by Holly Hook
“Not yet,” I said. “What is it supposed to do?”
Wendy curled her super red lips into a frown and glanced behind her. “Have to go. I shouldn't even be talking to you.”
As she cut ahead of me, Wendy glanced behind her.
But no one was following.
I stood there in the hall as she turned the corner, leaving me alone in the corridor. I couldn't help but wonder if she'd been trying to tell me something.
Chapter Nine
It wasn't until Combat Training later that day that Max gave me a clue. Whether on purpose or on accident, I didn't know.
“So far this year,” he said, pacing in front of us, “we have been discussing situational awareness and escape strategies. Many of you in Strategy have done this as well. Now we will be putting it into practice.” Max eyed Serena. “Some of you are natural masters of stealth and I've discussed these matters with you.”
I shuddered. Natural masters of stealth?
Max then glanced at me with a small nod, almost imperceptible, and I knew Ronin was once again working in the background. My Combat Training instructor was trying to tell me something and it was about Serena. Ronin had dug something up. The gods themselves might have given him an idea.
Others had my back, but I still had to do the scary part myself.
“And others among you are masters of attack,” Max said, addressing no one. “Today, we begin a new assignment. I will randomly assign each one of you to a target, and you will spend the rest of this semester hunting your target on campus and off. The object of your assignment is to overcome and knock out your target. Disable them. I will grade each one of you based on your performance.”
Mutters floated up and down the line of third years. It was clear this was something new.
"Ted never warned me about this assignment," Maria said.
Or something new the gods had invented.
Students had never hunted each other on campus before. At least, I hadn't seen the third and fourth years before us jumping each other in the halls.
But no one dared to ask questions. Most people still feared Max the drill sergeant on some level, despite him being a decent and fair teacher.
“None of you will know who is hunting you,” Max said. “Therefore, each one of you will be forced to practice situational awareness at all times. Your unknown enemy could hunt you at any point between now and the end of the year, and how long and how well you fend off the attack will factor into your grade.”
“How are you going to grade us?” Wendy asked out of turn.
Max turned a glare on her. "You will wear bracelets provided by some of Olympian's messengers. They will be infused with the power of Hermes and will report directly to an app on my phone."
People looked at each other.
And an invisible foot kicked me in the gut.
Tracking bracelets? That wasn't invasive or anything. Would they track everything? Me and Ronin having fun?
I looked to Max, but he already walked over to the weapons rack. Since most people carried their birthright weapons around campus now, the rack was mostly empty except for a metal toolbox on the top. Max opened it and motioned for us all to step closer.
Then he cleared his throat and shook his head as if changing his mind. "One at a time," he said. "I need to assign each one of you a target and explain how this works."
I wondered if Max would help me out here. Max waved Serena forward, and the two talked in low voices for a few minutes before Max handed Serena a golden bracelet with a dark digital screen on one side.
"They're tracking us," Maria said.
"Not good," Tiffany added. "Do they report when we go to the bathroom, too?"
"Don't give the school any ideas," Jamal said.
Maria looked to me, but she didn't smile or crack a joke about me and Ronin. There was nothing funny about surveillance.
Mikey went next, and after Max spoke to him and ordered him to slap his bracelet on, he returned, a confused look on his face. As Mikey re-joined the line, he pulled at his bracelet, but it was stuck on him. In fact, I couldn't see where it fastened together. The golden ring hugged his skin in a perfect fit. Technology and magic had joined into one. "Who made these infernal things?" he asked.
"The school?" I asked, but Max was waving me forward.
Wendy watched me, eyebrow lifted, before Serena tugged on her sleeve. I walked up to Max, and he swiped through his phone for a moment before sneaking an actual smile at me.
Yeah. Max smiled.
"You need a little help tracking the big cheese, don't you?" he asked.
"Huh?" I whispered.
Ronin. What had he done yesterday?
"Your victim is Serena," Max said in a very low voice. "I got a special request. You need her power. Attack her and take it, and you get an automatic five for the semester. Understand?"
This assignment.
It was Ronin and the gods' doing. They wanted me to slip Prometheus the forgetful water because the oath stopped them from doing it themselves. They wanted me to trick him into letting me leave. Max was just the messenger.
I sensed Wendy watching me. A faint thrum of dread filled the air. Even if we were no longer enemies, her presence could be intimidating.
"And who's tracking me?" I asked.
"I'm not allowed to say," Max said. The he lowered his voice to a dangerous level. "Be careful when you take her power. It can accelerate your progress past levels you can handle. I'd give you the app so you can keep an eye on her, but then someone could track you and catch you."
* * * * *
Even though I sensed who my attacker could be—who it had to be if Ronin had a say in this—I kept looking over my shoulder for the rest of the day, practicing that situational awareness Max had been lecturing about. Always know an exit. Always go over what you'll do if someone attacks you at this moment. I wore my fake Chaos Dagger on my belt all the time now and I kept my hand just over it, pretending to be ready.
I couldn't wait to see Ronin waiting up at my dorm after school. And he was up there, arms folded, a smug grin on his face as he leaned against my door.
