by Holly Hook
Warm tingles filled me. "Thanks. Is Hades actually going to the dance?"
"An immortal has to go," Natalia said. "He's not happy about it. By the time he realizes the gods have pulled a fast one on him, you should have your new brand." She smiled too, but it was strained.
"Why do I feel all unnerved?" I asked.
Natalia hesitated. "You did change your mind as ask Ronin to wait at Olympian for you."
I had texted him back and told him I was doing fine, mainly to calm his nerves and help him focus on exams, and that I wanted to see him once I got over to the Olympian campus. His presence there would make this so much sweeter. "You don't sound so sure."
I don't know," she said. "I feel a bit off, too, but I can't place it. I've been trying to get some visions in the Sorting Temple, but the magic of the gods hasn't been cooperating. Sometimes the curtain between the mundane and magic is too thick." Her shoulders rose in frustration as she put her hand in Celestus's.
The low rumble of buses followed before I could ask anything else, and the barrier quivered several feet away in anticipation of splitting for the large vehicles. Hades must have given the drivers passes or timed the barrier to go down at the right time. I backed into the trees, pulling Mikey with me, and four tour buses rolled up the road, slowing as the barrier protested and brightened. But then the barrier split, leaving the air over the road clear, and as the first bus slowly drove through, its driver studying us like she was confused, I pulled Mikey through the open barrier. Spirit faces leered just inches to our left and feet thudded behind me as the others slipped through.
I stopped, now on the outside, as the other three buses followed the first. One slowed and opened its doors for us, but Natalia waved it on.
"We're leaving for the summer!" she shouted.
The driver closed the door and moved on. I swallowed over the nervous lump in my throat, breathing out. The cold in my limbs eased a bit now that I was off the Cursed Academy campus for good, but the distant sensation, along with the low, ominous sound of the void, remained.
"We're close to where Percival died," Wendy said. "We're about to pass through Zeus's border next. Come on. The faster we get to Olympian, the better chance we have at avoiding Hades."
Chapter Fourteen
Olympian Academy was a buzz of activity when we reached campus. The Olympian kids were dressed as well as the Cursed were, or maybe even better, and hardly anyone sent us a glance as we walked across the lawn. Mikey separated from us right way to go look for Cal.
The cold feeling faded the longer I stood on the Olympian campus. Yes, I could still have a say in my fate. Over here, I felt safe. Ronin's car was still sitting beside the fountain, reflecting sunlight off sleek gray, and Ronin himself leaned on the hood, dressed in a fine black suit and bow tie. He rocked that look.
"Ronin!" I dove into his arms.
"Giselle. How's your mark?" He kissed the top of my head, which was a bit disappointing, but people milled around, waiting for buses that wouldn't come. We couldn't give them a make-out session.
"Almost gone," I said, holding up my forearm.
Ronin let go of me and backed away. "I can't see it anymore. Oh, wait. It's still there just the tiniest bit. If it wasn't, I'd take you to Zeus's office so you could get your mark right now."
Nervous butterflies fluttered in my stomach. I'd gotten through the barrier, and it hadn't been that hard. Now I only had to make it a few more hours, a day at the most, before all this was over. Well, maybe. "I so want to jump in bed with you right now, but we've got Maria and Mikey and Wendy we need to ask about. I'll rest a lot easier knowing they can be accepted, too."
Ronin nodded. "It's been a crappy week without you in it. I can feel your magic. Your good magic." He gently took my bare arms, rubbing his electric palms along my skin. "You're taking a bit of mine right now. And I sense that it's getting stronger." He finished with a huge, almost silly grin.
Yes. Ronin's electricity raced through me, and my almost-matured body lapped it up. I held up my fingers just enough to see that the gray tint was gone from between them. It hadn't taken me long to adjust once over here. The cold was gone. So was the darkness. The sun warmed my skin.
"Where's Mikey?" Ronin asked.
"He probably went off to find Cal," I said. "Maria. Wendy. Let's run to the office and make sure this is going to work out for all of us. Because if it doesn't," I said, gulping, "then I'm not attending Olympian Academy, either."
