Magic Trials

by Meg Xuemei X

  “You don’t look that pretty anymore,” I chuckled.

  “Bitch! You don’t deserve mercy,” he said, pounding a fist into my teeth.

  My tongue tasted a mouthful of salty blood. Pain radiated in every corner of my head as if a thousand horses had kicked my skull. It was a wonder I hadn’t passed out or died already, but then I was Marigold, the most stubborn hunter in Crack before they’d dragged me here.

  I hadn’t groaned once, despite that I could no longer block out the pain as it filled my every bone marrow.

  I laughed, mocking my opponent when he rammed his fist into me again.

  What else could he do to me?

  He cursed when I bit into him and tore a chunk of flesh from his thick arm.

  “Stop, please.” Yelena stated crying and knelt before the demigod for me. “Please just ask him to stop. He’s killing her. She won’t last long.”

  “Yield, Marigold. Now,” Paxton command.

  “Fuck you, pig!” I answered.

  I knew that insult to the demigod would do me in. Who the fuck cared? I’d call him whatever I wanted.

  “We should call off Jack, sir,” Cameron said urgently. “That stupid, bull-headed girl will never yield.”

  “Please, sir,” Marie said. “I don’t think it’s in your best interest to kill her off so soon. I believe she’s learned her lesson.”

  “Jack,” Paxton called, a regretful note in his voice, “you can—”

  His mercy was the last fucking shit I’d take. And hearing the emotion in his voice only sent me right to the edge.

  Something primal and savage in me was suddenly set loose.

  I roared my black rage.

  A wave of energy blasted out of me in light and shadow, tearing Jack away from me and tossing him to the arched ceiling, as if he were a rag doll.

  The concrete dented at the impact.

  Jack screamed before he plummeted to the ground in a corner. He didn’t move again.

  One strike and he was out.

  “What a pussy,” I murmured.

  “What the hell was that?” someone asked in alarm.

  I struggled to rise to my feet. Once I got there, I swayed but I remained upright. “That’s called never surrender, bitches,” I said, spitting out a broken tooth along with a flow of blood.

  Then I flipped both middle fingers at the Demigod of Sea as my stare fixed on him. “You’ll never bend me. You’ll never break me. And you’ll never get the best of me. So why don’t you get your demigod head out of your ass, since all you’ll ever get is the nightmare version of me, dickhead.”

  “No one has ever called me that many nasty names,” he growled. “I can squash you like a bug with a snap of my fingers.”

  I chuckled to deride him.

  Damn! It hurt to move any piece of any muscle.

  “Whatever,” I said. “I’m not afraid of you. I’m not afraid of death.”

  “There are worse things than death, Princesa.” His tone was dark, but there was weariness to it, as if he knew what he was talking about. Like I gave a shit at this point.

  “Bring it on, motherfucker,” I said. “You marked me as your enemy, and today I also marked you as my foe.”

  “We’ll see about that,” he said, muscles twisting in his jaw and storms wheeling in his purple eyes. “We’ll see how you make me your enemy.”

  I spat. I wished he was closer so I could spit my blood into his cruel fucking face.

  “Even if I can’t strike you down,” I smirked at him, “I pray that Lucifer will do it for me one day.”

  That was the ultimate blasphemy. But I wanted to defy him down to my every bone, and I wanted him to know it before he impaled me, murdering me with his power. He could easily summon an ice spear from the air and pierce my heart.

  To my shock, my undiluted hatred for him made him flinch.

  “However,” I said. “Patience isn’t my strong suit, so I won’t wait for Lucifer and his legion to beat your ass.” Despite the excruciating pain throbbing through me, I remained articulate.

  I threw up my hands, calling for my awakened magic.

  My energy blast had probably sent Jack to the netherworld, so it should do some considerable damage to the asshole who stood six yards away from me.

  “You dare to fight me, Marigold?” he asked lethally, remaining every bit in control.

  “Not to fight you,” I said softly. “To kill you.”

