Hailey gaped. Was Venus seriously dissing her abilities when her escaping the fire depended on Hailey’s powers? She was about to leave her hanging—literally—but a chiding look from Jayden stopped her. ‘I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.’
Hailey reached out a hand, warmth flowing into her fingers. The leaves of the trees rustled, and Venus began to swing back and forth like a pendulum as Hailey shifted her hand from side to side, containing the wind around Venus so that the next vine she had to grab wouldn’t blow away.
‘Enough swinging. Get some more power,’ Venus shouted.
Oh, I’ll give you power. Warmth shot from Hailey’s fingertips like a blast of hot air, and the trees above Venus creaked as the flames from the fire below grew.
‘That’s too much!’ Venus yelled, closing her eyes against the wind as she sailed backwards on the vine.
‘Get ready.’ Hailey flicked her hand to the right, changing the wind’s direction. Venus shot forward and missed the next vine, flying straight past it. She screamed, her grip on the other vine slipping, and soared into the tree. She didn’t crash into it—a little to Hailey’s disappointment. Instead, she dangled from the platform they were standing on.
Venus scowled, her eyes pure fury. ‘Get me up!’
Demi laughed. ‘Nice work, Hails.’
‘Thanks.’ Hailey felt a lot better now.
‘You almost killed me!’ Venus screeched at Hailey after the twins dragged her up.
‘The force field would have caught you before you hit the ground,’ Hailey retorted. ‘And besides, you should have expected me to drop you, since I apparently have no control over my powers.’
Venus growled—actually growled. Maybe she’s half harpy after all, thought Hailey.
‘Enough,’ Jayden told them. ‘Just one more obstacle. That’s all we need to get through.’
‘Lower us down, Demi,’ Aaron instructed.
‘Aye aye, Captain.’ Demi saluted before touching the tree, which shrank down and down and down until they were close enough to jump to the ground.
A wooden sign was banged into the earth, which said GO RIGHT.
‘Right?’ Alec frowned, glancing to the right, where more forest stretched before them. ‘That’s towards the other teams.’
‘I wonder if it’s a fight to the death,’ Demi pondered as they followed the sign’s direction.
Jayden smirked. ‘I highly doubt it.’
It took about ten minutes of hiking through the forest to get to their next obstacle, which appeared to be in a cave. Hailey tensed. She was as fond of caves as she was of forests.
‘I don’t want to go in there,’ Alec said, his skin losing colour again as he stared at the cave’s entrance, which was big enough to allow a half-grown giant through it.
‘Don’t worry, I’m sure there’s no Scylla in this one,’ Aaron joked.
Venus raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. ‘What are you talking about? Why would a monster be inside?’
‘Just a random example,’ Aaron replied casually.
Another team arrived while they were standing there. There were eleven of them, and they were covered in dried sand and bleeding gashes. They spared a glance at Hailey and her friends, eyeing up their competition, before darting into the cave.
‘Hurry up,’ Aaron barked, taking the lead again, not impressed that another team was beating them.
Hailey swallowed. It’s just a cave, she told herself, and shuffled into the circular cavern. Lanterns rested on the dirt ground, casting a dim orange glow over everything. Carved into the wall of rock directly across from the entrance were six tunnels. Hailey’s chest tightened, and she stepped backwards as images of Tartarus flashed into her mind: the tunnels in the pit… the hatch… the Erinyes… the fear rooms. She closed her eyes, trying to stop the images. Instead, glimpses of her nightmares greeted her.
The gods surrounded Hailey.
A hand grabbed her wrist, and her eyes flew open. ‘It’s okay,’ Jayden told her, voice soft. ‘This is a cave. It’s not the Underworld.’
‘Right.’ Hailey blew out a long breath and felt her fear go with it. ‘Okay. I’m okay. Thanks.’
‘Come on.’
The rest of their team idled before the tunnels, staring into them, trying to work out which one to go down. Thankfully, they hadn’t witnessed her panic attack. The cavern’s appearance had taken her by surprise. She focussed instead on how different this place was to Tartarus—there were no jewels embedded in the rocks with prisoners extracting them, nor Erinyes patrolling, waiting to punish anyone for slacking off. It was just an ordinary cave.
