by Holly Hook
“Ah. Giselle,” he said as he found me. His green-flecked eyes narrowed just a bit. “How was your summer?”
Translation: I don't approve of you leaving campus.
To the side, Ronin tried to blend in with the wall. He'd been worried about whether he was going to be a part time Combat Training instructor again. He'd lost his post temporarily last year, only getting it back when he surrendered my fake birthright weapon to Prometheus.
“It was good,” I said. “Peaceful.” Translation: I can leave campus during the summer like everyone else and not die.
The principal forced a smile but his eyes shone with worry. “I was surprised that you left, considering the Lower Order attacked the dance at the end of last year. I would have expected you to stay safe on campus. Where do you live, anyway?”
Ronin shrunk even further into the wall. Prometheus glanced at him from the corner of his eye. Yeah, Prometheus might suspect he'd messed with my address in the system. He might have sent someone to find me over the summer. And when I turned out to be missing, he put the pieces together.
I had to cover for him. The air went from warm to hot, and people around us shifted out of the entryway. Wendy remained missing, probably because she was still trying to lug all her belongings with no help.
“Oh. I live in Hazel Farm,” I said, thinking of the first town Colton Corners often played sports against. "I changed addresses over the summer and forgot to update. I'm sorry."
Prometheus nodded. His face remained young, but his eyes went sharp. Ancient. “We need to update it, then. I was worried about you being out of the Academy's protection for months on end. Certain people and parties are getting...bolder. See me in my office after orientation. You should have time since classes don't start until tomorrow.”
“No problem.” I forced my own smile.
“And Ronin. We'll be discussing your schedule,” Prometheus said. “I'd like to keep you teaching the second years twice per week since you know them all. And I'd like to meet you separately from Giselle.”
The principal vanished, taking that magical, hot atmosphere with him. Ronin and I stared at each other before he peeled himself from the wall.
“That went well,” Ronin said. “At least I'm not the one who got in the system. He doesn't suspect Cal."
“I'll stick to that story.” Then, after checking to find the entrance hall empty, I dove in Ronin's arms and planted a kiss on his lips, standing on my tiptoes to do so. We dragged out the moment, and I could feel Ronin's electricity flowing under his skin as I grasped his bare arm and dug my fingers into his flesh. I could draw it out, fill my being with it, and give it back threefold. We'd both become unstoppable--
“Get a room, you two.”
“Maria.” Catching my breath, I separated from Ronin to find my friend standing in the mouth of the corridor, arms crossed. But she grinned. And she was already dressed in the silken blue robe of a second year.
“Ready to dive into lessons?” Ronin asked her.
“Well, I wanted to compare schedules,” Maria said. “Where's yours?”
My heart dropped into my shoes.
“Um, at Carmen's house?” I asked, looking to Ronin.
He slapped his hand to his forehead. “This summer reverted you back to normal Giselle more than I thought.”
“Ha, ha,” I said. “Look, I'm not that dumb. I remember what my schedule said.”
“I know you're not.” Ronin patted the top of my head.
“I hate that!”
“Break it up, you two,” Maria said. “Giselle. Let's get you up to your room. I'll carry your stuff. Our robes were already stocked for us when we came in. Yours might be up there if you left your door unlocked when you left for the summer.”
“Um,” I said.
Maria bit her lip. “Come on. We'll work it out.”
Ronin had to leave, having his own orientation to go to, leaving me with Maria. She grabbed my arm with one hand and lifted the rest of my luggage with the other.
“Ow,” I said.
“Sorry. I keep forgetting my strength,” she said, letting go. “I know you can walk on your own.” A dark undertone ran under her words like the black river and I remembered I still had to tell her and Mikey what we'd seen under Gramp's Convenience Store. If anyone could help figure out a way past Cerberus, it was Maria. She was strong. Maybe even able to fight a three-headed dog.
And we might even get to bypass Wendy.