"Giselle!" Ronin tightened his grasp on my arms.
"I have to stick to my guns. It's not fair if they can't come over here, too, and have a say in the rest of their lives," I said.
"Well, Maria and Mikey," Wendy said. "I just have to worry about being disowned by my parents."
"That's still not fair," I said. "You deserve to have your family support you." I stepped out of Ronin's grasp.
Maria offered a tense smile, like she didn't want to me in this position. "Giselle, I know I've been...needy. Don't go dark for me because I have issues with my dad leaving before I was born. That's my problem." She hiked her shoulders as she spoke. It must be hard for her to say all this.
Her father was sympathetic to the Lower Order, at least after he got fired. I swallowed and faced her. The pressure of my secret was about to burst out of me and I was going to deflate Maria. So I swallowed it back down. "You deserve to come here. You're smart, you're talented, and you need to do something besides lift stuff all your life."
"I can work it out," she said. "Wendy and I know there's a chance the gods won't let us attend. But if you don't attend Olympian, we'll never live with ourselves. Right, Wendy?"
"Right," Wendy said after a pause.
Something heavy welled into my chest.
My friends were willing to sacrifice their futures for me. I looked to Ronin, struggling to hold the emotion back. I would not break down in front of everyone. Not me, a budding near-immortal. Ronin took my hand. "The office. All of us. Right now."
I let out a breath. "Where's Mikey and Cal?"
"Over there." Wendy pointed to the main marble entrance of Olympian's main building. Cal and Mikey stood in an embrace near one of the pillars, breaking apart when Ronin shouted their names. They joined us.
The inside of the main building was busy, with people in dresses and suits milling around the entryway. One Olympian guy in a blue suit talked on a phone. "Yeah. The buses. Where are they? Do we have to drive ourselves?"
"Nobody here knows about the change in plans," Ronin whispered in my ear. Even his breath was electric or maybe I was just more sensitive to it.
"Good," I said. The gods had kept it a secret as much as I had.
"I wish Ted had come," Maria said, dejected and looking at her phone. "Now he's not answering my texts."
He hadn't been in the woods with us. I gulped. This didn't sound good for Maria and Ted at all. She was going to a different dance than him. "Did you tell him the plan?"
"I couldn't. We had to keep it a secret." Maria's eyes widened, worried. "I hinted he could join us at the driveway, but he must not have seen. I'll have to come clean to him. He won't be happy I did this."
I couldn't take it anymore. "Maria. Stop making everything hard on yourself for me. You could have told Ted. I want you two to stay together."
"It'll be fine," she said.
"You just said you were done with all this!"
We rounded the corner. Maria wouldn't look at me. Instead, fear came over her features, giving her strained wrinkles around her eyes.
"Well, the gods aren't in the office," Ronin said, turning away from the wooden door. "I'd sense them if they were. They might be in the ballroom or walking around campus, making sure Hades isn't coming over."
Ronin led us to the ballroom, which was closed up with staff inside setting up tables, but the gods weren't there, either. It wasn't until we walked back out onto the front lawn around five that we found the sky god himself standing on the vast front porch, assembled and
confused Olympian students before him. We stepped out to stand behind the god as he alone addressed the crowd of colorful dresses and sleek suits.
"...and it will not be productive this year to hold a dance with Cursed Academy, as tradition has always dictated," he was saying. "Hades has caused too many disruptions and enacted too many rules so we are holding our end of year celebration in our own ballroom."
A few groans echoed up from the crowd despite Zeus's booming voice. Silence then dragged out as people muttered amongst themselves.
A low roll of thunder echoed across the sky even though it was a clear day. "Inside," Zeus ordered, waving the assembled crowd forward. "There will be no argument."
The sky darkened as clouds burst to life and expanded overhead. A few fat raindrops splattered to the ground. Everyone obeyed like a flock of farm animals being herded by a dog. People hurried, not wanting their dance outfits ruined, and the mean redhead who had probably ratted me out to the gods pushed past me.
"Hey," Ronin said after her.