  My blood boiled inside me at the call of war.

  Twelve runes rose to my skin, twirling up on my neck and slithering up my face.

  “It’s impossible,” Cameron said. “She’s got all twelve powers.”

  Nothing was impossible. I’d just proved that.

  “Calm down, Marigold,” Marie called. “Please calm down. Don’t do anything you’ll regret later. Let’s talk about this.”

  “Talk? After all this, you want to fucking talk?” I laughed without mirth. “And regret isn’t in my vocabulary.”

  I could feel my eyes glowing. The last thing I wanted was to calm the fuck down.

  “Let her come to me,” Paxton said. “Let’s see what she’s got.”

  My power rose.

  It wasn’t lightning, water, air blast, or any of the powers from the twelve houses of the Olympian gods whipping around me.

  A sheet of dark crimson fire, more like hellfire, surged toward the demigod.

  “Burn him to Hell!” I howled.

  Solid ice walls formed around Paxton and the rest of the class. The demigod sent the storm of his icy current crashing into my fire.

  The impact of the two opposite forces sent shockwaves all around and tore through the ceiling.

  Concrete, dirt, and rocks rained down with water and ice. Pieces of wood caught fire and flew in all directions.

  The students scattered as fast as their feet could carry them, staying clear of Paxton and me.

  I pushed my fire toward the demigod, my body trembling from the strain.

  But my flame grew weaker.

  I realized in dismay that I had no more magical juice left, just throbbing pain in my core. Embers of my fire sparked then smoldered as they died on my fingers.

  The Demigod of Sea called off his storm.

  I wobbled, waiting for the demigod to strike me down. My hands stretched like claws, ready to leave a trail of blood on his face when he came to me.

  Instead of murdering me, he turned to Marie and ordered, “Call the healers. Now.”

  Just then, Axel and Zak charged into the training hall, their gazes sweeping to me in utter shock.

  I grinned at them savagely. I was but a standing, bloody meat pulp.

  “What the bloody hell?” Zak thundered. “Who hurt her?”

  Axel’s fiery eyes scanned the room, looking for threats, before alighting on me again.

  “Who touched my Marigold?” he roared in rage.

  My vision blurred as black dots danced before my eyes. I’d held on long enough. I still fought to stay conscious, though I’d now welcome a break from the unceasingly excruciating pain pounding in my skull, in my every cell.

  I don’t know if Zak or Axel reached me before I fell on my face.

  CHAPTER 12

  _____________

  As if I was floating above my body, I saw myself curled up on the ground, my lavender hair spilling around my gory face. My left cheek split open, as were my lips. My left eye was a black circle and my right one a patch of swollen red.

  I was a grotesque sight, but all I felt was a cold, detached emotion.

  I must have died.

  As I peered at myself more closely, I noticed that though broken, I was wrapped inside some kind of a protective bubble made of pale crimson light.

  Axel, Theodore, and a healer crouched outside the orb.

  None of the students were in the room. It was just the demigods, the priest, the healer, and me—my body and my ghost.

  Axel touched the boundary of the bubble, and a slew of crimson lightnin
g shocked him, throwing him back.

  “None of us can take down her force field,” Theodore said. “We’d better stop trying and wait for her to wake up.”

  “How could she erect such an orb in such a state?” the healer, a dark-skinned mature woman in her thirties, murmured as she put a healthy distance between herself and the bubble.

  “Her magic must have kicked in and created it to protect her,” Zak said.

  He was facing off against Paxton to prevent him from getting near me.

  “We need to get her shield down, or she’ll bleed out,” Axel said, devastation and grief in his dark-golden eyes.

  “We don’t want to force it down and hurt her,” Zak said, one hand rubbing his temple, the other up in the air to fend off Paxton. “We need to call Héctor back. He’s an expert on shielding.”

  “Let me try it,” Paxton said. “I might be able to bring down her shield so our healer can fix her.”

