by River Ramsey
“I suppose it would be nice to get some comeuppance for a change,” he murmured. “But that’s still not a game plan.”
“Nope. That’s for the Games.”
“The Games?” His eyes widened even more. “What are you talking about?”
“The winners get to make a speech, right?”
“Kore…”
“I’m just saying, it’s the one time of year the entire world of the gods is watching. Why not give them something to watch?”
“It’s certainly a thought.”
“The winner of the Games is the epoch of everything the Academy is trying to instill,” I reasoned. “If someone were to use that platform to call attention to the issues at this school, then the Council wouldn’t have a choice but to investigate. Especially with all the bad press we’ve been getting lately.”
“Yes, but all that is predicated on the fact that we’d have to win.”
I grinned. “About that. What do you do Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays after school?”
Chapter 3
Kore
“I can’t believe you talked me into this,” Dionysus groaned as we stretched out our hamstrings on the lawn Artemis had claimed for practice that day.
“I can be very persuasive,” I informed him.
“Yes, especially when you have a captive audience.”
I smiled unapologetically. He’d been staying with me for the last few days, ever since Atlas’ little tantrum. It was probably a temporary fix until the teachers got wind of it, but I was counting on their total lack of attention to student affairs, selective though it was.
“Alright everyone, line up,” Artemis barked. “Time to list the final roster.”
I sprang to my feet and went to the end of the line with Dionysus. Until I’d gotten him to agree, albeit reluctantly, I’d been fearful that no one was going to be willing to be on the same team as me. After all, every competitor in the Games would be gunning for me as soon as they began.
“Now, I’m sure most of you already know the rules, but since we have a couple of newcomers, I’ll go over them once more,” Artemis announced, glancing our way. “You’ll be forming teams of two to four, and while you may be tempted to think more is better, that’s not always the case. There are certain trials that favor coordination over numbers and it more or less evens out in the end. Groups of three are statistically more represented in the finals, but we’ve had two-man teams do a clean sweep and teams of four who didn’t make it past the first round. All that said, choose your team and your teammates carefully, and remember… your choice is final.”
I took a deep breath. When I’d first come to this school, I couldn’t have cared less about the Games or winning them, but now, things were different. This school was rotten to the core and I actually stood a shot at doing something about it.
At least, that was what I had to tell myself.
“Is she always this intense?” Dionysus whispered.
Before I could answer, Artemis was right in front of us. She looked at the young god next to me, her eyes narrowed. “Is there something you’d like to share with the class, Dionysus?”
He gulped audibly. “N--no, ma’am.”
“Good,” she said, turning back to the others. “Then let’s begin. We’ll start with you, Ingrid, since this should be easy.”
The Valkyries were already preening, banded together in the same group of four they always traveled in. “We’re together,” Ingrid announced. The others seemed happy to let her speak for them, but they always did everything in unison, after all.
“Alright,” Artemis barked. “Next.”
As she went down the line, students paired themselves off in groups of three and four. Not a single duo, despite Artemis’ reassurance that it was a perfectly valid option. By the time she got to us, I was feeling a bit less confident, but it wasn’t like we had another option.
“Just us,” I said, ignoring the snickering of a few groups down the line.
I was sure the Valkyries were eating this up, but until recently, I had feared Artemis was going to draw lots and stick me with some poor, unsuspecting trio.
“It’s settled, then,” Artemis announced, making a note on the parchment in front of her with a quill pen that appeared with a flick of her hand. “From this point on, you’ll be training in your groups. Now, everyone, do ten laps around the Academy. Last group back gets to pull out the stakes in the ground left over from defensive maneuvering.”
Everyone groaned, but as soon as she gave the mark, they shot off like rockets. Dionysus and I weren’t at the head of the pack, but as long as we stayed somewhere in the middle, I was happy.
For now.
“Is she serious? This is like boot camp.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “What, is this really the first time you’ve had to exert yourself?”
“I find ways to avoid it,” he grumbled. Despite his protests, he was fast, and I found myself struggling to keep up so I wouldn’t hold us back. The ten laps had felt like torture the first time, but every session, it felt easier.
By the time we finally made it back as the third group, I was wheezing but definitely riding an adrenaline high.
“You’re dismissed,” Artemis announced, waiting for the others.
I grabbed my bag and paused when I heard her call my name.
“Yeah, prof?” I asked, turning to face the goddess.
“You’ve come a long way,” she remarked in her usual stern fashion. “I expect to see good things from you in the Games. Just try to keep your nose clean so you don’t get expelled before they’re here.”
I sighed. “I’ll try.”
Once Dionysus and I were out of earshot, he leaned over and whispered, “What the hell was that about?”
“Who knows?” I snorted. “I think she’s taken me on as a project.”
“You do seem like a truant risk,” he mused.
I gave him a playful shove. “Shut up.”
“Come on,” he said happily, draping an arm around my shoulders. “Let’s get cleaned up and hit the cafe. I could use some bubble tea.”
“Sounds good to me.”
