Wrath of the Gods (Magic Blessed Academy Book 3)

by Eva Ashwood

  Stars danced at the edges of my vision as a blinding wave of pleasure washed through me, filling my body up with an electric charge. Merrick thrust up into me twice more, his strokes deep and forceful, as his cum flooded my convulsing channel. I kept squeezing him, massaging him with my inner walls, drawing out every last drop of his release.

  Finally, we both went limp, my body draping over his as his head thunked softly against the wall behind us.

  “Fuck,” I murmured in between deep breaths, sounding like I’d just run a marathon. “Fuck. Holy fuck.”

  “I like hearing you make those sounds too,” Merrick whispered, a note of heat and humor in his voice as he pulsed his hips against my ass again, making us both shudder.

  “Holy fuck.” I knew I’d just said that, but honestly, it bore repeating. “What was that for?”

  He tightened his embrace, and I felt him sigh contentedly behind me. “Consider it a preview of the day Lach, Trace, and I tie you up.”

  “Don’t tease,” I warned, and he laughed softly.

  “About that? Never.”

  Now that the haze of lust had cleared from my head, the knowledge that someone really could walk in on us penetrated down to the more sensible part of my brain, and Merrick and I disentangled ourselves. He helped me to my feet and cleaned me up a little before tugging my pants back up, then tucked himself away. I was pretty sure anyone who saw us would be able to guess what we’d just been doing—and Trace and Lachlan would definitely know—but that wasn’t quite as scandalous as getting caught in the act.

  When we were slightly more presentable, Merrick threaded his fingers through mine and held the door open for me.

  As we headed down the hall, I realized that I truly did feel better. My chest felt less constricted. A little seed of confidence had settled in my chest, and I wasn’t sure if it was from the training session, Merrick’s words, or the hot sex.

  Maybe a little bit of all three.

  Chapter Six

  Three weeks later, I sat down on the bench in the training room, breathing heavily, wiping the sweat off my forehead with a towel. Merrick and I had just finished another sparring session, and a couple of other students hovered near the door, waiting to use the space.

  “You did well,” he commented, his smile proud. “Do you feel like the magic has changed in you at all?”

  “Yeah.” I rubbed my chest as I grabbed my bag and slung it over my shoulder. “It feels more… I dunno, settled, I guess? Like it’s more mine now, and not just this thing that’s inside me.”

  “That’s good.”

  I wrapped an arm around his waist, lowering my voice as we stepped out into the hall. “It’s strange as fuck, working so hard with you guys and then having to hold back so much in class. I feel like I’m living a double life.”

  “Well, with any luck, it’s keeping a target off your back,” he murmured. “If the professors don’t know what you can do, they can’t report it to the gods.”

  As we made our way toward the cafeteria, we were joined by Lachlan and Trace. Both men dropped a kiss to my lips, and I noticed a few heads turning our way. I wasn’t sure if everyone at school had figured out what was going on between the four of us last semester, but they certainly all knew now. The guys and I made no attempt to keep our relationship under wraps.

  Before we reached the cafeteria, we rounded a corner and almost walked right into Wesley, who was holding court over a group of students—mostly girls—who listened to every word that fell from his lips with rapt interest.

  “Of course I think I can win again this semester,” he was saying. “Now that I’ve gotten a feel for the game, I think I can bring back the gem much more quickly.” His gaze shot to me, an ugly look contorting his face. “And since some people think it’s okay to cheat to win…”

  “We cheated?” Lachlan stepped forward, bristling. “We’re not the ones who used fuckin’ potions to attack the other competitors!”

  Wesley’s sneer shifted to the angry Irishman, and he puffed his chest out as Lachlan bore down on him. “Sore loser, are you?”

  “I’ll fuckin’ show you—”

  Merrick and Trace grabbed Lachlan’s arms, holding him back as he lunged for Wesley. I probably should’ve held him back too, but to be honest, I didn’t really want to stop him. I’d punched Wesley so hard he’d been laid out on his back last semester, and as satisfying as that had been, it still wasn’t enough.