"Ronin." My heart swelled as I kissed him, standing on my tiptoes. Then once I was sure the hallway was clear, I gave him a gentle pinch on the butt.
"Giselle!" He gasped in pleasure and surprise.
"We do more than that every afternoon. Now, spill. How did you work this out?" I held up my hand, which now donned the bracelet Max had made me take. The digital screen read idle in yellow text. As if I were a car.
At least Max had assured me that idle meant the bracelet wasn't recording my actions. It was only to activate when I started fighting.
"Turned out Hermes was at the meeting," Ronin said. "Zeus wasn't happy, but with the other gods there, he stayed calm. I only heard a couple of thunderclaps. I explained my case to the gods and told them Prometheus was keeping you tied up. Zeus suggested we start training all weekend, sunrise to sundown, to make up for what Celestus is doing, but I put my foot down."
"You what?" I backed off from Ronin in shock. When it came to putting himself on the line, only Maria rivaled him.
"I told him the truth. That you wouldn't train well if you never got any rest," he said, putting his hands on his hips. "The other gods sided with me. Power in numbers, baby."
"But you want me to train at Olympian," I said. Something more was going on here.
"Yes, but permanently." A frown flickered across Ronin's face. "I also told them about your stunt with the Lethe water. I have to say that Zeus was impressed."
I stared Ronin down, mouth falling open. "You what?"
"That's the second time you've said that." He offered the first sheepish grin he'd ever given me.
I slapped my hand on the wall and let my fingers splay out. Ronin. Had told the gods. Everything. "Our stunt was supposed to stay a secret." My heart raced. Had Ronin caved to the gods' pressure?
"Giselle. You have to understand. The gods want yo
u to be able to transfer, too, and they're getting desperate. Even they can't remove Prometheus's mark. Only the titan can do that and he doesn't trust the gods, even if he signed the oath. I guess a lot of bad blood happened between them in the past that we don't know about."
I thought back to Mrs. Ershaw's words about the gods being people. People who didn't want their faults and embarrassments public.
"They want to help us," Ronin finished.
"You told them what we did." I turned my back, pulse roaring in my ears. Ronin should have let me know right away that he wanted to do that. Now Zeus knew I had the guts to sneak around. He might have even figured out I snuck into his office at the power plant with Elliot's help.
"I had to." Ronin closed his hand around my shoulder. "They needed to see progress."
"Let go of me!" The low groan of Chaos filled my head, but I stormed down the stairs. Emotion was winning. Why was I being so irrational? Ronin hadn't had a choice. He'd just been trying to save me from a miserable existence.
"Giselle, what else was I supposed to do? The gods were furious. I hated to give in to them, believe me. I swallowed my pride."
I whirled right on the steps, almost losing my balance. "Now they probably know Maria and Cal and Mikey and Wendy helped me. They're targets for punishment now." Was that what was bothering me? That explanation didn't feel right, either.
Ronin paled. "Nothing's happened to them."
"Yet. Ronin, the gods don't want Wendy in their school. Even if she gets in, they'll consider her the taint of Hades, won't they?" I sucked in a breath, shocked at the words that came out of my mouth. I hadn't meant to say that. In fact, I hadn't meant to have the thought. I was trying to help her transfer. But I felt a duty to protect Wendy after all she'd done for us.
Ronin worked his jaw. Uh, oh. "They would have figured out her involvement anyway when she got transferred."
"That's not the point. Now Zeus knows I sneak around."
"I had to tell him!"
I swallowed, hating that I was angry at Ronin.
"Giselle, this was hard enough," Ronin said, spreading his arms across the top of the stairwell. "I was stupid to just tell them what we did and I'm sorry. But look. We have these bracelets now and Max is on our side. The gods set this assignment up with him to help us. Now you can attack Serena and Prometheus won't suspect what you're doing."
I breathed out, begging the low groan in me to calm down. It obeyed. I wasn't being logical. What was wrong with me? Ronin had done me a huge favor and here I was, yelling at him.
"Are you okay?" Ronin crept down the stairs. "For a second, you had those purple flecks in your eyes again."
I gulped. Ice spread through me.
"I need to take some more of that herb," I said. "I have to train with Celestus again in half an hour." My ears rang. Despite my morning dose and making love to Ronin every evening, I was still progressing. And to get to Prometheus, I'd have to dive in even deeper.
"Maybe," Ronin said. His tone dropped to the center of the world and I knew this wasn't the time for love. Neither of us would get into the mood now. I thought back to my first year. Pamira's party. The crack into the void I opened in the earth. That was one of the last times my friends had seen the purple flecks in my eyes—the sure mark of a primordial immortal—and now I had just done it again.
"We have to find Serena tonight," I said. "What power of hers can help me get close to the titan, anyway?"
"Ask Celestus," Ronin said. "Come on. We've taken up some time and we should get out there and talk to him before he makes you start. See if we can get some clues."
Ronin linked hands with me once he joined me on the stairwell, as if he sensed that I needed to feel his electricity. While the lightning forking under my skin helped to chase away the darkness, I still sensed I needed another dose of the asphodel. Once we reached the bottom of the stairs, I held up my free hand, stopping us, and I dropped my backpack and fished out the vial. While I had several more in my dorm, I didn't have much left in this particular one.
