by Meg Xuemei X
Axel chuckled and smirked at his cousin, as if he realized what was going on and it made him giddy that I didn’t cave to his cousin’s bullying any more than I had his.
The others—the priest, the Dominion officers, and the initiates—didn’t seem to have a clue that one of the demigods and I were engaged in a battle of wills before the trial had even begun.
As the sea demigod pushed harder and I pushed back to nullify his exertion, the priest opened the ceremony with a statement and introduced himself as Saint Theodore. Then he prayed to the twelve Olympian gods in his deep, musical voice, and finally moved on to praise the four demigods.
The Demigod of Sky—Zak, Demigod of Sea—Paxton, Demigod of Death—Héctor, and Demigod of War—Axel.
The Demigod of Death was the only one absent. He was the darkest, most mysterious super-being, since he held the door to death.
I was glad he wasn’t around.
If he were here today, surely it would be to collect me and shove me to the other side of the veil, even though I wasn’t ready. That was his specialty, wasn’t it?
Zak flicked his gaze between his cousins and me for a brief second before closing his eyes, as if to meditate. He might be taking a nap, for all I knew.
Axel arched an eyebrow at me. If I read it right, he was asking me what I thought of his cousins.
Average assholes, I hissed in my mind.
Axel roared with laughter. All heads turned to him, but no one dared to ask what was so funny. If any of us had disturbed the beginning of a sacred ritual like that, we’d be dragged out to be executed.
Had he really read my thoughts?
Everyone knew that the sky demigod had the power of thunder and lightning, the sea demigod could cause tsunamis and flood cities, the death demigod collected souls, and the war demigod had all sorts of battle powers, including summoning storms in the battlefield.
No one had ever said they could read minds.
But then I’d tasted Axel’s compulsion.
I’d better put on an extra mental shield when they were around.
Theodore paused in his speech. I wondered if he’d been reading the same script over and over about the gods’ glory shining upon us and that we were so lucky to be chosen to receive the Blood Runes, which had created the elite gods’ army and culled the unworthy for generations.
“Get a hold of yourself, Axel,” Paxton hissed in a hushed voice from his throne.
“Or what?” Axel asked lazily, and then they were glaring at each other.
I wondered if the demigods picked fights with each other a lot.
Paxton had lost interest in making me kneel, but I still refrained from wiping the beads of sweat off my nose. My palms were also soaked in cold sweat after my efforts to resist his bullying power.
Axel stopped laughing after he spotted his priest’s bewildered look.
“Don’t mind me, good Theodore,” the Demigod of War waved a hand. “Proceed and get them initiated according to the list of the names I gave you.”
My heart rammed into my ribcage. Would he make me go first?
Theodore nodded dutifully. “As you wish, Demigod Axel.” He surveyed us without interest and asked routinely, “Any questions?”
My eyes immediately brightened. This was my last chance.
I threw up two hands and shouted, “I have a question!” just in case he didn’t see my hands.
Theodore looked surprised and not even a little bit pleased.
No one had ever asked him a question before? They couldn’t just go along with whatever he said, right? What about free thinking?
And it was life and death in this ritual!
“Yes?” he asked in a clipped tone, and I forgave his baleful expression.
“I’m curious,” I said. “How do you detect who has a god’s DNA in them? Don’t you want to perform a blood test first so you’ll have a higher success rate getting the type of soldiers you want? Also so you won’t drag a human into this mess and get him or her killed because he or she is just a human?”
“We don’t drag humans into this sacred temple,” Theodore said sternly. “A blood test, however, can’t detect a god’s genes in a candidate. We have our own method of locating prospective Dominion soldiers, which isn’t your concern or for your ear. Now if you’re done, be quiet and wait for your turn, initiate.” His tone said I was done.
But I wasn’t. Cameron had mentioned that they’d used a psychic ball to search for supernaturals. But the magic device had only found Jasper and Circe.
