by River Ramsey
“What was that about?” she asked, dropping down on the edge of my bed.
I let the door fall shut and slumped against it. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
Chapter 8
Fenrir
I woke in a cold sweat, which was far from an isolated occurrence now that I was forced to sleep in my human form most nights. Every night that I wished to sleep inside the Academy walls, at any rate.
Playing Hades’ guard dog wasn’t something I minded so much as the fact that I had to live among the other gods in doing so. Keeping a regular routine of running through the forests that surrounded the vast property could only do so much.
That night, I dreamed of war. Devastation. It was the same dream I’d had since childhood, but lately, it was different. The embers of the ruins that had once been Atlantis seemed so real. The smoke. The screams. The chaos.
It was all so much closer than the dreamy illusion it had always been and my dreams were so much clearer.
They had been ever since she’d come.
I knew Kore had something to do with Ragnarok, or at least the hastening of it, and I’d known ever since the engagement had been announced. Whether Hades knew it or not remained a mystery. I’d tried to speak to him about it on more than one occasion, but he always shut me down. Always refused to listen to the truth.
How the hell was one supposed to be someone’s protector and guide when they were too damn stubborn to even listen to you?
I threw off the covers in the middle of the night and stalked down the hall toward his room. It wasn’t a surprise to find him gone and it was easy to guess where he was.
Sure enough, he was in the lounge, shooting a lonely game of pool in the dim light of the fireplace.
“Look who’s awake,” he said flatly without looking up, sinking another shot in the far right corner pocket.
“I had the dream again.”
He looked up, his eyes a flicker of silver. “You want me to tuck you in?”
I growled and stalked across the room, grabbing the cue out of his hand to snap the wood, just to make it clear I was serious. “Enough games. This isn’t child’s play and it’s time you stopped acting like it.”
“You mind brushing your teeth before you lecture me?” he asked boredly, pulling out a cigarette to pop in his mouth as he fiddled for his lighter. “The dog breath gets old.”
I snarled at him and he finally looked up. “Look, you’re a goddamn werewolf god. Ragnarok is encoded in your DNA. Of course you dream about it.”
“It’s different. It’s been different ever since she showed up and you know that.”
He rolled his eyes, blowing a ring of smoke up toward the ceiling.
“You can pretend like you don’t care, but I know you do. You’re not like your father.”
That got his attention. “You’re testing my patience, Fenrir.”
“Not a difficult feat when you throw tantrums like a child.”
His eyes narrowed, but he was silent.
“You know she plays a role in this,” I pressed.
“So what if she does? What difference does it make?”
“It makes a hell of a lot of difference if the end comes and we’re not ready,” I growled. “Or have you lost sight of that, too?”
“I haven’t lost sight of anything,” he snapped. “I’ve just been reevaluating, that’s all.”
I watched as he circled the table and grabbed another cue.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“It means why bother putting off the inevitable?” he shrugged. “If this world wants to burn, let it. More traffic downstairs, anyway.”
I narrowed my eyes, refusing to believe what I was hearing from him. “Petulance. Petulant bullshit.”
“Call it what you like, I’m being a realist.”
“No, you’re being a brat,” I corrected. “I agreed to serve you because you despised your father as much as I despise mine. Because you wanted to change the course of your destiny.”
“So maybe you bet on the wrong horse.”
“Don’t give me that garbage,” I grunted. “What’s wrong with you? Have you really become so enamored with your little bully games that you’ve lost sight of our entire purpose in being here?”
“What if there is no purpose?” he demanded, stretching out his arms. “What if it’s all pointless and we’re just wasting the few good years we have left chasing windmills?”
“Windmills?” I scowled in confusion.
He rolled his eyes again. “Wouldn’t hurt you to attend class once in a while.”
“I’m only posing as a student here. Unlike you, I haven’t forgotten my true purpose.”
That hit its mark. He flashed me a dangerous look. “Are you getting at a point?”
“One that seems to be going over your head,” I shot back, eyeing the table. “Since you like games so much, how about we make a friendly wager?”
Curiosity lit up his gaze for a moment. “What did you have in mind?”
“If I win, you pull your head out of your ass and start taking this seriously—and you let up on Kore long enough for us to figure out what role she has to play in all this.”
“And when I win?” he challenged.
“If you win, I’ll back off.”
He smirked. “Not good enough.”
“Then what do you want?”
“I want you to play your part,” he said in a smug tone. “The preliminaries will be coming up soon.”
I scowled. So that was his plan. Roping me into his Hunt. I’d always taken a backseat in the past, having little interest in his targets, but at least the others had been men.
“Rack up, then.”
Hades just smirked, gathering the multicolored balls under a triangular rack. “You can go first,” he offered.
He never made an allowance without an ulterior motive, but I took my shot nonetheless, sinking two balls at once. My next shot was less successful.
Hades took his turn, sinking three shots in a row before he passed it off. I took aim and had a perfect angle, but something went awry at the last second. The cue felt hot beneath my fingertips, causing my hand to slip, and the balls bounced harmlessly off the edges of the table.
