Dark Gods: An Academy Bully Romance (Academy of the Gods Book 1)

by River Ramsey

  "You'll be protected," I assured her.

  "What do you want me to do to her?" she asked warily.

  "Nothing. I just need you to gain her trust. Learn as much about her and report back to me." My gaze softened and I cupped her face in my hand. She melted immediately. "Can you do that for me, Ariadne?"

  "Of course I can," she said urgently.

  "Good girl." I tucked the pouch into the pocket of her blazer and sent her off. She staggered a little, looking back at me forlornly.

  If I had a soul, I probably would have felt sorry for her. I knew that lovesick look well enough, but that ship had sailed a long time ago. The closest thing to love I was capable of was what I felt toward the other members of the Triad, and even that was a fickle, changeable thing that ebbed and flowed like the tide. Some days I hated them just like I hated everyone else, but never quite as much as I hated myself. That was the grand irony of it all, but Kore... she was unique. She was mine by the law of the gods, or very soon would be, which made her just close enough to me to despise with the same fervor I usually directed inward--and distant enough to get some voyeuristic enjoyment out of her downfall.

  And she would fall. They all did sooner or later. She was just putting up more of a fight than I'd expected, according to my sources. I'd never had to lift a finger on a Hunt before, but for her, I just might make an exception if she proved interesting enough.

  Only time would tell, and in the meantime, I was going to enjoy watching from afar.

  "You really think she's going to fall for the mole?" Loki asked lazily, all but melted into the couch with one long leg sprawled over the back and his left arm dangling off.

  "You overestimate our Rabbit," I told him, taking another drink.

  "And if you underestimate her?"

  "Then we'll up the ante," I said with a shrug.

  "Are you collecting intel to better torment her with, or because you're curious?" he challenged.

  I bristled in irritation, mostly because there was some truth to his assumption. For all his flaws, Loki was perceptive. It was the main reason I kept him around. That and his father being Headmaster provided certain advantages to the group. Even as first years, we'd ruled the Academy and now all that was left was to enjoy the spoils of victory. Kore's dignity would be my finest prize yet.

  "You're the one who went to visit her. If anyone's curious, I'd say it's you."

  He looked over and the surprise on his face told me he hadn't expected the revelation. "Since when are you spying on me?"

  "I'm watching her. Did you really think I wouldn't notice you sniffing around?"

  He snorted, closing his eyes once more. "You know she's not my type."

  "Bullshit. Your type is anything with a pulse."

  He gave a breathy chuckle and sank deeper into the nest of pillows behind him. "We share women all the time. What makes her different?"

  "She's my fiancée, for one thing."

  "Ah, yes. Your future Queen," he said in a mockingly serious tone. "She mustn't be defiled."

  I shot him a glare he was too stoned to notice. "I mean it, Loki. She's off limits, even to you."

  His eyes finally slid open, more lucid than I'd given him credit for. He rose from his lazy perch and leaned in to put a hand on my shoulder. "You're like a brother to me, Hades."

  "You've tried to kill your brother on more than one occasion," I reminded him.

  He waved his hand dismissively. "Bygones and semantics. I'm not going to deflower your virgin Queen, but might I suggest that if your interest in her is anything more than political, you call all this off before irreparable damage is done. We can find another Rabbit, the semester's only just begun."

  "No," I growled, tightening my grip on the neck of the meade flask. "Not until she's learned her place."

  Loki gave a weary sigh and patted my shoulder before sauntering off. "Suit yourself." He raised his hands at the door. "Let the Games begin!"

  A whoop of victory went up around the room even though the others didn't have a bloody clue what he was talking about. I rolled my eyes and went back to my drinking. It had become the only thing that made the droll day to day routine of the Academy remotely tolerable, but that was about to change.

  13

  Kore

  Monday morning classes were a hell of a lot tamer than the last week's had been. Everyone was on good behavior, since the teachers were watching more closely. From what Dionysus had told me, it was the first Hunt that had resulted in a serious physical injury, and I guess that was where they drew the line.

