Dark Gods: An Academy Bully Romance (Academy of the Gods Book 1)

by River Ramsey

  "You and me both," he said with a heavy sigh, offering the bag to me.

  "Keep it."

  His eyes widened. "Seriously?"

  "I've got another back home. Besides, since I'm Hades' fiancee, I can probably just get some hunky man servants to follow me around carrying my books," I said dryly.

  "You're joking, but I'm sure there's a form in the administrative building for that."

  I groaned. "Just call me Kory and not 'Hades' Fiancee’ and we're even. I'd like to have at least one friend at this school who doesn't see me as the death god's property."

  Dionysus gave me a smile that made the callous stone feel a bit warmer. "Now that, I can do."

  2

  Early Monday morning, I put on my freshly pressed uniform and checked the mirror to make sure I hadn't hemmed my skirt to the point where I was going to get scolded before I stepped foot inside the classroom. Human Politics was the first class of the day, and while the subject was less than rousing, I had looked over the course description and didn't feel like I'd missed much from the first semester.

  Living among humans had to count for more than reading about them in a book, anyway.

  With my books in hand, I left my room and found myself face-to-face with a tall red-haired girl in a bath towel. I guess we were comfy like that.

  "Oh," she said, blinking at me. "You're new."

  "And you're naked."

  She looked down at her towel and laughed. "Daphne," she said, reaching to shake my hand. "You must be Persephone."

  I grimaced. "I go by Kore, but yep, that's me."

  "Well, I'd stay and chat but I've got to finish getting ready for class," she said, walking to stand in front of the door next to me. "We're neighbors, so let me know if you need a tour later."

  "Thanks, I might take you up on that," I said, watching her disappear into the room. So far, the only two people I'd met had been friendly enough, so how bad could this place really be?

  Maybe I was worried for nothing. Dionysus was a bit skittish.

  I walked down the stairs and followed the herd to what I hoped would end up being the dining hall. I'd get an odd glance every now and then, and I heard Hades' name whispered more often than mine, but that was nothing new. I'd never even met the guy and he'd been looming over me like the ghost of Christmas future ever since my tenth birthday, when my mother and his father had made the arrangement official.

  She was smart to do it back then, while I was still finding my voice and was too naive and preoccupied with playing in the garden to put up a protest. I could technically back out if I wanted to, but that would mean offending 'the' Cronus. While adding to my mother's collection of gray hairs was my favorite pastime, according to her, I didn't want to make her life that hard.

  Besides, I had four years give or take to find a more kosher way out of this and for all I knew, Hades was dreading it just as much.

  I could hope.

  The dining hall was even more lavish than the rest of the building with long, stone tables and a buffet that lined one entire wall. Servants clad in white suits darted about, carrying trays of gourmet meals for those who didn't feel like undergoing the ordeal of getting their own food. The heavenly aromas made my stomach growl, but I had to find a seat before I did anything about it.

  I scanned the crowded hall for a moment before I caught sight of Dionysus, who was already waving to me. I noticed that he was seated alone, a good distance from the cluster of blondes sitting a bit further down the table.

  "Hey," I said, walking over to join him.

  "I see you're finding your way already," he said with a grin. Definitely a morning person.

  "I just followed the herd," I said, yawning. I glanced over to my right. "Who're the viking chicks?"

  "Those are the Valkyries," he answered. "They're harmless, unless you piss them off. And trust me. You don't wanna piss them off."

  "Noted," I said, catching the glint of the short blade on the nearest girl's hip.

  "Come on, let's get some food," Dionysus said, nodding toward the buffet line.

  "How long is this place open?" I asked, looking around the room. Students seemed to come and go leisurely.

  "All hours, but there are rushes around breakfast, lunch and dinner," he explained. "The upperclassmen have more flexibility in their schedules due to special training."

  "Special training?"

  "You choose a course Junior year," Dionysus said, handing me a clean plate. "Leadership, Warfare, or Domestic."