I growled, looking over at him in accusation. “You cheated.”
“Don’t be paranoid,” he scoffed, lining up his shot. The remainder of the balls sank into the four corners and I felt the agitation building in my chest.
“Look at that,” Hades said innocently, leaning on his cue as he surveyed the empty table. “I won.”
“You hustled me.”
He just smirked, tossing the cue my way. I caught it easily. “Just be ready when I need you.”
Chapter 9
Kore
At first, I’d hoped that Dionysus avoiding me was going to be a short-term thing. When he didn’t come back to the room the next night, I knew otherwise.
We had training class together that afternoon, but Artemis didn’t exactly give us time to talk. We went through drills and Dionysus was politely cooperative, but I could tell he had no plans of ceasing this little avoidance game anytime soon.
I saw my chance as he made his way to the men’s locker room after class, and I took it. I grabbed his arm and he turned around with a look of shock. “What the —”
“What, did you really think you could just go AWOL and I wouldn’t anything?” I challenged, folding my arms. “You should know me better than that by now.”
He gave a sigh of resignation and ran his hand through his hair. “I suppose I should have.”
“So what the hell is going on?” I asked, unable to keep hurt out of my voice.
He still wouldn’t meet my gaze, but he was talking to me, so I figured that was progress. “I just wasn’t sure how to proceed after… you know.”
“What?” I asked, raising my eyebrows. “The kiss?”
He blushed. I mean, he actually freaking blushed, and it was adorable. Tryin
g not to get off track, I forced myself to focus on the matter at hand. “It was just a kiss, Dionysus. It doesn’t have to mean anything.”
I was expecting his reaction to be one of relief, but it wasn’t. I wasn’t sure what it was, all he knew was that I had no hope of reading the look in his eyes. I wanted to comfort him all the same, but I wasn’t quite sure how. “No,” he said quietly. “I guess it doesn’t.”
I’d never been good with words. Not when it came to making people feel better, anyway. Now proved no exception. “Listen, I’m not sorry it happened, but I would be if it came between us. I know we haven’t known each other that long, but I feel like we’ve bonded after everything. If you don’t want anything to do with me, that’s fine, but at least let it be out of self-preservation instead of some stupid kiss.”
This time, he did smile. It actually touched his eyes, too. “Are you sure?”
I gave him a playful nudge. “Are you kidding? We’re like, ultra secret spies together. That means something.”
He laughed, the same musical sound as always. “I guess it does.”
“So,” I said pointedly. “Are you going to come back to the room?”
He still looked unsure, but he finally nodded. “Alright. As long as it’s not weird.”
“It doesn’t have to be weird unless you make it that way,” I said with a shrug.
This time, he seemed to breathe a little easier. I could tell it was time for change and subject, so I said, “Preliminaries are coming up.”
His expression relaxed, but his gaze intensified. “Daphne was great at practice, but do you really think we’re ready? We just became a team.”
“I wouldn’t say ready,” I admitted. “But it’s not like we have any other option. We’ve just gotta give it our all and see what happens.”
“Are you always optimistic?”
I laughed. “Not by a long shot. Just when it comes to putting assholes in their place.”
The day of the preliminaries, my stomach was full of butterflies. I didn’t even want to think about breakfast, but I knew I needed the fuel, so I grabbed a granola bar, some eggs and orange juice before going out to the training grounds to meet up with Daphne and Dionysus.
They were both there when I arrived, and they seem to be having a pleasant conversation. It was nice to be part of a group that wasn’t full of drama for once. Dionysus was right, Daphne had blended with our team perfectly, and she’d even been willing to stay after class to get in as many extra practice sessions as we could before preliminaries.
Now, all we had to do was survive the Valkyries. Given the dirty looks they were giving me from across the lawn, it seemed like it would be easier said than done.
The field had already been cordoned off for the preliminary games, and as far as I could tell from the obstacles set up, it was going to require equal parts physical prowess and mastery over our individual abilities. Artemis had prepared us for as much, but she was mum on the specifics of the exam.
We had an audience. The bleachers were far from packed, but there were enough students and staff members gathered to observe the preliminary performances to make me feel jittery. I figured I’d better get used to it. It was nothing compared to the audience I was counting on having at the official Games.
Odin was there, too, and I looked away so I wouldn’t mean mug him. After what he’d said to me, I wasn’t sure I wanted to be in the same room with him again.
Especially not if he was telling the truth.
I could see Hades and Loki sitting in the bleachers toward the back, looking perfectly poised and relaxed, as usual. Hades’ pale eyes met mine and he smirked. Rage streamed through my veins and I had to fight the vines from emerging. One look was all it took to get under my skin, and he knew it.
“What the hell are they doing up there?” I asked. “They’re competing in the Games, too.”
“They have elite status based on their performance the last couple of years and back in prep school,” Dionysus explained, rolling his eyes. “They don’t have to compete in preliminaries like us plebs.”
