It’s what Hailey was thinking too. The front yard was at least an acre of green grass dotted with hundreds of statues, which ranged from Theseus wrestling the original minotaur, to Grecian men and women posing. There were so many statues Hailey wondered if some of them were gorgon victims. She’d heard that people liked to collect them, which she thought was creepy. Honestly, who would want a statue that had once been a person?
‘I can’t wait to see inside,’ Demi chimed, nearing the white mansion.
The mansion reminded Hailey of an ancient Greek temple, with a row of towering columns out front and a pediment.
Hailey walked up the four steps to the portico. She was reaching for the lion door knocker when the doors swung open. A gangly man wearing glasses stood on the other side, beaming. ‘You must be Alec’s friends. Well, come in.’ Hailey recognised his voice from the gate.
She stepped into the entryway, which was big enough to fit Hailey’s entire house in. The floor was made of white marble, and polished columns decorated the interior. Gold-leaf ornate patterns adorned the ceiling, and a wide marble staircase sat in the centre of the room.
‘I’m Alaric,’ the man in glasses said.
‘And I’m Amelie.’ A woman with blonde hair glided down the stairs, her red Grecian dress flowing out behind her. ‘It’s so nice to finally meet you both.’
‘Yes, we were starting to think Alec was making you up,’ Alaric added with a wink.
‘Dad, stop it.’ Alec strode in from one of the other rooms with Jayden.
‘I can’t believe you kept the fact that you’re rich a secret,’ Demi said to Alec, her voice bordering on accusatory.
‘Demi, it’s rude to say stuff like that,’ Jayden rebuked her.
‘We’re not rich,’ Alec countered. ‘The TripleAS—The Archaeological Ancient Artefacts Society—loaned us this place.’
‘Oh.’ Demi’s face fell. ‘Well, I’d still like a tour.’
‘Sure. I—’
‘I’d be happy to oblige.’ Alaric beamed, clapping his hands together.
‘Maybe we should let Alec give the tour,’ Amelie suggested.
‘Nonsense. I used to receive five-star reviews for the tours I conducted back in Rome and Greece.’
Sorry, Amelie mouthed to Alec, who sighed.
‘Let’s begin,’ Alaric said, leading them off to the left, where they entered a large room crowded with ancient bowls, jugs, pots, pitchers, and vases. A few of the artefacts were enclosed in glass cabinets—mainly the ones Hailey remembered as black-figure and red-figure pottery—but most stood on pedestals.
‘Okay, let’s start from the beginning.’ Alaric moseyed up to a tall jug painted with circles and lines. ‘This is an amphora, which encompasses the decorative style known as proto-geometric. The reason it’s called this is because—’
‘Dad,’ Alec moaned. ‘They didn’t come here for a history lesson. We’re on holidays, remember?’
‘Oh.’ Alaric’s shoulders slumped.
‘No, it’s okay,’ Jayden said. ‘I think this stuff is interesting.’
‘You don’t have to lie,’ Alec told him. ‘Trust me, this tour will last five hours if you show any interest.’
Five hours! ‘Maybe you could tell us about your favourite artefacts,’ Hailey suggested, not wanting to hurt Alaric’s feelings.
Alaric brightened. ‘What a great idea. But I don’t know how I’ll ever choose.’
‘Got any swords?’ Demi asked.
Alaric’s face brightened even more and his chest puffed up. ‘Oh, yes, follow me.’
He led them down a hallway lined with more Greek vases and pots, and into a long room teaming with weapons. It reminded Hailey of the Ares room in her Powers classroom, with swords, axes, spears, bows, and a bunch of other weapons Hailey didn’t know the names of bordering the walls. A few of them even sat in glass cases around the room.
‘This is my favourite sword.’ Alaric strolled towards a sword lying on a satin pillow in a glass case. The sword was slightly curved, and its silver metal glittered with the faintest tinge of blue. ‘This was Perseus’s sword.’
Demi’s jaw dropped. ‘The one he slayed Medusa with?’ She pressed her fingers against the glass.
Alaric nodded. ‘Yes.’
‘Not exactly the same though, Dad,’ Alec corrected.
‘Oh, of course not,’ Alaric said. ‘It’s just a replica. Everything in our home is—but it’s an exact replica, so it’s basically like having the real thing.’