‘Which one do we choose?’ Aaron asked Alec.
Alec threw his hands up. ‘There’s no riddle or anything to point to the right one.’
The blast of a conch shell echoed from inside the tunnels.
Hailey gulped, wondering what might be lurking inside. A minotaur? Amathia had promised this island was monster-free, but maybe one had snuck in after she and the teachers had created the obstacles, and was waiting in the darkness to devour them.
‘They’re probably all the same,’ Aaron said. ‘There’s probably six to stop the teams from running into each other. Let’s just go with this one.’ He entered the third tunnel from the left.
It’s just a game, Hailey reminded herself, following her friends into the tunnel. Like the cavern, lanterns lined the floor, lighting the straight path ahead. Hailey imagined it leading them to an old mine shaft, where they’d have to pile into a cart and speed over a bunch of tracks that would suddenly end in the middle of nowhere, leaving them stranded on an unfinished rail line.
Another shell bellowed. Hailey ignored it, not wanting to freak herself out by picturing students falling down a mine shaft—or facing a monster.
‘Wait.’ Aaron’s voice cut through the silence.
Hailey peered past him to see why he’d stopped. She expected to see the mine shaft she’d envisioned, but what she saw was a thousand times worse.
Spider webs!
Where there are webs, there are spiders. Big. Hairy. Scary. Spiders. With long legs and eight blinking eyes. A shudder jerked through Hailey’s body, and her hairs stood on end.
‘I’m not going in there.’ Venus’s voice trembled.
Great, Hailey thought, now she’d have to fake bravery to show up Venus.
Demi scoffed. ‘Are you kidding me? The last obstacle is getting through a few spider webs—there aren’t even spiders in them.’
Hailey looked again. Web hung from the ceiling and weaved across their path, looking like an explosion of candy floss threads. She couldn’t see any evidence of spiders, but that didn’t mean they weren’t hiding somewhere, waiting for someone to get tangled in their sticky traps before striking.
‘I’ll clear the way,’ Demi told them.
‘Demi, I don’t thi—’ Aaron started.
Demi swiped at the closest spider web, her hand becoming tangled. ‘What the?’ Demi yanked her hand, but the web kept it glued in place, not a single strand breaking.
‘That’s no ordinary spider web.’ Alec narrowed his eyes at the threads clinging to Demi’s skin. ‘That’s diamond spider web.’
‘What are you talking about, Alec?’ Demi tugged her hand again. ‘There’s no such thing as spiders that spin diamond webs.’
‘It’s not made of diamonds,’ Alec corrected. ‘It’s named after its strength—it’s as strong as a diamond. An incredibly rare spider called the—’
‘Yep, that’s great, Alec,’ Demi interrupted. ‘Now get me out of this stuff.’
Alec grabbed the web entrapping her and yanked it. Instead of breaking, the web glued to Alec’s hand too. ‘Um, I’m not strong enough.’
‘Are you kidding me?’ Demi yelled. ‘You lifted a tree before and you’re telling me you can’t tear this spider web.’
‘It’s the strongest spider web in the world,’ Alec argued. ‘It makes that tree look like a tree branch.’ Alec tried
tearing his hand free a couple more times before giving up and using his Unique powers to phase through it.
‘Don’t suppose you’ve learned how to pass your powers to other people since our last Powers class?’ Aaron asked him.
Alec’s shoulders slumped. ‘No.’
‘Of course I get stuck with a bunch of rejects on this.’ Venus shook her head. ‘All of your powers are pathetic.’
Hailey didn’t know if it was because she’d had enough of the obstacle race, or because she was sick of being scared, but something inside her snapped like a twig beneath a minotaur’s hoof. She whirled on Venus. ‘Are you serious? You think our powers are pathetic? What have you done to get us through the obstacles? Nothing! Because your and the twins’ powers are worthless. All you can do is control boys. That’s what’s pathetic. You don’t even have real powers. We’ve all taken turns saving your arse today, and did you thank us? No. You’ve complained the whole time. And now you’re telling us that we’re pathetic?’ Hailey shoved Venus into the twins, the three of them tumbling down together.