The air electrified to a level I never experienced around Ronin as Zeus faced us. A fierce ran began to pour down, soaking a few remaining Olympian couples as they darted up the steps, hand in hand. Only the overhang sheltered us. Everyone split around Zeus, giving the three of us a bit of space, and at last the marble porch cleared of people as the doors swung shut. I faced the god, who stood a whole head taller than me just like Ronin did, and struggled to keep my expression neutral. Zeus wouldn't quickly forget my standing up to the Olympians.
I would have to do it again. I would. I still had a bargaining chip.
"Let me see your arm," Zeus said gently. He offered a warm smile and extended his hand.
My mark could be gone by now for all I knew. It would be gone at any time. But I held up my forearm, glancing at it first to make sure the mark was still barely there. Yes. He couldn't put his own brand on me yet.
"She's still got the symbol of the titan on her wrist," Ronin said.
"Yes," Zeus said, taking my wrist with one hand. "Unfortunately."
I gasped as sheer magic and electricity raced up my arm with so much intensity I couldn't hold back. Was he marking me already? No. Zeus merely rubbed his thumb along the faint outline, one so faint I could barely tell it was a hand, and smiled. "Ronin's power has kept you from going dark."
A ferocious blush rushed into my cheeks. "Yes. Being around him has sure helped."
"And it could help you become a being of pure power," Zeus said. "That's what you were meant to become, Giselle." He refused to let go of my wrist. And if I tried to pull away, I knew that I couldn't. At least, not yet.
"Yes," I said. How much had Ronin told Zeus about the effect he had on me? I hoped he left certain details out. The look Ronin gave me said that yes, he had kept it vague.
"You only need to stick around for a few more hours, given the state of your mark," Zeus said. Impatience crept into the god's words, seemingly shaking the marble pillars as he spoke. "Then you are free to attend Olympian, permanently. We immortals are allowed to claim anyone without a mark into our schools. And yes, I have consulted my lawyers." With a wink, he let go of my arm.
"Lawyers?" I let my arm slap back to my side. I hadn't even tried to take the god's energy, even though I could have, because it was just overwhelming. I sensed that Zeus's power alone could make me mature in the direction I wanted.
Was I ready for that?
"He has plenty of those," Ronin said, drawing close to me. Relief gushed between his words. "Giselle and I need to get ready for the dance. Relax for a bit." Do you still trust me? That was what he was asking.
And I still needed to ask about my friends.
"You may go ahead," Zeus said. "But the marking ceremony must take place in the Sorting Temple. I estimate her mark will be gone around midnight."
"We have to leave campus?" I asked.
"Yes," Zeus said. "And be very careful."
I looked around for Maria and Wendy and Mikey. But they had vanished, split up to look for the gods themselves. "One more question," I said.
But Zeus had already turned away, pulling open the door to Olympian Academy. People stood inside and a few girls shivered from the cold rain. It hadn't been very nice, driving everyone inside like that, but I knew sometimes the gods couldn't help themselves. Zeus wove around students as they parted for him, vanishing down the right corridor.
"Hades will figure this all out by midnight," I said, snapping my gaze to Ronin. And I still didn't have solid answers for the others.
Ronin frowned and bit his lip. "He might. I'm going to the Temple with you. All of us should go together."
"I'll have to deliver an ultimatum there," I said with a gulp. Between my words, I was asking Ronin another question. I needed a distraction until then. The gods didn't know for sure when my mark would be gone. Apollo might, but we hadn't seen him around. Zeus was the only big cheese roaming the school.
The sky god had vanished by the time we went inside, leaving confused students milling around. Several headed down a wide corridor going in the opposite direction as the office, and as they did, loud music pumped out. Cal and Mikey lingered at the corner of that corridor, and Cal shook his head.
"Apollo's gone for the year," he said. "I guess he had to go back to his business because something financial came up with his record label. Sucks." Cal approached, dressed in a white suit that only added to his inner glow. "Zeus is the only guy here."
"Hades has time to find me before I reach the Sorting Temple," I said. There. It was out. "Zeus wants me there at midnight because that's when he thinks the mark will be gone."
