Demi cocked an eyebrow. ‘Aaron’s surname is Wynton? How did I not know that?’
‘Everyone, that was Aaron’s dad,’ someone shouted.
Hailey whirled around and glared at Venus. Her accusation spread like wildfire, and Hailey heard Aaron’s name being whispered and hissed all around her, until every student’s gaze landed on Aaron, who lurked behind the second years, his face crestfallen. His eyes settled on Hailey, desperate, as though he wanted her to save him from this somehow. But she remained rooted to the spot as her mind tried to comprehend what was happening.
Did Aaron really betray us? No, he would never do that... But it explained his weird behaviour. He wasn’t freaked out about the Underworld. His dad was planning a takeover the whole time—that’s why Aaron’s been acting weird.
The realisation seared Hailey’s chest like fire. Aaron had lied to her about the Underworld. She felt completely betrayed, especially since she’d opened up to him about her fears. Her chest tightened even more when she realised he must’ve been lying to her and everyone else since they’d first met. Was he ever really her friend? Or had he pretended the whole time?
Hailey didn’t notice she was shaking her head until Aaron’s shoulders slumped. He fought his way through the glaring crowd, escaping into the palace.
‘There’s more of us than them,’ someone shouted. ‘ATTACK!’
‘DON’T!’ Madam Grayson yelled.
Time moved quickly after that—so quickly Hailey didn’t comprehend what was happening until it was over.
Waves roared through the force field. Fireballs soared across the grounds. Tree branches stretched out like claws. Icicles sailed through the air like daggers. All of it heading directly for the intruders.
PET fired their guns.
A blast of yellow light shot towards the students like a force field, ploughing into them. Students dropped the second the light touched them, twitching on the ground as if in a deep sleep.
The charging waves folded to the ground, the fireballs puffed into smoke, the tree branches froze, and the icicles melted mid-air before anything could so much as touch PET.
Hailey was lucky enough to be standing far enough back that the yellow light didn’t touch her. She blinked, gazing at the two-hundred-and-something students lying on the ground. How did PET take them down so fast?
‘What did you do?!’ Master Anderson demanded, storming towards a PET member who had three scars that looked like claw marks carved into his right cheek.
Scar fired his gun.
Master Anderson crumpled to the ground.
‘I—’ Madam Norwood began.
‘Would you like to join your friend?’ Scar cut her off, aiming his gun directly at the Powers teacher, a mere two yards away from him. Her hand reached for the potion hidden in her dress, but Madam Grayson stepped in front of her.
‘I think you have proven you are in control here,’ Madam Grayson told the intruders. ‘No one else make a move,’ she ordered, staring around at the remaining two hundred students, who looked too shocked by the unconscious bodies to even breathe, before gazing over her shoulder to Madam Norwood and the five other teachers. ‘That goes for teachers too.’
‘We’ve only stunned-gunned everyone,’ Scar said, raising his voice so all could hear, ‘but the next person or people who attack us are getting blasted full of electricity.’ He hit the glowing blue button on his gun, his eyes combing over the students and teachers, waiting, almost begging, for someone to make a move.
No one was that stupid.
About five minutes had passed before the stunned students regained consciousness. Everyone had scattered after that. Hailey and her friends hadn’t known what to do, so they’d just sat down, beside a coral garden, their suitcases strewn about them.
‘Maybe it’s not what it looks like,’ Jayden said, breaking the silence.
‘How is it not what it looks like?’ Demi snapped, shooting a glare towards a soldier walking the grounds’ perimeter. ‘Aaron’s dad just took over the school. Do you really think that’s a coincidence, especially considering how weird he’s been acting lately?’
‘As the saying goes, there are always two sides to a story,’ Jayden countered.
‘Let’s find out the second side.’ Hailey sprang up. She wanted to know the truth. But more than anything, she was holding on to a small sliver of hope that maybe she was wrong. Maybe Aaron wasn’t a part of this at all. Maybe his dad had tricked him somehow.
‘Okay,’ Alec agreed, looking as though he’d just found out he’d lost his powers. ‘I need to understand too.’