  Leadership and Warfare made enough since, but the third one flew over my head. "What's Domestic?"

  Dionysus looked at me like I'd grown two more heads as he collected fruit on his plate. I went right for the French toast and what looked like a croissant with icing. "You know... fertility magic, entertaining, the arts. 'How to be a Goddess 101.'"

  "Fuck that," I said, wrinkling my nose.

  "You've seriously never heard of it?"

  "No," I muttered. Something told me Mom had intentionally kept that little factoid from me to avoid further deterring me from attending. And I bet I knew what her major had been.

  "Don't worry, it's not gender segregated," he laughed. "The Valkyries always pick Warfare, and they always make the final rounds of the Games."

  "Oh, yeah," I murmured. The Olympic Games were by far the most identifiable aspect of the Academy, even if they weren't as widely televised as their human counterparts. Gods traveled from all over the world to attend, and having a child who performed well in the Games was a point of pride among the Council of the Gods. Competing itself was an honor reserved for those who'd proven themselves worthy and strong enough to endure the trials of the academic year and secure a recommendation from a faculty member.

  My competitive nature aside, I didn't have high hopes of scoring brownie points with my teachers. I'd spent more time in the principal's office during high school than the classroom.

  "Thinking of entering?"

  "Sports aren't really my thing."

  "That's a shame. That vine thing you did was pretty cool," he remarked, setting his tray back down on the table.

  "You know, I'm really gonna have to come up with a name for that," I said before taking a bite of French toast. "Technically, it's not supposed to be used for fighting, but I make do."

  "Something tells me you're full of surprises," he said in a mischievous tone. "So, do you know what you're wearing to the party tonight?"

  "The party," I groaned, running a hand through my hair. I was starting to get used to the fact that everyone was looking at me. Unlike high school, they weren't glares, just curious glances every now and then. Guess everyone wanted to see if I was Hades' type. "I almost forgot. You're going?"

  "I never turn down an invitation to a good party," he answered, glowing with excitement. "It's mostly faculty and their children, but since you're you-know-what to you-know-who..."

  "Letter of the law, Dionysus."

  He gave me a grin that was anything but apologetic.

  "Wanna go together?" I asked. Once I saw the hesitation on his face, I added, "Not as a date or anything. I just figured you could use a decoy and it's not like I'm on the market."

  "It's not that, it's just..." He glanced over his shoulder, and so far, I couldn't understand why. People seemed nice enough, if a bit nosy. "I'd rather not end up on Hades' radar. Loki already hates me."

  "Loki? Why?"

  That troubled look came back into his eyes, like a shadow blocking out the sun. "It's a long story," he murmured, back to his usual cheerful self in an instant. "But really, the party is wonderful. It makes all this look like a cheap diner.” He waved his hand around the vast hall that would have put Valhalla to shame.

  "What does one wear to such an exclusive event?" I asked wryly.

  "If you like, I'll come over after class and help you pick something out."

  "Sounds great. I'm pretty sure the dress code here's more conservative than in Manhattan."

  "Manhattan," h
e said with a wistful sigh, popping a grape into his mouth.

  "You should come back with me sometime. I think you'd like it."

  "I'll take you up on that," he said, glancing down at his phone. "Oh. Class starts soon, I should probably get going. I'll see you later?"

  "Count on it," I said, deciding I had a few moments to finish up before I headed to class. As I walked my tray over to the table across the room, I became aware of someone staring a bit more boldly than most.

  It was a guy sitting alone, and he looked like he shopped at the Valkyries’ favorite store. He had long, dirty-blond hair adorned with the odd braid, shaved close to his head on one side. He towered over the students around him, and his broad shoulders tested the limits of his uniform blazer, but it wasn’t his stature or the stubbled jaw hard enough to cut diamond that caught my attention. It was the fact that his eyes were the most piercing shade of gold I’d ever seen, and looking away proved as difficult as holding that intense gaze. Everything about him screamed man, but there was something animal in that gaze. A kind of primal energy that emanated from his soul so powerfully it made the skin he was wearing seem like just another layer of disguise.