‘Hailey, you—’
Haile’s eyes shot to Jayden. ‘Don’t tell me to be the bigger person after what she just said and has been saying all day. You can’t defend her anymore. She’s a harpy, and we shouldn’t have to put up with it.’
‘I was just going to say there’s a spider above you.’
Hailey glanced up, her composure to stay brave in front of Venus faltered, and she stumbled backwards—right into the spider webs. It was like falling against a wall—a very sticky wall. She tried to pull free, grimacing when the web tugged her hair.
‘Don’t bother, it won’t work,’ Demi sighed from right beside her. ‘Oh, and nice speech. If I wasn’t stuck here, I would have pushed her too.’
Venus and the twins were back on their feet, looking so angry Hailey thought they might burst into flames. ‘Now you really are pathetic.’ Venus reached her fist back.
Aaron grabbed Venus’s hand before she could punch Hailey. ‘Don’t.’ That one word was lined with so much threat it sent a chill through Hailey. Venus was smart enough not to argue or resist, and Aaron let her go.
‘So what do we do now?’ Jayden asked.
‘You lose.’
Everyone spun around—except for Hailey and Demi, who were already facing the tunnel. A team of nine stood before them. All boys, each of them covered in sand and gashes like the other team they’d seen. The boy who had spoken looked like a senior, and had puncture wounds dotted over his arms and legs. Hailey guessed he’d decided to run through the darts.
‘Get out of our way.’ The boy unsheathed a sword from his back and pushed past Jayden, Alec, Aaron, and the evil trio.
A glimmer of hope sparked in Hailey when he approached her, thinking he’d cut her free—or at least try to. Although she wasn’t sure what good a sword would be against these webs. The boy sliced the sword towards the web to Hailey’s right, the blade glowing orange in the lantern light, and it cut straight through it.
‘Hephaestus steel,’ Alec gasped in awe. ‘The strongest metal in the world, besides adamantine,’ Alec explained when everyone looked at him. ‘Hephaestuses craft it by combining a variety of metals like—’
‘Hey, Sword Guy,’ Venus cooed.
The boy who appeared in charge of the team turned around. ‘No, we won’t help you.’
Venus strutted towards him, a cloud of pink mist puffing from her mouth and swarming the nine boys. They blinked, swiping at the mist, before their bodies went rigid and the light in their eyes dimmed. ‘How can I serve you, my love?’ they said in unison.
Venus smirked. ‘That’s more like it. I want you to get me and my friends’—she indicated to the twins—‘out of this tunnel.’
‘Of course, my love,’ the infected boys said.
‘Hey, you can’t leave us here.’ Demi’s free hand lunged out to grab Venus, but she was a few inches from her reach.
Another conch shell bellowed as the web Sword Guy had sliced through knitted back together, as if an invisible spider were weaving it—it appeared the web was spelled to reform after a minute.
‘Why not? Apparently my powers are worthless and aren’t even real powers,’ Venus retorted.
Hailey sighed. Of course her words would come back to haunt her.
‘Well, we didn’t expect to run into a team of boys,’ Demi countered. ‘Normally, your powers are worthless and—’
‘Later.’ Venus moved to leave.
‘Wait.’ Hailey ground her teeth together. She knew what Venus wanted. What it would take to free them from this. She was more tempted to blow her shell—not that she could get to it—than do what she was about to. But her friends had worked so hard to get here, and she wouldn’t let them down.
‘Yes.’ A smile of pure venom curved Venus’s lips.
‘Hailey, it’s not worth it,’ Aaron said, sensing what she was about to say.
‘Yes, it is.’ She knew he, more than anyone else, wanted to finish this. ‘I’m sorry for what I said earlier.’ The words tasted bitter. ‘Your powers aren’t pathetic or worthless. I was just taking my frustration out on you.’
‘It’s good that you’ve come to your senses.’ Venus’s voice oozed conceit. ‘But there’s one more thing I’d like to hear you say.’
‘What?’ Hailey snarled.
‘I want you to admit what you are—a pathetic excuse for a Zeus.’
‘Hailey, don’t,’ Demi pleaded. ‘Nothing is worth that.’
Aaron glowered at Venus, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. ‘Just free them, or else…’
‘Or else what? You’ll take on nine boys—one with a sword?’