"Giselle, you can't rely on this stuff forever."
"You think I don't know? Everything we're doing is just a band-aid."
"That's my point."
My stomach turned and I hated that I'd started this. "I'm sorry, Ronin. I don't know what's bothering me."
"You're excused. They've put you in the middle of this and it's not fair. None of this is fair. It's exactly what I feared. And it's why I didn't want to train you at first."
I took a bit of the asphodel. This was my first time taking more than one dose per day. The deathly cold spread through me as Ronin wrapped his arms around me from behind. Even his warmth and power couldn't chase the awful weak sensation that spread through me every time, and since the herb was already in my system, the effect was amplified. A shudder stole over me and I dropped the vial, which shattered on the floor and spilled the crushed white petals everywhere.
"Shit," Ronin said. At me or at the spill, I didn't know. "My point exactly. You can't be getting hooked on a substance."
"It's not a drug," I protested. Ronin let go of me and scooped up the petals into his hand before tossing them in the nearest public trash can.
A few first years way down the hall stopped and watched. Two guys and a girl then backpedaled around the corner and disappeared. As if they'd seen something they hadn't wanted to see.
"Yes, it technically is," Ronin said. "Once you're at Olympian you won't have to do this. Let's go get this training over with. Then we figure out how to track Prometheus."
Chapter Ten
I wasn't sure what was bothering me more: the fact that Ronin thought I was becoming an addict or the fact that he'd told the gods what we'd done. But I sensed we were almost to the end of this nightmare.
Even though Celestus was having me attack him now, not shadow creatures. He remained at the other end of the arena at all times, daring me to reach him, but every time I charged, he dodged. Just like an elf, Celestus was quick on his feet.
But at least that didn't put my powers into overdrive.
October blurred into November. The Halloween party passed without incident, and though I kept the Lethe water in my pocket, Prometheus didn't show at the party. Nor was he chilling in his office when I checked. The principal tended to leave us alone on Fridays.
For now, taking the second dose of asphodel before fighting Celestus was helping. Sure, I felt weak and cold afterwards, and for a longer period than I did when I only took it once, but the herb was doing its job.
Even if I could barely stay awake in class now.
Even if I nodded off during Advanced Magic.
And Career Exploration? Screw that. I resorted to scribbling in my journal, but at least Celestus just lectured about self employment most of the time. My entire performance was going down the tubes and I couldn't bear to tell Maria and Mikey what I was doing. Their gazes constantly asked what was wrong.
Celestus kept watching me through the whole class. So did Serena. She was trying not to make it obvious she knew I could be her stalker, but she kept stealing glances at me through class. So did Wendy, but she looked at me in ways as if to warn me that Serena had figured it out on her own. After that day in Combat Training, Wendy's group would have told one another who they'd been assigned to attack.
And she needed another chance to talk to me.
Once classes let out that day and I headed up to my room, progressing slowly through the second floor of the dorms, Wendy attacked.
She did it as I was walking past a group of huddled second years, too. The group of girls screamed as footfalls approached me from behind.
"Watch out!" one yelled at me.
Another motioned for me to dodge. "Behind you!"
I sensed the low thrum of dread a split second before a glowing green blade wrapped around me from behind. Green energy filled me at the cold contact and Wendy took advantage of my shock, pulling me back and around a corner. I breathed in, taking in some of that U
nderworld energy by mistake, and I tensed, trying to keep my senses. I hated the way Wendy's magic made me feel. It attuned me to the darkest aspects of everything.
"Shh," Wendy hissed in my ear. "I have to beat you up to make this look legit. You're my assignment. Sorry." She lifted the blade and decked me under the chin with the dull side, making my teeth grind together. Spots exploded in my vision just as the second year girls followed us around the corner, mouths open as they watched the fight.
"Whoa!" A girl lifted her phone to record.
"Get out of here!" Wendy shouted at them.
Pain exploded through my head and refused to go away. The double dose of asphodel was making it harder for me to heal. Wendy might not realize. "Let go—"
She hit me on the side of my head with her fist. More spots exploded in my vision and the second years, now in another universe, screamed and retreated. Wendy was laying on the terror. Dread filled my gut. Every time I blinked, greenish faces leered at me, but weakness still ruled and I couldn't grab onto Wendy's power. All I could do was slump in her grasp.
"Party. Nine tomorrow," she said as if addressing an audience. "You aren't supposed to go, loser. Enjoy hanging out with your monster friends like you do every Friday night."
And with that, she let go.
I fell to the floor, landing on my hands and knees. Nausea ripped at my guts in response to the pain.
Wendy laughed, but I sensed no joy in it. Why be cruel when no one else was around? The second years had gone. And why did she need to keep a mean face up to them, anyway?
As she walked away, her golden bracelet beeped.
And then just before I blinked, I saw it, despite the fact that everything was spinning.
A shadow, merging with the other shadows of the corridor, waiting for Wendy. Vaguely humanoid, it shifted as Wendy approached and followed her around the corner like the world's creepiest stalker.
