Cursed Academy (Year Three)

by Holly Hook

  Prometheus now stood in front of the door himself. He spread his arms, now just behind Ronin. He didn't have to avoid hurting students. He could call this self defense.

  He would kill Ronin.

  Maria stopped and held me there. Ronin, sword still in hand, whirled to face the titan. His enemy. Dead silence dragged out. Jamal and Sarah watched from their booth. So did a pair of fourth years. Where was Alonso? Somewhere behind me, grasping his head with any luck.

  But that might not matter.

  Ronin's hair began to smoke.

  "You've done enough to undermine my school," Prometheus growled.

  "Don't," I shouted.

  There were no sprinklers on the ceiling. And the bartender remained still, holding a bottle of whiskey. The centaur was ready to uncork it. Horror punched me in the heart. My ears rang. I knew what would happen.

  "I've done nothing to undermine your school," Ronin said. "I can see what you're doing. And I just heard everything. Wait until the gods hear about this."

  "Maria, let me go."

  She did.

  I stepped forward. "If you hurt Ronin, I'm going to make you disappear." I lifted my hands. If I fell into their trap, so be it. Ronin had suffered enough. "Besides, didn't a son of Zeus save you?"

  The titan snapped his gaze to me, the green flecks in his eyes shining with terror. "You know about that?"

  I didn't. I had just heard Max mention it. But it was enough to go on. I drew closer to Ronin. I had to shield him from what was to come. Our gazes met. Smoke still curled from the top of Ronin's head.

  He shook his head.

  He would die for me.

  No.

  "That would be a grave mistake," the titan said. He lifted both hands as the heat increased. "Tony! N—"

  I crashed into Ronin, throwing us both to the side, as the air moved again. The whiskey bottle flew, crashing to the floor and missing us by inches. The air reeked of alcohol. It stung my nostrils.

  And Ronin's hair caught fire.

  "Shit!" He put his hands over it, seething and barely holding onto his weapon. Another barstool flew, but the titan dodged, stepping over the expanding puddle of whiskey. People shouted. Acrid smoke lingered even as Ronin put out the fire. Maria ran past us, pulling Wendy up from the floor, who groaned with exhaustion.

  Prometheus turned on us both. "I don't want to hurt you, Giselle, but the poison must be removed."

  I held up my hands, reaching for the ice, but it hadn't built back up to its former level. The titan stared our group down. We were cornered. The still-open door was ten feet away, on the other side of the principal. And Alonso was pulling himself out from under the barstool.

  "Wait," Ronin said.

  A faint shadow danced behind the titan.

  A shadow—

  Something invisible pulled at Prometheus's sleeve, yanking him back. The titan's eyes widened in shock. "Celestus?"

  And then my tutor snapped into view, still black-robed and elvish. He held the principal's collar in a death grip as pain tightened his facial features. "You betrayed everything I've worked for. Everything. I can't believe this. You know, I've been trailing you ever since you mentioned buying a friend a drink. You forget that I study the Lower Order now."

  The titan's face reddened. "I write you that letter of recommendation, and you turn on me. You take that job with Apollo. You go to them!"

  Celestus had followed us. He was giving us a chance to escape.

  And Ronin nodded to me.

  I didn't have to go dark tonight. And I had to move before the titan turned his fire on his former friend. Conflict burned in his eyes. He didn't want to hurt Celestus. But the way he clenched his fists told me that he would.

  I leapt forward, over the whiskey puddle, and slammed my palm onto the titan's other shoulder.

  Never before had I taken the titan's power or even made physical contact. I breathed in, and despite the herb still working on me, heat flooded up my arm and into my limbs. Fire. I blinked and it raged. I could create fire.

  "No," Prometheus gasped as I let go. He slumped in Celestus's grasp. My tutor met my gaze.

  And he smiled.

  Celestus threw the principal to the side, where he collapsed against a booth. Shaking, the titan struggled to push himself up. Defeat crumpled his face. He looked to Alonso, but his friend was still stunned, rubbing his head. The other fourth years lingered behind Alonso like they were unsure what to do.

  I faced them, palms blazing with fire that did not burn my flesh.

