Goddess Academy: The Complete Reverse Harem Collection

by Clara Hartley

  “Pour it.”

  Pleading red eyes stared up at me.

  I hesitated.

  This was too cruel.

  “Please, Caramel,” the professor said. “Or would you like to get more marks deducted? The more you fall behind, the longer you’ll need to catch up, and you don’t want to face the consequences of being behind. I can assure you that it won’t be the least bit pleasant.”

  I knew that very well. I raised the beaker of my potion slowly, almost hearing the clock on the wall tick. It really was only a rat. Rats died all the time. They bred like, well… rats, and there was no shortage of them in the world, even here in the Sanctuary.

  But I knew the creature could feel, and I was not a violent person.

  “Carame—”

  Francesca Bitchface got tired of my dallying. She snatched the beaker from me and poured its contents over the creature. The rat shrieked, begging for the torment to stop. Its white fur burned, turning a blackish color. Its shrieks clawed at my eardrums, and I winced while watching its pain. I lasted for a minute before I had to turn away. Watching it die like that was too much for me to handle, and even though I thought like a badass, I got super squeamish at gore. It really wasn’t as bad as seeing the half-blood genocide, but terrible nevertheless. When the squealing stopped, I allowed myself to peer back. Bitchface had kept her eyes fixed on the rat dying the entire time. She had a heart of ice.

  “Hm,” Professor Lochlan said. “No reaction.” At first, I thought he was talking about the rat, but then I noticed his blue eyes studying me intently. “The goddess used to grow passionate when seeing things die.”

  Goddess? What was he talking about?

  Grief swallowed me, weighing heavily on my heart. Injustice! The rat didn’t have to die like that. It was a poor little creature that deserved to be free and happy in the wild. Instead, it had died pathetically. I grabbed an empty beaker and squeezed. I didn’t have to squeeze very hard to make the beaker crack. A shard punctured my palm and buried itself into my flesh. The physical pain was nothing compared to the tight cinching of my heart. The rat didn’t have to die.

  Whoa. I frowned at my reaction. Why did I have so many emotions? It was only a rat.

  “Cara?” I recognized Hansel’s voice.

  “She’s a bit out of it,” Dana said.

  “Hey, calm down.” He’d grabbed my shoulder and shook it. My vision focused when I noticed him snapping his fingers in front of my eyes. “It’s all right. It was an experiment. You’re fine.” He wouldn’t stop throwing words of reassurance at me, and I latched on to his voice, using it to calm down.

  I shut my eyes tight and took deep breaths. When I opened them again, normalcy had returned. I let the beaker go. Groaning, I pulled the shard of glass out of my skin. I breathed through clenched teeth to cope with the slicing pain. What had come over me?

  Professor Lochlan stared at me. A deep cut had formed between his brows. “This isn’t good at all.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “No kidding. I’d be worried about your mental health if you said otherwise.” I pulled the corners of my lips up and attempted sheepish laughter. I was scared of myself. I’d turned crazy for a split second there. There were too many uncontrollable emotions raging throughout me. I recalled episodes of this when I was younger, but I’d stopped experiencing them long ago. I didn’t even get them when I saw Max fucking that Asian chick.

  The professor pulled out his clipboard from his sling bag. With a feathery pen, he scrawled onto it. I questioned what he was writing when I saw the magical, glittery scoreboard at the front of the classroom dissipate before returning anew with different figures. My name now sat in the center of the list. I’d climbed from the bottom of the class.

  “Fairness is encouraged,” Lochlan said. “I commend you for your speed and efforts. Your team was the quickest at creating a workable and effective potion, as evidenced by what happened with the rat.”

  Hansel forced a smile at me. “Good job, Cara.”

  I knew he was attempting to be encouraging, but he did little to appease my anxiety.

  I glanced down at my palm. “Well, at least we have less to be concerned about with that whole grading thing.” The wound slashed right across my skin and bled a violent red. I was afraid I’d have to confront the side of me I’d always wanted to ignore.