  At the sound of his voice, all my emotions wheeled back. My hackles rose, my skin prickled, and cold hatred burned through me.

  “Fuck off, Paxton,” Zak snarled. “You have no rights to her anymore.”

  “Don’t let that fucker get one inch closer to her,” Axel bellowed. “I’ll have a word with him after I make sure Marigold lives. He’s started a war this time.”

  “The hell I’ll let any of you kick me out of the game,” Paxton said. “She’s mine as much as she’s yours.”

  Game? What kind of sick game was he talking about? Were the demigods all playing a game with me? How dare that psychopath think I was his? Did he have an ounce of fucking common sense?

  “After what you did to her?” Axel hissed in wrath.

  “You’ve gone too far, Paxton,” Zak agreed, regarding the sea demigod like an icy statue. “You don’t deserve a mate like her after you laid your hands on her—after you encouraged another student do this to her. We never hurt our own. There’s no coming back from this for you.”

  “I never meant for this to happen,” Paxton growled. “I didn’t expect her to be so bullheaded. I’ve never met anyone as stubborn, hot-headed, and infuriating as her. She refused to yield, and it got out of control. I was about to stop it. I just wanted to see what she was made of, what made her tick, and how much she could take so I could bend her a little. Our girl has a short fuse and a hotter temper. So it backfired, all right. I’ll fix it.”

  “Fix it, my ass!” Axel said. “Look at her. Look what you did to her. You crossed the line, you sick fuck! She’s not your girl, and you’ll never touch her again.”

  “You don’t get the final say in our pact, cub,” Paxton said coldly. “We’ve found the one woman for us all, and I won’t back off. I’ll have my share. And for your information, she hates you, too. She knows exactly what you’ve done to her. You dragged her to the Academy and risked her life in the ritual for your own curiosity.”

  “I knew she’d survive!” Axel shouted.

  “But she didn’t know that,” Paxton sneered. “You aren’t on better ground than I am. She didn’t just declare war on me; she declared it on all of us. If I can’t have her, neither can you.”

  “You bastard!” Axel snarled. “You ruined everything. If she doesn’t live, I’ll kill you with my bare hands.”

  “Bring it on, cousin,” Paxton said. “I’ll take you down first and have her all for my own.”

  The Demigod of War wheeled from the orb that encased me, wrath radiating off him, and charged the Demigod of Sea.

  The two demigods crashed.

  Kicks and punches flew as they pounded each other without mercy. The brutality of their fight would’ve shocked me before, but not after today.

  “Enough!” Zak shouted.

  The priest and the healer darted nervous glances between the battling demigods.

  I put a few things together.

  I wasn’t dead.

  Those assholes were fighting over me. They wanted to make me theirs, even after what they’d done to me.

  They thought they could just take whatever they wanted.

  I needed to get out of here. I needed to stay as far away from those psychopaths as possible.

  I slammed back into my body, and the returning pain blasted through my every muscle, bone, and tissue.

  I suppressed a scream as my eyes fluttered open.

  Axel and Paxton were still engaged in their mêlée. Zak tried to break them up and rammed fist after fist toward Paxton’s face.

  “Marigold?” The healer noticed my stirring first and called, “Marigold, can you hear me?”

  I flicked a glance at her and frowned.

  “You’re injured badly, Marigold,” Theodore stuttered, as if surprised that I’d returned to consciousness. “You need to lower your shield so Melissa and I can heal you.” He paused for a second and added, “You’re safe now.”

  The fuck I’d let anyone come near me or touch me. All I wanted was to get out of here.

  But I couldn’t move an inch. My broken body wasn’t cooperating.

  So I begged my magic to do something for me.

  When I attempted to summon it, my power answered.

  An incorporeal and nearly liquid flame coursed through me, soaking me—not to burn me but to heal me. Every place it touched and licked, it healed.

  My tissues and bones started to knit together, mending and repairing themselves rapidly.

  The pain ebbed inch by inch.