  The remaining fourth years backpedaled to the end of the room. Elliot had vanished. But then I noticed a second door, painted to blend in with the wall, near the broom closet. It was slightly open. An emergency exit.

  "Giselle?" Sarah asked.

  "Back away," I ordered, voice filling the room. "We're leaving."

  I flicked my attention to the puddle of whiskey as people cursed.

  The centaur bartender leapt over the counter, herding the fourth years to the exit. Alonso, still stunned, backed away while Sarah and Jamal followed.

  The whiskey erupted into flames as I let the power flow from me. Heat belched over us. Prometheus rose, blinking, as the flames leapt to the sphinx mural and began to eat.

  "Come on!" Celestus shouted, waving us to the door.

  "Up," Maria ordered Wendy. "Don't stop. We need to get out of the house. Now!"

  "Fire," Wendy muttered.

  Prometheus, still shaking, eyed me with pure despair. "You're making a mistake."

  But I was past talking to him.

  Joining Ronin and squeezing his hand in mine, I followed Maria, Celestus, and Wendy to the door.

  Chapter Twenty

  After closing the basement door and racing up the spiral steps, I realized I'd left my decoy dagger down in the Underground.

  Maria huffed and puffed, dragging Wendy as we raced up the steps. Celestus led and Ronin and I took up the rear. Only the faintest smell of smoke crawled up the steps. The fire might not spread beyond the Underground. It seemed to be enclosed in earth.

  Alonso might still be down there.

  And Elliot...

  I couldn't tell Maria.

  "Out," Celestus ordered. "You guys have balls, I have to admit. I followed you. And Giselle, I know you spied on us that night. I can see others using Nyx's power. And I'm impressed. You were right to suspect Prometheus as being sympathetic to that scum."

  He had seen me. Great. But I wasn't going to correct him on that last point.

  "Well, I have balls," Ronin said. "And you're not so professional anymore."

  "I suspected something was off with my former friend," Celestus said, reaching the top of the steps and holding open the kitchen door. "I've been watching him for some time. I saw his car leave. You have to remember. I study the Lower Order for Apollo and I still work for him." Though his words remained level, hurt and betrayal expanded in the spaces between his words.

  "How did you...follow us?" Maria asked, stepping through.

  "I can walk now," Wendy said, reaching for her weapon.

  Maria let her down. Though she still wobbled and reached for the walls, Wendy made her way to the back door. She still had her pride and her weapon.

  The faint smell of smoke rose.

  Now I had nothing.

  "We staff members have cars," Celestus said. "I ran up behind you. Look, we need to vacate the area."

  "And then we had a chat at the bottom of the stairwell," Ronin added as we crossed the kitchen.

  At least it had been productive. "You two worked together?"

  "Stranger things have happened," Ronin said as we bolted onto the deck.

  Wherever the emergency passage went to, it wasn't here. The Lower Order, like everyone else, would have their escape routes in case they were busted by the Olympian Guard—routes that would lead far from their hideouts. "We have to tell the gods," I choked out.

  Elliot—

  Sarah and Jamal—

 
But I couldn't take those words back, nor could I change what was about to happen.

  "I've got the Olympian Guard on speed dial," Celestus said, pulling out his phone. "But first we get to safety. They could come back. They know that we've just uncovered sympathetic people."

  "Sarah and Jamal," I gasped, horror welling into my chest. I almost tripped over the sandbox and crashed into Wendy, who had gone down onto her knee.

  Celestus eyed me with sadness. "They can't come back to Cursed Academy now. Jamal had potential, too."

  "They weren't members," I said, following him down the alley. "Maybe they were just curious."

  "I've seen that before," Wendy said. "Maybe they didn't know about Alonso being there?"

  The alley was clear when we reached the cars, though Prometheus's remained. We got into ours. Ronin drove the Mercedes straight ahead, being unable to make a U-turn. Celestus vanished behind us, but after a couple minutes, car headlights bounced down the hill and followed us through the still-dark neighborhoods of Marchamp. I wondered how he'd disguised the vehicle because we should have seen it. The guy was powerful and I saw why Apollo hired him.

