by Eva Ashwood
Secret of the Gods
Magic Blessed Academy #2
Eva Ashwood
Copyright © 2019 by Eva Ashwood
All rights reserved.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Books by Eva Ashwood
Chapter One
“Yeah, I got here okay.” I ran a hand through my dark hair, cradling my cell phone between my shoulder and my ear. “The portal was brutal as usual. I’m just happy to be back in Boston for the break. I needed to get out of Magic Blessed Academy for a while. Breathe a little.”
“That sounds exciting!” Eden chirped, and I bit back an amused grin. Everything sounded exciting to the perky blonde girl.
Sometimes I couldn’t believe the two of us had actually become friends. But then again, a lot had changed in my life over the past few months.
I looked around the short-term rental place that I had managed to pick up in Southie for the winter break. We had two weeks off from classes, and amazingly, the school admins actually allowed us to leave campus. A lot of people had families to go back to, and even though I didn’t, I’d taken the opportunity to go back home.
Of course, I hadn’t fought a match in the underground ring in months, and while I didn’t have much need of money at Magic Blessed—room and board were provided by the school—I was low on funds when it came to surviving in the real world.
So this place was all I’d been able to afford.
It was… interesting. I was pretty sure one of the stains on the floor was blood, and I half expected to find chalk outlines on the floor. But it was cheap, and I needed cheap. I couldn’t work or fight while I was going to school, not that I could fight out of school anymore either. Nonetheless, I had to make my money stretch.
“So you’re glad you went home?” Eden pressed. “I knew you’d have a good time!”
“Yeah, it’s a real party over here.” I laughed. “But I gotta get unpacked. I want to feel like I’m not destined to head back to that school when the break is over. I just want to feel like I’m living a normal life for a little while.”
“Yeah. I get that,” she said with pep. “Call me this week. My family is going to swamp me with a million questions about the academy. I love them, but I’m gonna need an excuse to take a break.”
I smiled. “You got it. You can always send me an emergency text if you need me to intercept or intercede.”
“Got it,” she replied. “Talk to you soon. Bye.”
“Bye!”
The word came out with far too much enthusiasm, but when I talked to Eden, sometimes her unrelenting excitement just wore off on me.
I took in a deep breath and let it out hard, staring at the place I was going to be sleeping over the break. I missed my old place, even though I’d had multiple roommates—of the tiny, furry, bald-tailed variety—but at least I’d known that place. It’d been familiar. It’d been mine.
I hadn’t wanted to let it go, but there’d been no point in me paying rent on a place in Boston when I was living in… well, wherever the Magic Blessed campus was hidden. I honestly didn’t even know what country it was in, since I traveled to and from the place via a portal that was attuned specifically to me. The campus itself was in a remote spot, and we weren’t allowed to leave during the semester, so I’d never gotten to see any of the surrounding area.
I shook my head, brushing away thoughts of the academy. After what I’d overheard at the end of the semester, it’d been pretty much all I had been thinking about lately, and I needed a fucking break. For the moment, I was home, exactly where I wanted to be. I thought about Boston all the time, and I craved being here, especially after the Gods’ Challenge.
Grabbing my bag, I walked over to the small dresser and began to unpack. As I did, my mind wandered to the other subject I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about: the three men I’d started developing feelings for. The three men who had begun the semester as my worst adversaries and ended it as the only three people I trusted implicitly.
Like I said, a lot had changed.
They’d all split from the academy for the winter break too, so I wouldn’t see them until school started back up again.
It was the only reason I was looking forward to going back. If it hadn’t been for them, and my determination to figure out what the fuck was going on at that place, I would’ve considered not returning to school at all—although I was sure they’d just send Oberon and his team to collect me again, and that it wouldn’t be pleasant.
But it wasn’t in my nature to run anyway. Something fucked up was going on at Magic Blessed, and I wasn’t gonna just let it slide. I was going to figure out why the hell they organized a competition that was intended to kill students. And if the only way to get answers was to go through the Gods’ Challenge again, well then, fuck it.
I survived once. I can survive again.
But you barely survived, a little voice in my head whispered. Are you willing to risk the guys like that? To let them charge into danger for you again?
That was the only part of my plan that gave me pause. It was one thing to risk my own life for answers, and something I was more than willing to do. But I hated the idea of putting Merrick, Lachlan, or Trace in peril. And that, more than anything, showed me the depths of the feelings I was starting to develop for them.
It scared the fuck out of me, even as it thrilled me a little too.
All three of them. Willing to share me.
Gods, I really do want that.