It was kind of nice to have someone willing to be seen out with me, even if we were probably going to be shunned by everyone else in the cafe. For the first time since I’d come to the Academy, I was actually starting to feel normal.
Sort of.
Once we made it to the cafe, Dionysus urged me to get a seat while he ordered. A few minutes later, he brought our drinks over to the booth I’d chosen by the corner window since it was furthest away from the few other students who’d gathered to study and snack.
“You’re really taking this undercover thing to heart.”
I gave him a look, sipping a few rainbow bobas through my straw. “So, I was thinking. We need a game plan for Operation Sabotage.”
“Is that what we’re calling it?” he grimaced.
“It’s a work in progress,” I told him. “It would probably help if we outlined our goals.”
“I thought our goals were to humiliate Odin at the Games so someone out there finally pays attention?”
“Well, yeah,” I conceded. “But that’s not until the end of the semester. I’m talking about short-term goals for long-term success.”
“What did you have in mind?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Now that we’re both persona non grata, it’s not like our social standing can get worse,” I mused.
“Not really good at this pep talk thing, are you?”
I gave him an apologetic look. “I’m just saying, maybe we can use it to our advantage. Band together with the other outcasts.”
“It’s an interesting thought,” he said, tapping his nails on the table. “Who did you have in mind?”
“There’s a girl in one of my classes. Ariadne. She seems nice,” I admitted.
“I don’t know… she hangs around the Triad a lot.”
“Really?” I asked doubtfully. Shy
little Ariadne didn’t seem like the type to be Hades’ groupie.
“She’s one of their regular customers, I think.”
“Customers?” I echoed. “What’s the Triad selling, besides their usual condescension and bullshit?”
He snorted a laugh into his tea. “Drugs, mostly.”
“Drugs?” Surely I’d heard him wrong.
He blinked at me. “I thought you knew.”
“I most definitely did not,” I said, hesitating as I thought back to Loki’s cryptic threat my first night at the Academy. “Actually… Loki might have mentioned something, but I wasn’t really listening.”
“Story of his life.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re saying they sell panaceas and none of the teachers have noticed?”
“No, I’m saying they sell panaceas and some of the teachers buy them,” he answered flatly.
“Of fucking course they do,” I sighed, running a hand through my hair. “This changes things.”
“How so?”
“For one thing, now I know what to sabotage.”
Dionysus gave me a wary look. “Just be careful. If you’re thinking of cutting in on Hades’ business, he’s just going to hate you more.”
“I’m counting on it,” I grinned. “Just leave the drugs to me. You’re on intel duty, and first, I want you to tell me the truth.”
“The truth about what?” he asked innocently, even though I was damn sure he already knew.
“We’re partners in crime now,” I reminded him. “And you know you can trust me. What the hell happened between you and Loki?”
He gave a heavy sigh and leaned back in his booth, abandoning his half-drunk tea. “It’s a long story without a lot of interesting details.”
“I’m not interested for gossip value,” I assured him. “I just want to know how badly we need to make him suffer when all this finally hits the fan.”
He smiled a little, but it faded once he seemed to decide he was going to tell me the truth. “It’s pretty typical. Freshman year, Loki and I had a fling. In secret, of course. He doesn’t want anyone to know he swings both ways. Certainly not his daddy and brother. Honestly, I’m not even sure if he’s told the Triad.”
“That’s a surprise,” I murmured. “I thought they shared everything.”
“With a few notable exceptions,” he scoffed. “Why? Thinking of using that against him?”
“No,” I cried, lowering my voice when I realized we were getting looks. “Of course not. I want Loki knocked off his pedestal just like the rest of them, but I’d never use someone’s sexuality as a weapon.”
This time, his smile seemed genuine. “No, I didn’t think so. But if you really want to get at him, there might be a better way.”
“I’m listening.”
“Loki’s always had a weakness for panaceas,” said Dionysus. “At one point, he went through them faster than Hades could sell them and it caused some friction in the group.”
“So the Triad’s not as unified as they’d like everyone to believe,” I said, thinking out loud. “That means it’s possible to split them apart.”
“Careful,” he warned. “They’re stronger together, but each one’s formidable in his own right.”
“I already made the mistake of underestimating them once,” I admitted. “I won’t do it again.”
I hesitated to ask my next question, since Dionysus already knew a bit about my interaction with Fenrir in the garden. “What about the wolf?”
“Fenrir?” He raised an eyebrow. “Honestly, you probably know as much as I do about him. He’s hardly ever in class and he mostly keeps to himself.”
“Then maybe he’ll be the easiest one to get to,” I mused.
“How do you figure that?”
“Because unlike Hades and Loki, he actually seems like a half-way decent person.”
“Technically, he’s only half a person at all.”
I gave him a look.
“What? There’s a betting pool for who’s most likely to destroy the school and until you came along, he was in first place.”
“Are you serious?” I groaned. “Never mind. I’d rather not know.”
Dionysus just grinned at me. “Listen, I’ve gotta run and drop off a paper that’s already late, but I’ll see you back at the room?”