  My hand twitched at my side, eager to flip him the bird for gawking. I’d kicked men in the balls for less, but I reminded myself getting kicked out of this school would only make things worse and turned around to deposit my tray in the appropriate receptacle.

  Good behavior, Kore.

  By the time I turned around, he was gone. Fast for someone built like a mountain.

  Shrugging it off, I left the dining hall and went to find my class. Human Politics was on the first floor, according to the magic scroll, and by the time I made it to the classroom, there were only a few seats left. One just so happened to be in the very back, so I took it out of habit and waited for the professor to show up.

  My coffee from breakfast still hadn’t fully kicked in and I found myself yawning. My reflexes weren’t fast enough to stop my pencil from rolling off the desk and before I could reach to grab it, another hand shot out.

  “Here,” the girl next to me said, giving me a deer-in-the-headlights look as she offered it to me.

  “Thanks,” I said, taking it from her. I decided not to offer my hand since she looked like a leaf ready to tremble off the vine with her huge gray eyes as wide as eyes could go. She had short, kind of choppy brown hair framing a pretty face and her uniform was all regulation. The spitting image of what my Mom probably wished I was. “I’m Kore.”

  “Ariadne,” she said timidly, straightening upright when a tall man entered the room. He looked about forty even though the answer was probably more like forty thousand. He was wearing a clean gray suit that matched his eyes, a bold silver against his dark skin.

  “Good morning,” he said in a stern voice, looking over the class. The entire room fell silent under his gaze, and students who’d been chattering happily moments earlier now looked as solemn as gargoyles, staring down at the empty notebooks in front of them. “As most of you already know, my name is Hephaestus, but you may call me Professor. I see a new face or two, so let me be clear. This is a first year class, not a seminar. Save your political musings for the discussion group and pay attention, because I don’t repeat myself.”

  “Geez,” I muttered under my breath. “Think he takes himself seriously?”

  Ariadne looked like she’d just turned to stone, and when I glanced up, I could see why. Hephaestus was staring right at me. Guess he had good hearing.

  “You there, in the back,” he said gruffly. “Is there something you’d like to say?”

  “No,” I cleared my throat, adding, “Professor. Sorry.”

  If I’d thought everyone was looking at me in the lunchroom, it was nothing compared to the blank stares I was getting now. I hunkered down in my seat hoping for the storm to pass when someone came breezing into the room.

  Not just someone. The someone.

  I’d never seen Hades in person, but I’d seen him in pictures. Pictures that did him no justice, it seemed. My breath caught in my throat as I managed to stifle another remark watching him enter the room like he owned it.

  Then again, he owned everything south of everywhere.

  Hades was tall, but not nearly as physically imposing as the guy I’d caught leering at me in the lunchroom. Even so, there was something about him that silenced and stilled the energy in the room even more dramatically than Hephaestus’ entrance had. He had bone-white hair, an appealing contrast to his tan skin, and his eyes were so black they seemed to have no depth. He glanced around the room coolly, only pausing for an instant when his gaze landed on me.

  His face didn’t change. He looked like a statue, as beautiful as he was unchangeable, but there was fire in those eyes. He was so unlike his father, a man of greater stature who nonetheless seemed ready to cave in on himself at every moment. While Cronus was frenetic energy and paranoia incarnate, Hades was cool and confident, as if he knew himself to be far above everyone around him and only tolerated reality as an afterthought.

  He walked right past the Professor and took a seat in the second row, like he hadn’t just walked in late without a word. I waited for Hephaestus to ream him out, but he said nothing and turned toward the blackboard. “You all should have printed out and looked over your syllabi last night, so hand them forward and we’ll get started,” he said, droning on about the course overview.