  Chapter Three

  “Try to look at the bright side of things, Cara,” I said to myself. I was already showing signs of going crazy, so why fight it? What was so bad about going full-on apeshit? Crazy people had an excuse to do whatever the fuck they wanted, and that seemed pretty fun. “There’s a giant heap of bodies you might join soon, but at least the scenery is great. You can have endless amounts of red velvet cake, too. I’m surrounded by guys who are willing to massage my feet whenever I want. Well, at least a couple of them are. What more can a girl ask for?” I peered at the textbook in front of me. “But then there’s… homework.”

  I sat next to the desk of my new room. The lights here were different from what we had on Earth. The lamp didn’t need to be fueled by electricity. Instead, it was a glass ball that had pretty little sprites dancing in it. The sprites looked happy doing their thing. They were shaped like women, moving about using their fairy-like wings. Occasionally, they’d stop to wave at me, serving as the distraction I needed from study. I’d spent three whole minutes trying to interact with the sprites. But then they got bored of me and lounged around.

  Homework.

  I hated homework. Back on Earth, I hardly ever turned it in on time. That was one reason why I’d flunked out. I was too busy trying to create awesome tunes. Why look at math when musical notes were so much prettier? Half-blood homework was just as boring as human homework.

  I’d drawn a whole page of treble clefts on the notebook next to me using my new feather pen. I used the back of the feather to tickle my jaw. It felt nice. Maybe I should do that for another five minutes. Anything to keep me from having to look through the monster-load of papers in front of me.

  “It’s not even that thick,” Hansel said, chuckling. He picked up the stack of paper in front of me and flipped through it. Had I said my complaint aloud again? “It’s so thin. Ten pages at most.”

  “It is the worst,” I said. “I flunked out of one school because of homework, and I don’t doubt that this is going to hold me back too. I was born with a curse. I have a terrible affliction of bad reading skills. It’s why I can’t study.” I palmed the top of my forehead and shook my head. I was starting to get a migraine. I blamed it on the tiny letters on the page.

  “You can get through this in half an hour.” Hansel seemed amused at my whining.

  “Oh, you overestimate me.”

  “And yet you can write such beautiful music,” Hansel said, running a thumb over the score I’d written on my notebook. He began humming. He had perfect pitch, which surprised me. I hadn’t realized that Hansel was musically inclined, and finding that out caused him to be infinitely more interesting. “What’s the difference? I assume that the alphabet should be easier to get through. Most people prefer to read English.”

  “I’m not like most people.” I was convinced that I’d been dropped on my head when I was a baby. I was slower than most kids, yet fast at the same time. Sometimes I viewed myself as a walking contradiction. But then again, most people were. I groaned. My headache got worse. I was confusing myself with all this philosophical bullshit. I just wanted to sleep and forget about everything—homework, especially. “Can I burn it?” I asked. I had to go through all the properties of potion ingredients, and staring at chaotic mess of foreign terms encouraged my brain to shut down.

  Hansel chuckled, flipping through the pages again before setting the stack back on my desk.

  “What’s the problem?” Theo asked, appearing at the doorway. “Is there anything you need help with?” He grinned at me, friendly as usual. He was the prototypical friendly giant. Theo had a set of shoulders that looked dependable. I cou
ld rest my head on them all day, and he seemed like the type to give those he loved big bear hugs that might accidentally crush them. His charismatic presence was emphasized by his sandy beach waves and sun-kissed skin. He strode closer to me with a confident swagger and peered over my shoulder. “Having trouble with schoolwork?”

  “It’s killing me,” I said. “I don’t have much to leave behind, but once my homework is done murdering me, please tell Lydia I love her and that I thank her for everything that she’s given me. Also, help me flip Agness off. If you do it every day for the rest of eternity, that’d be preferable.”

  Theo snorted. “Drama queen.” He still wore his bright smile. “Which part do you not understand? I’ll help you with it.”

  “The reading part. What are words? Words are what?” My brain was just being lazy, which I thought was perfectly fine. Everybody needed to be lazy every so often.

  Hansel gave me a confused look. “The worksheets are for your own good. It’s practice so that you can be ahead of your peers. There are going to be examinations at the end of the year, and the sooner you make this information second nature, the better.”

