Mayhem for Suckers
God Fire Academy 3
May Dawson
Lacey Carter Andersen
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Also by May Dawson
Also By Lacey Carter Andersen
Untitled
About Lacey Carter Andersen
Chapter One
Thea
Life is fragile. So very fragile. I stand on the balcony of the old castle looking out over the crashing waves. In the distance, a lone boat struggles against the storm, and I watch it with far too much interest. On a vessel that size, there must be at least five or six people.
Someone probably loves those men and women. Someone will probably miss them if they don’t come home.
Lucky for them.
I feel the smile that twists my lips. No one has ever truly cared about me. Yes, I had to live. I had to survive, but only so I could be the vessel of the powerful goddess that screams inside of me. But now that I’ve become what I was always meant to be, I can feel myself changing. That darkness that’s always lived inside of me finally has the power to do what it’s always wanted. And I can’t seem to tell myself no about anything.
If I want something, I take it.
Lifting a hand, I stretch it out toward the sea. I feel the power coursing through me. It calls to the waves and the wild waters. Below me, the ocean grows more violent. My hand trembles, but I grit my teeth and watch as the sea goes mad. The waves that only before crashed against the rocks grow so powerful and large that they cloak the rocks and smash against the cliff that this castle rests upon, growing higher and higher.
The boat nearly capsizes, but by some miracle manages to stay afloat. My smile falters, and I point toward the boat. I can practically feel the exhaustion of the crew, but I can feel their fear. I can even feel the moment when they realize that the ocean is a powerful mistress and that they were fools to forget that.
As I curl my hand into a fist, my power ripples out. A massive wave crashes over the ship, and the vessel disappears. I drop my hand and watch as the ocean calms, but it’s a while before I see what must be the bottom of the boat.
There will be no survivors from such a storm.
Within me, Rán, the goddess of the sea, thrashes, and my smile returns. She loved to pick and choose who lived and died on her waters when she was in control, but now that she watches me at work, it angers her. She pretends that I don’t have the right to make such choices, but we both know it’s jealousy that fuels her emotions, not any real sense of right and wrong.
Behind me, I’m aware of him only seconds before his arms come around me and the smell of the salty ocean fills my nostrils. I sigh and lean back against his strong chest, coming alive beneath his touch. Even though I can’t see his face, I know his eyes are closed, concealing the ocean-green color of his pupils, and that he breathes deeply of my own scent.
“Everyone was starting to worry,” he whispers.
It takes me a long minute before I can find my voice. “I just needed a minute before I faced them.”
His arms tense. “You failed?”
I pull away from him and whirl around. “I didn’t fail. Those fucking godslayers did.”
His strong jaw moves, and I can see the muscles moving. “Your father won’t see it that way.”
“Fuck him,” I say, my words almost a hiss of anger. “I’ve done everything he’s asked of me, and still it’s not enough. It’ll never be enough.”
I think of my sister standing in front of me, facing off with those men, and something churns in my gut. Would she be so critical of me? Would she see nothing but my flaws?
“I’m not trying to anger you, my angel, just to prepare you.”
I turn away from him and look back at the sea, curling my fingers into the stone railing. “Next time we face them, it’ll be together, and the battle will be done. Then, no one will stand in our way. We will rule this world and everyone in it.”
He runs a hand down my spine, and I shiver. I don’t have to look at him to know his gaze is glued on the ocean. Already the god within him whispers for him to return to the waters, but I hope he fights Aegir. Every time he shifts and disappears beneath the waves, he’s gone longer than the time before. I’m afraid that one day he might just not come back. And I can’t do this without him.
I don’t want to do this without him.
“Did you see her?”
My gut turns again. “Yes.”
“What was she like?”
And I say the words that I’ll never say to the others. “She looked…so much like me. This Izzy. There was a second I didn’t want to kill her, because it was like killing myself. I could feel the god inside of her, and inside of the others, and I wondered if…if this was necessary. If she and the others might be able to rule with us. In a lesser way. But I wondered if we really needed to kill them.”
Barret runs his hands down my arms. “When your father stole me from my family’s home, I hated him. For years, I hated him with every ounce of my being. He took the five us and he gave no love or affection. Just tore our backs to shreds whenever we failed to live up to his expectations. But slowly, his words began to ring true within me. He did everything because one day we would be gods. Because one day we would rule this world.”
I wait, holding my breath.
“And now that the power courses inside of me, I know I could never share it. Not with your sister and the strange gods. I don’t even know if I can share it with the others. If I had it my way, you and I would rule alone.”
“So they need to be destroyed?” I say, even though I already know the answer.
