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They all knew what it was like to be lonely and looked down on, and now they got to know what it was like to fit in.
They were never going to let a girl they just met drag them down into a pit with the other treasonous outcasts. The only person I ever had was Mom. It was time I started acting like it, and got her the hell away from Selene.
“—lla? Aella, did you hear?”
“What?” I tossed my head. “No, I didn’t, because I’m not listening. I told you I’m busy. Just go already.”
“Okay.” The hurt in her voice nicked my heart. “I just thought you’d want to know that Hondros said he’d put you in the reflection room if you missed another class.”
I froze. If anything could’ve gotten my attention, it was that.
“You’ve no choice, girl. Confined torture will be no excuse. If I’m not freed by week’s end, I rid myself of another weeping parasite. Go,” Selene ordered, “and hold your tongue.”
I bit sharply on said tongue, holding back what I wanted to say to the bitch. There were times when Selene was understanding, even apologetic—and all of it was a conniving bitch’s lie. The last three days, any trace of humanity in her disappeared.
She screamed and ranted in my ear at night, ripping me out of sleep when I nodded off. She berated me whenever another book turned up nothing—drilling in my head how stupid and useless I was. And every day and every minute, she warned me what would happen to Mom if I failed.
But the joke was on me. Of course there was no humanity in a god.
“All right,” I said to both of them. “I’ll go.”
I got ready and followed my friends out to the mess hall. We were a silent bunch walking down the hall with the other novices streaming around us. I saw them trading looks and silent communication. All of them were wondering what was going on with me, and electing someone to ask.
“So, Aella,” Tycho began. “We were wondering if everything’s—”
“What’s that?” I sliced in, picking up the pace. “The mess hall’s closed?”
“Closed? No, it’s not.”
Tycho said that, but the sign hanging above the door and stopping all the novices in their tracks clearly readClosed.
“What’s going on?” Nitsa asked. “Did one of the instructors say something about this yesterday?”
“Everyone’s clueless on this side of the door, but I do hear people on the other side,” Daciana said, cocking her head. “It sounds like they’re saying... they’re preparing for—” She snapped up, stiffening. “Guys, why don’t we take off today? We’ve been talking about heading back to the lake on our own. Let’s do it.”
I pulled a face. “What? Now?”
“Yeah, now.” She laughed. “Life’s too short to be all about training, training, training.”
“Life gets even shorter when you’re trapped in the reflection room. You said Hondros would punish me if I missed another day.”
She shrugged. “He won’t put all of us in the reflection room.”
“He will,” I drew out. “He absolutely will. They’ve already carried out that threat.”
“Guys, don’t you think it’s a good idea?” She spun on the others. “We’ll go for a swim, pick the fruit trees, and Theron can make out with the dryads.”
Theron hummed. “It is starting to sound pretty good.”
“But, Daciana, what about—?”
Daciana shook her head sharply, eyes bulging. Something dawned in Nitsa’s eyes because the daughter of Hera nodded, then elbowed Ionna.
“Yes,” Nitsa said. “I’m dying for a swim. Let’s go.”
I didn’t get another word out before they were grabbing my shoulders, arms, and hands, and leading me away.
A shadow fell over us.