  Before the fight could escalate any further, Dean Frost’s voice echoed out through the halls, magically amplified. I cringed at the sound of it.

  “Attention students. Prior to the scheduled preliminary competition tomorrow, an assembly has been called. Please make your way to the auditorium right now and quietly have a seat. Thank you.”

  I gritted my teeth, muttering, “Her voice kills me. I want to throat-punch her every time she speaks.”

  Trace let go of Lachlan as the burly man finally stopped trying to go after Wesley. Our group split away from him and his fan club, tension still thrumming in the air as we all made our way down the corridor.

  “I’m just wondering what the hell she wants,” Merrick said. “The last two times we competed, there hasn’t been an ounce of explanation for this thing. Now, suddenly, we have to have an entire assembly? Why?”

  “I dunno.” Worry twisted in my gut. “I guess we’re about to find out.”

  Eden met up with us outside the large auditorium. She looked nervous, chewing on her bottom lip and glancing at the students around us as we slipped in and found seats. It was crowded already; everyone had hurried to the auditorium, curious to know what was going on.

  Several professors were gathered on the stage, and after a few moments, the dean finally appeared. She was wearing her usual stern expression, and her hair was pulled back in a severe bun. Gazing out at the crowd, she tapped her throat three times, then raised her arms for silence. Everyone quieted down immediately, and she gave a satisfied nod.

  “Thank you for coming on short notice, students. I know everyone has been getting ready for the trials, working hard in their classes, and that you’re all excited for the Gods’ Challenge this semester. However, I have just been made aware of a change in the event. There will be no qualifiers for the Gods’ Challenge this semester.”

  Everyone broke into a low murmur, whispers rising and falling around us. Dean Frost cleared her throat loudly, the sound echoing across the auditorium. Silence fell again, but I could feel the tension in it. Hell, my own heart was beating harder as I leaned forward to listen.

  What the fuck is going on?

  “Instead of the challenge having a qualifier round, this semester, everyone in the school will participate. You will all be given the chance to face the creatures and monsters inside the godly realm for the main event.”

  Eden clutched my hand and gasped, looking like she was going to cry. All around us, murmurs and shouts rose up as people reacted to the news. It seemed to be a mixed reaction. Some people were talking frantically, some sounded as if they were crying, but others cheered and began bantering about what they would do within the challenge.

  I grimaced and wrapped an arm around Eden’s shoulder, pulling her in for a half-hug. “Don’t panic. Don’t panic just yet.”

  She sniffled and took in a long deep breath, nodding vigorously.

  Merrick narrowed his eyes, staring down at the dean. “This doesn’t make any sense,” he muttered. “The challenges are supposed to be optional.”

  My stomach churned as I glanced over at the other two men, seeing similar looks of confusion on their faces. I was still stunned, trying to process the information the dean had just hit us with.

  Why? Why do this?

  I knew the true purpose of the Gods’ Challenge was to single out the strongest students and eliminate some of them under the guise of a challenge in honor of the gods we all worshipped. But why would they want all of us to compete? Were they planning to up the body count? Were they abandoning
subtlety entirely?

  The dean threw her arms up in the air, sending sparks of fireworks shooting from her fingertips. They quieted the crowd quite a bit, but I could still hear the sniffles and panic through the student body.

  “In light of this information,” she continued, “we are canceling all classes tomorrow. Instead of competing in the qualifiers, you may use that time to begin your training for the Gods’ Challenge. Get together, talk about your options, and share any tips you may have with each other. For those who have done no training up to this point, you’re already behind, so we want to make sure that you get all the information that you can.”

  As the assembly was released, Eden and the guys and I sat still, letting students flow out around us. My heart had kicked up in my chest, and now it was thumping harder and harder as thoughts spiraled through my mind. Merrick put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed, knowing full well I had a lot to say.

  We had to be careful though. We couldn’t allow ourselves to get caught or reveal how much we knew about what was really going on here.