His hands stroke my skin again. “It’s us or them.”
I understand that sentiment deep in my core. This isn’t the first time in my life I’ve had to make such a choice. But it rattles me that it’s my sister. Why can’t it have been anyone else?
“And you know…” His voice is barely softer than the wind. “When they learn to control their powers, they’ll be stronger than we are, and any chance at destroying them will be gone.”
I look back at him in surprise. “No, we were supposed to be gods. It was accidental that she got the powers too. I was chosen for this, not her.”
His eyes are cold. “Then why are they Loki, Thor, Tyr, Hel, and Odin? Why are they the fiercest of the gods?”
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.
His smile sends a strike of fear through me. “Your father is the best liar I’ve ever seen. And I think his greatest lie was that you were the one chosen for this. Because if I believe the facts over his words, us becoming gods along with your sister was the mistake.”
“No,” I say, and the word comes out strangely hurt.
“Then prove it, Thea. Prove to everyone that you’re more than some worthless woman. That you deserve the godd
ess inside of you. And do what needs to be done without hesitation.”
I hear my father call for Barret.
Silently, I pray he doesn’t answer. That I have a little more time before I have to tell everyone I failed to kill my sister and the assholes who are gods with her.
“You know what they’re calling them, right? The Chosen Five.”
No… We were chosen. Not her. Not that woman with the eyes that shine and the men who looked at her with love. Women like her already had everything. This time it was my turn.
“She’s returned!” Barret calls out, and I flinch. His gaze locks onto mine. “Now, my love, go take the punishment you so rightly deserve.”
A cold sweat washes over my body. “I’m a goddess, I don’t get punished anymore.”
He reaches out and grips the back of my neck, and I can practically feel the old scars on my back opening up. Images of the whip falling on my back and the smell of coppery blood fills my senses.
“No one is ever going to hurt me again,” I whisper.
He gets that smile that scares me and brushes his lips against mine. “Then maybe it’s time you show them who’s in charge. And I think that starts with erasing all weaknesses.”
Certainty fills me. He’s right. If I’m not a cowering child before my father anymore, if I’m going to rule this world, there’s no room for weakness. And my sister is a weakness. The sooner I kill her, the sooner I can be free of her, and that part of myself that still values a life, any life.
Squaring my shoulders, I head out of my bedroom, with the man I love following closely behind me. In the main room of the castle, the other gods, our followers, and my father, waits. But if they think I’m still a child, if they think there’s anything human left inside of me that they can hurt, they’ll soon see the truth.
I’ll destroy anyone that stands in my way of getting what I want…of erasing this world and making it what I want. Starting with the Cursed Five.
Because that’s what my sister and her men are: cursed.
Chapter Two
Izzy
The world around me is on fire. Flames beat against my skin, so painfully hot that my eyeballs feel like they’re blistering. I’d scream from the pain and the panic, but my throat is raw. My eyes are watering from the smoke, turning everything into an orange blur.
“Izzy.” Reid’s voice near my ear grounds me. “You’re okay. You could turn yourself into a dragon and set the world on fire just like this.” He coughs quietly under his breath; it must be hard for him to speak too, because his voice is a rasp. “Or you can douse the flames.”
I nod. But when I feel this much panic, it’s hard for me to think of what I could turn into, let alone transform myself.
Fire is my weakness.
In the flames, I catch glimpses of memories. My mother’s exhaustion as she battled to save us from the flames. The way she’d fallen to her knees outside the house. Thea’s face, so like mine, wide-eyed and innocent and terrified.
And Thea’s face, as an adult, hardened and cold. That’s the memory that really sends me reeling.
But that’s why we’re here, training.
It’s supposed to hurt. I’m supposed to come close to panic--and learn how to fight it.
“What do I do?” I demand of Reid, but I don’t expect him to answer. He bows his head, the two of us encircled by the flames. The dancing, flickering, terrible flames silhouette his tall, powerful figure.
I know he won’t tell me what I should do.
But when he looks up at me with warmth in his eyes even though there are no answers on his lips, I know he trusts me to figure it out myself.
The image of a phoenix comes to my mind suddenly, of a bird with powerful wings and a woman’s face--my face--rising from the flames.
Someone who can’t be destroyed by fire, no matter how dark the memories that come with the flames.
As soon as I think it, I transform into a phoenix. The wings uncurl from my shoulders, and I clasp Reid close. The two of us soar up from the flames together.
When we rise above them, the campus is visible spreading around us. Mr. Time and Brenda stand to one side, and my men wait on the other side of the flames. On the hillside, a group of students have gathered to watch. I never know what to make of them. Do they hate us? They must want us to win, because the alternative is even worse. But do they hope we die?