“Yeah, sure,” I said, watching as he stood to gather his things. I hesitated, but called his name at the last moment.
“Yeah?” he asked, turning back.
“Thanks.”
He frowned. “For what?”
“For this,” I said, shrugging. “It’s been a long time since I felt like a normal person.”
He smiled again and something about the way it touched the usually cold, stony rock where my heart should’ve been unsettled me more than Hades’ bullying ever could. “You? Normal? Please,” he scoffed, walking off.
I couldn’t help but smile back. As much as I missed Jazzy and Baylor, I couldn’t regret coming to the Academy when I never would have met Dionysus otherwise.
Chapter 4
Hades
Mondays were always the same. Get up, respond to messages from all the junkies and flunkies on my payroll, go for a jog, shower, coffee with a dash of vodka, go to class, run the business, collapse, rinse, repeat.
It was a rhythm, and not an entirely unpleasant one, but it had long since lost its appeal. I needed something different, so I decided to take a slightly more hands-on role in the Hunt than I was accustomed to.
Before I even had the chance, Kore drew attention to herself. I’d been taking a phone call when it happened, but according to my sources, she and Atlas had gotten into it in the dorm in front of everyone and Dionysus was at the epicenter of it all this time.
Atlas was a douchebag with the brain function of a plant, and not a complex one at that, but he owed me a shit ton of money, so getting the details out of him was easy enough.
Seemed that Kore and Dionysus were close. Guess she hadn’t learned that anyone who got close to her was a target, too.
I found myself watching her in class, not loving the way it made me feel like a stalker. She was beautiful, I’d give her that. Beautiful and brash, which wasn’t necessarily a mark against her.
If I didn’t hate her so damn much, I’d probably have come onto her by now, and the fact that I knew she’d hate me all the more for it was infuriating and amusing at once.
When I’d first learned I was going to be engaged to Demeter’s daughter, I’d expected someone a hell of a lot different. Someone boring and regal, just like her mother. The ultimate domestic goddess, content to preside over home and hearth. Instead, I’d wound up with a panacea-dealing, potty-mouthed goddess of chaos and even though I’d sooner have died than admit it, for the first time, being trapped in the Underworld with her didn’t seem like a prison sentence.
It would be entertaining, if nothing else.
I hung back after class, waiting around the corner until she left the room. She seemed to be waiting for me this time, given the death glare she was giving me.
“What do you want, Hades?”
“Can’t I say hello to my fiancee?”
“You can say goodbye and make my day,” she shot back without missing a beat.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re extra spicy today, aren’t you? Didn’t expend all that energy on Atlas?”
Her eyes narrowed. “What about it?”
“I’ve heard Dionysus is staying in your dorm,” he mused. “That’s dangerous, you know.”
“He saw a spider and screamed. I think I’m safe.”
“I was talking about for him,” I said, putting a hand out to block her against the wall. “Little moths who flock to your light have a way of getting burned, if you hadn’t noticed.”
“Is that a threat?”
“A warning,” I corrected, tilting her chin toward me. Anger blazed in her eyes but I knew even she wouldn’t dare such overt retaliation this time. She was already on strike
two and Odin wasn’t known for being merciful. “Why don’t you piss off and go back to your boy band?” she quipped, batting my hand away.
“Because we have business to discuss. Namely the fact that your name is on the roster for the Games.”
“And?”
“You’re going to humiliate yourself,” I informed her. “That is, if you’re conscious for long enough. The Valkyries are going to be gunning for you from the get go and even I won’t be able to convince them to hold back.”
“Guess you’ll get to enjoy the show when Dionysus and I wipe the floor with them, then.”
This time, I outright laughed. Her spunk was impressive. Unfounded and foolhardy, but impressive nonetheless. “You don’t stand a chance.”
“We’ll see,” she said, ducking beneath my arm. I watched as she left, her plaid skirt swishing as her hips swayed. She even walked with a bad attitude.
I shook my head and headed toward my next class, but I couldn’t escape the feeling that I was being watched. Sure enough, Fenrir was waiting for me in one of the closest halls. I ducked in, glancing him over.
“What is it?”
“We’ve got a problem,” he muttered, somber as ever. The guy never took a break from watchdog duty, no matter how much I wanted him to. “Kore has entered the Games.”
“I know. I’m handling it.”
“How?” he demanded.
I felt a flash of irritation at being questioned, even if he was one of the two people who could get away with it. “She’s my problem. Leave it to me,” I barked.
There was something in his golden eyes that said he wanted to argue, which wasn’t like him. Fenrir didn’t usually concern himself with the affairs of the lesser gods, let alone other students. He’d been different since Kore had transferred in.
Everything had, and as much as I loathed the status quo, I hated change even more.
“It’s time to take the gloves off,” I muttered. “Send out the text tonight. The Hunt just entered phase red.”
His eyes widened in protest, a protective flare I hadn’t expected. It just confirmed my suspicion that there was more going on where he and Kore were concerned than met the eye. “She’s your fiancee,” he growled, his voice more animal than man. “Isn’t it about time you stopped this little game?”
