by Belle Malory
That was probably the smart thing to do, but something, a greater force maybe, kept me planted in my seat.
Riley was the only person here that stood a real chance at beating me, but I knew she was after a much larger victory than a pot of wots and lixers. Part of me wanted to do as Xander suggested and run, but another, more hopeful part factored in the opportunity. A few rounds of poker would force my sister and I to interact. It could remind her of all the good memories we shared, before we became enemies. The night might not be ruined after all…
I also knew Riley’s tells, an advantage I could use. And we could finally talk. The surrounding crowd didn’t exactly allow for privacy, but it was better than nothing.
“Let’s do it.” I looked straight at her, refusing to cower.
Everyone stopped what they were doing, gawking in silence. The tension in the room grew by the second, like a ticking bomb about to explode.
Trailed by Calypso and Anastasia, Riley approached the table and sat in the chair across from me. She dropped the purse’s contents on the table, making me wonder where she’d gotten all of that money. Certainly not from Dad, who had forbidden her to enroll at Arcadia. Not Grandpa either, who was away searching for Dad.
“Deal.” She gestured to my stack of cards.
I slid the cards into a row and then back again, never taking my eyes off her. There was a noticeable gleam in her gaze. She was up to something. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I would find out soon enough.
For a while, we took turns winning hands, playing it safe. Sometimes she would fold, sometimes I would. Neither of us made any risky moves. I lost a few wots to her pair of queens, then she lost it back to my pair of nines. I caught on to her when she was bluffing. She’d fan back her hair or carefully arch a brow. But overall, it was a pretty boring game. I tried to talk to her between hands, just little things like, “Remember that time you hid cards under your shirt, then you forgot and got up to pee, and they all fell out on the way to the bathroom?”
Riley only nodded and said, “Yep.”
“Or the time we invited the Littles over,” I said with a meaningful laugh. The Littles were our younger, homeschooled neighbors. Dad made us invite them, even though Riley and I thought the sister and brother duo were super weird. “Remember how Bethany kept farting and blaming her brother, and he kept referring to himself in the third person, by his full name. Every hand started with, Jeremy Little calls.”
It was a story we used to cackle over for hours, but Riley didn’t even crack a smile.
I let out a small breath.
This wasn’t working.
My stomach sank as a frightening thought crept into my head. Maybe the sister I remembered no longer existed. As far as I could tell, this one was a stranger.
Riley took our game to the next level. “Why don’t we make things more interesting?” she suggested, staring at the flop I dealt. “A little bet.”
“What kind of bet?”
My cards were good. Really good. Whatever she had in mind, she was going down.
“The loser jumps from the Ledge of Doom. Tonight, right after this game.”
I frowned. Here she was, just looking for another way to kill me. It was so predictable, I rolled my eyes.
“I’m not interested.”
“House Ares is no place for cowards.”
“Neither is it a place for killers.” I stared pointedly at her, and she shifted in her seat. It was the first sign of discomfort she’d shown since arriving. A win, in my book.
“I’m not a killer,” she said, adding a cheerful, “yet.”
I tightened my grip around my cards. “This house stands for heroism, bravery, and strength—”
“Exactly.” Her voice sharpened. “And if you had any of those traits, you’d take the bet.”
Everyone surrounding us stared expectantly. Oh, she was good, putting me on the spot like this. If I didn’t take her stupid bet, none of them would ever truly believe I belonged, and I was already on shaky ground as it was.
I hid my hand and spun around in my seat, whispering to Xander, “What’s this Cliff of Doom she’s talking about?”
“Ledge of Doom,” Xander corrected. “It’s only about forty to fifty feet high, but it doesn’t get its name from its height.”
Ten feet? That wasn’t so bad. “What’s at the bottom?”
“The Inlet of Sorrows. Trust me, you don’t want to jump in there.”
Good grief, what was up with these terrifying names?
