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“You’ll find out soon enough. Come. Now.”
I considered arguing, then I considered what Kazran’s punishment would be for disobeying him. Scrolls or worse?
I’m not going to find out.I walked up to the group, stiffening with each step. Alexander’s gaze was a thousand pillow feathers tickling my skin. Goose bumps rippled down my arms just being near him.
“I’m not without mercy, daughter of Eirene,” Kazran said. “None of these proficients are going to let themselves be subdued by your lips.”
Sirena and her friends laughed louder and longer than that quip deserved.
“Since your power won’t do you much good, you’ll go last to see how it’s done. Learn from them and formulate your plan for defeating Proficient Catherine.”
“Thank you, sir.” I glanced at my simple white tunic and brown pants. “Can I have armor or gear—?”
“How long have you been training in combat?”
“Um, since yesterday.”
“Then what would you do with gear?” he asked, brows cocked. “Throw it at her?”
Sirena and her friends burst out laughing, heating my cheeks. “But what if—”
“Try not to kill her,” Kazran said, turning his back on us. “Begin.”
Try not to kill her? Was he talking to our group or to Proficient Catherine?
“Move aside, Sisyphean.” Sirena came straight at me, forcing me to jump aside or get mowed down. “Kazran said you’re lastand least—where you’ve always belonged and who you’ll always be.”
I barely heard her. I was too focused on where to look.
If I kept avoiding looking Alex in the face, he’d think something was wrong, but if I acted like everything was fine, he’d think we could keep going as we had. How could we have steamy make-out sessions in the bathroom when all I’d be thinking about was what Sebastian said and the hatred in his eyes when the son of Hades looked at him?
“Hey.”
“Hey,” I mumbled.
“I’m going to pretend I’m fixing my boot buckle. Look anywhere but at me.”
I scanned the skies as he bent, wondering if I was really feeling the prickle of a thousand eyes or imagining them. This must be hell for Alexander—knowing anyone anywhere could be a spy for his father.
“Is everything okay, Aella? You ran off so fast last night, and now you seem off.”
“I’m fine. I just—”Don’t know if you’re a real friend or another snake with a pretty smile, waiting for your chance to use and abuse me—just like Kylie and Dina.“I just realized something last night and it freaked me out,” I said instead. “Now my head is spinning with what to do now.”
“What did you realize?”
“That my mom is here, Alex. She’s hidden somewhere in Deucalion Academy.”
“What?!” His head snapped up out of the corner of my eye. Quickly, he got to his feet and started stretching, facing his back to me. “Did you say she’s here? Aella, that’s not possible. Monsters can’t cross the spells, wards, and barriers around the castle. They’re even stronger than the barrier spell aroundOlympia, and that’s saying something. Deucalion Academy has never been invaded. Ever.”
Sounds like the perfect place to hide an irritating goddess that you don’t want found.
“I believe you, Alex, but she’s here. I know because—”
“Be very careful what you say next, girl.”
“—because my roommate, Ionna, is a daughter of Apollo,” I blurted. “She has the gift of prophecy, and last night, she started talking about a strange vision of a mortal woman trapped in the bowels of the academy.”
“Rhea and Cronus,” he breathed.