“Your psychic ball didn’t see me,” I said. “I’m not even on the chart of Dominion prospects. Demigod Axel brought me here by mistake. I think we should probably correct that before the ritual starts. There’s no need to get messy.”
The entire hall hushed to a complete silence. No one, to my knowledge, had ever accused a demigod of making a mistake, but this was my only chance to get the hell out of here.
It was now or never.
It wasn’t simply the terror of death that made me fight either. Every fiber in me rebelled against the idea of having any outside force, like that ritual dagger, touch me or test me, as if I had a built-in failsafe and it screamed for me to run and never return.
Reflecting on it, I wondered if Vi might have known something about me. Maybe that was why she’d drilled it into my head to stay far away from any demon’s or demigod’s path at all costs.
I’d holed up in Crack until today, until both a demon and a demigod had shown up, and then shit just blew up.
I heard nasty growls. They were probably from Axel.
I avoided looking at him but gazed at the sky demigod hopefully. Among the three of them, he seemed the most sensible. He’d opened his eyes and learned forward on his throne to listen to me.
“I’m one hundred percent human,” I hurried on. “I don’t have an ounce of divine blood in me, not even remotely. Please dismiss me. If you want, you can send me to the Other Academy. I won’t tell a soul about any of this. I swear. And as you can see, I haven’t seen anything yet.”
“Why did you bring a human into this, Axel?” Paxton turned his violet gaze on the war demigod with great displeasure. “You know the Half-Blood Academy isn’t for humans. You’ve gone too far this time.”
Zak swept his gaze from me to Axel, lightning flashing inside his blue eyes.
“Care to explain?” the sky demigod asked.
Axel rolled his eyes. “That little minx is devious. She’s been hiding what she is from us for twenty years. I intend to find out who she really is. Only the Ritual of the Blood Runes will reveal her deepest secrets to us.”
“I have no secrets,” I shouted. “I am what you see. I’m a plain human and a nobody. Revered other demigods, I must appeal to you. Demigod Axel has a personal grudge against me because I refused to kneel in front of him. He brought me here to punish me severely. He wants to humiliate me before murdering me.”
“That’s a serious accusation against a demigod, initiate!” Theodore cut in, his silver eyes burning with fury. “No mortal has ever made such a claim. You’ll be lucky to be struck to death by lightning when the judgment is over!”
He looked like he was about to throw a bolt of lightning at me or thrust the flaming dagger into my chest. I retreated half a step, darting my gaze around to see if I could find a weapon to fend for myself if a fight broke out.
“Silence, Theodore,” Zak said. “Do not speak out of turn again.”
The priest bowed in apology.
Silence stretched on in the hall.
I noticed that the three demigods shot glares at each other in odd ways. A thought hit me: damn, they were communicating telepathically.
Then both the sea and sky demigods sniffed the air.
Were they sniffing at me, as Axel had done earlier?
Panic spread through me when they traded another sinister, intrigued look.
All three pairs of demigod eyes trained on me, and I nearly shivered under the focus of th
eir intense stares.
“We’ve voted,” Zak announced. “All prospects will be initiated today. There’ll be no exception. The weak will be weeded out, and the strong descendants of the gods will have their dormant powers activated and accentuated through the sacred Ritual of the Blood Runes.”
There was nothing sacred about sacrificing an innocent life. But if I shouted my objections again, the demigod of lightning might just strike me down right now.
I had to take my chances with the ritual then.
A dark, yet hopeful thought wheeled through my head. I’d resisted two demigods’ compulsion. I might just survive this fucking ritual.
I dropped my defeated gaze to the ground and waited for my name to be called. Asshole Axel had likely decided to let me die first.
When Demetra was called, I pressed my cold, sweat-soaked palms against the robe. I was relieved for a brief second, then I felt sorry for her, even though she was a bitch.
What if she didn’t have a god’s blood in her veins as she’d claimed? She could die!