  I leaned over and whispered in Eden’s ear. “Straight to the roof.”

  She glanced at me and nodded. I turned to the other side and whispered the same message to Trace. The five of us had been going up to the roof to talk when we needed to discuss sensitive information, especially since Eden had been brought up to speed on what was going on. There was never anyone up there, and it was never checked.

  When the auditorium was almost empty, all of us rose quickly and hurried out. As we passed down the main hallway, I paused and stared at the wall—the one that held the pictures of those who’d never made it back from the Gods’ Challenge. I gritted my teeth, wanting to scream.

  “Oh, no you don’t, Snow.” Trace came up next to me and grabbed me by the arm, pulling me along behind them. “I know you want to talk—hell, I know you’re bursting at the seams, but you can’t start a rant out here in the hallways. Let’s get to the roof.”

  I nodded, sucking in deep breaths through my nose as we hurried down the corridors and up the stairs. On the top floor, Lach opened a small door, revealing the access ladder to the roof. I climbed out on top of the gently sloping gray slate, turning back to watch until the door was tightly closed.

  Then interlaced my hands on top of my head, letting out a loud growl. “What the hell is this? What the hell is going on here?”

  Lachlan paced back and forth, his muscles tight and strong. His accent was so thick and none of us could understand him, something that only happened when he was really angry. “Oi don’t nu bout ye, but I’ll tell ye roi nigh, they’ve made a move, an’ oi’m ready te make wan roi back. Feck chess, I’ll smash ’em all te bits.”

  Merrick gripped his shoulder. “Careful, you might just turn into a leprechaun. None of us can understand you. Take a deep breath.”

  Lach whirled on Merrick, looking like a man who’d just been shocked out of a nightmare. Then puffed his cheeks as he blew out a deep breath. “Shite. Sorry. I’m a wee bit pissed the fuck off right now.”

  Trace shook his head, a thoughtful expression on his chiseled features. “If you think about it, after everything we’ve heard and seen, this shouldn’t be that big of a surprise.”

  The broad-shouldered Irishman grunted. “Why?”

  Trace stopped next to Eden, who had taken a seat on the thick wall that bordered the edge of the roof. He gave her a reassuring smile, and despite my rage, my heart melted a little at his sweet gesture. Then he turned back to face the rest of us.

  “Think about what they’re doing here. They’re corralling us. This will make it easy for the gods to kill off most or all of the students at Magic Blessed Academy. Didn’t you say that Omari wasn’t satisfied with how slow things were going? That he wanted to move his plan along faster?”

  Fuck. I met his bright blue eyes as his words sank in. Then I nodded. “Yeah. I did. And I see what you’re saying. Their plan is to escalate this whole thing beyond just picking off the strongest ones and getting rid of them. They’re going to try to dig wild magic out by the roots. To destroy it completely.”

  Trace snorted humorlessly. “Why not? It’s less messy, it’s quick, and it’s over with.”

  I crossed my arms and stared up at the sky. “So, what’s really happening here is that every single person in the school, will be walking into a trap. The gods hate wild magic users. So they’re going to kill every single last one of them.”

  Chapter Seven

  “How’s Eden doin’?” Lachlan asked, staring over at her as she sat alone at a table, nervously eating a bowl of cereal.

  I blew out a breath and shook my head as I heaped some eggs onto my plate. The last week had been a nightmare. An aura of terror hung over the school, mixed with excitement and a good dose of competitive spirit from the students who had been planning to compete anyway.

  “As good as you could expect, I guess. She’s terrified. It doesn’t help that they announced the Gods’ Challenge date this morning.”

  Apparently, because there was no preliminary competition for us to go through, the admins had decided to move up the date of the challenge. We would all be entering the godly realm in just a few days.

  “Aye.” Lach grimaced. “That was some kinda shite. I can’t believe no one else sees through this fuckery.”