  I meant to pay attention, but despite the somberness of the instructor, it was bound to be an easy class and my attention kept drifting to Hades. I’d planned on avoiding him, and I wasn’t expecting a formal introduction in front of the class, but I’d still expected something more than a cursory glance.

  Should’ve been a relief, but on the other hand, who the fuck did he think he was, King of the Underworld?

  Bad question.

  But still.

  As the Professor continued his preliminary lecture, I tried to focus on the task at hand, but I couldn't help but be the tiniest bit irritated. All this time, all that buildup, and I didn't even warrant a second glance?

  I studied the surface of my water bottle, half-consciously stirring the little microscopic lifeforms until they form tiny blossoms on top of the water. I realized the guy next to me was looking at me funny, so I stopped and went back to taking notes.

  Maybe this class wasn't going to be as easy as I thought.

  When it was finally over, I gathered my things and glanced toward the front of the room, where Hades was already on his feet. He breezed out of the room without a word and everyone turned to stare at me.

  So I wasn't the only one who'd noticed my fiance's chilly reception. Great.

  "Is there a reason you're all lingering?" Hephaestus asked, wandering over to the door. "Waiting for me to assign more work?"

  That got them moving. I followed suit, not terribly eager to spend the next couple of evenings playing Guess the Prime Minister. Before I could follow the last girl out, that commanding voice called my name.

  "Ms. Ademone."

  I stopped in my tracks and turned to face him, finding myself the object of a far more scrupulous gaze. "Yeah, Prof?" When I saw the lack of amusement on his face, I added, "...essor."

  He gave a weary sigh and leaned back against his desk, his broad arms folded. Even the humanities teachers here were jacked. "When the Headmaster sent me your file, I became aware of the circumstances surrounding your transfer."

  "Circumstances, sir?" Better play innocent. I knew better than to admit to anything I hadn't already been caught doing. Figured that one out when I ate Mom's favorite lipstick at the age of six and failed to wipe off the incriminating smudges.

  "Panaceas," he said, raising an eyebrow. "I understand you're something of an amateur botanist."

  Gulp. "Tales of my horticultural pastimes have been greatly exaggerated," I assured him.

  There was the slightest glimmer of amusement in his eyes, which gave me hope that he wasn't quite as stuffy as he seeme
d, but it disappeared quickly enough. "Whatever the past may be, I believe in a clean slate, which means I expect nothing less from you than any other student. In other words, I expect you to come in here each day, sit your butt in a chair close enough to the board that you won't be hopelessly distracted by microbial life, and learn something, Ms. Ademone. Do I make myself clear?"

  I sighed. "Perfectly, sir."

  "And throw that away," he said, taking the water bottle from my hand and dropping it in the waste bin by his desk with a grimace. "Disgusting."

  So teach was a germaphobe. Noted. He gave me a dismissive wave, so I left before he could assign me any homework as a special delinquent bonus, and considered my first glass a relative success.

  One down, five more to go.

  3

  By the time I was done with all my classes, I was ready to pour myself into bed, but I still had the party to get through. At least now I could hope to be pleasantly ignored by my betrothed all throughout the night.

  My other classes had been relatively uneventful. Second period, I had Antiquities, where a leggy blonde regaled us with all the shameful tales our parents had tried to sweep under the rug. Despite the boring name, I could already tell it was going to be one of my favorites. There was even a section on Demeter, so I couldn't wait to read between the lines on all the skeletons Mom had kept in her dorm closet during her time at the Academy.

  Then there was Alchemy 102, which I'd managed to convince my advisor to transfer me into since, y'know, kind of the master of all things tinctures and potions here. It was a guaranteed Ace if nothing else, and the prof was kind of cute. I'd heard he was Hermes' younger brother, and I could tell from the nerdy chic look. He didn't look much older than his students, and if Hades was as oblivious to me as he seemed, maybe I could get away with a little fling with the cute prof. It was the one class I didn't need to pay attention to, so I could afford to gaze dreamily at those green eyes as they lit up while discussing the syllabus.