  Maria and Wendy once again sat in the backseat. Ronin worked his jaw and looked straight ahead while he drove. I knew that behind us, Celestus was calling the Olympian Guard.

  Now I knew why he hadn't bothered tutoring me all week.

  He had found a target. A job to do.

  I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but no words came out. Maybe Celestus had been avoiding any contact with me so Serena couldn't accuse him of anything nasty.

  We'd answer those questions later.

  And halfway back to the Academy, Ronin's phone blew up with notifications.

  "Giselle, can you look at that? I'm driving." He side-frowned at me.

  I pulled his phone from his pocket, brushing the handle of his sword. The text message was from Zeus.

  Meeting. At Cursed Academy. Immediately.

  "It's what you think," I said.

  "Awesome," Ronin said.

  In the backseat, Wendy and Maria both sighed.

  "Then he heard," Wendy said. "Or Celestus told him directly." She leaned forward, face contorted into conflict. "If we tell him what Prometheus did, then maybe he can tell us some other way to take these marks off our wrists. He won't be the principal after this."

  Oh.

  I'd forgotten until now.

  "Great," Ronin said, and I sensed it wasn't just because his father wanted to talk to him.

  "How does this work now?" Maria asked. "It's not Prometheus's school anymore. Maybe there's still hope?"

  "I don't know," Wendy said. She held up her hand. As we drove under a streetlight, it illuminated the green hand holding fire. "His mark is still on me. I don't think anything like this has ever happened before. An immortal has never given up their rule over a campus."

  I gulped. Ronin and I exchanged a glance. Uncertainty hung like a toxic fog and for a moment, I wanted to jump out of the car and just run. Prometheus wouldn't show again and worse, he knew about the Lethe water. He knew. Had Hades told him about that?

  "I bet he could have afforded better guards all the time," Maria said. "I should have made the connection."

  "Why give me a secure dorm, then?" Too many questions hung. "He wanted the Lower Order to snatch me. Why try to make me stay on campus over the whole summer?" I knew the answer. To keep an eye on me. Maybe even have a spy around campus lure me into a trap.

  After that, more silence dragged out. The closer we got to school, the more my stomach turned and I feared I'd throw up on the leather seats. But at least Prometheus wouldn't be there.

  And when we did pull into Cursed Academy, green Olympian Guard vehicles were everywhere. And I knew that wasn't because of any Olympian kids beating up Cursed Academy kids. The Olympian Guard didn't deal with trifles like that.

  Zeus stood near the old fountain in his storm gray suit, waving us closer. A couple of Guards, both muscular men in green uniforms and holding shock sticks, stood off to the side. More Guards stood near the front door of the Academy and another group were walking around the main building, probably to go investigate Prometheus's house. I wondered if any would get past his fire barrier.

  A few students also stood in the doorways of the front entrance, gawking. A first year guy held an ice pack to his head. In another door, a tall blond stood with his arm around a shorter guy who had a bandage on his arm.

  Cal and Mikey.

  My heart warmed. They were standing. Alive. And not too hurt. Mikey's bandage had a bit of blood soaking through, but I knew Cal would be happy to take care of that. There was one bit of good news tonight.

  Ronin stopped the car. Celestus pulled up behind us, and for the first time I saw that he, too, had a beat-up sedan like Prometheus did. Or used to have.

  The air turned to an oncoming storm when I got out of the vehicle. Numbness stole over me and I gulped as Zeus nodded. I had lost my weapon. That wouldn't look good.

  "Step forward," Zeus ordered our group.

  Celestus swept in front of us, much to my relief, but Ronin joined him. "Sir," Celestus said, tilting his head forward. "Myself and Giselle suspected Prometheus of harboring sympathy for the Lower Order. We followed him and discovered that it is in fact true. When he told me he was going to a hidden location, I knew that was a sign."

  "Thank you for your service," Zeus said. A low thunderclap rolled in the distance, though I spotted no storm clouds in the night sky. He trained his gaze on me and smiled. "Excellent work, Giselle. I have always had my own suspicions about your principal. I even requested that Celestus here keep an eye on him."

  My tutor hung his head.

