We pass Tina who looks more cheerful than I’ve ever seen her before. So cheerful that she’s whistling, despite the jagged slash on her arm and puncture in her cheek.
“I’m so sorry,” I tell her...and Val too.
“I’m not,” Tina says. “This place has sucked since we were outed. I’m fine with getting kicked out.”
“Yeah,” Val says. “There’s always UWA.”
I take a deep shuddering breath, fighting tears. Val doesn’t even seem to care that we’ll be at different schools with no way to communicate. That we might in fact never see each other again.
“We’re going to the infirmary,” I tell Tina. “You should probably come with.”
“Nope,” she says, veering off in the other direction. “I want to gloat over their dead and make sure our own are treated with the respect they deserve.”
I have no idea how to respond to this, and luckily I don’t have to as Val tugs me away. As we walk along one of the beautifully landscaped paths, I can’t help but think how every part of being on campus will be less enjoyable without Val. I never left my room without hoping I might run into him. And those times when I did and we had a few moments alone together…
Even when he was engaged to Larissa, I couldn’t fight the spark between us.
But on Val’s side it seems to have gone out.
I’m so lost in my own feelings, that I don’t even notice we’re not anywhere near the infirmary until Val comes to a stop. Blinking, I look around.
“Why are we at the lagoon?”
Without answering Val pulls his shirt over his head and drops it onto the sand at our feet.
I swallow audibly and he looks at me with a smile and then reaches for the waistband of his pants. Without any warning, I find out that Val is definitely a boxer briefs guy. And they look good on him.
Turning, he hops toward the water on his good foot. He should look ridiculous, but I’m not anywhere near laughing. We’re in the middle of a beautiful lush lagoon and yet my mouth is dry like we just trekked into the desert.
At the edge of the water, Val uses his injured leg to squat low and then leaps, flipping in the air before diving beneath the water.
I laugh as he comes up for air. “Show off.”
Wading in the deep end, he gestures. “Come on in, the water’s warm.”
“No thanks.” I hug my arms around myself. “I’m a little chilled from that unexpected rainstorm we had earlier.”
With long strokes Val swims toward me. “Come closer.”
“Are you going to pull me in?”
“Nope. I’m going to convince you to get in of your own free will.”
I walk nearer to the water’s edge. It feels like something bigger is at play right now between us, but I can’t quite figure out what it is. “All right. Convince me.”
Flipping onto his back, Val puts his hands behind his head and floats. “There’s an old story,” he begins. “About a bet between the wind and the sun. They saw a man walking along a beach much like this one, wearing a long coat. The sun boasted that she could get him to remove it first. The wind, not to be outdone, said he could do it much quicker than the sun. The sun, confident of her abilities, allowed the wind to get first.
“So, the wind, as expected, blew against the man. Tugging and pulling at his coat. The man, of course, pulled his coat tighter against his body. The wind blew again, even harder. The coat flapped against the man’s legs, but he did up every button and huddled deeper inside it. Finally, the wind blew as hard as it could. The man was pushed backwards and then even flew up into the air, but his coat stayed on. Defeated, the wind grumbled to the sun, ‘Fine, you try, but that man must love that coat more than he loves his life.’ With a silvery little laugh, the sun beamed down on the man. Softly at first. He relaxed, no longer holding his coat tight. She blazed brighter, warming him further.”
Suddenly, sweat drips down my face and realize the sun in real life is imitating the one in Val’s story. Toeing off my shoes and socks, I let the water lap over my feet.
Meanwhile, Val continues, “The man unbuttoned his coat, letting it fly open. Encouraged, the sun covered him with her rays. She was burning him, blistering his skin, but the man no longer cared. He threw off his coat and all the rest of his clothes, then jumped into the water.”
As Val says this, I follow suit, pulling off my uniform and tossing it over my shoulder. No longer floating, Val stands in the water. Wearing only my bra and underwear, I run into the water and then into his arms.
We fall into the water together. Our limbs tangle as the water covers our heads. Every inch of my skin feels alive. The water is like a warm caress. But it’s Val’s cold skin that I crave. Even here in the warm water, beneath the hot sun, he remains icy to the touch.
We come up for air and then descend again, becoming otters. We play tag, taking turns chasing each other. His cold hand slides the length of my leg before closing around my ankle in capture. Then it’s my turn. My hands travel the length of his muscled back before locking around his middle.
The unspoken words with each capture: I got you. I got you. I got you.
Finally we collapse on a small island of soft grass at the far corner of the lagoon. It’s just barely big enough for the two of us to lie side by side. But we don’t need much space as we grab hold of one another, our mouths meeting hungry and hot. We help each other shed the last bit of clothing separating us from each other, and then—
Well, maybe Val’s Moggy past means he has a witch in his family too.
Because what happens next is magical.
I curl into Val when it’s over, wishing we could stay here forever.
“So in that story,” I say with a yawn. “Am I the sun, or are you?”
Val chuckles softly. “We’re both the sun and the world revolves around us both.”
“You should get Tina to put that on a T-shirt,” I laugh. But the mention of Tina pulls me back into the real world. “Oh gods, I hope Artemis doesn’t show up to drag you away!”
