Besides, one of the things I’d learned as a fighter was that it was easier to take out an opponent when they thought you were weak.
Near the end of the semester, several weeks after we’d gotten back from the challenge, Eden bounced up next to me as I headed toward my last class. Finals week had everyone on edge, and she seemed to manifest nervousness by being more peppy than usual.
“How did you do in there?” she asked, then groaned. “I hate finals, and this is like the worst of them.”
I chuckled. “Mediocre, at best.” On purpose. “It’s pretty tough. If I were you though, I wouldn’t worry about it if you don’t do the greatest. I think around here, it’s better to be right in the middle where nobody notices you than to be the best or the worst. You’re definitely not the worst.”
Eden smiled at me, perking up again. “Maybe you’re right. I never did like attention anyway.”
“Only one more to go. You ready for Defense Class?” I lifted my brows at her.
Eden rolled her eyes. “I will have absolutely no problem being mediocre in that class. Good luck though, I know that’s your thing.”
She patted me on the shoulder and smiled as we walked into the classroom. My gaze immediately moved to where the three men stood off to one side of the large room, as if a tether joined me to them. I moved toward them, nestling between the three of them and feeling their strength, support, and warmth surround me.
“You ready for this shite, sweetheart?” Lachlan asked, leaning in to brush his lips against the shell of my ear. The rumble of his voice made goosebumps break out over my skin, but his words were like a bucket of cold ice water over my head.
“I sure as fuck hope so.”
“You’ll do great, Ari,” Merrick promised soothingly.
“No, she’ll do terrible.” Trace chuckled, nudging his friend. “Get it right, dude.”
They were both right, in a way. I had to do badly to do well. I would consider this final a success if I got a meager, passing grade.
Easier said than done.
It was hard for me to not put everything I had behind every spell. Not only was it just part of who I was, but my magic was so powerful that it almost took on a mind of its own. And this final in particular was going to be hard for me. Fighting had always been my specialty, even back when I’d been an ordinary, non-magical human.
We all stood around the perimeter of the room as each person went, battling the same apparition but with different tactics. Each of the guys went, all doing okay, but intentionally not fantastic. That gave me relief, knowing it kept them off the radar.
When it was my turn, I held down my nerves and stepped into the middle of the room. I managed to do just okay with defense, taking a couple shocks from the apparition, and finally ending it with a simple gesture. The men all nodded approvingly as I finished, and I smiled, fighting back a burst of semi-hysterical laughter.
I was proud of myself, but it was a strangely odd achievement.
“Good. Good. Well done, everyone.” Professor Howes scanned the classroom, her gaze skimming lightly over me. “You’re all dismissed. Grades will be posted shortly.”
Students began to file out, a palpable sense of relief surrounding them as they celebrated being done with finals. The men and I headed into the hallway, but I stopped abruptly as Wesley stepped in front of me.
He smirked, one side of his mouth lifting in a lazy, arrogant smile. “It looks like you’re not such a prized student anymore, are you?”
Godsdamn this fucking asshole. I gritted my teeth.
I had pulled my punches, and he’d given it everything he had, so he’d done better than me. I knew that, but it still irritated the shit out of me that he thought he was a better mage than I was. Especially after the shit he’d pulled in the godly realm.
He tilted his chin up, cockiness seeping from his damn pores. “All that shit talk, and then not only did I beat you in the trials, but I outdid you in this class too. Maybe they’ll have a remedial class you can take next semester.”
My lips twitched, and my hands curled into fists.
“You’re a fucking dick, Wesley. I wouldn’t go celebrating your win too much—it wasn’t exactly legitimate. All we’d have to do is replay the beginning of the Gods’ Challenge to see just how much you cheated. You couldn’t even make it through the first five minutes without using potions and spells that were created by someone else. Pathetic.”
Anger boiled through my veins, and I moved to turn away. If I stuck around any longer, I was gonna fucking snap.
But before I could make it down the hall, he raised his voice, a petulant tone to his words. “Maybe I should’ve just killed your little boyfriends while I had the chance. I definitely think it’ll be on my list next time we meet up in the challenge.”
My heart stopped.
Rage like I had never known suffused me like lava pouring out of a volcano, and I whipped around so fast the world was nothing but a blur.
“You ugly little rat. If you’re gonna try to kill somebody, why don’t you come after me? And why wait until the challenge?”
Magic burst from me, fury given shape, and a stream of bright light wrapped around his legs, waist, and torso. The end of it continued to grow, pushing heavily on his chest and around his neck. Wesley shrieked and clawed at it, but it stayed firm. All I could think about was how much I hated him, how much I couldn’t stand to see another breath come from him his sniveling little face. The magic squeezed him like a snake as his eyes grew wide and scared.
“Aria!” Merrick shouted as all three men wrestled me back, grabbing me by the arms and around the waist.
They shook me out of my anger, and I blinked, sucking in a ragged breath. I felt like I was in a tunnel, like reality was miles away.
My gaze caught on Wesley’s beet-red face, and I swiped my hand, breaking the stranglehold I had on him. He fell to the ground and grabbed his throat, choking and coughing.
“You… bitch.”
Lachlan strode toward him, towering over him like an apex predator. Wesley flinched, but the Irishman crouched down and hauled him up by the front of his shirt, bringing them nearly nose-to-nose. “Be careful what ye say, ye little cock. Next time we’ll just let her kill ye. And if she takes mercy on ye, I’ll do it myself.”
He threw Wesley back down and stormed away, grabbing my arm and pulling me along with him as the other two men kept pace with us. Professors poked their heads out of classrooms, drawn by the disturbance, but we ignored them as we headed through the outer hallway doors and into an empty, quiet room.
As soon as the door closed, Merrick grabbed me by the shoulders and looked me in the eyes. “Are you okay, Ari? Fuck, you can’t let him get to you like that. You’re going to bring too much attention to yourself. That magic was insanely powerful.”
I nodded. “I’m okay. That was stupid, I know. But I can’t fucking take this. I can’t keep pretending nothing is wrong. I need answers.”
Trace put his hand on Merrick’s shoulder, his gaze serious as he watched me. “We’ll get them. We’ll go back next semester.”
My eyes stung with angry tears, and I shook my head. “That’s too damn long to wait. You should’ve just let me kill him. If that little shit hadn’t dragged me away just before I found out something, anything, things might be different. But he had to go and find the fucking gem and end the challenge.”