“Of course not,” I muttered. “Hades always gets to play by his own rules.”
Daphne gave me a look like I was crazy for talking about him like that out in the open. “Why do you hate him so much, anyway?”
The truth was that I’d hated him ever since I found out about his existence. At least, as far as it pertained to mine. But I wasn’t about to admit that. Arranged marriages were nothing new in the world of the gods, and Daphne would probably think I was just being a spoiled brat by being opposed to such a prestigious setup.
“Let’s just say it’s a family thing,” I said, deciding that was the safest answer.
She didn’t look convinced, but she shrugged it off as Artemis came out onto the field. She blew her shrill whistle and we all winced. It was hardly necessary, considering that voice carried, but she seemed to enjoy it. “All right, everyone, listen up. Just because this isn’t the Games doesn’t mean I don’t expect to see your best performance out there. And remember, this will determine the starting lineup for first years. Less than half of you will actually make it through.”
I gulped. I knew they’d be cutting off the stragglers, but I hadn’t realized there would be that many people. Oh, well. If we couldn’t at least pull out a victory over half the class, we stood no chance in the actual Games. It was all or nothing, considering only the winner got the platform.
I still couldn’t believe I actually cared about this, even if it was partially about comeuppance. I couldn’t help but wonder what my mom would think when I finally told her I was participating. We’d talked a few times since I’d found out the truth about my parentage, or at least Hermes’ version of it, but I was still avoiding any in-depth conversation, and I was sure she could tell something was going on. Growing up, I’d always joked that she had eyes in the back of her head. Given the array of gifts at the Academy, I wouldn’t have been surprised if there was a goddess out there who literally did.
At Artemis’s demand, we all lined up, and of course our group ended up right next to the Valkyries. They were one of the only quads on the field, but I’d seen them enough at practice to know they all moved in perfect unison. Whether they were sisters or just came from the same gene pool, I didn’t know, but they were practically clones of each other, nastiness included. I knew right away they’d be the toughest competitors, at least among the first years.
“The first challenge will be the thousand yard dash,” Artemis announced, her eyes glimmering with sadism. “And you will all be able to use your powers as you see fit, barring lethal moves, of course.”
A hush fell over the contestants. Powers? Why would we need our powers to get to the end of a marker?
Before I could figure out the answer to that question, Thor cried out, “On your marks, get set, go!”
I took off alongside Daphne and Dionysus, and the Valkyries took the lead immediately, I didn’t have time to look back and see how far the others were. As far as I knew, any one person in the team getting to the finish line qualified as a victory, but it was impossible to be sure considering how secretive the teachers had been about the content of the preliminary challenges.
I didn’t get far before I realized how the powers came into play. I heard a shriek from behind and looked over to realize the back half of the track was covered in solid ice. At least eight other contestants were rooted into it with their sneakers.
The girl who’d shrieked wasn’t far from Dionysus, and I realize his right foot was caught in the ice. His eyes widened as he looked at me, but Daphne had already caught up with me.
“Move!” she cried, breezing past me.
I realized the ice was spreading across the ground rapidly, and took off as fast as I could, even though the idea leaving a teammate behind made me grimace. Especially Dionysus.
It didn’t take long to figure out who was responsible for the attack. So far, the Valkyries had kept their individual powe
rs close to the vest, but Ingrid was grinning from year to year as she outstripped us. I assumed she didn’t have that much precision control if she wasn’t trying to take out the competitors beside and in front of her, but before long, I had other issues to worry about.
An explosion stopped me in my tracks, and I barely managed to put the brakes on in time to avoid barreling right into it. “Holy shit,” one of the Valkyries cried.
Not good if they were flustered. Explosions started going off all around the track, and I darted for the clearest path up ahead. To my relief, I caught a glimpse of Daphne’s red hair beside me.
So we were both still in the race. I bobbed and weaved through the explosions, no time to catch my breath in between. I had no way of knowing if we were in first or last place, but the herd had definitely thinned out.
Up ahead, I saw the truth. Maya was far ahead of us, and mere feet away from the finish line.
I felt defeat wash over me, until I remembered. I could use my powers, too. I reached out my hand and sent a vine surging toward the finish line, hoping to catch her. Sure enough, it wrapped around her ankle just in time and I gave a hard yank back.
She let out a startled cry as she went flying away from the finish line, and I winced when she landed.
“Sorry!” I called. And I sort of was. It was definitely a cheap trick, but the world of gods was full of them, so why should the Academy be any different?
I finally crossed the finish line, followed immediately by Ingrid, and Daphne after her.
“You did it!” Daphne cried, grabbing me by the shoulders. My thoughts were still racing and none of it seemed real. It was impossible to believe I’d actually made it across the finish line, let alone done it first.
“We did it,” I breathed, still in a state of shock. “We won?”
As if answering my question, Artemis cried, “Kore wins first place! Ingrid’s second. The rest of you, just hope you do better at the next event.”