“I already know I'm getting expelled. Let them work for it.” Val stretches lazily, obviously no longer concerned with what Themis wants now that he’s on his way out.
“I’ll miss you,” I say in a small voice, trying not to feel pathetic. And naked. Although I am in every way.
Reaching over, Val pulls me close again. “No, you won’t. Because there are ways around the rules and I will find all of them. It seems like Tina and I are probably going to end up at UWA. So you sneak into the underworld and I’ll sneak back here. And when we can’t get away, we’ll use Kevin.” Val holds up a hand and almost immediately Kevin lands on it. “I’ll send him here. Tomorrow night. And you can return him when you come visit me at UWA.”
“When I come visit?”
Val gives me a lopsided smile. “I’ll tell them you’re thinking about joining the non-living so we can be together. They’ll give you a day pass. Then we can find the next piece of your sword.”
I frown, studying Val. “I thought you didn’t want me to put the sword together?”
“No, I wanted you to be fully aware of what having that sword means.” He shakes his head. “I was being an ass. I’ve been at your side in several battles. You do what needs to be done. You’re a merciful killer.” Running a hand through his hair, Val sighs. “We both saw Mr. Zee this afternoon. He’s looking more and more like a dog that needs to be put down. If it comes down to it, you’re the one I trust to do it.”
His belief in me feels like an almost physical thing that I can carry around with me and call on when I’m uncertain. But I also think it’s misplaced.
“Val, I don’t think I can—”
He jumps up and as I struggle not to ogle his below the waist parts, he pulls me up beside him. “One last swim,” he demands, tugging me toward the water once more.
The clouds, that Val had formed above, shielding us from the sun, part, and it beams down once more.
“What about Themis?”
I ask.
Val throws me over his shoulder and jumps high into the air. Right before we hit the water and go under, he answers, “Let Themis wait.”
19
Missing Tina is weird. Missing David Bowie is even weirder.
Every time I walk into our dorm room I’m ready for an insult or an attack about something I did wrong (or forgot to do), or even just Tina being in a pissy mood for no reason whatsoever.
I never thought I would miss my bitchy vampire roommate. But her bare mattress, and the empty spot on the windowsill where Vee sat, makes me super depressed when I come home. Even the dirty spot on the wall where David Bowie kept knocking himself senseless bums me out.
It’s not just my dorm room that’s different. The whole campus has changed.
Themis ended up expelling Nico and two of his friends, and seven vampires—including Val, Tina, and Marguerite.
The rest of the vamps on campus saw it as pure bias...although to be fair, most of the deaths were from them. But the vampires argued that by pissing them off, the shifters got what was coming to them. In the week after the expulsions, more and more vampires left MOA for UWA.
Since all the vampires were in the Assassination class, the sudden drop in the vampire population was immediately obvious for me. In a way, it was kinda good, because it forced me to look around and realize I didn’t belong there anymore either.
Themis was right from the very start. I never should’ve been in the assassination class. I transferred that same day to the spy class. It seemed like the best choice for the moment, and I figured I might also pick up some tips that could help me work with the monsters to free Mavis.
Cassie was devastated by my switch, even while she admitted it was a good choice. She tried to switch with me, but none of the other classes would let her in. So now she mostly just cuts classes, hanging out in the quad or with her mom in the archives. Because Merilee carries all the details of MOA in her head, and has a magic spell to transfer everything to Cassie upon her death, no one here is gonna flunk her out.
Now most of my classes are with Jordan, who is always entertaining. And I’ve gotten to know Nico’s old roommate, the little chicken shifter, better too. He is, of course, thrilled with Nico’s expulsion and no longer having to share a room with someone who regularly terrified him. For some reason I keep finding myself telling him stories of when I first met Nico. Even after everything, I can’t stop a small part of myself from hoping that he’ll one day figure out how to be a better man.
Now two weeks later, as I prepare to visit Val at Underworld Academy on a visitation pass just like he’d promised, Fern is at my side once more. She came straight to my room after checking on Mavis. With the trial now only one week away, we’re all growing increasingly anxious about how it will all shake out.
Seeing my agitation, Fern changes the subject.
“If you see Marguerite, tell her I miss her. Tell her I’m doing great. Better than great.” Fern paces. “Okay, wait. Don’t lie. Tell her I’m having a hard time, but don’t mention the crying or that day I couldn’t get out of bed.”
“Fern.” I give her a big hug. “If I see Marguerite, I will tell her you miss her.”
This sets off a fresh round of tears. But she gets past them relatively quickly and walks with me to the portal fountain.
Metis is waiting there when we arrive.
The majority of the portals have been sealed off due to Mr. Zee’s growing paranoia about one of his bastard children coming to kill him. Metis, though, talked to Hades and arranged for me to take a “campus visit day” to Underworld Academy, something Hades had been more than willing to accommodate.
“He thinks he’s on a roll now that he’s taken most of our vampires,” Metis explains, rolling her eyes as she hands me a day pass. “Convincing the only dragon shifter ever to die for a place at UWA would be quite a feather in his cap.”
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen,” I say.