Rolling my eyes, I tossed my now empty bag into a corner of the room. I’d promised myself I wouldn’t obsess over what the coming semester might bring, and here I was doing exactly that.
I needed to blow off some steam. To get out of my head for a while. Even standing here in my rental, outside of the academy, I felt antsy and unsettled. Fidgety.
Luckily, I knew a cure for that.
Wonder who the Ringmaster has fighting tonight.
That was my nickname for the guy who ran the underground ring I’d fought in before I developed magic. The shitty thing was, I wouldn’t be allowed to fight there anymore. Vincent, my mentor, had made that perfectly clear.
But that didn’t mean I couldn’t go watch. It wouldn’t be the same as stepping into the ring myself, but it would still be enough to get my adrenaline pumping, to scratch that itch for a good fight.
I grabbed my coat, throwing it on and shoving my keys and wallet into my back pocket. Then I headed out to my old stomping grounds, taking the long walk to the under
ground fight ring with my hood up and my hands shoved in my pockets.
The warehouse looked just the same as always—covered in graffiti and grime, so ancient and worn-down it appeared practically abandoned. It was just past nine o’clock, and the few streetlamps that still worked cast the large building in shadow.
“Hey. Hold up,” the door guy said as I stepped up to the entrance, putting his hand on my shoulder.
I dropped my head to stare at his hand, then lifted my head, pulling my hood back. When he saw who I was, he pulled his hand back immediately. “Oh, hey, Aria. Sorry. I didn’t realize it was you. We didn’t know you were back in town.”
“Was I supposed to send out engraved announcements?” I shot back sarcastically.
He chuckled and opened the door for me. “It’s good to have you back.”
“Thanks.”
Unfortunately, they wouldn’t be able to get used to it.
When I stepped through the door, I closed my eyes for a second and took in a long deep breath of the stale, sweaty air. It smelled like beer and people. When I opened my eyes, I grinned. It was damn good to be home.
The place seemed busier than it had been before I’d left, with several of the regulars nodding at me as I passed. I wasn’t sure if most of them knew about my magic, but it didn’t really matter. I wasn’t there to fight. I just needed to be somewhere comfortable, somewhere familiar. Pushing through the roaring crowd, I walked down to the ring and inched along until I met with Vincent.
“What’s up?” I said with a nod.
He was wrapping his guy’s knuckles, and he glanced over at me. I saw surprise register in his expression before he dipped his head in a half-nod. “Ari. I didn’t know you were coming into town. It’s good to see you.”
I gave a small smile, something none of the guys from the training gym were used to. “It’s good to see you too. You need any help tonight?”
Vin finished up taping the guy’s hands and fist bumped him, sending him up to the ring. “Nah. It’ll be an interesting fight. These two are pretty well matched, although Nathan”—he jerked his chin toward the guy he’d just sent into the ring—“has a tendency to go out at night, get hungover as fuck, and end up late to practice.”
“I’m sure you’re thrilled about that.”
Vincent huffed out a laugh, gazing up at the ring. He’d pulled his gaze away from me quickly after greeting me, and I noticed he hadn’t looked my way again since. In fact, it seemed like he was avoiding looking at me.
That suspicion was confirmed when he glanced down at the floor, scrubbing a hand over his chin. He was an older man, and had sort of become a father-figure to me after my own dad had died, but something had definitely changed between us after my magic manifested.
“Wish I could stay and watch the fight, but I gotta get some other stuff done. I’ll see you around, kid.”
His gaze flicked up to me once more, and I could see both the warmth and the distrust in his eyes. Part of him was glad to see me, I thought, but that didn’t negate the part of him who could only see me as different now.
I stepped out of the way, surprised at how obvious it was that he was treating me differently than he had before. I wished there was some way to show him, make him realize that I was the same person I had been all along. That was impossible though; he would always think about my magic when he looked at me.
Flipping my hood back up, I faded into the crowd, keeping a low profile as I climbed through the stands and found a seat a few rows up. There were a few other magic users scattered throughout the crowd, but I purposefully avoided them.
They’d been born with magic, and it’d been a part of their family for generations. Me, on the other hand? I was “magic blessed,” gifted magic by the gods for some inexplicable reason.
So yeah, the magic users and I might share powers, but we definitely weren’t the same.
I sat down and leaned forward in the seat, resting my elbows on my thighs. It had been a long time since I sat in the stands to watch a fight, but I was pretty excited about it. I’d been so busy fighting, I’d forgotten the thrill of watching a good match.