‘So it’s a fake.’ Demi leaned away from the glass, leaving her fingerprints behind on the case.
‘Let’s move on to the next exhibit,’ Alaric suggested.
The next hour consisted of him leading them into various rooms, where he showed them replicas of Achilles’s shield, Harmonia’s necklace, Heracles’s club, and the Golden Fleece. The whole time Hailey felt as though she were being guided through a museum.
‘Here we are, last stop on the tour,’ Alaric announced, stopping outside a pair of wooden doors carved with images of monsters and creatures like gorgons, hydras, griffins, pegasi, and nymphs.
Demi’s eyes widened. ‘Ooh, what’s behind there?’
Alaric pushed the doors in. ‘The library.’
The library was an enormous room circled with shelves of books raised almost to the ceiling, and tall ladders with wheels placed at various points. In the room’s centre an oak tree grew, with egg-shaped swinging chairs hanging from its branches.
‘Wow!’ Demi exclaimed.
‘This is incredible,’ Hailey gasped, gawking at the tree.
‘You must have every book in the world,’ Jayden remarked, his eyes scanning the hundreds of shelves.
‘We keep the good ones buried,’ Alaric said, pulling on a candelabra beside the door.
Hailey stumbled back a step as the wooden floorboards in the library retracted like an electric window, revealing a floor of tomes that looked about a thousand years old. ‘What are these?’ Hailey crouched down to read the titles inscribed on the books’ spines: The Odyssey, The Histories, Hecate’s Spells and Potions, Asclepius’s Book of Healing…
‘Original texts,’ Alaric said with a proud smile.
Jayden stroked a hand over the books. ‘How’d you get them?’
‘Being an archaeologist has some advantages,’ he said with a wink.
‘Sorry I’m late.’ Aaron was striding towards them, his face a thinly veiled mask of anger.
‘I’ll leave you to it.’ Alaric pulled the candelabra again, watching the wooden floor conceal the ancient texts before wandering off.
‘Everything okay?’ Jayden asked Aaron.
‘Fine.’ Aaron’s voice was tight.
Hailey noticed his hands were clenched into fists. ‘Are you sure?’
‘I had a fight with my dad, okay.’
‘About what?’ Demi asked. ‘Doing chores? My dad is always bugging me about helping out around the house when I’m home. It’s so annoying. I’m on holidays. I shouldn’t have to work.’
‘It doesn’t matter. He’s stubborn, that’s all.’ Aaron blew out a breath, his hands uncurling. ‘So what are we doing?’
‘Checking for more secret passageways,’ Demi declared, flitting into the library and randomly tugging on books.
Hailey wandered in after her, relaxing into one of the egg chairs dangling from the oak tree. ‘I would love a library like this,’ she said, gently swinging back and forth, inhaling the tree’s rich earthy scent mingled with the musty smell of books.
‘Is this real gold?’ Demi reached for a gold apple perched on one of the bookshelves.
‘Demi, stop!’ Alec cried.
Demi’s fingers brushed against the apple, and a high-pitched screech exploded in the room. Hailey’s hands flew to her ears, trying to block out the ear-splitting shriek, which was as loud as a blaring fire alarm.
‘What’s happening?’ Demi yelled over the screeching.
One of the bookcases creaked op
en, revealing a dark passageway. A nine-headed monster double the height of Hailey slithered from it on a serpent tail.
‘Circe, stop,’ Alec ordered. ‘Go back to your room.’
The monster hissed and slithered back into the passageway, the bookcase slamming shut behind it and the blaring coming to an end.
Hailey couldn’t speak. She was frozen and beyond confused. A hydra just came out of a bookcase. It wasn’t a fully grown one. But still… It was a freaking hydra! How is that possible?
‘Everything okay?’ Alaric hovered in the doorway. ‘Did someone set off the alarm?’
‘Yeah, Demi touched the apple of discord,’ Alec explained.
‘Oh, sorry, I forgot to say don’t touch anything but the books on the shelves.’ Alaric shrugged and smiled, acting as if it was perfectly normal to have a hydra hiding in a secret passageway. ‘Well, now you know.’