Axel shifted his mischievous gaze back to me and smirked, and it dawned on me that I was the last on the list.
The fucker brought me here to play a sick game with me. He wanted me to watch a few agonizing deaths before I walked to my own.
I sent him a hateful stare before I let my burning gaze follow Demetra.
The blonde shot me an angry glare, as if I’d stolen her thunder or something, before she glided toward the operating table with a graceful gait, enjoying every minute of having the attention of the entire hall.
As she faced the demigods, she didn’t show the slightest trait of a mean girl. She could appear to be the sweetest thing when she was dealing with someone above her rank.
Even the demigods’ eyes slipped toward her, except for Axel’s.
He still watched me closely, as if he wanted to record my every dreadful reaction.
Demetra flipped her hair like a siren queen before stepping onto the stool placed before the table. She perched on the edge of the table, facing the demigods with her ankles across each other perfectly, like a lady of great manners.
Theodore told her to open the top of her robe and lower it to just above her breasts, but Demetra pulled it all the way down to her waist, obviously wanting to give the demigods an eyeful.
The other demigods did give her exposed body a passing glance, but Axel kept his eyes glued on me.
Theodore frowned at the bountiful flesh in front of him—he was indeed a saint, even if he was a mean one—but in his eagerness to get to work, he didn’t correct his first test object.
The dagger of fire in his hand, he approached her swiftly. From my angle I couldn’t see exactly what he was doing, but from how the dagger danced, I speculated Theodore was carving the runes onto the skin beneath her left shoulder.
Either Theodore was skillful (he had to be adept, right, since he’d done this probably thousands of times?), or the tip of the blade barely touched her skin because Demetra only yelped a few times.
Theodore moved the blade away from her.
All three demigods were staring at her chest, and Zak nodded.
“Demetra is a descendant to Demeter, Goddess of Harvest and Fertility,” Theodore announced. “She’s one eighth goddess and also has a hint of siren heritage.”
Demetra raised her chin high. At an eighth goddess, she was what she’d said she was, even if she’d exaggerated the percentage of her godly blood.
Even so, the hall gasped. She was indeed close to a demigoddess.
Theodore looked down at her and nodded. “Congratulations, Demetra. You’ve passed the first trial. You may return to your rank.”
What? This was only the first trial?
Now I felt sorry for everyone.
Demetra glided back to our row as if she’d just been crowned. She shot me a haughty look. What had I done to her this time?
Then Jack was called and went through the same ritual. He proved to be a distant descendant of Zeus, but there was no shame of that. Most soldiers were a distant descendant, and Zeus was the current King of the Gods.
Then another clique boy was called. When the first rune hit his chest, he screamed and screamed, and then he dropped dead.
My blood went cold in my veins.
Two Dominion soldiers moved forward swiftly and removed the burned corpse.
Two other outsider initiates didn’t make it either. They screamed and died.
Then it was Nat’s turn. Yelena went all pale when his name was called. I grabbed her hand to support her, and she squeezed my hand back, hers shaking.
Nat made it. He was a distant descendant of Hephaestus, the God of Metal.
Then it was Yelena’s turn, and I prayed for her to live. She and Nat were the only ones who were friendly to me.
Yelena turned out to be a not too distant descendant of Poseidon. Yet the Demigod of the Sea wasn’t looking at the initiate who belonged to his house. He was looking at me.
Then my name was called.
I shot Axel a venomous look, and his dark eyebrow quirked, playing innocent. I could almost hear his silent question, “What was that for, darling?”
I was nowhere near as graceful as Demetra when I stepped onto the stool. Somehow my foot missed it, and I stumbled. But my hands caught the edge of the operating table.
A few snickers sounded from the clique.
Out of the twelve other initiates, five had perished, including a few members of their circle, and they didn’t even care?
No one seemed to give a fuck except me. I mourned and was angered at the meaningless waste.
Theodore moved toward me with the flaming dagger in his hand.
