‘Why did you do that?’ Hephaestus demanded. ‘You should not have come here.’
Hailey gazed around the cramped space. ‘Where are we?’
‘The bottom of a volcano.’ Hephaestus threw his hands towards the anvil; fire blasted from his palms, igniting the forge.
Wow, Hephaestus really did have a workshop in a volcano. Hailey had thought the rumours told throughout time about his workshop’s location were an exaggeration—since volcanos were filled with lava—but here she was, standing in it. It must still be out there somewhere, in the ocean, and it’s probably filled with magical items he was working on when he died.
‘Hephaestus, what are you doing?’ The heat from the forge kept Hailey in place. Nereids didn’t like heat, especially when they were away from the sea and unable to hydrate.
‘I told you, I am going to stop the Olympians.’ He began kicking away the metal on the floor, searching for something.
‘How?’
He plucked a piece of gold from the ground and tossed it towards the forge, where it clanged near the fire. ‘I will craft them each a gold throne. They are so self-important they will not question my gifts.’ He tossed another hunk of gold towards the other. ‘I will design the thrones to bind the Olympians the second they sit down. The chairs will inhibit them from dematerialising. They will be trapped, and unable to harm anyone ever again.’
Sweat dripped down Hailey’s face and the back of her neck as she moved towards Hephaestus, placing a hand on his muscled shoulder. ‘Think this through, Hephaestus. If you do this there will be no going back, and Zeus will find a way to escape, that much you should know. And when he does, he will kill you, son or not.’
Hephaestus flung a sheet of copper, sending it slamming against the wall. ‘So what am I supposed to do? Nothing?’
It was as hot in here as the lava sky in Tartarus; Hailey expected Amathia to start melting at any second. Why didn’t she have this conversation in the nice cool underwater cave? ‘No. But you can do as I do. Gain favour with the gods and use it to keep close to them so you are able—occasionally—to save a human from their wrath. I know it is not much. But it is something.’
Hephaestus slumped to the ground, metal clanging under him as he massaged his right leg. ‘Is that what you do? You are one of those nereids loyal to Poseidon, are you not?’
Hailey nodded and joined the Olympian on the floor, the scraps of metal warm beneath her dress. ‘Yes, and I persuade Poseidon from exacting his wrath from time to time. And when I cannot, I do my best to save the humans he has directed it at, or at least aid those left behind.’ Hailey’s mind flashed to the memory Amathia had showed their class last year of her trying to save a city from a sea-monster.
Hephaestus was thoughtful as he continued massaging his leg, weighing up Amathia’s words. ‘Perhaps you are right,’ he eventually said with a sigh. ‘I am no good to the humans if I am dead. But the thought of befriending my kin turns my stomach.’
‘If you wish to help, you must.’
Hephaestus blew out a long breath. ‘Very well. I suppose instead of crafting entrapping thrones I will have to make my family actual gifts to win back their favour. Perhaps I can even forge them to protect humans in some way, if—when—they are used against them.’
The world flashed white, and this time Hailey reappeared in her Ancient History classroom.
‘We are running short of time today.’ Amathia stood by the memory ball, touching the blue glass teardrop hanging around her neck. ‘Next class we will discuss the memory you just saw.’
‘Wow,’ Demi said as the class packed up their bags, ‘Hephaestus was actually a good god.’
‘That’s only one memory,’ Aaron reminded her. ‘I’m sure he did plenty of evil stuff too—he probably just developed a bit of a conscience.’
Hailey slung her bag over her shoulder. ‘It’s nice to know they weren’t all as evil as we’ve been taught.’ Maybe if the prophecy ever does come true—long, long, long after I’m dead—Hephaestus will be there to help humans
11
Ghosts of the Past
Hailey wandered into her dorm, dumping her book bag by her desk.
‘I think I might have a mini nap,’ Demi announced, dropping onto her bed.
‘We can’t,’ Hailey yawned. ‘We promised Alec we’d commit to his afterschool homework group.’
Demi hugged a pillow to her face. ‘Uck. I don’t want to do homework.’
‘We promised,’ Hailey reminded her. ‘And just think, in an hour all your homework will be done.’