  “You should have seen me in high school.” I sighed and picked up my feather pen again before dragging the topmost worksheet closer to my chest. I stared at the first question. I might as well get it over with.

  Liam came in right after, still dragging Fenrir at his ankles. “You know what? This dog is getting hella annoying. Can you please, please get it off me?”

  “But it’s adorable,” I said, loving how Liam’s problems provided a perfect distraction from mine. I dropped my pen. “Aren’t you cute, Fenrir?” Fenrir didn’t look at me and continued hopping around Liam’s shoes. The creature had no eyes for me. Liam was his everything.

  “C’mon,” Liam said. “I’ve been asking for two days, now.”

  I shrugged. “Can’t help you.”

  “Of course you can. You magicked the damn dog to like me. You should be able to magic all this unnecessary love away.” Liam’s gaze snapped toward my wand, which sat next to the stack of demonic papers.

  “First of all,” Theo began, “Fenrir isn’t a ‘damn dog.’ It’s a mythical beast that was created from the chiasma itself, feared by villagers all over Haven.”

  “Yeah,” Liam replied, “but it’s nothing but an irritating puppy now.”

  “Secondly.” Theo raised a finger. “We shouldn’t remove its attraction to you like that. Right now, it’s the only thing stopping it from turning into a giant beast that’ll rip our throats out and alert the entire goddess council that we entered the morgue.”

  Liam pushed a lock of raven hair away from his face. “I’ll be damned if this thing’s going to be stuck with me for the rest of my life.”

  “Life’s not fair, sweetheart,” I muttered, redirecting my focus to the balcony. I sensed someone coming from there. When did I get the ability to sense things like that? Maybe I was going through goddess puberty. “Besides, I don’t know how to make someone stop loving. I haven’t figured out that part of my powers yet.”

  “Seriously?” Liam asked. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  I let the matter rest, too tired to continue arguing over something I couldn’t control. Hansel strode over to Liam’s ankles and picked Fenrir up. He cocked his head at the puppy, who was whining because it couldn’t be close to Liam anymore. Fenrir scratched at Hansel’s wrists, eager to get down and continue its mission to love Liam to death.

  My instincts had been right. There was commotion at the balcony. Glancing there, I spotted Devon coming down, riding what looked like a… carpet?

  I rubbed my eyes and squinted, arching my neck closer to the sight. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Devon stood over the rug with a straight posture and his arms folded across his chest. He angled his chin upward, acting as if he hadn’t just entered in a completely ridiculous manner.

  What was this? Fucking Aladdin?

  I wouldn’t be surprised if flying brooms came zipping about. Anything could happen in this messed-up dream. I should pinch myself again.

  “Yo,” he said, hopping off the carpet, hands in his pockets in his casual I Don’t Give a Fuck swagger.

  I shook my finger at his mode of transport. “You look like you just walked out of a Disney movie.” An R-rated one, at least. Guys like him were too sexy to defile the innocent minds of children. His entire appearance screamed sex. Devon was lick-worthy.

  “Again with the licking,” Hansel said with amusement. “I’m glad you did a lot of that when we shared the night together.”

  My cheeks warmed.

  “You shared a night together?” Liam asked, jealousy seeping into his voice. “When?”

  Hansel raised his hands. “Not like that. I was helping Cara take her mind off things.”

  Liam backed off, though he continued to eye Hansel with suspicion. What did he care? From the way he treated me, he seemed to hate my guts.

  Devon cocked his head. “What’s Disney?” he asked.

  My eyes widened. “You guys don’t have that here?”

  “Nope.”

  My jaw hung open. After shutting my mouth, I said, “What sad, pitiable childhoods. Why the magic carpet?” I pointed over his shoulder.

  “It’s a magical artifact,” Devon said. “And it’s our way out of the Sanctuary and to my father’s place. You did say you wanted to go there after class, right?”

  “Oh.” I’d almost forgotten about that arrangement My long day with my back-to-back classes and demonic stack of homework had distracted me from our plans. I really needed a diary or something to ensure I stopped becoming so ditzy. “I remember that.”