“You sure you really want to do this?” I whispered, pleading, hoping a slice of compassion would rise in him.
Theodore only glared as if he’d had enough of me.
“A deal is a deal, Marigold,” Axel said from his throne.
It was utterly pointless to argue with an asshole, especially a very powerful one.
I heard the sea demigod murmured something to Axel. “This girl tires me like no other. For centuries—since we started this ritual—we haven’t met anyone as annoying and disrespectful and mouthy as her. If it were up to me, I’d just get rid of her right here, right now. I don’t see why you’re so obsessed. But then you’re almost as young as she is.”
Ignoring Paxton’s snide comments, Axel rose from his throne and strode toward me, power trailing behind him like silver shadows.
Unlike the other two demigods, he wore a dress shirt, denim pants, and a fashionable trench coat. I tore my gaze from roving over his cut chest to his powerful legs. That might be the last sexy sight I’d see.
For a second there, he seemed just like any other hot guy a normal girl would love to go out with. For a second, I completely forgot where I was and that he was the Demigod of War.
Damn you, girl! I scolded myself. Death is waving at you, and you still ogle the demigod who brought you this grief?
I straightened my back, determined to go out with dignity.
It didn’t matter, though. I shouldn’t even bother with my posture. There was no dignity in death.
“Go on then,” I said to the priest. “Cut me if you must. Carve whatever runes you like on my skin. But I’d rather die standing than—”
CHAPTER 7
_____________
Before I finished my sentence, Theodore’s dagger shot a stream of flame toward me, hotter than imaginary dragon fire.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I cried.
That wasn’t what happened with any of the other initiates. Theodore must be so pissed he intended to burn me instead of carving the runes on my skin with care and skill.
Instinctively, I threw up my hands to fend off the fire, even though it was a pathetic, futile gesture.
The flame socked into my chest so hard I flew backward and rammed into the operating table. The table flew up and smashed into a splendid chandelie
r high up on the ceiling. A sharp crash of steel hitting glass sounded throughout the temple.
Crystals and diamonds rained down, and the initiates beneath them ducked.
The table flew across the room at an odd angle. It must have hit a few soldiers, judging from the curses and groans of pain.
“What the fuck?” Axel roared in rage, zooming toward me.
“I didn’t do that!” Theodore shouted. “I haven’t touched the girl. The dagger acted on its own. This has never happened in millennia. Something doesn’t add up. It must be the girl. No one has ever dared to ask questions during the ritual. She talked too much.”
Fury burst through me that they were trying to make the whole thing my fault when I was the one who’d gotten hit.
Nervous whispers churned through the hall as everyone seemed to have something to say.
“The Ritual of the Blood Runes is to weed out the weak, the unworthy, and the unfit. It leaves only the strong to defend humanity,” Demetra said, probably to her clique or anyone who was willing to listen. “That’s the unbreakable tradition of the first ceremony in the Half-Blood Academy. I knew that rogue would be incinerated.”
“Shut up,” Yelena hissed. “If you still have a thread of humanity left.”
“How dare you rebuke me, you stupid cow?” Demetra asked.
“Don’t you call her a cow, you viper!” Nat said. “And you aren’t a quarter as you falsely claimed. You’re but one-eighth. That’s a huge difference.”
“Yet I’m still far more advanced than any of you,” Demetra retorted.
I no longer heard their quarrel or was even concerned about it since I had to put out the fire on my person.
I refused to go down without a fight.
All the demigods surrounded me in an instant.
I looked down at my chest, expecting a burning hole, but it wasn’t like that. The flame had turned out to be runes writing themselves on my skin in shifting colors—crimson first, then black, purple, blue, golden...
The runes didn’t limit themselves to the space between my left shoulder blade and the top of my left breast, where they were supposed to go. They crawled all over my torso. Crimson, golden, and black runes formed shapes and lines and disappeared, then moved in shapes again on my shoulders, arms, and breasts, like a whole freak show.