hand, and the hellstone, snapped out from behind her back.
“Nooo!”
It soared through the air, sailing past our swiping hands. The thing smashed into Theron’s chest and crumbled.
He burst into flames.
“Ahh! Ahhh!”
“Aella!” Alex tackled me, throwing his body on mine.
Boom!
A wave of heat and force blew us off our feet. We smashed into a wall, my head colliding with unforgiving stone.
The world went black.
“Wake up. Wake up, girl!”
A voice reached me in a dark and quiet place.
“You cannot die. You weren’t supposed to die! Free me!”
My eye cracked open.
“You must free me!”
Beneath her unhinged screaming, another sound reached me. Was that...?
Crying?
Slowly, stiffly, I pushed myself up.
Selene’s relieved gushing over my being alive went in one ear and out the other. My lips parted—horror stealing whatever inadequate nonsense they opened to say.
Hell.
The pit of Tartarus opened beneath our feet, swallowing us in the crushing, terrifying despair of hell... and Theron wept.
The scorched tatters of clothes and armor still smoking, Theron heaved crushing, heart-wrenching sobs as he clutched Nitsa’s and Ionna’s lifeless bodies to him.
At least, I assumed they were Nitsa and Ionna. The bodies were so badly burned, I couldn’t tell any more than I could recognize any of the charred, smoking bodies scattered around the arena.
Dead. Everyone dead. Including the massive, beautiful wolf that lay prone by the platform. Daciana had finally run too far for anyone to reach.
“G-guys?” My voice cracked, eyes filling. “Daciana?”
Calix shot up, gasping, throwing off the pile of bodies on top of him. It was clear his lovestruck victims had thrown themselves on top of him—shielding their obsession from the blast.
Tycho rolled off onto the stone, half his beautiful face gone. Calix looked at him, them, everything... and lost it.
His shouts rang through the air as loud as Theron’s wailing. It was why I couldn’t look at the person whose hand still held mine. My own lovestruck obsession who threw himself between me and Theron—protecting me.
“A-Alex?” I rasped, gaze fixed off in the distance. “Please, say something. Please, baby... tell me you’re okay.”
Silence.
Quiet tears soaked my face.
“What did you do?” My shoulders shook, but not with sobs.
With rage.
“What the fuck did you do?” I hissed. “All of this because Sebastian knew too much? He wasn’t going to tell anyone. The only value in holding a secret over someone’s head is it remaining a secret. But because you don’t give a shit about anything or anyone beyond yourself, you destroyed his and dozens of lives.”
“I apologize.”
“You apologize? You apologize?” Suddenly I was screaming. “You did this! You killed them all for nothing! Nothing, you stupid, evil bitch! The wolf that crossed domains? Gone! The son of Zeus who breaks your ch-chains—” My voice, my head, cracked on a sob.
“Gone! All of them gone because you’re a monster. You deserve to be exactly where you are— No, you deserve to be in the deepest pit of Tartarus, and if it’s the last thing I do, I’ll put you there!” I screamed. “I swear. I promise. You’ll regret this day until the end of everything!”
Silence filled the space.
“I do regret this day, girl. It is my nature to spawn from destruction... but it is not my wish. I do not relish what was done here today. I do not delight in the sorrow it will bring.
“Undo it, Aella.” Her voice faded. “Make it not so.”
“But... how?” I broke down crying.
Flinging myself around, I threw myself on Alexander’s chest—sobbing my heart out. My love was so beautiful—even in eternal sleep. That’s how he appeared. Like he was just sleeping. I could almost believe he’d sit, flash me that smile and ask, What are you crying for, sesza?
I could believe it—if not for his still, unmoving chest.
“Please,” I whispered. “Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos. I know you’re out there. You didn’t scatter like the rest. You can hear me. You know what’s happened, and you know it wasn’t right. Their threads weren’t supposed to end today.
“Not like this,” I cried, clutching Alexander tight. “Please, help me. Open the bridge.” My eyes squeezed shut. “Let me put it right.”
I sensed more than knew when I opened my eyes... that I was in the land beyond reality.
Threads surrounded me up, down, and around—each identical and unknowable.
My hands moved on their own powers. Reaching for the thread above my head, I pulled.