I lifted my head, resting my palms on his chest as I looked up at him. “That sucks. I’m sorry. People can be assholes. I never particularly trusted magic users, but that was also because I didn’t know them. Vincent, my old trainer? He’s known me for over seven years, and he looks at me like I’m a stranger now. Nothing’s different about me, except for the fact that I’ve got powers I didn’t even ask for.”
“Yeah.” Trace sighed, running his knuckles over the curve of my cheekbone. “Guess things’ll never really go back to how they were, will they?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Y’know,” he said thoughtfully, cocking his head to the side a little. “Part of me hates that. And I hate that even though we’re part of the magic community now, we still don’t fit in. The gods themselves are working with the school admins to orchestrate the deaths of students, for fuck’s sake.”
His blue eyes warmed, and he caught my chin, pulling me up for a kiss. With our faces just inches apart, his eyes bounced between mine, and his breath ghosted over my lips when he spoke again. “But then again, all this bullshit led me to you. And no matter what else happens, I’ll never be sorry about that.”
I rubbed against him like a cat, feeling him begin to harden beneath me as I did, and I kissed him again, our bodies moving together underneath the blankets.
I wasn’t sorry about it either.
And as I faced the deadly threats in the godly realm and the hidden threats inside the walls of the school, at least I wouldn’t be alone.
I would have my three men with me every step of the way.
Chapter Six
“That’s exactly right, Aria,” Professor Wist said. “You want to lift and then push.”
I nodded, focusing on the magic that was flowing from my hands.
There was a large stone wall, magical of course, in the center of the floor. The challenge was to lift it with our magic and then put it in the correct position.
My arms shook as I fought to control my magic. I was still getting used to the fact that I didn’t have the same level of power that I’d had in the god’s realm. I felt half as strong in my magic here on earth, and it was more than a bit frustrating.
But I was determined to do well in all my classes, to absorb all the knowledge and training I could before the preliminary competition next month. Every new skill I could learn would help me in the Gods’ Challenge, and on top of that, whoever competed in the challenge missed a hell of a lot of school. Last semester, I’d struggled to catch up by the end of it, especially with all of the unanswered questions roiling in my mind.
Come on, Ari. Focus. You can do this.
I sent two large streams of magic outward, wrapping them around the stone wall horizontally. With a tug and a low groan, I lifted the wall up and continued upward until it hovered a foot above the floor. From there, I pushed forward, moving it backward and then carefully setting it down. I was the only one who hadn’t dragged it across the floor, making a terrible sound and crumbling the foundation of the wall.
“Very good!” Professor Wist nodded approvingly, and several other students shot me disgruntled looks. I caught Wesley glaring at me, and I was tempted to pick the wall up again and crush his foot with it.
Professor Wist moved closer to inspect my handiwork, then glanced back at me. “Well done, Aria. You not only managed to put it in the right position, you did it without damaging any other structures in the room. For those who decide to use their magic for building and construction purposes, this will be incredibly important. Precision, everyone. That’s the key.”
Personally, I saw it more as a tactic that could be useful in a fight. If I could lift a wall, I could lift a person, and that could be a very helpful skill in magical battle. I had already been practicing my gag spells, a way to keep the person from speaking unless I allowed it.
“Looks like somebody’s been practicing,” Eden said, nudging me with a smile.
I shrugged. “I figured it would probably be helpful if I’m gonna compete in the Gods’ Challenge again. I’ll need to know as much as I possibly can. They were hard as fuck last time, and I know we would’ve done better and almost died less often if I’d known some of this stuff.”
“Again?” Eden’s eyes bugged wide, and I grimaced internally. Oops. I’d forgotten she didn’t know that part of my plan. “You want to go back to that place again? Is that even allowed? You already won the challenge once. You got the gem, so you’ve won the honor of meeting the gods after graduation. What happens if you win twice? Do you get a second meeting with them?”
“I dunno.” I lifted a shoulder, pulling a face. That wasn’t why I wanted to compete at all. The medal I’d won last semester had felt like a lead weight around my neck, and although I definitely wanted to meet the gods, I wanted to do it on my terms, not because I’d won some rigged contest.
“Do you think they’ll let you?” she whispered, still looking scandalized.
“They better,” I growled grimly. “I asked around, and there’s no rule against it. No one’s ever competed more than once before, but fuck it. First time for everything, right?”
“If you say so…”
Eden looked far from convinced.
Wesley was standing next to the blonde girl, practicing his magic. I could see him look over his shoulder and narrow his eyes at me before returning to his drills. I wanted to slap the look off of his face, but I figured the first week of classes was a little early to start getting into fist fights in class. Especially since I was pretty sure I’d be rocking the boat anyway by competing in the preliminaries for the right to return to the godly realm—no need to start the semester with Dean Frost pissed at me.
Still, I couldn’t resist poking him a little.
“Besides,” I told Eden, lifting my voice to be sure Wesley could overhear. He was obviously eavesdropping already anyway. “It’s not like there’s a ton of competition. Getting through the preliminaries should be a breeze. There are far too many people in the school who can’t even do simple magic. They struggle with the simplest things, like even lifting a little stone wall off the floor. You can do that, and you’re half the size of some of the guys in this room.”
She grinned, completely missing the subtle shade I was throwing at Wesley, who was struggling to lift the wall up as Professor Wist stepped back to watch.
“That’s right.” Eden beamed. “I’m small but mighty.”
“Yeah, you are.” I grinned and glanced over her shoulder, then grabbed her elbow and tugged her farther away from the wall. “Uh, let’s move this way a little.”
“Why?”
A second later, she got the answer to her questions. Wesley growled and turned his head toward me with a look of rage as he let the wall fall and break into huge shards of stone on the floor. Large pieces of it rolled across the floor and ground to a stop in front of Professor Wist.
She blinked down at the chunks of rock, then looked up with pursed lips. “Wesley, I think you need to try that again. Concentrate harder next time, and if you can’t get the wall where you want it, at least keep it in one piece. Otherwise, it’s a zero.”