‘I never did my homework last year,’ Demi argued, her voice muffled by the pillow.
‘Come on,’ Hailey said, rifling around in her bag, pulling out various books.
‘Fine.’ Demi tossed the pillow against their dorm door.
‘Oops, I forgot to give this to Amathia,’ Hailey muttered to herself, pulling Lacey’s notebook from her bag. She couldn’t be bothered walking back downstairs to the Ancient History classroom, not when classes were done for the day. Lacey isn’t a very common name; it probably belongs to that first year who came into the common room with that horrible Eris. I’ll just go next door and give it back to her, in case it’s important. ‘Come on, Dems,’ Hailey said, balancing a pile of books in one hand and striding over to throw their dorm door open with the other.
Demi trudged behind her down to the packed common room, acting as if Hailey were leading her to another one of Madam Grayson’s detentions. They spotted Alec and Aaron squeezed into a corner not far from the fireplace, with a mess of notebooks and textbooks sprawled in front of them. To Hailey’s surprise, Jayden and Cady were there too.
Demi tensed beside Hailey. ‘Great. Now I have to hang out with Cady,’ she muttered.
‘It’ll be okay. We just need to give her a chance. And you still want to be friends with Jayden, right?’
Demi sighed. ‘Yeah.’ She lifted up her shoulders and head, an air of indifference surrounding her as she drifted towards them.
‘I hope you don’t mind that we’re crashing your study group,’ Jayden said.
‘No, it’s fine.’ Demi dropped down, not even making eye contact with him.
Cady swallowed and let her mousey brown hair fall in front of her face, trying to hide behind it. ‘I can leave if you want.’
‘I said it’s fine,’ Demi snapped.
‘I’ll be back in a minute.’ Hailey dumped her books on the floor. ‘I need to return something to someone.’
‘Don’t take too long,’ Alec told her. ‘The whole idea of this study group was for us to work together. I’m not letting you copy any work you miss while you’re busy socialising.’
‘I’ll be right back,’ Hailey said, and slipped through the door in the centre of the wall.
The students sitting closest to the door on the other side frowned at her, but they didn’t say anything, none of them brave enough to question a third year.
Her gaze swept over the common room. It was a mirror image of hers: one half was a study area, the other a casual area with sofas, armchairs, and giant cushions spread about—plus a cosy fireplace crackling. Most of the students were on the casual side, laughing with friends, or scribbling in notebooks. She didn’t think Lacey was here. But then again it wasn’t as if she remembered her face all that well.
‘Hailey?’
Hailey melted with relief when she recognised the girl with black rainbow hair that had been with Lacey on that first day. ‘Kara, right?’
The girl’s cheeks burned red. ‘It’s Zara.’
‘Oh, sorry.’
‘It’s okay.’ She hugged her arms, looking unsure—like she thought Hailey might yell at her. ‘Can I help you with something?’
‘Yeah, I’m trying to find Lacey. Do you know where she is?’
Zara’s face lit up. ‘Yes,’ she said, sounding relieved that she could help Hailey. ‘She’s in our dorm. I’ll show you.’
Hailey followed her through a door,
where girls were coming in and out of dorms; a few of them shot Hailey a strange look, no doubt wondering what a third year was doing there.
‘Our dorm is this one.’ Zara stopped outside a door on the right side, where the names Zara Jenkins and Lacey Mcderven were etched in gold calligraphy on the mother-of-pearl.
‘Zara, I want to go into the grounds, but I can’t be bothered walking down the stairs,’ a girl standing a few doors down said.
‘Coming,’ Zara called back. ‘She’ll be inside,’ Zara told Hailey before walking towards the girl.
Hailey assumed Zara was an Inbetweener who could dematerialise like Brennan, so it came as a big shock when she waved her hand in an arc and a rainbow appeared, shining down from the ceiling. She stepped into it with the other first year, the two of them shooting out of sight, along with the rainbow, in the blink of an eye.
‘Huh,’ was all Hailey could say. It’d been years since she’d seen an Iris use their powers. Being able to travel via rainbow would be so cool, she mused, and turned her attention to Lacey’s door. She reached up to knock but paused when she heard a voice on the other side.