  “I’m sure moving it up is another way to sabotage us,” I murmured under my breath. “All the people who have been just going through the classes, not worrying about extra training are going to walk right in there and be the first ones to be picked off.”

  The cafeteria was louder than ever as we made our way toward the table where Eden sat. Wesley was bragging in one corner of the large room, his voice cutting over the general hubbub. Plenty of people were gathered around him, hanging on every word he said and talking loudly about how well they expected to do in the competition. Others sat stone-faced, staring off in space and completely ignoring all the excited people around them.

  I felt bad for them—both groups, honestly. They had no idea what was coming.

  Lachlan and I sat down, and I nudged Eden with my shoulder. She glanced at us, then went back to eating her cereal. Or, more precisely, picking up a spoonful of cereal, staring off into space, and then dropping every last piece back into the bowl before doing it all over again.

  Fuck. This is awful.

  For a moment, I regretted telling her any of the stuff I’d learned about the Gods’ Challenge. Maybe if she didn’t know the gods actively wanted to kill us, she wouldn’t be so damn terrified of being forced to compete in their realm.

  But isn’t it better that she does know? That she can at least be prepared?

  I turned to my other side, leaning closer to Lach to speak near his ear. “There’s gotta be a way we can stop this. A way we can get people out of it.”

  He sipped his coffee, glancing around, keeping an eye on everyone as he responded in a low voice. “I fuckin’ wish, lass. But I can’t think of anything. I’ve been thinkin’ about it all night, runnin’ it over with Merrick and Trace, but in the end, we had nothin’. If we refuse to go, all we’re doin’ is given’ them an easy excuse to exterminate us anyway.”

  “Yeah.” I attacked my breakfast with a vengeance, taking out some of my frustration on my eggs. “I learned a long time ago that sometimes the only way to get out of a fight is to get through it. But this? This isn’t a fight. It’s an ambush. And nobody even knows it.”

  Despite the worry that still burned in his eyes, Lach’s lips turned up in a devastating smile. “Ah, there’s the lass I know and love. I’m not surprised to hear ye say ye don’t back down from a fight.”

  I laughed and leaned over to kiss him, but as my lips met his, an idea sparked in my mind. I froze, and he drew back a little, raising an eyebrow at me.

  “Ye alright?”

  “Yes.” I blinked, my mind still whirring. My chest squeezed with worry as I glanced at Eden again, but the idea was solidifying in my mind. />
  It would be dangerous. Possibly even incredibly stupid.

  But it might give us the only advantage we would have against the gods.

  On the day of the challenge, Eden knocked on my door in the early afternoon. Even her knock seemed tentative, as if she hoped that I wouldn’t answer the door. That maybe we could skip this whole debacle, go raid the kitchen for comfort food, and pretend there was no such thing as the Gods’ Challenge.

  When I opened the door, she was breathing heavily, her gray eyes a little too bright. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and a pair of green cargo pants were tucked into her black boots. She also wore an athletic shirt and a jacket.

  “Is this too much?” She pulled at her shirt nervously.

  I shook my head. “No, it’s smart. I never knew what the challenge was going to be like. The last two times I’ve done it, it’s been hot, but that just means we’re in for a change, I guess. And you can always take layers off if you need to. It’s perfect.”

  She seemed pleased with that answer, and the two of us stepped into the hall, joining the rest of the students as they headed out of the school and across the lawn to The Hill.

  As if drawn to me by some kind of magnetic force, Lachlan, Trace, and Merrick found me in the throng, gathering tightly around me as we neared the top of the slope and stepped onto the pavilion.

  “You ready for this?” Merrick asked. I had told all three of the men my plan, and although none of them were a hundred percent on board with it, they had at least agreed that there were no other options.

  “Yeah.” I squeezed his hand as Eden looked up, shooting me a sharp look.

  “Ready for what?” she asked, worry infusing her tone.

  I hadn’t shared my plan with her, mostly because I’d been worried it would freak her out more. But she was practically vibrating with anxious energy, and I didn’t want to risk making her head explode.