by Meg Xuemei X
She gave me another once-over. “I don’t think it’s your face he’s interested in.” I could see her point since my face was covered by soot and dirt. “Beauty is a dime a dozen at the Academy, since anyone with an ounce of god’s blood is easy on the eyes. There’re plenty of gorgeous women fighting to get the attention of the demigods, and you don’t exactly make the cut since I don’t think you’re one of us. You’re something else. I guess that’s why Demigod Axel was obsessed with bringing you to the Academy to see if you can survive the merciless ritual.” She sent me one last pitiful glance. “I don’t think you’ll pass.”
I was heading to my death because of that asshole’s sick game.
I didn’t retort despite her derision. I needed more intel on the demigods, the Academy, and most importantly, the Ritual of the Blood Runes.
I arched an eyebrow at her, hoping to goad her into talking more. “Oh yeah, you think?”
“With her brazen spirit, she might just pass,” Cameron chimed in. “She’s the first creature I’ve ever seen who isn’t afraid of Demigod Axel. Did you see how she resisted his power, as no mortal could ever do?” He turned halfway to peek at me over his broad shoulder. “If you pass the trial, you can join my team. I can probably use someone like you, but you must drop that bad attitude of yours.”
This time I snorted. “I don’t have a bad attitude, and I’m not a follower. I take shit from no one.”
“Bah!” Marie said. “They’ll break you, and I’ll be there to watch instead of catch you.”
“Thank you,” I said in mocking gratitude. “You’re such a good friend.”
Suddenly, Cameron poked his head out the window, then flung his hand backward. Lightning shot out at a truck that had nearly rammed into the rear of the van.
The truck flapped up into the air and then plummeted to the ground. The entire highway shook like we were in an earthquake.
Our driver floored the gas pedal at the same time as Cameron’s attack, so our van was at the edge of the shockwave.
The next second, the van bumped an armored car in the right lane.
Marie moved to the left window, rolled it half down, and blasted bullets into three motorcycles approaching from behind us.
I had damn fast reflexes, yet I’d missed how a lightweight machine gun had appeared in her hands. The Dominions weren’t fools. While conversing with me, they’d stayed vigilant for any looming danger and reacted super fast.
The rest of the soldiers also moved into seamless action.
Bullets, lightning, spells, and fire exchanged between the Dominions and our attackers. Two of the motorcycles were tossed into the air by a soldier’s magic and Marie’s bullets, but more enemy forces were coming.
Cameron kept throwing lightning with a wicked grin on his face. He ducked back into the van every now and then to avoid the spell fires and the bullets that ricocheted off the armored body of the van.
The lieutenant was a descendant of Zeus, the God of Sky.
Luckily, he hadn’t thrown lightning at me when we’d fought.
I didn’t see the other van that held Circe and Jasper. They had less manpower, and my stomach twisted in worry for them.
The asshole demigod shouldn’t have separated my team from me.
“Give me a weapon,” I shouted. “I’m not going to be a sitting duck here.”
“Just sit tight and enjoy the show,” Cameron said while tossing another lightning bolt at a new car that chased us.
“You can’t just throw those fancy bolts of yours all day, can you?” I asked, planning to steal a firearm from either Marie or the soldier on my other side.
“Nope,” Cameron said, producing a shotgun and firing it with one hand. “You think I’m a god?”
“You’re obviously very far from a god,” I said.
Another enemy automobile slammed into a civilian vehicle after being hit by Cameron’s merciless bullets plus lightning bolts.
Our van sped onto a bridge made of steel, concrete, and cables. To my surprise, the attacks stopped abruptly.
“Why didn’t they follow?” I asked.
“We’ve reached our territory,” said the soldier on my other side. “This is the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. In case you don’t know, Half-Blood Academy is on Staten Island.”
“Thank you,” I said. “That’s very informative.”
He chuckled. In addition to tattoos, he had a diamond stud in his left earlobe.
“Could you check my friends’ statuses in the other van, Cameron?” I asked.
“You think I take orders from you now?” Cameron snorted.
“Please,” I said. “I need to know that they’re safe.”
“The other van wasn’t attacked,” Cameron said. “It seems trouble follows only you. You know what? I changed my mind. Even if you survive the trial, I don’t want you on my team. You’re more trouble than you’re worth. Sticking around you for too long, you might get us all killed.”
“Thank you for the confidence,” I said.
Marie nodded in agreement. “We’ve never had an incident rounding up descendants until you. And none of the demigods ever supervised a recruit mission before.”
“I’m not bad luck,” I shouted. “I’m an asset. I took out several criminal lords and gangs in Crack when I was a few years younger.”
The soldiers traded an unconvinced look.
“You might not be the worst luck to yourself,” Marie concluded, “but you are to others, like the criminal lords.”
“I protect the innocent,” I protested. Like Jasper and Circe.
In no time, we crossed the bay and reached the other end of the bridge.
Soldiers wearing Dominion badges were posted at all the checkpoints. There were even air patrols above the lush, green island.
No one stopped us, and our driver no longer raced like a maniac.