  Melissa widened her eyes. “My gods, she’s regenerating faster than a demigod.”

  Zak, Axel, and Paxton halted their onslaught and rushed toward me.

  I wouldn’t let them come to me. I was so done with all of them.

  But where could I go?

  In my desperate hour, I thought of the sweet, erotic dream I’d had this morning before the Demigod of Sea charged into my dormitory and started this charade.

  I thought of my winged, beautiful dream lover and how I rode him to the heavens.

  If only he were real.

  If only I could meet him in the real world.

  Wouldn’t I give half of my soul for that?

  I rose into the air, my body going as incorporeal as my spirit had been.

  “Marigold!” Axel screamed. “Don’t leave.”

  His fingers, warm, desperate, and possessive, brushed over my fingertips like a phantom touch before I faded from the room and disappeared.

  CHAPTER 13

  _____________

  It was said that no students could teleport out of the warded Academy, but I defied their textbooks once again.

  No walls could confine me.

  It turned out that I had magic that was possibly more powerful than any descendant of the Olympian gods possessed, except for the demigods.

  Why hadn’t it come out before Jack had beaten me to within an inch of my life? It had come through in the end, so maybe I shouldn’t complain much.

  Maybe my power needed a trigger to manifest?

  That Pigston was right about one thing, I wasn’t disciplined. I didn’t know how to master my magic, so it appeared as unruly as I was.

  It was volatile. It connected to my emotions, especially my rage, but I couldn’t always depend on my anger to bring out my power.

  I needed training to effectively wield my magic, but I would never return to the Academy.

  What if I found myself a remote place, holed up in it, and learned about my magic on my own?

  I surveyed my new surroundings before trotting down an abandoned street, a feeling of déjà vu washing over me.

  I’d once passed by this street, but I couldn’t remember when and with whom. I still had missing years in my broken memory bank that I couldn’t decode.

  Those years were locked, just as my magic had been caged until the Ritual of the Blood Runes had somehow broken the seal on the well of my power.

  Images flashed before my eyelids like old, fading pictures, and instantly I knew this avenue used to be the block between Manhattan’s Chinatown and L
ittle Italy. One street separated two completely different cultures.

  As if time wound back, I could almost see a soap store, a flower shop, and a few antique and jewelry boutiques across from a café with a vibrant atmosphere.

  Now they were but half-burned down, empty shells with blackened façades and shattered glass. Thanks to the devastating war between the demons and the demigods.

  I’d lived with my pack in Crack, hidden from the realities of the war and consciously staying away from both dangerous species before Axel found me. I hadn’t seen the true devastation of the real world in the age of the Great Merge.

  If parts of Manhattan looked like this, how bad must it be for the cities infested by demons?

  I swallowed as I strolled down the gutted street. My magic had teleported me here, to a place no one wanted to linger.

  Why?

  Was this to be my new starting point? Should I rebuild this place for myself?

  I stood before a half-broken shop window and stared at my reflection. My clothes were tattered, covered in fresh blood. The pain, though, had dulled. My internal bleeding had stopped, and my bones and tissues had mended.

  Even so, new fear brewed in my dark green eyes. The girl staring back at me looked lost.

  I wasn’t as tough as I’d thought.

  I was more vulnerable than I’d like to admit.

  I shook my head, banishing fear and uncertainty. First things first, I needed to find a clean outfit. Roaming about like a bloody derelict could attract bad attention.

  I jogged around the corner toward an outlet that was relatively intact. It looked like a convenience store. With some luck, I might find something I could use inside.

  A chill slithered up my spine, and the small hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

  Wind and shadows skittered across the façades of the wrecked stores, surrounding me. A new stench hit my nostrils—acid, sulfur, and brimstone.

  My body tensed like a whip, readying to fight, but I had no weapons with me. Dread spread through me as blood pounded in my ears.

  The demigods were cruel, merciless beings, but they had at least some humanity in them. And they wanted to preserve human civilization.