‘What in Tartarus was that?!’ Demi exclaimed after Alaric left.
‘Circe—she’s a guard hydra. There are passageways behind the walls that she lives in. If anyone touches anything they’re not meant to, an alarm sounds and Circe comes.’
Jayden cocked an eyebrow. ‘Why do you need a guard hydra?’
‘My dad’s really protective of his replicas.’
9
Coup
Hailey materialised before a sea glistening like aquamarines, sapphires, and turquoises. She breathed in, the sea’s crisp salty scent awakened her senses, reminding her of the salty air at Poseidon’s Academy.
‘Welcome back, Hailey.’ Madam Grayson was standing beside her, and ticked Hailey’s name off a list.
Hailey scooted out of the way before the next student scheduled to materialise squished her. She glanced around the island, which was a tropical beach formed of sand so white it looked like powdered sugar. Most of the students were lounging under coconut trees, but a few—including Demi, Jayden, and Alec—were wandering around the beach. Hailey figured the teachers would open the portal soon, so decided to wheel her suitcase over to the second years instead of chasing after her friends.
She dropped down on the sand, leaning her back against a coconut tree. The other second years were a yard away, sitting on their suitcases or reclining in the sand while they chatted to their friends. Aaron plunked down beside her a minute later with a huff.
‘Everything okay?’ she asked, sensing the fury radiating from him.
Aaron stared at the ground. ‘Not really.’
‘What’s wrong? Is it about your dad?’
‘Yeah.’
‘You still fighting?’
‘Yep.’ Aaron chucked a fistful of sand towards the glistening sea, the wind catching it and spraying it into the air like dust.
‘Do you want to tell me why?’
Aaron’s eyes remained on the ground. ‘I can’t. Not yet.’
‘Okay... Well, whenever you’re ready to talk about it, I’m here for you.’
‘We’ll see about that.’
Hailey frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean some things are unforgivable.’ His gaze shifted to hers. ‘Whatever happens next, I want you to know I’ll always think of you and the others as friends, even if you don’t feel the same way about me.’
‘Aaron, I don’t understand,’ Hailey said, beginning to really worry about him. He sounded as if he was losing his mind. Maybe the trauma from the Underworld was doing more damage than she’d originally thought. ‘Does this have something to do with the Underworld?’ Her voice was barely a whisper, not wanting anyone to overhear.
Aaron sighed. ‘You’ll find out soon enough.’ He climbed to his feet and stalked off.
‘What’s that about?’ Demi asked, strolling over to Hailey with Jayden and Alec.
‘I don’t know.’ Hailey watched Aaron kick sand into the sea. ‘For some reason he thinks we’re planning to cut him out of our group.’
‘Unfortunately for him, that’s never going to happen,’ Demi said. ‘I’ll go tell him that.’
Jayden grabbed her arm. ‘Maybe give him some space.’
‘Has he said anything to you about his dad?’ Hailey asked Alec, standing up and wiping sand from her skirt and the back of her legs.
Alec shook his head. ‘He never talks about him. I’ve only met him once, and he was kind of scary—he’s in the military.’
‘Ooh, look, Master Anderson is about to open the portal to the Academy,’ Demi interrupted.
Master Anderson marched to the shore’s edge. A blue orb the size of a coconut shone in his hand, and Hailey caught the briefest glimpse of a tornado raging inside the glass before Master Anderson pitched it into the sea. The orb sank with a tiny plop. ‘Vatnaa kiat unam,’ Master Anderson called out the Goldarin words to open the portal.
Hailey pressed her hands to her ears and winced at the CRACK that followed. The intensity of it shook the ground like an earthquake, and the sea whipped into a frenzy, spinning into a whirlpool.
The fifth, fourth, and third years jumped into the swirling sea before Madam Grayson announced it was the second years’ turn. Hailey scooted towards the whirlpool with Demi, Jayden, and Alec, where she stared at the churning water, remembering how terrified she’d been last year. She felt only excitement now, eager to get back to the Academy.
She quickly glanced around for Aaron, spotting him at the back of the line that had formed behind her and her friends. She almost called out to him, but decided to give him his space for now. She’d find him once they were at the palace and see if she could figure out why he thought she was suddenly going to hate him. Unless he’d teamed up with the nereids to bring back the gods, there wasn’t anything she could think of that was unforgivable.
