“What? Why?”
“I don’t know. You just disappeared.”
“I was ashamed at what I did to Enyo. I didn’t think you’d want to see me again.”
She hugged me again. “Are you kidding? We’ve been missing you badly.”
People walked quickly around us. A couple of them eyed me with suspicion.
“Where is everyone going?”
“Weapons training on the field with Ares and Heracles.”
“Can I come with you?”
She smiled, and grabbed my hand. “Of course. Jas and Ren and Lucian are going to be so excited to see you.”
Together we pushed through the crowd, out the side door and onto the training field. I saw Lucian instantly. He was standing at the front of the group helping to organize cadets into various training squads.
His gaze met mine and he smiled. All my nervousness and doubt melted away from that radiant grin. Seeing him like this, being here out in the open, made me realize just how much I missed the light. Obviously in more ways than one.
I walked toward him. “Do you have room for one more?”
I heard the whispers around me. “I can’t believe she came back after what she did.”
“Why does Lucian even like her?”
“She should be kicked out.”
Lucian met me half way and pulled me into his arms. I sighed into his chest, inhaling him. Gods, I missed him. I missed this level of human contact. I’d been yelled at, chased, smacked, sparred with, insulted, pushed for long enough, that I’d forgotten what a simple hug felt like and how much I needed it.
“Gods Blue, don’t disappear like that again.” He nuzzled his face into my neck.
“I’ll try not to, but I can’t promise.”
When he pulled back and looked me in the eyes, I sensed he wanted to kiss me. If we were in private, I knew he would have.
“Break it up.” Ares marched across the field glowering at us. “It’s time for training.” He pointed at me. “You line up with the other spearmen. I want to see if you’ve gotten any better.”
I did as he suggested, and grabbed a spear from the weapons rack, and then got in the front line along with ten other cadets, including Mia and Revana. Revana gave me the nastiest look I’ve ever seen, and I hoped I had a chance to wipe it off her face.
Ares stood in front of us, and then counted off. “One, two, three, four, five.” Then started counting again. “One, two, three, four, five. Now line up and face off against each other.”
We all moved into our positions and as luck would have it, I was facing off against Revana. The Gods were smiling down on me today, and I couldn’t stop the grin that blossomed across my face. I was very pleased to see that my smile made her nervous.
“I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” she said.
“Me too.”
Ares raised his arm in the air, and then brought it down. “Begin!”
I took a step back, the spear in both hands, and then spun it around like a windmill. Allecto had shown me how to do it. It was totally a display of aggression and skill, and I loved how wide Revana’s eyes got when I spun it over my head, around my back, and then ended it with a grunt, in a side squat with the spear thrust out across my waist. I straightened then brought the spear back to my side in the ready position.
I was showing off. But I couldn’t help it. From day one this girl thought she was better than me. She’d gone out of her way to bully me, insult me, and do everything in her power to put me down. She would’ve had me kicked out of the academy, which would have made me one of the lost—I'd be a person without memory of this place, my friends or my family—if she’d had her way.
I owed this girl nothing. Not even my mercy.
So, when she thrust her spear at me, thinking she could spar with me, that somehow she was even in the same league as I was, I knocked it away with my spear, spun, and had the tip of the blade pressed against her neck. Just like that, I had bested her. If this had been a real battle, out on the field, it would’ve taken me no more than a minute to end her life.
The tip of the spear was blunted, so I couldn’t jab her through the neck, but I wanted to. I could feel the bloodlust rising up inside of me. Megaera spoke in a low whisper against my ear, “She’s not worthy to be called a warrior. You’re better than she is. She’s had it good her whole life, while you suffered.” Tisiphone’s voice was low and seductive in my mind. “She wants you to fail. She wants you to suffer. She’s trying to turn Lucian against you. She’s trying to steal him for her own. You can’t let her win.” Allecto’s voice was the loudest of them all. “Kill her. Kill her now!”
After pulling my spear back from her throat, I swept her leg and she fell onto her back on the ground. I spun my spear over my head again, and then thrust it toward her again. Ares snatched the pole away from me before I could jab her in the gut with the blunted tip.
“It’s done. You won. Time to walk away.”
I raised my head and stared Ares in the eyes. “You’re the one who should walk away. I know what you’ve done.”
He met my gaze, and it was hard and menacing, but I didn’t back down. I was never going to back down ever again.
“You’ve been in the underworld too long, cadet. You’re starting to say some crazy stuff. Stuff you’re going to regret saying.”
I opened my mouth to say more, but Lucian was beside me, guiding me off the field.
When we were alone, he sighed and shook his head. “What is going on with you? This isn’t you. You’re out of control.”
Anger still swirled around in my belly but it was starting to fade. I took in a few deep breaths and tried to clear the bloodlust from my mind. Every once in a while, it flashed like a strobe light. In the light were visions of blood and chaos and mayhem. And I had caused it.
I looked down at my hands and swore I saw that they were painted red with blood.
Lucian grabbed them. “Tell me what’s going on? Why go after Revana like that?”
“She deserved it. She’s a horrible person.”