  Lying to Mom and friends back home had become second nature. I was even getting good at spinning up fake stories of all the new experiences and people I'd met. Back in reality, I was getting used to being invisible. Invisible had its perks. Invisible didn't get you broken bones and lost time.

  As I sat down for third period, I was surprised to find the empty seat next to me occupied by none other than Ariadne. She'd actually given me an acknowledging glance this morning, but I half-expected her to ignore my question anyway.

  "What are you doing here? I didn't think you were in this class."

  "I transferred," she replied, smiling. "I hear you're looking for a lab partner?"

  I glanced around the room to see if anyone was watching us, but if they were, they were at least pretending to be invested in their own alchemy. "You sure about that? You're kind of putting a target on your head."

  She shrugged. "It's class. It's not like we're painting each other's nails and hanging out."

  "Sure," I said, reluctantly taking the seat next to her. "I was out most of the week, so I missed a lot."

  "I got notes from a friend," she told me, sliding over her open notebook. "You can copy them if you want."

  "Thanks," I said, surprised. I snapped a few photos of the pages before she could change her mind and went to work. The assignment was simple enough. Just a basic tincture, the kind I'd whipped up plenty of when I was first starting out. At least I wasn't as far behind in schoolwork as I'd feared.

  Now, if only I could catch up socially.

  "You're good at that," Ariadne remarked, blinking at the vial in front of me as it swirled with blue and gold magic.

  "Plants and chemicals are kind of my thing," I admitted. "It's easy once you get the hang of it, though."

  "Maybe you could show me? This class is already giving me a headache."

  "Sure," I said, opening up the chart the professor had given us of all the different elements and their corresponding plants and herbs. "It seems complicated, but it's really not. Alchemy is all about elemental energy, and there are four basic types: earth, air, fire and water. Every substance has its elemental alignment, and once you master those four, you're golden."

  "Sounds easy enough," she murmured. "So what, if you wanted to make a love potion, you'd use plants with a fire element?"

  I laughed. "You could. Cinnamon is pretty popular for that, but it all depends more on your intent. That's the fifth element, when it all combines with your will to form the Quintessence."

  I could tell I'd lost her again when I saw her eyes glaze over. "I thought there were only four."

  "Those are the building blocks, sure, but the Quintessence is when it all comes together," I tried to explain. "It's magic, basically."

  "A wonderful explanation," said Akron. I hadn't even noticed the professor walk over to us, but he always made the rounds, attending the various stations to help anyone who had questions.

  My face grew warm as I realized I'd just been caught explaining the basics in front of a master alchemist. "I'm probably oversimplifying it."

  "A little," he said with a glimmer in his eyes. "But you've got the foundation right. The Quintessence is a force that predates life itself, and it can never be controlled or recreated so much as accessed by the practitioner. The fact that you've been able to do so suggests you possess quite a natural acuity."

  "I guess it's my good subject," I said, feeling sheepish in a way
all the Triad's efforts had failed to produce.

  "Keep up the good work and let me know if you need any help," he said before going off to check on a group across the room.

  "Praised by the most gorgeous prof in school," Ariadne said wryly. "Color me jealous."

  "He is stupidly hot, right?" I sighed, daring a glance over my shoulder.

  "I take it Hades isn't your type," said Ariadne.

  "Hades?" I snorted. "I'd rather get gored by a manticore."

  "Word on the street is he's hung like one," she said in a singsong voice.

  I raised an eyebrow. I wasn't sure what to make of her suddenly being Ms. Friendly, and I didn't trust it from a mile away, but my first impression of her had been a good one, so I decided that had to count for something. Besides, allies and even people who weren't out for blood were too rare to turn my nose up at an offer of smalltalk. Even if it was about my fiance's junk.

  "Good to know," I snorted, taking down notes on the behavior of the latest tincture. "I'm sure I'm the only girl in school who hasn’t screwed him."