The guy next to me looked too excited, like it was his first time. He glanced over at me, then strained his neck to look into the ring. “I’ve been waitin’ to see who Vincent’s new guy is for months. Ever since his girl left, he’s had an array of dudes, but none of them have been any good.”
“His girl?” I replied.
The guy nodded, his eyes glued on the stage. “Yeah, the one that won all the fights against the guys. I think they called her the Boston Beater or something like that. Apparently, she ended up with magic and can’t compete anymore. He hasn’t let any other girls in the ring.”
I had to admit, hearing that brought on a little swell of pride. I had been Vin’s number one, and either nobody was good enough to compete with me, or he wasn’t ready to replace me. Either way, that said a lot about my career, or my prior career.
Before I could respond to the guy, the bell sounded, and the fight began. The two men in the ring were decent, but they weren’t anything like I was. Still, I could feel my heart beating faster with each punch, with each kick or leg sweep. I lived for this shit.
About three minutes into the fight, as the fighters bounced back and forth in the ring, a prickle of awareness pulled at my chest. I rubbed at it with my fingers and looked up, scanning the crowd. As I looked directly across from where I was seated, on the other side of the ring, I froze.
A pair of sparkling green eyes were watching me, ignoring the fight entirely.
Lachlan.
Holy fuck. What is he doing here?
His shaggy reddish brown hair glinted in the light, and his tall stature and impossibly broad shoulders made him stand out in the crowd. He was big and burly and intensely masculine, everything you’d expect a magic-wielding, motorcycle-riding Irishman to be.
Heat flared through my entire body, lighting me up instantly.
I’d missed him. Way more than I’d let myself admit. But the sight of him now made such a rush of relief and desire flood me that it was impossible to deny.
I could still remember the first time I’d seen him. It’d been in this very warehouse, on the night my magic had manifested. I had been in the middle of the fight, lying on the ground—giving my opponent just a few minutes of solid fighting so he didn’t feel so pathetic when I took him down. And when my gaze had shifted to the stands for a moment, I had seen him, in that same seat, giving me the same exact look.
Even then, something intense and hot had burned between us.
And now? It felt like the electricity hovering in the air between us could explode and light the whole damn place on fire.
As the fight continued, blow after blow, Lachlan’s gaze stayed locked on me. Every time there was a hit, I could feel a surge of desire flow through me. The fight in front of us was almost like foreplay, and I could feel wetness gathering at the apex of my thighs as warmth flooded my lower belly.
Fucking and fighting were two sides of the same coin, as far as I was concerned, and the violence infusing the warehouse only made my arousal spike even higher. Lachlan obviously felt it too, because I swore I could feel the lust coming off him in waves, reaching me even across all the space that separated us.
The bell went off, and the crowd cheered, ending the fight. To be honest, I hadn’t even realized it was that close, I’d been far too busy staring at Lachlan. It didn’t even really matter to me who had won.
It was only the first match of the night. There would be others, but suddenly I had very little interest in sticking around and watching.
The crowd began to talk and yell amongst themselves as the fighters left the ring, everyone celebrating or bemoaning their luck. People began to mill around, walking back and forth in front of me, momentarily breaking our eye contact. When our gazes met again, I gave him one last long look before making my way through the press of bodies toward the back door.
As I stepped out into the cold Boston night, the chill hit me hard. It wasn’t enough to cool the heat raging through my veins, but the shock to my system felt good.
My heart beat hard and fast as I made my way deeper into the alley behind the warehouse.
But I had barely taken two steps when a pair of rough hands grabbed me from behind and pushed me up against the wall, pinning me there tightly.
Chapter Two
“Ye should be more careful when ye step out into a dark alley, lass,” Lachlan’s accented voice whispered in my ear.
I smiled, grabbing his hand and swiftly knocking it away from my shoulder. I spun around, swapping positions with him in a flash and pinning him to the wall, my hands on his broad chest.
“And you should be more careful about who you walk up behind,” I murmured, my voice rough and breathy. “I could’ve killed you.”
He leaned in, his lips just inches from mine, one corner twitching into a smile. “I think I might enjoy ye tryin’.”
With that, he knocked my hands away, grabbing my wrists. Our positions changed again, and I yanked free of his hold and whipped up my arm, attempting to send a bit of magic at him, but he grabbed my wrist and pushed it back against the cinderblock wall.
My heart was thundering in my chest, and I smiled, purring, “I think I might enjoy that too.”
This time, I pushed against his hold to rub my chest against his, letting him keep my wrists pinned to the wall. He groaned as our bodies touched, heat sparking between us despite the layers of clothing that separated us. I pressed against him even harder, and he leaned down and crashed his lips against mine.