Yeah. Fucked up. Give people magic then kill them for it.
But if these were messengers of the gods, then maybe they were here to discuss the challenge. It couldn’t be a coincidence that the preliminaries were coming up soon and now they were here. It had to have something to do with the Gods’ Challenge, and the fact that all of those people had died. The messengers could be my key to understanding what exactly was going on here.
Biting my lip, I shot a glance at Eden, who was talking in whispered voices with Angela.
I knew I had to sneak off. I had to try to find a way to eavesdrop on the meeting, and I couldn’t risk her getting into trouble with me. As she and Angela stared after the messengers, I stepped back and hurried down the hallway into the crowd of people heading to class. Wesley had disappeared in the crowd too, and although I kind of wanted to finish our fight, this was way more important.
When I emerged through an archway into a common area, I slipped around the corner and hid, allowing the rest of the students around me to continue moving on. Once the hallways were quiet, I stepped out, trying to find the best route to reach the messengers.
As I headed down the hallway in a new direction, a heavy a hand fell on my shoulder. My heart leapt in my chest, and I spun around, hands rising to attack.
But it wasn’t one of the messengers, or a professor, or even Wesley.
It was Merrick. And he was flanked by the other two men. They were all standing in almost identical postures, their chins tilted down and their eyebrows lifted.
Gods. They really do share a fucking brain sometimes.
I let out a breath and shook my head. “Fucking hell. You could’ve said something. You scared the shit out of me.”
Merrick crossed his arms over his chest. “Yeah, like you could’ve said something?”
My brows pulled together. “What do you mean?”
His amber eyes burned, and he chuckled softly. “Where are you going, Aria?”
Oh. Oops. Busted.
“Um, nowhere. Just for a walk.”
Lachlan let out a full laugh at that. Then he lowered his voice, stepping forward. “Nah, lass. Come on now. We know ye far too well to believe that shite. As soon as we heard the messengers had come, we knew ye’d try to go and find out what they were talking about.”
I stared at them for a moment, then decided not even to try to deny it. They did know me too well, and they definitely wouldn’t believe me if I said I didn’t plan to do anything.
So instead I said, “Well, are you going to come with me or not?”
Trace, Lachlan, and Merrick all glanced at each other for a moment. Then Trace shrugged, nodding toward the front door. “Yeah. Of course, Snow.”
My heart warmed, and a little smile tugged at my lips. Of course they were willing to go with me. They wanted to know the truth about this place just as much as I did; and just like Lachlan had said, they wouldn’t let me walk into danger alone no matter what.
“We need to get close, but we can’t get caught,” I murmured, stepping closer to the three of them. “If we get caught, everything ends. They will know we’re on to them, and they’ll never let us compete in the challenge.”
Carefully, we eased our way out of the front doors and down the steps, then moved around to the side of the large, castle-like building. We hid next to a large stone staircase, looking up two floors to where the meeting room was. I could hear muffled voices from above us, but I couldn’t make out the distinct sounds. But if we could get closer to the room’s window, we might be able to hear something.
Turning to the guys, I leaned in and whispered. “We can use the balcony from the bottom floor to hoist ourselves up near the window so that we can hear what the admins are saying. We should be able to use our magic to climb the side of the building. Just like that dome back in the Gods’ Challenge.”
All three men nodded, their expressions serious. I went first, heading over to the first-floor balcony and carefully climbing up onto the rail that surrounded it. When I was balanced on the low stone railing, I pulsed some energy through my hands, creating the same sticky feeling that I had when I had climbed the dome in the godly realm.
Of course, the guys were all assholes and raced up the wall around me. They might be developing feelings for me, but that didn’t mean they weren’t all competitive as fuck.
I rolled my eyes and shook my head as they waited, hovering around the window. I took my time, not wanting to make a mistake.
As I approached the window, I kept myself pressed tightly to the wall. When I was level with the large window, I craned my neck slightly, trying to peer inside the room without being seen.
Miss Avery’s face appeared at the window, looking out across the school grounds. My heart lurched into my throat, and I swiftly moved to the side, my hands slipping.
“Fuck!”
The word was barely more than a whisper, but Lachlan heard it. His hand shot down and grabbed me by the shirt, holding me in the air as I pressed my body against the wall, my pulse fluttering like a hummingbird. All four of us clung to the wall, trying desperately not to be seen.
Miss Avery looked back and forth for several moments before finally walking away from the window. I was able to put my hands back together, bringing the magic forward, and then I climbed up alongside the guys again.
I gave Lachlan an exhausted look of thanks and rolled my eyes, annoyed at myself for losing my magical grip like that. He grinned and shook his head. The four of us stayed perfectly still, hanging from the walls of the school, trying to listen in on the conversation inside the room. Because it’d taken us time to sneak around the building and climb up the wall, we had missed what seemed to be a good portion of the conversation. Not to mention the fact that the voices were still so fucking muffled it was difficult to put together the bits and pieces of people’s words.
“Keep sending us your best and strongest,” a deep voice echoed out.
One of the messengers. It must be. There was something almost inhuman about it.
My eyes narrowed at that statement, anger burning through me. So they wanted the admins to send the best and strongest of us, and they also wanted to make sure that a good portion of the competitors died?
How fucked up is that?
One of the admin’s voices replied to the messenger. I didn’t think it was Miss Avery or Dean Frost, but whoever as speaking sounded shrill and nervous. The powerful resonance of the messenger’s voice had carried through the windowpane, but this voice didn’t boom in the same way, so I couldn’t make out the words.
But whatever the person said, it didn’t go over well.
There was a bit of commotion inside and a clap of thunder that sent a wave of energy reverberating through the window. Cold sweat bathed my body, and all four of us held on strongly, trying not to be forced off the wall. When the power settled down, I had a feeling something had happened inside the room. Probably something I didn’t want to know about.
“It’s not a perfect system, but it’s the only way.”
That was Dean Frost, and she sounded like she was trying to convince someone. But who was she talking to? The other admins? Or the gods’ messengers?
I furrowed my brow and looked over at the guys, trying to piece together what Frost’s pronouncement meant. What “system” was she talking about? Just another question to add to my long list of unknowns.