Behind us, Wendy grunted as she pulled the trunk into the front doors. I let Maria guide me down the corridor towards the girls' dorms. “Where's Mikey?”
“Getting settled. I guess he's been texting Cal all summer,” she said. “Cal just wants to be friends, I think, but Mikey wants more and he's getting frustrated.”
“Poor Mikey. Hey, let's get me unpacked. There's something I haven't told you yet you might find interesting.”
At least I'd remembered my keycard to the room on the top floor of the dorms. When I opened the door to my purple carpet and canopy bed, I smelled dust and the fact that the window hadn't been opened in months. Yeah, no one had been in here to stock my closet with blue second year robes. My first year robes were still hanging there and I sure wasn't wearing that to orientation. “I'm screwed."
"We'll figure something out," Maria said.
I left my bags on the floor near my bed, which already felt like home. I hadn't expected to feel comfortable here when I got back. Maria and I walked back down to the dining hall. Sun streamed in through the four skylights, shining down on the long tables. The naked statues remained in their usual spots and the smell of pancakes filled the room. Nervous first years, fresh in purple robes, filled the first table. There were more of them this year than last year, I noticed, and they seemed so young compared to the three of us. They were a bunch of fifteen and sixteen year olds, all freshly sorted.
“Over here!” Tiffany shouted. She was already seated beside Mikey.
It felt weird walking over to the table where everyone was draped in blue, like I should have been. And despite lugging in a heavy trunk, Wendy was already seated at the end, dressed the same. She sneered at me as I sat down, clearly out of place without my uniform, and whispered something to Serena and Percival. Duncan was, of course, gone. He'd fled with the Lower Order after last year's attack.
He was where I would have been right now if Wendy hadn't stepped in.
I grabbed the side of the table. Wendy was still a jerk or pretending to be one.
“I see the dream team is still somewhat together,” Mikey said, tucking his phone in his pocket. “Oh, Giselle. Show me your schedule. Do we have any classes together?”
“I have Magical Meditation. I'm sure it's with Wendy. And that's my first class,” I said. “Combat Training is at the end of the day. Not sure I like that.”
“Ours is, too. Looks like all the second years still train together.” Maria got out her envelope, which had the same green open palm and flame that mine did. “So at least we have at least one class all together. That's good. Mikey and I have Strategy first thing.”
I swallowed. Natalia had mentioned that second years would start going into more specialized stuff. We were slowly splitting up.
“And I have Physical Studies right after that,” Mikey said. “No Divine History for me. Well, that part's a relief.”
Physical Studies. That was for people who were going to become dangerous monsters when they matured. They had to learn how to keep their killer instincts under control. I knew werewolves had to take it a bunch of times, but as a budding Siren hybrid, Mikey would, too.
“And at least Strategy will make me feel more intelligent,” Maria said.
“You are intelligent,” I said. She probably didn't get to feel that way, knowing she'd be a monster in two or three years.
“Um, thanks?”
"Look, I have to tell you about something. Ronin, Carmen, and I had a breakthrough with the whole Underworld thing. The book helped. We know wh
ere there's an entrance."
Maria's eyes widened and I didn't miss the hope shining in them. The Underworld meant the herb that could suppress magic. Strength. And our changes. And that meant staying normal for a while longer.
I told her and Mikey the story while Tiffany listened in. Mikey's eyes bulged. "It was under that store the whole time?"
"Yeah. We all missed it. Achlys had to have gotten that water from somewhere. And that somewhere was the River Lethe. I skimmed over that section before I left for summer last year. To be honest, it was Carmen who made the connection." I'd been so focused on Styx and the oath that I hadn't thought about this super obvious explanation.
"Then we need a way past a certain three-headed dog," Mikey said, frowning in Wendy's direction. "I see she's back to her typical form. For a moment, it looked like she was about to stop being our enemy."