‘Everyone ready?’ Demi’s excited voice drew Hailey’s attention back to the whirlpool. ‘Jump.’
Hailey tightened her grip on her suitcase and leapt into the sea with her friends, the water spinning around them like a tornado.
‘I love this!’ Demi squealed.
‘Me too.’ Sea-spray misted against Hailey’s face, making her tongue taste like salt. The water vanished and she slipped through the air, landing on the grounds’ diamond floor.
Hailey’s jaw dropped.
About thirty men and women garbed in black circled the grounds. They held what looked like submachine guns—blue, red, purple, white, and yellow buttons glowed on each gun, right near the trigger. The intruders had various other weapons, like knives and throwing stars, strapped around their waists. What is this? A takeover? Hailey gulped as the possibility of this being a terrorist attack hit her.
‘Join the others.’ Master Anderson was beside them, holding the orb he’d thrown into the sea. He said it calmly, but Hailey could see a slight shake to his hands.
Hailey broke out of her surprise and shuffled over to the other students, who stood about ten yards from the palace’s entrance. A mixture of terror, anger, and excitement covered the students’ faces. Hailey wasn’t sure which one she felt. But she was pretty sure that whatever was about to happen was bad.
‘Are we under attack?’ Demi whispered.
‘I hope not.’ Hailey gulped again when she spotted a man with two gigantic swords strapped to his back. Please let this be a simple robbery or something. Do pirates still exist?
‘How did they get here?’ Alec asked quietly, his eyes darting to the tornado of water swirling two feet above Master Anderson’s head, acting as though he wanted to jump straight back through and escape to the beach.
‘No idea,’ Jayden said. ‘But stay calm. I’m sure everything will be all right. Amathia will take care of it.’
Amathia was standing in front of the palace’s entrance, a man in black beside her. ‘I hope you’re right.’ Hailey prayed to the Tyches that Amathia had asked the intruders here for something—maybe to arrest her sisters—and that they’d be gone soon.
Gradually, the other second years dropped through the portal, soon followed by the first years, and finally the teachers.
Everyone’s jaw dropped the moment they touched into the grounds and saw the people in black. Madam Norwood actually grabbed a potion bottle from her Grecian dress, but Master Anderson gave a tiny head shake and waved his hand for her to put it away before any of the intruders saw. Reluctantly, she did.
‘Welcome back,’ Amathia said, her calm voice sweeping over the grounds.
The black-clad man stepped in front of her, hitting a button on his wrist watch before lifting it towards his mouth. ‘Things have changed since you left,’ he said, the watch amplifying his voice like a speaker. ‘I’m Colonel Jake Wynton, the commanding officer of the Procurement and Exploration Team. PET for short. We’re here to explore the palace and procure anything of value that can contribute to the advancement of our race. We’d hoped to have completed our mission by your return, but we encountered a roadblock of sorts.’ He shot Amathia a pointed look. ‘Until we can complete our mission, we will remain here. When this is over, the palace’s location will be handed to the government, who will take possession of the school. That is all.’
Jake marched into the palace, and the rest of his team dissembled. A few of them followed after him, but most remained in the grounds, their fingers hovering near the triggers of their guns as they waited to see how everyone would react.
Hailey was in shock; the military had taken over the school. So many questions were racing through her head, she couldn’t decide which ones to ask. How did they find the palace? What are they looking for? Will they use their guns on us? What will happen to the school now? Will it remain a school, or will the government turn it into a museum?
‘I can’t believe it,’ Alec hissed, looking as if he’d been punched in the stomach.
‘I know. A SWAT team or whatever has taken over the Academy. It’s just like a movie,’ Demi said, a flicker of excitement passing over her features.
Alec shook his head, a mixture of confusion and betrayal on his face. ‘Not that. That colonel was Aaron’s dad.’
‘What?!’ Hailey, Demi, and Jayden exclaimed in unison.
Demi’s eyes narrowed. ‘Why would Aaron’s dad be taking over the school?’
‘I don’t know, but that was definitely him. And his surname is Wynton—the same as Aaron’s.’
Poseidon's Academy and the Deadly Disease Page 10