  "Which makes you the only girl in school he's interested in," she said with a hint of bitterness that quickly vanished.

  "Interested in torturing, maybe. In case you haven't noticed, I'm kind of public enemy number one thanks to him."

  "Well, you did smack him in front of an entire party," she reasoned. "Why did you do that, anyway?"

  I sighed. I wasn't about to let out the truth that could incriminate my mother, however bullshit it was. Well, I hoped it was bullshit. The idea that she'd kept so much about my father from me was one thing, but the possibility that she'd lied to me about his entire identity? That was way too much to handle, and it wasn't like I could come out and ask her for clarification.

  The truth was, Hades' words were at least part of the reason I'd been avoiding having a heart-to-heart with her. I'd rather live in ignorance than have that conversation, especially when I was living a nightmare because I'd tried to defend her honor.

  "He was just being an asshole, and I'm not the type who rolls over and takes that," I answered. It was the truth, even if it was lacking a few important bits.

  She considered my words and seemed to buy the explanation. "Well, I hope it was worth it."

  "It was," I muttered.

  After everything that had happened and everything I knew was still ahead of me, it was the truth. The only thing sweeter than that moment of comeuppance was going to be displacing the dark god from his throne once and for all.

  14

  Kore

  My second week at the Academy flew by, mostly because there was nothing notable about it to mark the passage of time. I still got the cold shoulder and the odd shove in the hall, but I'd grown used to that. My third week was almost blissfully uneventful, and the only downside was that I was starting to get used to not existing.

  It seemed like shunning had become the Hunt's go-to method of torment, since Helle and Phrixus had been temporarily suspended for the more hands-on approach. For all I knew, they were expelled, but when I showed up to training class Monday afternoon of week three and found them waiting alongside Daphne, I knew otherwise.

  "Look who's back. Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dipshit," I said, folding my arms.

  Helle shot me a look that could melt steel, but Phrixus was on his phone, either oblivious to the world around him or pretending to be. I'd never forgotten what Daphne had told me about their fling with Loki, but now that they were back and still as aggro as ever, I was somewhat less on the fence about using it.

  Daphne gave me a knowing look, but said nothing. I'd gotten used to being one of the only two in class, and we actually made a half-decent team together. We'd been able to progress through the first two weeks worth of training sims, but I suspected that progress was going to slow down.

  "Good, everyone's here already," Thor announced, striding into the room, late as usual. I'd wondered what had made him miss the first couple of classes, but at this point, I was pretty sure he'd just been nursing a hangover. Considering that he was wearing sunglasses indoors, I'd say he had another one to contend with after the weekend.

  "Helle, Phrix, welcome back," he said, nodding to them both.

  "It's Phrixus," the young god muttered.

  Thor ignored him. "Today, we're going to be doing something a little bit different. Two-on-two combat in a high-stakes scenario."

  The twins looked at each other with a malevolent grin that was far from comforting.

  "If you choose to compete in the Games, you'll be battling not only your opponents but the arena," Thor continued. "Now, considering that Helle and Phrix have been absent for a week, they'll be at a disadvantage, so I'm going to split them up. Helle and Daphne, you'll be team one and Kore and Phrix will be team two."

  "What?" Helle blurted out. "You can't be serious!"

  "I'm not fighting on the Rabbit's side," Phrixus protested.

  His sister shot him a dirty glare. The Wild Hunt was the school's worst-kept secret, and even though I hadn't been given the rules from a participant's point of view, I'd gathered that mentioning the game or any of its facets around a teacher was a no-no.

  Thor looked slightly uncomfortable, which just confirmed he knew as much as I already suspected, but he moved on quickly enough. "You're going to be fighting in a world-breaking simulation, so keep your wits about you and choose your weapons wisely," he said, gesturing to the rack of weapons across the room.