Disappointment tightened my chest. "I'll see if I can get to her, but I can't make it look obvious." Right away I felt slimy. Be someone's friend. Get something from them. That wasn't right. But it was less right to let Maria and Mikey become monsters. Both looked fine right now and it was rare for someone to mature before their fourth year, but that wouldn't last. Maria had stress lines around her eyes. Mikey still picked at his food when he ate.
"Good luck," Maria said. "And don't forget. I still kept that free weekend pass I won last year. We've got to be able to use that at some point."
I followed Maria's gaze to the front of the dining hall, where Prometheus was walking towards a stand set up on a cheap, felt-lined black platform. I gulped, remembering that I was a second year now, and that probably meant new restrictions for all second years. That wouldn't put me on half the class's enemy list. Gripping the edge of the table again, I braced myself to hear the worst. It didn't help that a bunch of rent-a-guards, all in black uniforms, had come in behind him. Security was still up and going.
Prometheus cleared his throat, and even though he didn't mean to project his voice through the whole dining hall, he did anyway, since that was what immortals did. "Welcome, all, to Cursed Academy's twenty-third year!"
Scattered applause went up. A few of the first years clapped. Some of those kids seemed excited to be here. I couldn't see their eyes too well from one table over, but I was willing to bet those kids descended from gods--the ones with the golden flecked eyes--didn't have as much to worry about as the rest of us. They were the ones clapping, all right.
The titan smiled, warm and inviting. "I would like to extend a special welcome to our first years. In Cursed Academy, we help our students reach their full potential and prepare for the career options that will open for them after their powers fully awaken. Many of you will go on to work for the gods themselves." He punctuated that sentence with a slight frown. "Perform well, and a few of you may even find our own careers or find yourself in places you never imagined."
The principal looked right at me for a second. sending a shudder over my skin. I wanted to think it was because I hadn't gotten my second year robe and looked like an idiot among all these people who were in uniform, but it wasn't. Prometheus didn't just want me to bring prestige to this school. He had plans for me. But what?
What did he want me to turn into, exactly?
Did want me to become destruction incarnate?
"At Cursed Academy, we strive to make all students reach their full potential," he continued. "You will make lifetime friends here and form great memories. Today, all first years are allowed to tour the building and get to know each other. Classes will begin tomorrow. Second years, this is the time to get acclimated to where your new classes are. Third and fourth years will have classes in the new Building C this year, so I encourage you all to check it out. Breakfast is served!"
Prometheus clapped and something caught fire in the kitchen behind him. A bit of smoke flowed out of the kitchen doors, carrying the scent of cooked bacon, and a few people gasped as the principal stepped down from the platform.
I looked at Maria and Mikey, mouth hanging open, and shared the same look with Tiffany. "He didn't add more rules on us this year? We're still allowed to go off campus?"
"I'm shocked," Mikey said.
"Rules?" Tiffany asked. "Second years can go off campus on the weekends. We just can't carry our birthright weapons outside of class. Something about how we don't know how to control powers very well yet."
Something wasn't right here. Maria, as if sensing the storm in me, reached over the table and seized my arm. "You said Prometheus wants to meet you in his office, right?"
"Yeah." I'd mentioned it in the way up to my room, about how Cal had gone into the school computers and changed my actual address. "That's when he's going to lay some restrictions on me, isn't he?"
Maria bit her lip, frowning. "Remember. He cursed Ronin and made his hair catch fire whenever he tried to visit."
Every drop of spit dried up. "Maybe I should conveniently forget to go?" I knew Prometheus wanted to keep me out of the Lower Order but there was more to it than that. He also wanted to keep me away from Olympian Academy influence, the same influence that could prevent me from going dark.
"I would," Mikey said. "You have an excuse. And never, ever tell him about your secret lessons with Ronin."
Yeah. Those. I had to get Ronin to train me again. I needed more. Being around the gods and those descended from them was the only thing that could do it.
Breakfast came, which turned out to be super good. Wendy stuck with her two remaining friends while keeping her back to me in a snooty manner. Fine. We'd have to talk eventually if we were going to have Magical Meditation together. And possibly, even more classes.