What are they saying to each other, those students dotted across the grassy hill?
You know, maybe I don’t even give a fuck. I’ve got superpowers and I’m going to save the world. Does it matter if people gossip about me? Do I care?
Yes, yes I do. I wish I could be a whole new Izzy, but even with god powers, I still feel like an awkward geek half the time.
I soar toward the ground. Reid whoops as soon as his feet touch the ground. “That was amazing, Izzy!”
“I thought you were supposed to find a way to halt the fire,” Brenda says dryly, crossing her tattooed arms over her chest. “Not just escape it yourself.”
Reid rolls his eyes. Brenda’s always such a downer. For a woman who only looks to be five or so years older than us, she acts like she’s been around for hundreds of years. Which, honestly, she might have been. I still have no idea what kind of supernatural she is.
Turning away from her, I feel my body shift again, my wings disappearing.
Mr. Time motions with his hand. The flames die down, then disappear. They felt so real, but the grass is thick and emerald-green where it had been singed down to the dirt and ash.
And as soon as the flames are gone, Aiden storms across the grass toward us.
“Here we go,” Reid mutters, swiping his hand through his thick hair.
“What the hell was that?” Aiden demands. “You said Reid and Izzy had to escape a maze. You didn’t say it was a maze of fire. That was so fucking cruel.”
Brenda laughs, but Mr. Time holds up a hand to tell her to pause. He answers Aiden, “Maybe it was. But the gods you’ll all face are much crueler. They’ll exploit your weaknesses.”
“It’s all right, Aiden,” I tell him, before he can yell at my immortal grandfather some more. “I’m fine with whatever tests and challenges help us grow.”
“Well, in that case,” Brenda begins before Mr. Time shoots her a look. She swallows whatever she was about to suggest, but the smirk on her face suggests she still finds it funny.
“Brenda brought news,” Mr. Time says. “I need to meet with some of the faculty. And then we have much to discuss. I’ll see you all back at the house for dinner in an hour and tell you all about it?”
I nod. Mr. Time glances at the guys, then jerks his head. I walk with him a few steps toward the academic building.
“This is about my sister?” I demand.
“In part,” he admits. “But let’s talk about her latest…mischief...over dinner. I wanted to tell you, Izzy, how proud I am of you.”
“If this is about what Aiden said, he’s just protective.” I don’t want Mr. Time to see me as weak. I can’t afford to be weak, not if I’m going to find a way for my men and I to live in this world freely. “I’m fine.”
“I’m glad he’s so protective,” Mr. Time says. “I happen to like him.”
“You might want to tell him that, then.” It would probably mean a lot to Aiden to have an authority figure respect him for once, not that Aiden would ever admit that.
He nods, and I know Mr. Time will take what I say seriously. I love that about him.
“I wanted to ask you, while it’s just the two of us, how you’re doing,” he says. “I know you’d hoped for a very different reunion with your sister. I hope…”
He trails off, not daring to speak his own hopes for her. I feel the same way.
I want to believe there’s a way for Thea to be redeemed. I want her by my side.
“I want to have my sister again,” I admit. “I still can’t make sense of what happened that night…or maybe I don’t want to.”
&
nbsp; He nods, his face solemn.
“But I’ll be ready for her if we can’t find a way to make peace,” I say. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect the world from the gods--both the ones within us, and the others who have been reborn.
“I know you will,” he says. He squeezes my shoulder gently. “I believe in you, Izzy.”
And then I ask the words I was scared to say before. “What about that box?”
He stiffens. “It’s called a Taka cage.”
I frown. “But how did they get it? I know you said that we would be trapped again if our gods got out of control, but I kind of thought that was only something you and the godslayers could do.”
He sighs. “The box was supposed to remain carefully hidden. The godslayers were partially here to watch all of you and partially here to protect the box. I think when they betrayed the other godslayers, the traitor godslayers gave your sister and her gods the box to use against you.”
“But if they have it…won’t it be easy for them to get rid of us?”
“Only if we’re not careful.” He gives me a pointed look. “Which means, we can’t go rushing in, powers blazing, nor can we trust the wrong person. We have to be smart about it, and we have to get the box away from them.”
“So that we can use it against them?”
He nods.
I imagine my sister trapped for an eternity with the gods, and a shiver rolls down my spine. No one deserved that, did they? Even if that person had tried to kill me.
“Don’t worry too much about it,” he says, giving me a reassuring smile. “I have a plan.”
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