Reina pushed Xander aside and leaned down to my chair height, keeping her voice low. “The inlet is home to a den of vicious, extremely jealous mermaids. If they notice you, they’ll steal your beauty.”
I gulped. “Steal my beauty?”
She nodded. “They’re afraid of fire though. If you’ve got enough practice, you can handle them, no problem.”
Her words boosted my confidence. Fire-magic was one of my better skills. If she was right about the mermaids, I had nothing to worry about. I was also sitting pretty with a really amazing hand, a straight draw. Riley’s odds of beating me with these cards were minimal at best.
“You’ve got this, Sheridan.” Reina patted my arm. “Take that wretched sister of yours down.”
I looked up at Xander. His face was like stone, but I caught the worry in his gaze. He nodded, letting me know all I needed. It was up to me.
This wasn’t just about defeating my sister. I had to accept her challenge or else I’d look weak.
“Fine.” I spun back around in my chair. “I agree to your terms, but if I win, you don’t jump from the ledge.”
She pursed her lips. “What do you want?”
A loaded question—what did I want?
For her to stop trying to kill me, for one, but I knew better than to ask for that. She would never agree.
“Dinner tomorrow night.” I offered a weak smile. “Just the two of us. An hour or two of your time while you hear me out about our…” Prying eyes were all around us, so I chose my words carefully. “Our situation.”
I wanted to propose my plan to go after Persephone’s Cure. Xander would realize it too, and he wouldn’t be happy. Maybe it was my imagination, but I swear I felt his furious gaze bore into my back.
“Agreed.” Riley nodded.
She accepted my terms a little too quickly, but I wasn’t worried. My hand was golden.
I dealt out the last card. A king came on the river, making my straight that much stronger.
“Moment of truth,” Riley said, arching her brow. “Whatcha got, Sher Bear?”
Hearing her use my family’s pet nickname in front of everyone, especially with a derisive tone, boiled my blood. I was going to enjoy beating her with all of House Ares watching.
I laid down my cards, watching her gaze absorb the weight of my hand. “Straight high.”
She clicked her tongue. “Oh, that’s a good hand.”
I smiled, pleased with myself. “Thanks.”
“Just not good enough.”
My stomach hollowed. No.
She flattened her cards against the table. “A full house for you, sister. We know a thing or two about those, don’t we?”
I swallowed. She’d won. Riley had actually beaten me, and she didn’t even have to use magic.
A giant hiccup rose in my chest.
6
“You don’t have to do this,” Xander said, swallowing. “We can just leave. Right now, me and you.”
We stood on the ledge, staring out at the inlet, along with Reina and Cassius. They surrounded me, looking anxious with their crinkled brows and their matching worried gazes.
“If I don’t jump, I’ll look weak.”
“So look weak,” he practically growled. “Better than you getting hurt.”
“Xander, I agreed to the terms. I have to do this.”
His jaw ticked, but he didn’t argue. As much as he might wish it were otherwise, we both knew it was too late to back out now.
&n
bsp; The ledge lay flat over the water, about fifty feet down, just as Xander said. I gazed down at the glassy surface, wishing I had more confidence in my magic. Bibliomagery came naturally, but the rest I was still learning as I went. Creating fire wasn’t all that difficult. That, I could do easily. Directing it, though, could be tricky.
It didn’t help that Riley and her trio of gremlins had banded together across the inlet, their lawn chairs parked in the dewy grass, and they brought popcorn. I was their freak sideshow act for the night. Down below, Calypso rounded her hands over her mouth, shouting, “Time to jump, Two! We don’t have all night!”
Xander scowled. “Don’t let them get in your head. The best thing you can do is stay focused on getting to the shore as quickly as possible.” His voice had turned calm, a trait of his that only occurred when he was afraid and trying not to show it. If there was nothing to worry about, he’d crack jokes or make fun of me, and he wasn’t doing either of those things.
Reina pulled me away from Xander, offering her own advice. “Ignore those petty bitches. The less attention you give them, the more disappointed they’ll be.”