I ate quickly, watching for the principal to return and wave me into his office, but he didn't. Tiffany went off to hang out with Sarah and Jamal, her usual friends, while Wendy and her crew took off to the dorms. No way they were getting caught dead checking out the classrooms, even if Wendy had been top of the class last year.
"What's Building C?" Mikey asked once we left the dining hall and made a beeline away from the office.
"Don't know," Maria said. "I'm shocked we have a new building. The school must have gotten more funding."
"Please stop," I said, holding back another shudder. Maybe I was the reason for that, too.
In the end, we went back to our dorms, and even though it was a nice day outside, I suggested we retreat to mine. Maria went down to the laundry room and brought me back a blue robe, still in plastic and with my name on a sticker. I peeled the sticker off and put it on, joining a sea of conformity. But right them, it was comforting.
"At least we don't jump right into classes," Mikey said, flopping down on my bed and sneezing.
"I haven't cleaned this place yet. It's musty." I opened the closet door and pulled out a vacuum. Yes, I had my own cleaning supplies, unlike the rest of the students who had to share. Prometheus had been waiting for a long time for me to occupy this dorm but he hadn't told me how he knew where I came from.
Maria ran her finger along my night table. "No kidding."
A knock on the door jarred me as I went to turn the vacuum on.
"Giselle Bowman?" a girl asked.
I didn't recognize her voice. But my heart leapt into my throat. Maria made a zipping motion over her lips. Mikey slowly sat up on the bed. And I backed against my night table.
"I'm the new Principal's Aide. My name's Jasmine. Prometheus wants to see you to update your info."
I didn't respond. She wouldn't know I was in here, right?
"And he wants you to do so by the end of the week."
I gulped. No one moved.
"Well, if you're not in there and I'm being dumb, talking to nothing, here's a note," Jasmine continued, sliding an envelope under the door. Her footsteps quickly moved off.
The envelope slid to a stop, shining with Prometheus's raised, green seal. The air heated a bit and a curl of smoke rose from the corner before vanishing.
"Dispose of that," Maria said. "Now. Or
better yet, let me do it."
The heat vanished. I stared at the envelope.
"Maria. You don't have to--"
But she snatched the envelope.
I reached out for her, but it was too late. The envelope burst into orange and green flames, engulfing Maria's arm, and she held in a scream as hot air rippled into her face.
"Maria!" Mikey shouted, shooting off the bed.
Before I could move, he wrapped his arms around her from behind, pulling her away from the light show as she shook her hand to release the letter. But the envelope had vanished, turning to flames. The fire swirled around her arm, climbing up her sleeve, creeping under, and spitting light out from around her shoulder. Fire burst out of the neck of her robe, lashing at her face and at Mikey before jumping to his shoulder as well.
"What is happening?" Mikey asked, pulling Maria back towards the bathroom.
I had to help them.
I grabbed the blankets off my bed, anything that could put the fire out. Even my Chaos powers could do nothing here. "Get on the floor!"
Maria yanked Mikey to the carpet, which I feared would light, and I threw my blanket over the two of them, stomping around them until the orange and green light went out and my thrashing friends both stilled.
Chapter Four
"Maria. Mikey. Say something," I said.
Mikey held his palm out against the blanket that still lay over him. "Something."
That one word drew a massive sigh of relief from my lungs. No trace of a burned seethe or grunt of pain followed.
"The fire's out," Maria said, turning over under the blanket. "It didn't hurt. Just felt warm. But my arm...something's wrong."
All my relief screamed and fled like a bunch of rabbits in front of a werewolf. I pulled the blanket off my friends. Maria and Mikey were huddled together, almost like they were boyfriend and girlfriend getting caught in the act, but I had no time to make fun of them. Mikey turned his gaze up at me and lifted his arm. His blue sleeve fell back, revealing skin.
Shining green lines, all shaped like lines of fire, crisscrossed his flesh.