  Devon scrunched his nose at me, indicating that he didn’t buy my lie.

  Theo regarded the strange vehicle with a curious expression. “How is this supposed to work as an escape?”

  Devon ran his hand across the fabric of the rug, acting as if it were a pet instead of a non-sentient being. If only Liam treated Fenrir with the same amount of respect. I was beginning to feel sorry for the beast. Unreciprocated love was a bitch.

  “The Sanctuary is guarded all around by a barrier that senses every time someone steps out of it. If you touch it, an army of brightlings will come chasing after you and you’ll be put in detention. This carpet, however, is what Agness and her vassals invented during their time as students. It’s hundreds of years old and it can cancel out the barrier’s magic. That’s why it’s our ticket out of this place.”

  “How’d you get it?” I asked.

  Devon pulled his hands out of his pockets and proudly folded his arms across his chest. “Stole it from my dad before coming here. He’s been looking for it since.” I noted the cocky look on his face.

  I wasn’t sure if stealing was something to be proud of. From his own parents, no less.

  Hansel was making his way toward the carpet when Devon raised a hand. “Nuh uh,” he said. “Not you. Just Cara.”

  “And why not?” Hansel said, failing miserably at hiding his offense.

  “My father doesn’t like too many visitors. You’ve heard of the Cierro household. We’re a bit snobbish like that. And you’re not full-fledged vassals yet. My father would allow a half-blood, but he’d be offended if you guys were allowed in.”

  “The Cierro household?” I asked.

  “Devon’s family,” Hansel replied. “They have high standards of excellence and are basically aristocrats. Devon’s lucky to be born in it.”

  “Lucky. Yeah. Maybe,” Devon said.

  Liam scowled. “What about me? My dad’s got the wealth.”

  Devon raked his eyes down Liam’s body. He pursed his lips, then shook his head. “Nah.”

  Liam leaned backward. “What do you mean, nah?”

  “The sun’s going to set soon,” Devon said, “and we want to make certain we get back on time so Cara gets enough sleep. Let’s stop squabbling over insignificant details.”

  “I kind of really want t
o punch you right now. I’m going to reveal to the rest of the guys about that time with Excalibur.”

  Excalibur? That sword existed?

  “You’re just going to twist the story,” Devon responded, getting defensive. My ears perked up as I waited for them to spill more juice. Devon slackened. “Go ahead, tell them. You were being just as dumb, anyway.”

  I held my breath and looked between them, but no juice was spilled and my gossip meter was left terribly dry.

  “C’mon, Cara.” He waved me forward and led me to the carpet.

  Hesitantly, I followed him. I stopped in front of the carpet and rubbed my arm. “Is this thing safe?”

  “I can tell you it is.”

  “Are there any safety mechanisms? What if I slip and fall from it?”

  “Then that’s too bad.”

  “Really? You’re not going to assure me or anything? At least lie a little bit about it being safe? That’s what people normally do, right?”

  Devon hummed and tilted his head, as if considering, and after a long pause, he shook his head and replied, “Nope.”

  “You are so undiplomatic it’s baffling.”

  “Are you coming? We don’t have all night. You still have classes tomorrow, and I’m not sure how long it’s going to take. There might be… inconveniences back at my place.”

  “What kind?”

  Devon was obviously uninterested at sharing more. Whatever bothered him, he had no inclination of talking about it.

  I climbed onto the carpet and sat cross-legged. The rug shook back and forth, and I tried to keep myself steady. “This thing definitely isn’t safe. Are you sure we should be on it like th—”

  “See ya,” Devon said, flicking two fingers at the rest of the guys. The carpet zipped from the balcony abruptly. I squealed and grabbed the rug, almost slipping from it. My hairs stood as my stomach pitched.

  “Devon!” I screamed.

  “What?” he asked, looking over his shoulder. The carpet sped along so quickly that the wind beat against my face, and it felt like if I leaned backward too much, I’d lose balance and fall to my death. Carefully, I pried open one eye and dared to look at it.