The four of them marched into the palace and up to the fourth floor, where they found students whispering in corners, while two of the intruders stood by the staircase, watching.
Hailey stormed towards the boys’ dormitories, not caring about getting into trouble for breaking the rules. She needed answers. And she needed them now. She grabbed the door handle.
‘Hailey, wait.’
The voice belonged to Madam Grayson. Hailey spun around to face her. ‘I have to see Aaron. I need to know what’s happening.’
‘I know,’ Madam Grayson said to Hailey’s surprise—she’d expected her to say that wasn’t an excuse to break into the boys’ dorms. ‘But he’s not in there. No one knows where he is. If you find him, tell him Amathia wants to see him.’
‘Where would he be?’ Demi said after Madam Grayson walked off.
‘Hiding,’ Hailey replied, and suddenly had an idea of where. ‘Come on, I think I know where he is.’ She descended the stairs down to the entryway and veered through the left archway, fairly confident Aaron was borrowing her hiding spot.
Hailey burst into the stable and marched straight to Rain’s stall, peering over the gate and finding Aaron crouched in the corner. Rain was lying next to him, enjoying being scratched behind the ears.
Aaron’s eyes widened for a split second when he saw them, and then his face morphed into a mask of indifference. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘Looking for you.’ Hailey unlatched the gate and held it open. ‘There’s not enough room in there for all of us.’
With a heavy sigh, Aaron came out of Rain’s stall.
‘Well,’ Demi prompted, crossing her arms, ‘we’re waiting.’
‘What do you want me to say? I think you’ve already worked out the truth for yourselves.’
‘We want to hear it from you,’ Jayden said. ‘What’s really going on?’
Aaron shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants. ‘Fine. My dad is in charge of PET.’
‘We know that already. Did he trick you into giving up the palace’s location?’ Hailey asked. Although she had no idea how he could have done that since none of them actually knew where it was, as it was always moving through the sea.
‘No,’ Aaron said, and then hesitated. ‘I suppose it won’t make things worse to tell you the truth… When Poseidon’s Academy announced they were accepting Others, my dad made sure I got in. This whole thing has been a mission. I was sent here to help him and his team. Last year was recognisance. I needed to explore as much of the palace as I could and map it out for him—the wand helped a lot with that. I also profiled teachers to learn what powers they had so my dad’s team would know what they were up against. I told him everything,’ Aaron admitted, lowering his eyes. ‘They found a really powerful Hecate to create a spell and potion that would link them to the travelling magic in a Hermes stamp, since letters are the only things able to materialise in here from the outside world.’
‘How could you?’ Demi stared at Aaron as if he’d just stabbed her through the heart.
‘We’ve been friends for four years.’ Alec was giving Aaron the same hate-filled stare as Demi. ‘Were you lying the whole time?’
‘No.’ Aaron’s voice was desperate. ‘Just this past year. Our friendship wasn’t a lie, I promise. I’m sorry for what I’ve done. So, so sorry.’
Hailey clenched her teeth, anger bubbling in he
r stomach like a frothing cauldron about to boil over. Aaron had betrayed them on purpose, and all he could say was that he was sorry. ‘How’d you do it?’
‘I told you, with a Hermes stamp and letter.’
‘No. How’d you give your dad information about the Academy when there’s a spell that prevents us from talking or writing about the palace?’
‘I let an Athena look in my mind. I showed her the memories of everything I’d learned about the Academy.’
‘You’re a traitor!’ Demi spat. ‘This school will probably close down and become an attraction now because of you. I don’t ever want to see you again!’ She stormed from the stable.
Alec said nothing, merely shook his head and stalked off.
‘Come on, Hailey. Let’s go.’ Jayden tugged her arm.
‘Wait,’ Aaron said.
‘What?’ Hailey snapped.
‘My dad knows about the nereids.’
Jayden’s jaw dropped. ‘You told him about the Underworld?’
‘No. I kept my promise to Amathia on that one. But I told him they’re a threat and want the gods back in power. PET follows them everywhere now, and they’re not allowed in the sea. You don’t have to worry about spying on them anymore, or about them doing anything. You’re safe from them,’ he added the last bit with a pointed glance at Hailey.