‘How long have you been stuck here?’ Lacey’s voice asked. There was a pause. ‘Really? That long. You poor thing. I guess that means you knew Poseidon. What was he like?’ Another pause. ‘That’s good that you got along with him. Too bad about his wife, Amphitrite. So what can I do to help you?’ This time the silence lasted for about thirty seconds before Lacey said, ‘Oh yes, I can do that.’
Hailey frowned. Is Lacey talking to herself, or does the person she’s with have a really quiet voice? But how would they have known Poseidon? Unease washed over Hailey like a tidal wave ploughing through a city. What if it’s a nereid? What if Nemertes used the sea-monster attack as a distraction to sneak back into the palace? What if she’s wandering from dorm to dorm charming students long enough for her to stab them with a coral knife? Or poison them with a sea-urchin spike?
Hailey threw open Lacey’s door, so sure Nemertes would be inside that she opened her mouth to shout out her name. ‘Nem—’ She snapped her mouth closed when she saw Lacey sitting on the bed closest to the door. She was alone. ‘Where’s Nemertes?’ Hailey’s gaze darted around the dorm. Maybe she hid in a corner when I opened the door.
Lacey cocked an eyebrow. ‘Nemertes?’
‘Yes. You were talking to a nereid just then, weren’t you?’ She peeked under the beds. Nothing. ‘You can’t trust them. They’re evil.’
‘Oh.’ Lacey’s face brightened with realisation. ‘I wasn’t talking to a nereid.’
‘Then who were you talking to?’
‘A woman... she’s gone now.’
Now it was Hailey’s turn to cock an eyebrow. ‘I didn’t see anyone leave.’
‘Of course you didn’t—only I can see her.’
Hailey’s eyebrow rose even higher. Either Lacey was completely insane, or she had an invisible friend.
‘Why are you looking at me like that? Oh, you think I’m crazy, don’t you? I forgot to say that I’m a Hermes. I’m always forgetting to tell people that part.’
‘Oh,’ Hailey said, relaxing now that she knew she wasn’t standing in a room with someone who was hearing voices—voices that could potentially tell her to “kill the Zeus”. ‘You see the dead.’
Lacey nodded. ‘Yep.’
Hailey remembered Lacey saying something about the person knowing Poseidon. She hoped it wasn’t an ex-nereid who was seeking revenge from beyond the grave. ‘What did you mean when you said the shade must have known Poseidon? Was it a dead nereid? Because I doubt you can trust those ones either.’
‘It wasn’t a nereid,’ Lacey assured her. ‘She was a human who’s been trapped here since before the gods died. She told me Poseidon had a crush on her and brought her back here to… you know… do stuff. Anyway, Amphitrite found out she was here and killed her. Amphitrite apparently stole her necklace, which was a family heirloom, and then tossed the woman’s body in a secret passageway. She can’t move on until I return the necklace to her body.’
‘That’s so sad.’ How horrible to be kidnapped, murdered, and then turned into a shade, forced to walk the hallways of a palace where no one can see you. Poseidon’s Academy mustn’t have had a Hermes who could see the dead before… or maybe it had, but the student hadn’t wanted to waste time helping shades cross over to the afterlife. How many other dead bodies are lying around the palace?
‘Is that my notebook?’ Lacey’s eyes locked on to the book in Hailey’s hand.
‘Yes.’ She handed it to her. ‘I found it under my desk in Ancient History.’
‘Thanks. It’s where I write down all my ideas.’
‘Well, I better go.’ Hailey moved to the door, her hand automatically touching her heart pendant. She paused, thinking about her dad. He’d moved on, she knew that. Or at least she assumed he had. But what if he was still waiting around, watching over her? She turned back to Lacey, her stomach giving an excited lurch. ‘Lacey, do you see anyone with me?’
Lacey stared over Hailey’s shoulder. ‘No. Should I?’
Hailey’s heart fell like an anchor sinking to the bottom of the sea, and her hand dropped from her necklace. ‘I guess not. My dad died seven years ago. I thought maybe he might still be hanging around.’