  What did Prometheus do to earn them? I wanted to ask. But the electric feeling in the air intensified and I had an urge to duck under something. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. So instead, I asked, "What happens to our marks now that he's gone? We can all assume Prometheus isn't coming back." I held up my arm and let my sleeve fall down, revealing the hand holding fire.

  Zeus frowned. Beside me, Wendy waited.

  "I am not sure. We have only had a mortal generation's time since we cemented the Oath. No immortal has ever left a school before. But the Oath does still say once you are in a school, you are in a school so long as you bear a mark."

  "What?" Wendy asked, daring to step forward.

  Zeus glowered at her and held up a hand. "Step back, please."

  The low groan filled my head and I was glad I didn't have my dagger, fake or real. Zeus was treating Wendy as if she were a rabid fan trying to lick his face.

  So I stepped forward to stand beside Ronin. Zeus is on my side. Remember. "Won't the new principal of this campus have to take this mark off and put theirs on?"

  Zeus scratched his perfect beard and lowered his voice. "Perhaps. There just may be a period where you bear no mark as a result." He winked. "Already, several immortals have offered to take over Prometheus's duties, but each one of them would need time to figure out how to perform the switch without breaking the Oath. But there may be a window."

  A window. Without any marks, Wendy and I could make a mad dash over to Olympian and switch already. If Zeus believed it was possible, I'd take it. This news might have salvaged the night.

  Why was my heart racing in warning?

  I looked to Wendy, and then Ronin, who snuck a grin at me, and then to Maria, who stayed expressionless. My best friend's face looked like a mask. But Ronin grabbed my hand and offered an encouraging squeeze. "Who do you think is going to be the new principal?"

  The god paced. "I cannot take the duty myself as it would break the oath, and I am already stretched thin with my various ventures. I will choose whoever is closest to me. I cannot trust anyone too far removed from Olympus."

  "That sounds great," Ronin said, shifting so that our upper arms touched. "Maybe there's hope."

  * * * * *

  Cursed Academy had been hit hard by a couple g
angs of Olympian kids. That night, healers from Olympian lent their time to come over and tend to wounds. Cal and Mikey had fought bravely in the girls' dorm, protecting some terrified first years while we were gone. The guys' dorms had taken a hit, too. That night, after sweeping Maria in his arms, Ted told us a bunch of guys got cornered in the bathroom and had to fight their way out.

  "I think those ladies are all over us now," Cal said once we retreated to the dining hall an hour later. The lunch ladies were busy serving coffee to the people who had gathered there, even though it was getting late. Generators hummed, supplying limited power. Flashlights and lanterns lit the dining hall.

  "Too bad for them," Mikey said with an evil grin. "You know how it goes when it comes to super attractive guys."

  "Is Cal rubbing off on you?" Maria asked.

  "Maybe?"

  I eyed the dining hall. Two dozen injured students sat scattered around the tables and nobody cared if they weren't sitting at the one that belonged to their year. Once in a while, an Olympian Guard paced in and out of the dining hall, radio crackling. From what I could hear, no one had been able to get into Prometheus's house to investigate. Celestus had vanished, so I assumed the Guard had given him that job. He was the only one able to cross the barrier.

  But where had Zeus gone?

  "They're going to have to replace Prometheus in a hurry," Maria said.

  "Can Zeus handle all this?" Wendy asked.

  "To be honest," Ronin said, snuggling close to me, "I'm not sure. He's dealing with the power plant, too, so he doesn't have time to sit down and make a decision."

  Ronin and I retreated up to my room that night, snuggling close as guards continued to mill around and shout below. The campus remained dark the next day, with only natural lighting coming through the windows, and the day after that, Sunday, was the same. Since Marchamp's power was still knocked out, nobody left campus, which got colder and colder on the inside. There was nothing to do in town with the power gone. People walked around with blankets around them. Breath spiraled in front of faces. Rumors spread about where Sarah, Jamal, and the missing fourth years had gone. I knew where, and I didn't have the heart to tell Tiffany what had happened to them. They may not have been marked. They might have just wanted a daring night of fun and to see what everything was about. And now, having been seen in the same room with Alonso, they could never risk coming back.