  I wanted to ask what the hell a world-breaking simulation was supposed to be, but the twins were already descending on the weapons rack and I knew I had to choose fast. I grabbed the short sword I'd been training with under Artemis' guidance, and found myself wishing Thor believed in wooden weapons.

  "Halcyon, load sim sixty-three."

  As the grid disappeared and the room changed around us, I drew my blade and stood a safe distance away from Phrixus as Daphne and Helle grudgingly prepared themselves. We were surrounded by blood-red cliffs on all sides, standing in a circular arena about thirty feet in circumference. It wasn't exactly the Ritz Carlton, but compared to some of the other simulations we'd run, it didn't seem all that brutal.

  "Ready, set... begin!" Thor bellowed from his perch on a rock far above us.

  Before I could even move, the ground beneath us began to quake. At first, I thought it was one of the twins, but Phrixus seemed as bewildered as I was and I already knew Helle's power well enough.

  When the ground split between us, revealing a well of roiling magma underneath, and spiderweb cracks started to form all across the surface of the arena, I realized the simulation was aptly named.

  “Holy shit!” Daphne cried as the ground between her and Helle split open, unleashing a hellish plume of smoke that smelled like ass.

  “Get a move on!” Thor called, tapping an invisible watch on his wrist. “Losing team gets kitchen duty! One step outside the arena means immediate disqualification.”

  Helle didn’t need much more convincing. She drew her butterfly sword and leaped across the flaming pit between us. I barely managed to block her first blow and the flurry that came after it. Phrixus stood by idly, and only moved to get involved when he had to defend himself from Daphne’s spear.

  As Helle’s furious slashing pushed me further toward the arena’s edge, I was starting to get the feeling that she held a grudge for her suspension. At least her aggressive onslaught meant it was only a matter of time before there was a weakness in her defense. For all her viciousness, she wasn’t nearly as strong of an opponent as Ingrid. I saw an opening and I struck, slicing through the side of her blouse. Her eyes narrowed in rage as blood hit the air, but I went on the offensive, not about to be cornered again.

  She parried my next blow and leaped back over the cliff. She was petite as it was, but she practically floated, giving me a clue that her true ability had something to do with affected gravity. Maybe I could use that to my advantage.

  To my right, I could see Daphne gaining ground on
Phrixus, who was struggling just to fend off her advances. He’d chosen the biggest sword on the rack, of course, which was way out of his comfort zone. He wasn’t big or fast enough to use it effectively, and all it did was make his movements sluggish. He seemed oblivious to the fact that she was backing him toward a newly opened crevice in the earth, and if I didn’t intervene, we were going to spend the rest of the night scrubbing pots and pans.

  “Hey!” Helle cried as I leaped out of her path and grabbed her brother by the back of his blazer. I managed to pull him out of the way just in time, and as we slid to the earth a safe distance from any magma, Daphne’s blade pierced the earth where he’d been a second before.

  “You saved me,” Phrixus said, wide-eyed and dismayed as he stared up at me.

  I planted my blade in the ground as a crutch and stood, ready to face off against his sister, who was already coming at me. “Just watch your ass,” I growled before blocking her next strike. Now I was back on the defensive, and both she and Daphne were coming at me.

  Daphne took a swing and even though I blocked it, the force threw me back. It wasn’t enough to push me out of the arena, but it did have me on trajectory for the bubbling magma crevice a few feet away.

  As I prepared for impact, the blazing heat behind me suddenly dulled and by the time I hit what should have been a pit filled with magma, the surface beneath me was soft and barely warm. I looked down in confusion and realized there was a strange plastic-like film coating the crevice. It wasn’t quite solid, nor was it like anything I’d encountered before, but when I looked across the arena to find Phrixus crouched with one hand on the ground, I realized it was him I had to thank.

  I wasn’t allowed long to be confused. Helle’s furious shriek as she turned on her brother was enough to make my eardrums bleed and I cringed as she struck him with the butt of her blade, hard enough to send him flying across the arena.

  He landed just past the border with a painful thud.