‘Good to know.’ Hailey’s voice was pure ice. Did he really think getting his dad’s people to watch the nereids so Hailey didn’t have to was enough to make up for what he’d done? ‘And speaking of nereids, Amathia wants to see you.’
‘Good thing she can’t expel me, since my dad’s in charge now.’
Hailey didn’t even smirk. She turned her back on him and left.
10
Prison
Hailey half-opened her eyes to glance at the seashell and mother-of-pearl clock on the wall. ‘Medusa!’ she cursed, shooting out of bed when she saw it was 8am. She’d slept through the conch shell. ‘Demi,’ she shouted, rushing to her snoozing dorm mate ‘We’re going to be late for class.’
‘No classes today,’ Demi mumbled, rolling away from Hailey. ‘Military took over.’
‘Oh, right.’ Hailey’s chest squeezed as she remembered Aaron’s betrayal. She glanced back at her bed, feeling a strong urge to crawl under the covers and try to forget how messed up everything was.
No. I can’t hide. It won’t change anything. She also wanted to see what was happening. PET took down half the school population in seconds yesterday, but that was because they’d been ready for an attack. The teachers had probably come up with a plan to ambush them during the night and take control back—or maybe Amathia had figured out a way to dump them into the sea—surely there was some type of magical failsafe for if intruders broke into the palace.
The heaviness in Hailey’s chest lifted slightly and she smiled, realising there was no possible way the soldiers could still be in power. There’s probably a celebratory party happening right now.
She pulled on a pair of shorts and a top, shoved her feet into ballet flats, and stepped into the hallway. Her stomach dropped. A female soldier with jet black hair loomed in front of the door to the common room. I guess the teachers didn’t take control back.
‘No loitering in the hallway,’ the soldier barked.
Hailey blinked. Seriously? They weren’t even allowed to stand in the hallway.
‘I said no loitering,’ the soldier barked again.
‘Sorry,’ Hailey mumbled and strode towards her. She hesitated for a second when she neared the common room door, unsure if she was allowed to leave. But the soldier didn’t say anything when Hailey turned the handle and scooted outside.
The common room was unusually quiet and empty, with only fifteen or so students hanging around, sitting in groups and not saying anything. None of them were Jayden or Alec, or Aaron—not that she was looking for him.
A girl in one of the groups whispered to her friend, and a soldier Hailey hadn’t noticed standing by the stairs stormed towards her. ‘No whispering. If you want to talk, you do it loud enough that I can hear you.’
‘S-s-orry,’ the girl stuttered and lowered her eyes.
Why are there soldiers watching everyone? And why can’t anyone whisper? Hailey didn’t want to ask any of the second years here what was happening, in case the soldier yelled at her. The main hall will be a good place to get answers, she thought, figuring there’d be more students there.
Hailey strayed towards the gruff soldier guarding the stairs—it was the same soldier who had shot Master Anderson. She gulped when he focused his hard black eyes on her.
‘Where are you going?’ Scar demanded.
‘Um, the main hall… for breakfast.’
He grunted and stepped aside. Hailey hurried down the stairs to the entryway, where more soldiers stood in front of the left and right archway. What is going on? She didn’t want to be yelled at again for loitering, so she darted through the middle archway into the main hall, the mouth-watering scents of crispy bacon, hot sausages, flaky croissants, buttery waffles, and about a hundred other smells greeting her.
Big orbs of light floated beneath the ceiling, illuminating the hall, which was longer than it was wide. Over a hundred mother-of-pearl tables stretched across the vast space, each one covered in gold plates, goblets, and cutlery that glittered under the orbs’ light.
To Hailey’s relief, most of the tables were packed with students, who were actually talking. But there were soldiers too. Hailey counted four patrolling the rows of tables, no doubt eavesdropping on everyone’s conversations.
‘Hailey.’
Hailey followed the direction of Jayden’s voice and spotted him sitting with Alec on the right side of the hall. She wandered over and sat down on one of the ten scallop-shell chairs bordering the table. ‘What’s happening?’ She kept her voice quiet. ‘Are we in jail now or something?’