But Riley was hard to ignore. She sat perched in her lawn chair like it was a throne, watching one of her subjects get beheaded, her cool gaze lit with undeniable satisfaction. In that moment, I hated her. Destroying her didn’t sound half bad, curse or no curse.
Looking away, I tried to get a grip on myself. I would deal with her later. For now, I had to focus on getting through the inlet.
Reina blew her bangs out of her eyes and gave me a once over. She squeezed my biceps, clicking her tongue. “Not much physical strength, eh?”
“You’re not very good at pep talks.”
She smirked. “I just meant you need to rely on magic. And ditch the toga. It will only slow you down. The mermaids will just rip it off anyway.”
Rip it off? Oh, dear god.
At my look of horror, Reina squeezed my hand. “Don’t freak out. You’ve got this, Sheridan.”
“That’s right,” Cassius said from behind her. “Mermaids are child’s play.”
I offered a half-smile, grateful for his enthusiasm, even if I didn’t fully believe him. “Thanks, Cassius.”
This was obviously way worse than they were letting on.
“Do you know how to perform an underwater spell?” Reina said.
“What do you mean?”
“Produce fire underwater. To fend off the mermaids.”
I balled my hands into fists, trying to maintain my composure. Fire magic was a fairly new skill. I knew nothing about using it underwater.
“No, I don’t.” My situation was looking bleaker by the second. Clearly, I hadn’t thought this bet through all the way.
Her mouth twitched, and I caught her worried look right before she shook it off. “It’s fine. You’ll be fine.”
Yeah, I didn’t detect a crap-ton of confidence there. “I’m fish bait, aren’t I?”
At that point, Xander stepped between us, letting out an impatient breath. “I’ve got it from here, Reina.” He steered me back around to face him. “Repeat after me: liquidus ignis.”
“Liquidus ignis.”
He nodded. “Good. While you say it, become one with the fire. Give it as much strength as you can.”
“Exactly how am I supposed to say the spell if I’m underwater?”
“Find a moment when you’re not. Say it right away or even as you jump. Don’t give the mermaids a chance to get to you.”
I looked down at the murky water again, noticing ripples that hadn’t been there before. The mermaids likely knew we were here, just waiting for some fool mage to jump. Waiting for me. I was the fool mage because I agreed to a stupid fool’s bet.
“Maybe I’ll get lucky and they won’t want my beauty.”
This stupid fool mage could still hope.
Xander reached for me and pressed his lips hard against mine. I raised my brows, caught off guard by the kiss. His magic flowed through me, building confidence along with sparks of heat in my lower belly. He pulled away just as quickly, his gaze tinged with desire and something else. Fear. “That’s not possible,” he said, trying to hide it. “So you had better swim fast.”
My cheeks flushed. “Thanks, gladiator.”
“If anything happens, I’ll come for you,” he reassured me, his voice shaky.
“Please don’t.” I gestured to the surrounding students. Nearly every Ares House member was here, watching for sport. “You have to let me do this on my own.”
House Ares demanded both bravery and independence. If Xander helped me, I would always be seen as his weak, defenseless girlfriend. I didn’t want that for either of us.
I moved toward the ledge, each step growing heavier than the last. Squeezing my eyes shut, I tore off my toga, stripping down to my underwear. A dozen or so whistles and cheers came my way, along with a few irritating catcalls. I blocked them out, focusing on the water below. Rippling, murky, without sign of mermaids.
“Good luck, Sheridan!” Reina called out from behind me. Cassius cheered with her. For people I’d just met, their blind support made me adore them.
Unlike his friends, Xander didn’t stick around to watch. He made his way back down the hill, getting ready to meet me at the inlet’s shore. I knew he wanted to get down there quickly, in case anything went wrong. Even though I told him not to help, he probably wouldn’t respect my wishes. If shit hit the fan, he would come for me. My strategy was to jump fast, before he had the chance to intervene. It would take him a minute or two to climb down, and that meant I had some time while he couldn’t see what was happening.