Security seemed air-tight as I spotted heavily-armed soldiers on every few blocks on the island.
We passed by streets, buildings, stores, and a large park, which all looked nice. The demigod-controlled Staten Island hadn’t been tainted by the war between the gods and demons. This was probably what the old civilization had looked like before both types of assholes invaded our world.
The van cruised through a vast gate as it slid open from the middle. Etched into the left side of the reinforced red wall, giant letters of gold proclaimed this to be Half-Blood Academy. On the right wall, the school crest displayed an eagle above the waves piercing a lightning bolt with a blade that also looked like a key connecting the sky and ocean.
The eagle was the power sign for the God of War, the lightning bolt was the God of Sky’s birthright, the ocean was the God of Sea’s domain, and the blade was the Sword of Hades and Key to the Underworld.
The four demigods were the only direct descendants of Ares, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, and thus this military school was named the Half-Blood Academy. I wondered if I would meet the rest of the demigods before I either survived or perished in the ritual.
Armed soldiers waved for the van to roll ahead as they recognized everyone, except me, in the van. They probably didn’t regard me as much of a threat.
As soon as the van braked at the circular driveway in front of the main campus, its door opened with a sharp metal sound, spitting out half of the team.
They lined up on either side of the vehicle, waiting for me to let myself out.
I leapt out of the van, squinting as I surveyed the campus: a gem-like pond, lush gardens, century-old trees.
I was surprised at how vast this place was.
The skyscrapers were so modern with steel and glass, the old stone buildings had elaborate carvings that spoke of rich tradition and history, and the low-rise structures were in a Victorian style.
Several vans parked around the circle.
Suddenly I caught sight of Jasper and Circe at the far end of the square.
Jasper darted his worried gaze around the crowd, as if searching for me. Circe looked
so thrilled at this new environment that she twirled in a small dance. My breath hitched in my throat. She was young. She had no idea what kind of tough life lay ahead.
It wasn’t dancing and parties and boys, for sure.
Now that we were inside this fence, we’d never have freedom, not unless we escaped.
“Jas, Circe!” I called, bolting toward them, but two of the soldiers who’d escorted me immediately blocked my path.
Marie dragged me back.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I said. “I need to see my friends!”
“I’m doing you a favor, girl,” Marie said. “I’m helping you survive in this place.”
“Demigod Axel has ordered that if you cause trouble, your friends will suffer the consequences,” Cameron said. “Do you copy?”
I glared at him, shaking in anger. He held my gaze, daring me punch him with my tight fists. He’d punch back, then probably shock me good with his lightning.
“You need to focus on your trial, Marigold,” Marie said, softening her tone. “If you live, you’ll get to see them once every three weeks in the main dining hall where all the students and trainers socialize. Your friends belong to the Other Academy on the secondary campus, a place for all other supernaturals, like witches, shifters, warlocks, mages, fae, and vampires.”
“But shouldn’t my friends be here for me during the trial?” I said in a last-ditch effort to get the Dominions to show a little sympathy or bend a little. “Could you talk to Axel about it, please?”
Marie snorted. “He’d have my head for calling him for something like that. Look, rules are rules. The Ritual of Blood Runes is only to be observed by the demigods, the senior Dominion officers, and other initiates. Outsiders, not even the leaders of the supernaturals who aren’t descendants of the gods, are not allowed to watch.”
“I just want to see my team one last time before shit goes down,” I said. “If I don’t make it, at least I get to say goodbye.”
“Then you make sure you make it,” Marie said.
There was no point in arguing with her. She knew it wasn’t up to me but the gods’ power that decided who lived and who was doomed.
I stared into empty space. I didn’t want to ruin the first day for Jasper and Circe in their academy life.
My shoulders sagged as I watched the soldiers take my former teammates down the opposite path and vanish behind a building trellised with ivy and lilac.
That might be the last of them I ever saw.
CHAPTER 5
_____________
I joined twelve other candidates, some of them a little younger and some a little older than me. I bathed and put on a white robe, the only thing they offered me.
I was so sick and tired of fighting the Dominions and ending up nowhere, so I didn’t even bother to complain that I didn’t get to wear a bra and panties.
In low spirits and bare feet, I padded quietly down the cobbled path lined with red maple trees along with other initiates.
They had arrived a week earlier and already formed a clique. Six of them gathered around Demetra and Jack, hanging on their every word. The other four were outsiders like me.
Two of the outcasts constantly darted longing gazes at the popular group, as if that would get them into the exclusive club. All they got was the evil eye from the snobs, who regarded the rest of us as the slough beneath their noble feet.
“Stay away!” A clique girl, Barbara, hissed and patted her sleeve as if even our gazes could dirty her clothes.
The instructor had read all our names when he brought us here, and I’d made a point of learning them.
The other two outsiders, Nat and Yelena, acted like childhood friends, which was probably why they didn’t seem to care much about being shunned.
I didn’t give a damn who was more or less popular either.
Even though we were all dressed in the same white robes, it was easy to detect who came from an affluent family and who was raised in poverty.
I had my own rough-around-the-edges style, which I’d seen some guys use to their social advantage when they owned it. The bad boy appeal, I guess, it didn’t work so well for me.