‘Some fourth and fifth years attacked a few soldiers last night.’ Jayden pushed around the scrambled eggs on his plate. ‘Guess the show PET put on yesterday in the grounds wasn’t enough to stop them. PET apparently stun-gunned them and slapped neutralising bracelets on their wrists. And now Aaron’s dad has decided to amp up security.’
Hailey flinched at the mention of Aaron’s name. ‘So did he ever go back to his dorm?’
‘I wouldn’t know.’ Alec stabbed his fork into the untouched sausage on his plate. ‘I moved my stuff into Aaron’s dorm and took the spare bed.’ He shoved his plate away.
‘I would have done the same. I’m sorry about this, Alec,’ Hailey added, imagining that he was feeling ten times more betrayed than her, since he’d been friends with Aaron the longest.
‘Don’t apologise for him, Hailey. He did this.’
‘At least he made it so that we don’t have to worry about the nereids anymore,’ Jayden pointed out, always managing to find some good in everything.
Hailey was relieved about that part. Now she wouldn’t have to spend hours hiding in the stable or having nightmares about the gods returning, but that still didn’t make what Aaron had done okay.
‘Thanks for ruining my sleep-in,’ Demi groused, plunking down beside Hailey.
‘Sorry, I forgot about all of this,’ Hailey said, motioning to the patrolling soldiers.
‘It’s ridiculous. I got yelled at for standing in the hallway. And then there was this big guy with scars on his face blocking the staircase. I told him to move and he was all like “where are you going?”.’
Jayden tensed. ‘Demi, please tell me you didn’t push him down the stairs.’
‘I considered it,’ Demi muttered. ‘But I didn’t,’ she added before touching her gold plate and summoning pancakes smothered in maple syrup, Nutella, and cookie dough ice cream. She brushed her fingers against her goblet and conjured a chocolate milkshake, complete with whipped cream and big chunks of chocolate.
Jayden clicked his tongue. ‘Ever heard of diabetes?’
‘I’m a stress eater.’ D
emi cut a piece of pancake and shovelled it into her mouth, sighing in content.
‘I think I’ll join you.’ Hailey touched her plate and closed her eyes, thinking of the unhealthiest breakfast she could. She opened her eyes a few seconds later, finding her gold plate had morphed into a bowl brimming with chocolate chip ice cream. Yum. She sank her spoon into it and mimicked Demi’s sigh of satisfaction when the ice cream’s sugary goodness hit her tongue. She supposed not having the teachers around to ensure everyone ate a healthy breakfast was one positive for PET being in charge—a tiny positive.
‘Ice cream for breakfast? I don’t think you need the extra calories.’
Hailey clenched her spoon and turned to meet Venus’s violet eyes. She was standing with the twins. ‘What do you want?’
‘To know why you did it,’ Venus said, acting as though Hailey had hurt her feelings, but she could see the hint of a smirk.
‘Did what?’ Demi tapped her fork impatiently against her plate.
‘Gave up Poseidon’s Academy to the military.’
‘That was Aaron,’ Alec corrected, his face hardening.
‘But you’re his best friends. You must have known what he was doing and were helping him.’ Venus shook her head. ‘It’s so disappointing.’
‘We didn’t know anything about it,’ Demi hissed through gritted teeth.
The students nearest them were staring, and Hailey realised exactly what Venus’s plan was: to make everyone hate them too. ‘You’re just trying to get back at us,’ Hailey snapped. ‘Go away.’
‘I know I’m right. You were always together, whispering about something, and then you went missing for days with some ridiculous excuse about getting locked in a room. You were scheming the whole time. Stop being cowards and admit it.’
‘We didn’t do anything wrong, Venus,’ Jayden said evenly.
‘Fine, keep lying, but I know the truth, and I’m sure the rest of the school does too.’
With a flick of her curls, Venus spun around with the twins and was hit in the back with a scoop of ice cream.
Hailey stared down at her hand, thinking she’d unconsciously thrown her ice cream. But her spoon was clean. She glanced at Demi, who was scooping ice cream off her pancakes, reloading for a second attack.
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