‘Technically the dead have to reveal themselves to me. He could be here but not want me to know. It’s a complicated gift.’
‘He’s probably already moved on, which is a good thing.’ Hailey swallowed down the lump in her throat. ‘See you around.’
She walked back towards her common room, trying not to focus on the pain squeezing her heart. She’d give anything to talk to her dad again. She’d gotten to do it just over a year ago in the Underworld. He’d saved her life. But was that really him? Or was it my subconscious creating a vision of what I’d wanted to hear and see so I could break free of the Erinys trying to kill me with her torturous gaze? Hailey shook her head. It didn’t matter. Her dad was dead. Nothing would ever change that.
12
Nightmares
Hailey stepped into the grounds and frowned. It was completely deserted. Not a single student was outside. But what was even weirder were the trees. All the jewel trees had been replaced with pearl trees. Hailey scratched her head. Why would Amathia only want pearl trees in the grounds?
A tremor shot through the ground, sending pearls raining down from branches and scattering over the diamond floor. They exploded open, hundreds of beanstalks shooting into the air.
Hailey whirled to run back into the palace, but something latched around her leg, and the next thing she knew, she was being hauled into the air. The blood rushed to her head and she stiffened, not daring to breathe, afraid the slightest movement would slip her ankle free of the vine gripping her and she’d crash back to the ground, which was somewhere below the puffs of white cloud.
Hailey wasn’t sure she could create a gust of wind strong enough to catch her from this height. Please stop. Please stop, she kept thinking over and over again, squeezing her eyes shut so she couldn’t see the clouds below.
And then the beanstalk stilled.
Hailey dared to open her eyes. She blinked a few times to make sense of the upside-down image she was seeing. A palace perched on a gigantic cloud. ‘No, I can’t be here,’ Hailey stammered, grabbing the vine wrapped around her ankle and yanking. She needed to get away. Get back down to Poseidon’s palace before one of the Olympians showed up.
‘Let me help.’
Hailey snapped her head back just in time to see a bolt of lightning shoot towards her.
No, not again! Hailey woke up with a gasp. I know the nereids are evil! she yelled at her subconscious. I don’t need your stupid dreams warning me and freaking me out even more. This year was meant to be different for Hailey. It was meant to be freeing. A year where she could enjoy her classes and not worry about the nereids trying to kill everyone off. But somehow the nereids had managed to send sea-mon
sters to attack the palace. What if they send an army of sea-monsters next time? Will they be able to break through the anti-monster spell Amathia had the Hecates weave into the force field? Will they kill everyone?
The bigger question is: will they find a way to resurrect the gods? What’s in Olympus that Poseidon wants them to find? Are the gods up there right now, waiting for someone to read a spell left by Hecate? Is there another wand?
Hailey pulled her pillow over her head and screamed into it. The nereids ruin everything. Maybe them being banished was a bad thing. At least when they’d been here, Hailey had been able to keep an eye on them. But now they were gone, and she had no idea where they were. And even if she did, it wasn’t as if she could go there and spy on them.
Hailey chucked the pillow away and rolled out of bed, the pearl floor cool beneath her feet. She needed something to distract her from her thoughts. Maybe Kendra would be down in the stable and they could go for another ride on Rain. She shoved her feet into ballet flats and tiptoed through the dark, slipping into the hallway and then through to the common room, where she smacked into something hard.
‘Oops.’ Someone grabbed Hailey’s arm before she could lose her balance. ‘Sorry.’
‘Hailey?’
Hailey blinked, staring into a pair of glowing amber eyes. ‘Oh, it’s you, Elora,’ she said, glancing at the orb of light in the girl’s hand, which burned as bright as a fireball, but was actually a miniature sun.
‘Hey, Hailey,’ Kallie, the girl beside Elora said, smiling wide enough for Hailey to see all of her teeth.
‘You got your braces off,’ Hailey noted.
‘Yep.’ Kallie rolled her tongue over her teeth. ‘Still getting used to how smooth they feel.’
Poseidon's Academy Box Set Page 73