“We all know that, but we’re supposed to be on the same side. We have to be able to trust each other, and not turn on one another.”
I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. “Since when did you stick up for Revana? Are you two friends again?”
He sighed. “No, we’re not friends, but we’ve learned to work together.”
I didn’t say anything about that. I hated that it made me jealous to even consider that they could be friends.
“And what did you say to Ares? I’ve never seen him that intense before. Which is saying something.”
“Someone killed Sophie.”
His frown deepened. “It was an earthquake, Blue. You saw it.”
I shook my head. “Someone released a Titan to destroy my town.”
“You think Ares did that?”
“Aphrodite. Ares. Both of them. All of them.” I shook my head and put my hands over my face. “I don’t know. I’m confused.”
“What is Hades doing to you down there?”
Instead of speaking, I just lunged into his arms. I buried my face in his chest and squeezed my eyes shut against the wave of anguish that threatened to surge over me. Threatened to drown me in its violent deluge.
“Just hold me. Please, just hold me.”
He did. He wrapped his arms around me, and held me tight.
Something was wrong with me. That much I knew. But I didn’t know how to stop it. I was changing. Morphing into someone else, something else. I was scared of what it was. But what was worse was that I wanted it to happen. I craved it. Because whatever was happening to me was making me stronger, smarter…better. I knew it. And soon enough, the others would know it too.
Chapter Sixteen
MELANY
Lucian and I didn’t spend too much together as he had to get back to the training field. He wanted to stay with me but I told him to go. I opted to leave while I still could. Every ti
me I got around the others, something happened to me. I got enraged. All I wanted to do was fight and hurt people. It was obvious group training wasn’t going to work for me any longer. Hades would be happy about that.
Although I didn’t want to train with the others didn’t mean I wanted to return to the hall. So, I decided to check in at the forge to see if my helmet was finished. Hephaistos told me it would take a few days for him to hammer it into submission.
Since everyone was outside in the training field, I had the halls of the academy to myself. I decided this was the perfect time to practice my stealth skills. When I heard the footsteps of someone approaching, I slunk into the shadows and stayed hidden.
The first time was two students that ran by. Neither of them noticed me lurking along the wall shrouded in darkness. When they were gone I stepped out again, and continued of my way down to the forge. Right before I reached the stairs that would lead down into the bowels of the academy, I heard voices coming my way. I gathered the shadows to me like a cloak and hid underneath it.
Demeter and Dionysus came around the corner deep in conversation.
“I heard she attacked another person,” Dionysus said.
Demeter gave him a discerning look. “We both know it isn’t her fault.”
“You have a soft spot for her.”
“I know. She reminds me so much of—,”
“She’s even starting to look like her. I imagine he’s outfitted her entire wardrobe to his liking.” They stopped walking, halting in the hall close to where I hid. Dionysus took out a metal flask from the inside pocket of his jacket, opened it and took a sip. He handed it to Demeter. She took it and also took a drink.
“I wish I could tell Melany that she has friends here in the academy.” She handed the flask back to Dionysus, her gaze sweeping over where I was cloaked. “That she could talk to me if she needed to.”
“You worry too much. She won’t end up like Persephone.”
“I hope you’re right.”
They moved on down the corridor. Once they turned to the left and disappeared, I came out of the shadows. It was obvious they’d been talking about me. But I didn’t know what they meant about my attack on Revana not being my fault. And who the hell was Persephone? Was it the young woman who had been in the painting on Hades’ wall in his suite?
I had a lot of questions for Hades when I returned to the hall, but right now I needed to see if my helm of darkness was ready for me. I descended the stairs and pushed open the giant doors to Hephaistos’s foundry. I crossed floor, up the stone stairs, across the bridge that arched over the rivers of molten metal, then up to the main forge.
Hephaistos was there, striking his hammer against a red hot glowing blade of steel. He stopped when he saw me, and then dunked the raw new sword into a bucket of water. It hissed as steam billowed up from the bucket. He pushed his goggles up onto his malformed head.
“I wondered when you would be back.”
“I came for my helmet. Is it done?”
He set the hammer and pincers down onto the table, and then moved over to the shelves behind the main forge. It was the place he kept the shadowboxes he made. I followed him over. He grabbed the black helmet on one of the shelves and handed it to me.
I grinned with pleasure. It was beautiful. Sleek and not bulky like Hades’. The front plate dipped down over the forehead but there was a butterfly-shaped opening for my eyes, nose and mouth. Etched into the side plates were wisps of feathers. It looked like there were wings sprouted from the sides.
I ran my fingers over the carvings. “It’s spectacular, Hephaistos. It’s better than anything I could have ever hoped for.”
My compliment seemed to please him, as he puffed up his chest. “You always reminded me of a bird. A hawk maybe, or a falcon. And when I heard you’d sprouted black wings instead of white, it didn’t surprise me.” He tapped the helmet with his finger. “Put it on. See how it fits.”
I slid it over my head. It fit snugly, but not too tight. It was perfect. “How do I look?” I purposely unfurled my wings and spread them out around me. My shadow cut an impressive image on the stone floor.