‘If I have to.’
‘Venus, if you want your tiara, we have to reach the end of the course as a team,’ Jayden pointed out. ‘If you leave us behind, you won’t get it.’
‘Oh, I will. I’ll just tell Madam Grayson what you said about my powers being worthless, and how when I offered to help you out of the spider webs using them, you refused. And she’ll believe me, because you’ve made it pretty clear to everyone what you think of Aphrodites.’
Hailey wasn’t convinced Madam Grayson would believe her, especially considering how Madam Grayson had admitted to seeing past Venus’s sweet-as-chocolate act to her rotten core. But she needed to get her friends out of this. ‘I’m a pathetic excuse for a Zeus.’ The words sliced her insides like razor blades.
Venus beamed. ‘Yes, you are. Okay, boys, I suppose you can free them. We’ve got tiaras to win.’
Sword Guy cut Hailey and Demi loose before slashing a path ahead. The other boys formed a circle around Venus and the twins, protecting them from the loose strands of web floating about, while they followed after Sword Guy.
Jayden, Alec, and Aaron hesitated, staring towards Hailey with sympathy—or maybe it was pity. Either way, it made her feel even worse. ‘I don’t want to talk about it. Let’s go before the web reforms.’
The boys took the lead, with Hailey and Demi following after them. Hailey ducked and flinched away from the broken strands of web as she walked, afraid of getting stuck again.
‘Don’t listen to anything she said,’ Demi whispered from behind her. ‘You’re an incredible Zeus, and she’s just jealous.’
‘Thanks,’ Hailey said, swallowing around the lump in her throat. She would not let Venus make her feel like a failure. Hailey’s powers were a thousand times more powerful than hers, and if she wanted to, she could whirl Venus away on a tornado or freeze her in a snowstorm. She wished she’d left her to roast on that fire.
‘Do you want me to trip her into a web?’ Demi offered when another conch shell sounded from somewhere behind them.
Hailey shook her head. ‘It’s okay. I don’t think I can handle her screaming anymore.’ Hailey replayed images of Venus toppling down the sand dune and of her falling off the vine. She smiled. She’s the pathetic one, not me. ‘And we’re almost finished,’ she told Demi, nudging
her head towards the tunnel’s approaching exit.
Hailey and the others piled out of the tunnel, stepping back into the forest. An explosion of cheers greeted them. The other teams stood around the cave’s exit, clapping and hollering. Amathia, Madam Norwood, and Master Anderson stepped towards them as the cheering stopped and the students began breaking apart.
‘Congratulations on finishing the course,’ Master Anderson said, slapping Sword Guy on the shoulder—he didn’t even blink, his eyes still empty.
‘You’ve come in eighth and ninth place,’ Madam Norwood informed them. ‘Something to be proud of.’
Aaron’s face fell. ‘That’s last when you take into account the seven teams who quit.’
‘Yes,’ Madam Norwood admitted. ‘But you finished, and they did not.’
That seemed enough to make Aaron smile.
‘Where’s my tiara?’ Venus demanded.
Amathia raised an eyebrow. ‘Tiara?’
‘Madam Grayson said if we finished she’d give me and the twins each a tiara. Where are they?’
‘I think you will have to take that up with Madam Grayson,’ Amathia replied. ‘But until then, I hope the satisfaction of finishing a very challenging race is enough to keep you content.’
Venus scoffed. ‘Hardly.’
Hailey resisted the urge to kick her.
‘There are dematerialisers over there who will escort you back to the palace.’ Madam Norwood pointed to a group of students standing a few yards away, beside bushes growing juicy blueberries. Some of the other competitors were already making their way towards them.
Hailey and the rest of her team joined the crowd. She was grateful she’d be getting a ride straight back to the palace. Her entire body ached, and she thought if she closed her eyes, she might not wake up for a week. She never wanted to run in an obstacle race again—she’d rather wear a neutralising bracelet for an entire year.
The team in front of them vanished, blinking out of sight so quickly it was if they’d never been standing there. A second later a senior girl materialised in front of them and held her hands out. ‘Everyone link up.’
Poseidon's Academy Box Set Page 35