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“I will be so serious,” Tycho said solemnly. “I will be whatever you want.”
“Great, man. See you later.”
Calix folded back into his harem of demigoddesses, one of them asking if he was really going to spar with that freak Sisyphean. Tycho floated back to us.
“You’re right. I was kidding,” Ionna deadpanned. “Are you serious, Tycho? The guy just erased your existence, and you let him.”
“Who cares if the last six years don’t exist? All that matters is tonight I’ll be alone and training with Calix.”
“Uh, that’s the problem,” Theron said. “Platon Kyriakos trained you for one week, declared you hopeless, and stormed out of the palace. While Calix Lambros is one of the best fighters in the academy. Not in the novice class but the entire academy. What in the hades do you think you’re going to teach him?”
Ionna patted Tycho’s shoulder. “He’s going to kick your ass up into your neck. And that’s not a guess. Every version of the future agrees.” She tapped her throat. “Ass in neck.”
Tycho waved his hands. “All of you are saying things that don’t matter. Why? Because tonight I’ve got a date with Calix.
“Daciana, do you make clothes for men? I need to wear something tonight that Calix will never forget.”
Daciana threw her arm around him, leading him to the stands. “Don’t worry, friend. I’ll dress you in my best ‘make him forget he likes women’ outfit, but I cannot guarantee the results.”
We continued on to our seats and settled in for ninety minutes of tedium.
“We should play a game to pass the time,” Nitsa offered. “Ionna, what was that one you were talking about last night? Guess the God? Ionna?”
Our crimson-haired, freckled friend stared off in the distance. I was beginning to understand what that meant.
“Oh, okay.” Nitsa let her be and faced us. “Basically, I think what we do is describe one of the many crazy godly tales, andthen the others guess the god involved. The trick is you have to be vague. No obvious details that would give it away. Okay, like this.” She clapped, getting excited. “I say pride made her boastful, arrogance made her challenge, hubris made her fall. Who is this story about?”
“Hmm.” Tycho stretched out on the seat behind, resting on his elbows beside Daciana. “You said her, so that takes a few people out of the running.”
“And it’s punishment for hubris,” Theron added. “Is it—?”
“Guys!” Ionna jerked up, startling Tycho into falling on Daciana’s lap.
“What?” I said. “What is it?”
If she heard me, she gave no sign. Ionna scanned our surroundings, eyes narrowing. I looked where she was but didn’t see anything.
Her shoulders slumped. “Nothing. Just another wrong vision.” Shaking herself, she tried for a smile. “What were we talking about?”
“We’re playing your Guess the God game.” Tycho righted himself. “My guess is Arachne and Athena.”
“Correct,” Nitsa said. “Now it’s... your turn...” Nitsa frowned over our heads. “Wow. What’s going on with her? Sirena’s even more brutal than usual.”
I turned as the bo staff struck Chara’s face, snapping her head around. Blood, and possibly a tooth, spurted from her mouth. The girl hit the ground and didn’t get up.
“Weak,” Sirena barked. She kicked Chara away. “Who’s next!”
No one volunteered.
“Fucking hell,” I cried. “All that because Chara hugged Alex’s arm?”I’m actually Alex’s girlfriend, and it didn’t bother me.“Why is Sirena so scarily possessive?”
“It’s not that,” Ionna said. “I mean, she is scarily possessive, but she’s not angry because of Chara. Didn’t you guys hear the rumors? It’s going around that Alex is dating someone.”
I stilled.
“It’s serious too, going by Eleni.”
“Eleni?” I strained to keep my tone even. “Who’s that?”