Cal rubbed his hand through his hair. "Well, they have to follow the Oath."
Another thing worried me. The Sorting Temple was neutral territory. Off Olympian. Anything could happen out there. I whirled in a confused, nervous circle.
"Hey," Ronin said, wrapping his arm around me.
"I don't know what's going to happen."
"Whatever does, I'm by your side."
We headed to the dance, where I found both Maria and Wendy standing against the wall, texting away. The ballroom was huge, with an arcing ceiling and another glass mural above our heads, this one showing the golden symbols of all the Olympian-approved gods. People slowly gathered in the center and under the evening sunlight. Chefs rolled buffet tables laden with food in from a side door. Why didn't we always have our dances here? This was a much better venue than the sports place outside of Marchamp. Maybe it was a bit cramped and wouldn't fit both schools.
Or Olympian didn't want the Cursed kids to see how the other side lived.
Both put their phones away when we entered. Neither had dates.
"Ted's already at the venue," Maria said with a frown. "I had to tell him the deal with you, Giselle. I hope you don't mind."
"Of course I don't," I said. "I'm glad you're keeping yourself out of relationship trouble."
Maria frowned. "Well, maybe not. We have a lot of talking to do. I came clean about my, um, nature."
"You did?" I wasn't sure how to feel about that.
"But I also told Ted I might be able to do something about it. He's more mad that I held the truth from him than anything, I think. Well, I hope." Maria turned away as if she were hiding her emotion.
"Maria--"
"I might need a bit of space, guys."
Wendy backed off. Her look told me we needed to give them both some space. A lot was riding on tonight.
Ronin quickly told them the deal--sorting temple at midnight--and Wendy offered a nod like she'd expected such rotten timing. The dance was to last until one or two AM, when students would probably head off to bed. Someone turned on some disco lights, casting the ballroom in colored glows, while someone else, probably an Apollo descendant, summoned sunny orbs that spun above everyone's heads and cast an even brighter glow on everything.
Time crawled, despite the loud music blasting and the fact that Cal had snuck in some Orpheus tracks tha
t made everyone move on the dance floor. Zeus didn't return to watch the dance, maybe because this was on his turf, and as I kept my hands in Ronin's. Wendy and Maria hung together near the buffet, occasionally stealing snacks, and Maria looked more sour as the evening progressed past eight and nine. The light outside faded, and some people gravitated to the punch table.
Hades would have realized my absence by now.
He should have figured out what his brother was up to.
And there would be another dangerous sprint waiting just before midnight. Even from Olympian, it was a mile through the woods to reach the Sorting Temple. Longer, if you walked and stuck to the roads. But Ronin had his car. His grin reminded me of that with the start of every new song.
Yes. We'd drive.
But that didn't guarantee our survival. Or coming out of this the way we wanted.
Ronin and I left the dance floor and retreated to the wall of the ballroom to stand between some bronze statues of warriors, one male and one female, who also brandished shields. "I'm done dancing for the night," he said. "It's eleven. Maria and Wendy took off somewhere, too. I don't know where. And I don't know where Cal and Mikey went."
My phone buzzed with a text. "There's one of them now. And a lot of couples have vanished. They know where to go." I couldn't help but worry about them. The last thing we needed was for everyone to split up.
I don't know where Wendy went, Maria texted.
"What?" I mouthed as Ronin looked over my shoulder.
At the same time, a jolt ran through my forearm, and I knew what had happened.
"Your mark. It's gone," Ronin said, seizing my arm.
He was right. My skin, for the first time in almost three years, was bare. I blinked, unable to believe my eyes. As of right now, I was bound to neither school.
I was open recruitment material again, just as I had been back in Colton Corners.
Looking all over. Maria again. I held up my phone in my left hand, torn.
Where did you see her last? I typed, shaking. I imagined that everyone at Cursed Academy had just lost their marks. Hades would be stepping in right now, making sure he lost no students to Olympian. Making sure he could get what tiny bit of revenge he could get on his relatives.