The dean clapped her hands, startling me slightly. “Everyone return to the academy building. Our contestants will need a little time to get cleaned up and recover. The closing ceremony will be held in the auditorium in a few hours.”
I turned quickly and hurried down toward the large castle-like building, the men close behind me. Lachlan wrapped an arm around my shoulders, as the other two crowded close, warming my chilled skin and protecting me from the eyes of ogling students.
They walked me to my dorm, and I explained what had happened in a quiet voice as we went. There wasn’t time to lay out more than the barest details though. We needed time to talk through everything we learned, but we couldn’t miss the closing ceremony without drawing more attention. And the dean was already suspicious. I was sure of it.
Each of the guys kissed me goodbye, and they headed to their own rooms. I showered and changed, trying to take my time so I didn’t have to stand in the auditorium any longer than I had to. When it was time, I walked out, hearing the roar of the crowd as I entered.
I was pretty sure I could hear Eden’s voice rising above the others, and my heart clenched. She was still so enthusiastic about this school, but I couldn’t join her in her excitement.
The contestants all sat in the front row just like the last time, leaving spaces for those who hadn’t made it back.
That same feeling of anger rushed through me, and I watched as Wesley was given the award for winning the challenge. As he waved to the crowd, he looked over at me, flashing me a smug smirk. Instantly, I no longer felt sorry for him.
What a fuckface. I could’ve beaten him easily if I’d actually been competing.
But I hadn’t actually been hunting the gem, I had been doing something far more important. Still, I hated to lose, and now Wesley had it in his head that he was the better mage. The better fighter.
It pissed me off, and I wanted to leap up onto the stage and fight him with my bare hands, but I kept my mouth shut and gripped Trace’s hand so hard my bones scraped together.
I had been on the admins’ radar since last semester, and we didn’t need to do anything else to stand out or draw negative attention.
We had snuck into the gods’ domain, outside of the perimeter of the games, and I was pretty sure that wasn’t sanctioned by the rules of the game. And not only had I shown up at the school wearing barely anything, but when I’d gotten sucked through the portal back to earth, there was a very good chance that the gods in that room had seen me vanish into thin air.
They would not have taken that lightly.
The ceremony finally concluded, and the men and I filed out of the auditorium. At least fewer people wanted to speak to me this semester, since I wasn’t the one who’d won a stupid gem.
As soon as we stepped out of the large room, a small body barreled into me, almost knocking me over. Eden hugged me tightly, and I chuckled, hugging her back. I could hear the fear in her voice when she spoke, her words slightly muffled by my shirt.
“Holy shit, Aria, that looked so much worse than last time. I thought you’d died for sure. When I saw you come through the portal, I just about passed out. I don’t care that you didn’t win, I’m just glad you’re back.” She pulled back to stare up at me with wide blue eyes. “There was a good portion of time that no one could see you guys. I don’t know if they were searching for you or not, but after a while, they didn’t even try on the screen. I thought for sure…” She swallowed, then shook her head. “But you’re not. You’re alive.”
I patted her awkwardly on the back and tried to smile, feeling her grip grow even tighter. “Eden… uh, I can’t breathe.”
“Oh.” Her eyes flew wide, and she loosened her grip a bit with a nervous laugh. “Sorry. Sometimes I don’t know my own strength.”
I pulled down on my shirt and chuckled. “I’m glad I’m back too. I’m not happy that Wesley won, but at least the guys and I made it back alive.”
Eden pointed at me, her expression growing very serious. It took everything in me not to laugh. “That’s right. You have to look at the positive. You went to the godly realm twice, and you survived both times.”
I nodded at her, and the men fell into step around as we walked down the hall, joining the flow of students. Though I kept a smile on my face for Eden’s benefit, I was bitterly disappointed. We had made it so fucking far, only to be yanked back at the last second. The guys had risked their lives, and so had I, just by entering the challenge in the first place.
I was right there! I was so damn close.
The gods had been speaking freely right in front of me, about to reveal their secrets—and I’d been dragged back to earth. Now I was left battered, bruised, closely watched, and with no new information.
Shoving down my frustration, I turned to Eden. “Anything new and exciting happen while we were gone?”
The perky blonde girl scrunched up her nose. “No, not really. There was about a week after you guys disappeared when we didn’t see the dean, but then she showed back up as if she’d never been gone. I think she has some weird mage boyfriend she keeps hidden.”
I pretended to barf and shook my head. “That’s gross.”
She giggled, the sound light and airy, and despite my anger and frustration, it lifted my spirits a little. Information or not, I had to admit it felt good to be back, to be alive.
But I could never forget that there were many who would never laugh again, who hadn’t made it back from the challenges. Their absence made what I was doing seem all the more important.
The memorial wall in our school was no longer enough to find solace in their deaths.
Chapter Twenty-One
All the contestants who’d made it back from the godly realm resumed classes the next day.
I remembered what it’d been like the last time, trying to catch up with everything that I had missed. This time it seemed almost harder. I should’ve been playing catch-up, studying, working on my magic, but I couldn’t fucking focus. I was wrapped up in the questions that continued to swirl through my mind. I had thought going to the godly realm would give me answers, but all it’d done was build new puzzles for me to pick apart in my head.
Not only did the gods seem to want some of us magic users dead, there was dissension among them, a power struggle between two would-be leaders. And the gods themselves were facing some kind of threat.
I had no idea what that might be though, and I found it hard to dredge up much sympathy for them. Not when they wanted more of my classmates dead.
A week after our return, my head still hadn’t stopped spinning. I made excuses to Eden and left lunch early. I wasn’t hungry, and I couldn’t bear to sit still, so I went for a walk around the school.
Merrick must’ve been having the same problem, because we ran into each other in one of the barely used hallways on the third floor.
“Shouldn’t you be at lunch?” I cocked an eyebrow.
He chuckled, his hands in his pockets as one corner of his lips curved up. “I could ask you the same thing.”
Turning, I leaned my back against the wall. “Touché. Ugh, my head is just so fucked up about all of this.”
He nodded. “Yeah. Same.”