Pebbles shook free where I stepped, creating more ripples. I squatted low, wanting to propel myself as far as possible. That way, it wouldn’t be such a long swim and the mermaids would have less opportunity to catch me.
Here goes nothing.
I took one last shaky breath and jumped, the crowd around me falling silent. I chanted the spell as Xander instructed, hoping I got it right.
Fire soared around me like a cocoon of heat. Seconds later, I submerged into an icy blast of water. The fire extinguished instantly. The bone-chilling temperature distracted me, causing me to lose my hold on the spell. Lovely. Time for Plan B—swim fast.
Now defenseless, I stroked my way back to the surface, praying I got there in time to repeat the spell before the mermaids found me. I emerged from the surface, gasping and swallowing air. “Liquidus—”
Before I could finish, my head was yanked back by my hair.
No!
The mermaids attacked quickly. Beneath the water it was too dark to see in any direction, but their skin glowed like moonlight, swishing around me faster than eels. I counted at least three, including the one gripping my hair. They were not like mermaids from fairy tales. These kind looked like they’d emerged straight from a nightmare; rows of razor-sharp teeth, bulbous, hungry eyes, and their tails felt like sandpaper scraping against my legs.
“A remarkable color.” The one who had my hair yanked harder, as if she were trying to rip it from my scalp. “I want it.”
Her voice was lyrical, a siren call moving in waves of delight. Even through the pain, the way she spoke made me want to give her whatever she desired.
“Yessss,” said one of the others, fanning her talon-like fingers down the side of my arm. “And her skin is so soft.”
Her nails dug into my flesh, drawing blood.
“Share the spoils, sisters,” the third hissed, her yellow eyes blazing. All three reached for me, their greedy fingers clawing. They scratched me over and over, as if they were trying to flay the skin from my bones. I ground my teeth together to keep from crying out, knowing I’d swallow saltwater if I did.
My hair was ripped from my scalp. Teeth gnawed against my skin. The pain was excruciating.
“She’s a fighter.” The yellow-eyed sounded impressed.
A fighter—ha! If I was a better one, I would scourge their inlet until it w
as dried up and there was nothing left but fish bones and ash. But every time I managed to knock one of them aside, another was there to get me, and I was running short on oxygen. I wouldn’t last much longer.
Think. Think. Think.
I’d read books on sea magic, a few on sea creatures—was there anything useful in them? I combed through the files of my mind, panicking because I needed air.
The ancient text, Tales of Symbol Magic, came to me. Diagrams appeared in my head, one for shields, another to harness an energy blast. I didn’t waste time debating how they worked, but I mimicked the symbols with my hands, circling my wrists, and steering my fingers in perfect execution from the book.
Pressure rose up from beneath me, causing the mermaids to stop their attack. “What is happening?”
The pressure mounted, and the water formed a barrier around me. “She’s a mage!” the other hissed, just as they were blasted outward. The magic worked like a bomb, sending the mermaids spiraling through the water.
As soon as they were gone, I swam toward the surface. Gasping for breath, I lingered there for several long moments, staring at the full moon overhead, grateful to feel the air going in and out of my lungs. It was frightening to think about, but had I been down there a few more seconds, I wouldn’t have made it back.
Eventually, I forced my aching body to move again, heading to the shore. Digging my fingers into the muddy ground, I pulled myself up, thrilled to be out of the water. Sorrows—ha! They should call it Inlet of Horrors.
But thank god, it was over. I paid up in full on that bet, and I walked away without once looking back, hoping to never encounter another mermaid ever again.
Now, to deal with the mages.
All of their eyes were on me, making me feel self-conscious. Absently, I noticed the way my hair no longer touched my shoulders. What was left of it was matted to my scalp in short patches. Two of my fingernails were dug from the nailbeds. Blood mixed with salt water dripped from my rough, scratched skin. I hissed at one particularly bad scrape on my foot, glancing down at it.
