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“Do you see? Ionna admits that her visions are confusing and often wrong, but seeing as my mother is the only mortal in all of Olympia, and I happen to be that mortal’s daughter, her having that vision right after she meets me can’t be a coincidence.”
“No, you’re right. It can’t be. But here?” he repeated, speaking to himself. “How did they do it? I can believe an echidna found a way into the mortal dominion, but for a monster to break through these barriers? It’s never been done.”
I so badly wanted to tell him it wasn’t done. Selene’s band of demigod minions took care of that.
“Did her vision give any more clues to find her?”
“Yes, she—”
“Xander? What are you doing?” Sirena jogged over and pasted against his chest, snagging his arm. “Come on. I’m first. Watch me show them how it’s done,xremxa.”
She dragged him away. I tried not to let it get to me that she was all over him or that her hand slid down and squeezed his ass.
“You all right, Sisyphean?” Ajax called. “You look like you sucked on a lemon.”
“I’m fine,” I snapped. “And my name is Aella.”
“Survive the season, then I’ll decide if it’s worth learning your name.”
Joining the group, I flipped him off.
Ajax laughed. In a way, he reminded me of Alexander. Ajax’s eyes were dark brown, whereas Alex’s were light. His cheekbones were softer. His jaw rounder. But they shared a handsomeness as effortless as the confidence in their stances. I was pretty sure Ajax was going to claim the Poseidon seat while Alex had Zeus. The gods of the heavens and seas.
It was easy to be confident when you were the future master of the world.
“You’re feisty, Eirene’s daughter. I might like that.” His wolfish grin spread slower than the flush heating my skin. “I might like that a lot.”
“I— You— But—”
Cora shot between us, putting a blessed end to my stuttering. “Let’s go over here, Ajax.” She dragged him off too, shooting me a nasty look for my trouble.
Only the gods knew what I did wrong. That was a drive-by flirting if there ever was one. I was an innocent, blushing virgin bystander.
“Ready?” Proficient Catherine called, flicking my attention to her.
Sirena adopted another pose. “Naturally.”
I blinked, and Catherine was gone. A blur streaked toward Sirena, who shifted even faster. Shooting off the ground, a magnificent creature with the body of a lion and wings of an eagle spread them wide and flapped a gust of wind that blew my tunic over my face.
Proficient Catherine popped off her feet. The blur became a woman, and she sailed through the air only to twist at the last moment and slide across the arena on her feet.
“Excellent,” she said, unfazed by her unscheduled flying lesson. “Who’s next?”
Sirena touched down naked as the day she was born and made sure to give Alexander a kiss on the cheek before getting dressed and sidling up to her friends.
Alexander was next up to go. “Ready.”
Catherine streaked toward him.
“Ahhh!” She jerked to a halt so suddenly she flew off her feet. Sliding across the limestone, her screams echoed through the academy.
Alexander dropped his hand—the torment over as soon as it started, but Proficient Catherine lay there in a sweaty pile, her chest heaving and breaths ragged.
“Amazing, Xander.” Sirena draped herself on him, trying to blink up into eyes that were once again watching me. She actually tried to tip his chin, then she slid between us when that didn’t work. “You’re next, Vanda,” she barked. “If you haven’t figured out how to beat her by now, then watching Ajax, Cora, Sara, and Hyacinth put you to shame won’t make much of a difference.”
Biting my tongue, I crossed to Catherine. I was starting to get real tired of this random woman barking orders at me.
Catherine slapped away my outstretched hand. “I don’t need your help,” she snapped. “Take your place, novice.”