“I’m sure Themis has big plans for you once you graduate,” Metis replies crisply. “With you at the helm of our intimidation team, I think we could make the monsters sign a peace agreement giving in to all our demands. Gods, it must’ve been at least seventy centuries past or more since we last got them so fully under our boots. And then we made the monsters lick them.” She smiles at me, her eyes cold. “Edie, would you like to have a monster lick your boots clean every day? Their spit adds a special sort of polish. They positively gleam.”
She says this so seriously, like this is the plan. I try to swallow, but my mouth has gone dry. “I don’t really wear boots,” I finally say.
Totally lame, I know. But I don’t want to cross swords with Metis right now about the gods’ treatment of monsters. Still, not setting her straight right here on the spot makes me nervous. Like I’m agreeing to that future for myself.
Or maybe it’s just because I’ve been thinking about what I’m going to do after Mount Olympus Academy, and drawing a big blank.
Even though I believe in the monsters’ cause, I don’t want to be drawn into their never-ending war with the gods. On either side.
But what else is there for a dragon shifter to do?
I’m still pondering this question as I step into the freezing cold of the black nothing that magically takes me from one place to another.
One more step and I’m standing in the middle of a dry fountain with yet another naked Hermes statue. My teeth chatter from the cold of the portal and now from the snow swirling down around me.
I put a shivering hand out to catch a flake. Mid-October seems a little early for snow.
“I thought it would be romantic,” says a low voice in my ear. “Snow. New York City.” He holds a hot cocoa up beneath my nose. “Warm drinks in mittened hands.”
I take the cocoa. “Have you been reading my diary or watching too much of the Hallmark Channel?”
Val keeps a straight face but his eyes twinkle at me. “The second one, actually. I never knew such a thing existed, but last week I was one of the losers of the school-wide limbo contest—”
“School-wide?” I echo.
“Uh-huh. Apparently, they’re held regularly and there are some intense rivalries to see how low can you go. The losers have to watch twelve hours of television of Hades’s choosing.” He leans in close, his breath colder than the chilly New York air. “Don’t tell anyone, but I sorta liked it.”
I laugh, ignoring the pang in my heart at the realization that Val is happy at his new school. Quickly, I push that feeling down. I want Val to be happy. Of course I do. It’s just difficult when I feel less and less certain about where I belong.
But I refuse to spend this brief time with Val worried and moping.
Giving him a kiss on the cheek, I slip my hand into his.
“I assume you know where you’re going?” I ask Val.
“Of course. Right now we’re in a quiet section of Central Park, but around the corner is a lovely subway station. And that’s our destination.”
We chat as we talk. I catch him up on all the Mount Olympus news. Val tells me that the monsters found all my inside information about the prison helpful and the plan to save Mavis is coming along. Abruptly we stop.
“Where now?” I ask.
Val points at steps leading to the underground subway station. “Down.”
We head into the subway tunnels, where Val confidently unlocks a keypad-protected door by swiping his Underworld Academy student pass. Seeing that in his hand, even more so than the limbo story, reminds me that he now belongs to this other place.
The light on the door turns green and Val wrenches the door—four inches of solid steel—open. It clicks shut behind us, and we’re left standing on a metal staircase that leads down into darkness.
“Don’t we have a tour guide, or something?” I ask Val. “Where’s the welcoming committee?”
“Do you really want to meet the welcoming committee at a school where the first requirement for enrollment is that you ar
e dead?” Val asks, and I huff.
“No, I just…” The truth is, going to Hades is a little scary.
“Remember the lotus stream?” Val asks me, and I nod.
In order to gain admission to Mount Olympus Academy, I’d been dropped—literally—by Hermes into a swamp, where I’d had to find a stream of lotus flowers which led me to the entrance of MOA. It was a test to see if I had what it took to be admitted.
“So it’s like that?” I ask. “Except…” I look at the rust on the stairs, the darkness welling at our feet. “More depressing?”
“Well, my test for actual enrollment was a bit different than whatever this is. Right here is actually the visitors’ entrance, which is usually easier...but in this instance…” Val shrugs. “Maybe not.”
I glare at him knowing there’s something he’s not telling me. “Just spill it, Val. Ignorance won’t make it easier.”
He sighs. “I don’t know anything for certain. I was just told that having parents on campus puts on the damper on the fun-loving atmosphere and so Hades might’ve made the visitors’ entrance a little more intimidating than the actual student entrance exam.”
“And what was the entrance test?”
“You don’t want to know.”
“Oh gods. Did you have to kiss another girl or even—”
“Edie, no!” Val puts his arms around me and pulls me close. “It was nothing like that. We had to play beer pong with ambrosia.”
“Beer pong!” I explode, unable to believe that can be a test to get into a supernatural academy.
“Well the ambrosia was barely watered down and we all had horrible hangovers the next day, so…”
“Whatever,” I say, more annoyed than I should be, though I can’t pin down why. Actually, I know why. It’s because Val is having all these adventures without me. When I first arrived at MOA it all felt a bit like a game, too—not a game of beer pong—but still, it was all shiny and new and full of possibility.
But the bloom is way off that rose now. And I’m still stuck with it.
For now.
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