Class existed everywhere, and wherever you went, you could never avoid bitches and dicks.
That Demetra chick had been bragging about her revered family non-stop, and her high-pitched voice began to grate on my thin nerves. Man, I was brooding on a survival strategy here.
“The invitation came as expected.” She started again. “Obviously, the demigods know that I’m a quarter, which is a big deal. They must have looked into my family’s legacy. None of the academies has had a quarter in nearly a century. I was born to rise above all others and sit next to the demigods.”
“I heard that the demigods are all super hot,” Barbara whispered, licking her lips, her eyes sparking with hope. “They can have anyone they want.”
My damn super hearing could catch every word.
“Believe me, now that I’m here, they won’t look anywhere else,” Demetra declared with one hundred percent confidence.
The other girls looked at her with equal measures of envy and admiration.
From eavesdropping on their gossip, I realized that no one, except me, had resisted being recruited by the Dominions. Most people considered it a privilege to be summoned by the Half-Blood Academy.
Once initiates passed the trials, they were verified as descendants of the gods. Their elite status would enhance their family’s names and influence.
I was probably the only one who didn’t give a damn about being elite.
“We’re the best the world has to offer,” Demetra said while she thrust her chin toward mostly me. “I’m not sure the rest will make the cut. There’re always winners, and there’re always losers. The Academy can’t have the weak among us. It’s a great practice to weed them out.”
Did she even have a brain?
I’d had enough of her shit talking.
“Can we have some quiet before the ritual,” I asked as politely as I could. “Please, ladies and gentlemen?”
The clique gasped at my audacity to even talk to them, as my low class status seemed to mean I was supposed to shut up and bow down.
Yelena and Nat gave me a curious glance, and the other two timid outsiders held their breath, as if expecting lightning to strike me now. They even pulled back a little farther from me to show the clique that we weren’t in league.
Walking ahead of me at two o’clock, Demetra snapped her golden head around and spared me a contemptuous glance over her shoulder.
“Are you the lowly girl who talked to me?” she asked incredulously, apparently not believing that I dared talk to a “queen” without kneeling or whatever sucking up she was used to. Her gorgeous face twisted into a sneer.
“Lowly?” I asked huskily. “Wow, that’s classy. So, you’re the self-appointed queen bee who lives in her own delusions of grandeur? Pardon if I don’t curtsy. I’ve never learned to be submissive. I don’t curtsy to the demigods. What makes you think I’d even nod my head to you?”
Her minions gasped, as if they had collective hiccups.
“How rude,” one of the girls said in a polished accent. “The low class hussy never learned manners.”
“Then show me your manners,” I said. “They probably come from where the sun doesn’t shine.”
“Don’t mind her,” a clique boy said dismissively. “She isn’t worth it. She just wants attention, and we’re not going to give it to her.”
I shook my head and laughed. “Comedians.”
Jack, the boy leader of the clique, turned his narrowed, hazel eyes on me from beside Demetra. He was the largest among us, and he had this tough build and look, like he could kill anyone without a peep from his conscience, despite his handsome face.
He appeared at ease and totally fit in. He might turn out even stronger than Cameron.
Speaking of, Cameron emerged in a new, clean uniform with the three-bar ranking on his badge. He str
ode beside me.
Jack dimmed his death-threat look and kept walking.
Demetra immediately noticed the Dominion lieutenant and flashed him a saccharine smile, the voltage so high it could melt most guys’ belts off their trousers.
I hated to admit it, but she had looks going for her with her perfectly toned body. And lucky for her, blonde was still in fashion. Maybe it always would be. She could’ve been a successful runway model if she hadn’t come to the Academy.
She evidently knew it, too. I bet she’d use her stunning looks as her most lethal weapon in any setting. That vain confidence was why she openly boasted that once she’d caught the demigods’ eyes, they’d never wander again. If she could sink her claws into one of them, or all of them for all I cared, she could have offspring with a demigod. Then she could brag to no end that her children were a step closer to being demigods themselves.
What a wonderful plan!
Only if she didn’t open her mouth again and spew more haughty nonsense.
But then most guys didn’t care, as long as they got to sleep with a bimbo like her.
“You couldn’t even dye your hair properly, harpy,” Demetra scoffed. “Can’t afford a salon?”
“For your information, queen bee,” I said. “My hair color is natural. No offense, but you might need to get your eyes checked, or I doubt the Dominions will accept you into their elite ranks.”
“Really, Marigold?” Cameron said, grinning at me. “Your hair is natural? No kidding. I agree with the other girl. I don’t think you dyed it properly.”
He still held a grudge against me, probably because I’d booted him in the chest during our encounter, or more likely I’d hurt his feelings by turning down his offer of recruiting me for his team should I pass the ritual.
Demetra giggled, flicking her long blonde hair like a supermodel in appreciation of Cameron’s support and her own irresistible charm.
Who was I kidding? She held quite an ambition to take on the demigods and get at least one of them to have babies with her.
“You’re one to talk, lieutenant,” I snorted. “I expected better from you.”