Hephaistos took a step back. I didn’t know if it was because my wings were taking up too much room or he saw something that startled him. “You look all right.” He moved back to his work. “Time for you to go. I’m busy.”
I took the helmet off and followed him back to the forge. “Hey, what do you know about someone named Persephone?”
His scowl deepened. “Where did you hear that name?”
“I heard it around. Who is she?”
“She’s not your concern. I suggest you head back to the underworld and quit asking dangerous questions.”
“I think she’s the woman I saw in one of Hades’ paintings.”
“Go away now.” He picked up the long steel piece that was going to make an impressive sword and set it back into the hot coals.
“Do I look like her? Is that why Hades picked me?”
Hephaistos sighed then looked at me. “I don’t perceive to know why Hades does anything. But what I do know, girl, is that you need to be careful. Protect yourself.”
I resigned myself in the knowledge that he wasn’t going to tell me anything. So, I nodded a goodbye, wrapped my hand over the amulet around my neck and returned to Hades Hall.
The second I appeared in the corridor, I marched over to the library and went inside. Hades wasn’t there sitting by the fire as he usually did, so I stomped down the hall to his suite. The door was shut.
Carefully, I turned the knob, pushing the door open and went inside. On first look the room was empty. The drapes were drawn on the big canopied bed and Hades wasn’t lying there, thank the Gods. I crept over to the big painting on the wall and looked up at it. I studied the woman on the ground, looking for a resemblance. It was hard to tell from a painting as some things could’ve been distorted, but the shape of her face was a little familiar.
Setting my helmet down, I went over to the bookshelves on the far wall. Maybe there was something that could tell me who this woman was, and her significance. I pawed through books, finding nothing. There were a couple of decorative boxes on the shelf. I opened them to find them empty. I pulled open one of the drawers to find a stack of rolled scrolls each tied with a red ribbon.
I took one out. I knew I shouldn’t read his private correspondence that it was a huge breach in trust, but I had to know what was going on, so, I slid the ribbon off and unrolled the parchment. The writing was cursive and flowy and very feminine.
My dearest…
I quickly perused the letter, a few names jumped out at me: Demeter, Aphrodite, Zeus. Then I looked down at the bottom to read…
Always yours,
Persephone
I was going to go back and start the letter again, and really read it, when the door opened and Hades came in. Startled, I tried to shove the letter back into the drawer, but I wasn’t fast enough.
“What are you doing?”
“Who’s Persephone?”
He strode toward me, his eyes flashing with fire. He snatched the letter from me, rolled it back up, and put the ribbon around it.
“Who’s Persephone? Is that her in the painting?”
He put the scroll back into the drawer then pinned me with a hard look. “How dare you invade my privacy.”
“I’m sorry, but I need to know who she is, and I knew you wouldn’t tell me if I just asked.”
“Well, we won’t know that now will we.”
“Please, I have a right to know.”
He smirked. “A right to know? What makes you think you have any rights here?”
“People are saying I look like her. That you’re dressing me up like her.”
His eyes narrowed, as he clenched his jaw. “What people?”
“I heard Demeter mention it. And I saw her name in the letter, so she must know the truth.”
He pulled a face. “Demeter wouldn’t know the truth if it
bit her in the ass.” He took me by the arm and started to pull me toward the door. “Get out of my room.”
“Who is she? Obviously it was someone you loved. I deserve to know, especially since—,”
He whirled on me, his eyes flashing. “Since what? Because you quickly read some random letter you think you know anything?”
His hand still gripping my arm, he backed me up into the wall. My hip hit the drinks table along the way. He loomed over me, with a heated menace that brushed over my skin and made me shiver. My heart thudded hard in my chest. My lungs burned with each rapid breath I took. He was so close to me, I could feel his hot breath against my cheek.
“N-n-no,” I stammered.
“No, what?”
“No, I don’t know anything.”
His lips twitched upwards slyly. “Do you think that because you might have a resemblance to her and that I loved her, that I have feelings for you? Do you have some school girl crush on me, is that it?”
I shook my head vehemently.
“Oh, I think maybe that’s the truth.” He leaned in closer to me. “I can hear your heart going pitty pat just thinking about it. I imagine your belly clenches in anticipation of what I might do to you. Right here. Right now.” He reached with his hand and lightly touched me around the waist. I took in a ragged breath.
I lifted my hand and set it on his chest, intending to shove him away, but I didn’t. I left it there. I could feel his heart racing under my palm. Panting hard, he licked his lips. His gaze raked my face, lingering on my mouth.
Oh my Gods, I couldn’t breathe. It was too hot in the room. The air was thick and cloying. I should’ve pushed him back and gotten out of there, but the truth was, I didn’t want to move. I wanted him to do something. Anything. To put me out of my misery.
Then he smashed his lips to mine. The kiss was hot and hard and frantic. Nothing like the gentle loving kisses I’d shared with Lucian. No, this was all heat and passion and anger. Every nerve ending in my body flared to life.
Then it was over and he pulled back. My lips tingled from his absence.
Demigods Academy - Year Two Page 11