I saw his attack in my mind before he even moved.
He lunged forward, swinging his right arm at me. I leaned back out of his reach, grabbed his wrist with both hands, tugged him forward, and then swept his back leg with my right one. He was down on the floor in seconds. There were a few people around us, and they started to laugh, as the guy sputtered in surprise on the ground.
I took the girl’s hand and pulled her away. We joined a bunch of people on the dance floor.
Smiling, she bent towards my ear. “Oh my Gods, thank you for coming to my rescue.”
“Any time. I can’t stand bullies.”
“I’m Jasmine.”
“Melany.”
“Isn’t this all nuts?” She gestured to the chaos happening all around us, and I imagined she was talking about the whole situation we’d stepped into.
The DJ, who had spiked up black hair and wore black eyeliner, jumped up onto one of the serving robots and rode it around in front of his set up, flailing his arms around. “Who’s ready to get crazy?”
Everyone on the dance floor screamed in response. Then he did a backflip off the robot, ran back to his turntable, and dropped another thumping song sending everyone into a frenzy. I couldn’t help but be swept up as well. The music was infectious, getting right into my muscles and bones.
I danced with Jasmine, moving my body to each oscillating pulse of music. I jumped up and down, turned, and nearly collided with my savior from earlier. He grinned at me, which made my belly flip flop.
“Having a good time, Blue?”
“Yes. Are you?”
“I’ll let you know in a minute.” He reached for my hand and was about to pull me close, when the dark-haired girl interrupted, getting right in between us. He dropped my hand.
“You’re not slumming it, are you, Lucian?” She gave me a side-eye, clearly disgusted with everything about me. In lots of ways, she reminded me of Callie.
Anger swelled inside me, and I needed to get away before I did something I’d regret. I didn’t need to get expelled from the academy before classes even started. I walked off the dance floor and searched for a place to sit away from the celebration. But everyone was in full party mode. The music, the smell of the food and drink, and the heat of so many people crushed together pushed down on me. I needed some air.
I left the great hall with the intention of finding a way outside, but the sound of footsteps approaching had me pressing up against a shadowed wall. I didn’t want to get into trouble for leaving the celebration. I had a sense this place was big on rules with harsh punishments.
I peeked around the corner to see literally a blonde Goddess walking down the empty corridor. She was tall, six feet at least, yards of golden waves trailing down her back to her tiny waist. The hem of her sheer white dress dragged behind her like the train of a wedding gown or a royal gown. She definitely was regal.
After she moved down the hallway a little farther away, she stopped and turned. Even from where I hid, I could see how stunning she was. Her face looked like it was sculpted from the whitest, hardest marble to ever exist, and her eyes were as blue as the hottest part of a flame. This had to be Aphrodite. The stories about her beauty didn’t even come close to the reality of her.
I wasn’t sure what she was doing, but I didn’t have to wait long until another form stepped out from a different darkened corridor. It was a man, a mountainous muscular man with a shaved head. He looked like an army drill sergeant on steroids. They embraced, kissing. Obviously, there was something going on there. But the way she kept looking around, it was definitely a secret something.
“Were you followed?” Aphrodite asked her lover.
He shook his head. “Does Hephaistos suspect anything?”
“He wouldn’t notice if I came home dipped in blood. All he cares about is his toys and contraptions.”
“Then he’d never noticed the key was gone?”
I leaned around the corner, eager to get closer.
“Not for the time we’d need to open…” Pausing, she whipped her head around to where I hid.
I jerked backward, the heel of my boot squeaking against the polished tile floor. Shit.
I didn’t wait to see if they heard me. I hightailed it out of there. The very last thing I needed was a couple of Gods thinking I’d overheard their clandestine meeting to discuss evil doings.
Chapter Five
MELANY
The loudest, most resonant gong ever to exist literally knocked me out of bed in the morning.
From the spot I landed on the cold, hard floor, I could see through the dorm room window that it was still dark out. I swore I hadn’t even been asleep for more than four hours.
“Time to rise and shine.” Georgina’s face loomed over me. In the predawn, I noticed she was already dressed in the official academy uniform, dark red polo and charcoal gray military style pants with side pockets. She looked sufficiently groomed and ready to attack the day.
I, on the other hand, still had sleep gluing my eyelashes together.
She offered her hand to me to help me up and I took it. “Do you always look this bright-eyed in the morning?”
“Yes, pretty much. I love early mornings. I like to be productive.”
I sat on the edge of my bed and rubbed at the crusty flakes in my eyes. “Back home, I wouldn’t even be out of bed until noon.”
“If I were you, I’d get your butt in gear and run to the showers before they fill up. Or you won’t be able to have one before we need to be in our first class.” She handed me a thick leather folder. “Here’s your class schedule. I hope you don’t mind that I organized it for you. I had an hour to kill this morning before the gong.”
I opened it to see a calendar and detailed timetable noting my classes and which professors taught them. As I perused my schedule for the day, I shook my head. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I couldn’t believe I was here, at the academy, training to be in the Gods’ Army.
8 a.m.
– History of the Gods – Hera
10 a.m. – Spear and Shield – Ares
12 p.m. – lunch
1 p.m. – Archery - Artemis
3 p.m. – Hand to Hand Combat – Heracles
5 p.m. – dinner
7 p.m. – Prophecy – Apollo
9 p.m. – free time
11 p.m. – lights out
I kept reading, marveling at the other classes during the week.
“Transformation class?” I looked up at Georgina, dumbfounded. “What the hell do we do in that class?”
“I guess we make one thing into another.”
I looked back at the schedule. “Flying?’ I shook my head. “Tomorrow, we have an elemental class with Zeus and Poseidon.”
“I know, right? I’m so excited for that one. Demeter teaches in that class, too. I’ve wanted to meet her my entire life. My family has made offerings to her since I was a baby.”
I wanted to tell her that most likely the Goddess never got them, but what did I know? For most of my life, I didn’t even think the Gods were real. I’d been told they were real. I read about them in picture books for children, been instructed on how to worship them, and what to take to what temple to pray. But I never truly, honestly believed there were higher beings sitting around listening to the whining and bitching of mortals. And here I was in their school, training to fight for them in some war that didn’t exist. At least none that I knew about.
A half hour later, I, along with Georgina and twenty other girls, streamed down the main stone staircase and into the foyer where we first had entered the academy. The boys came from the opposite way, where their dorms were, and joined us on the stairs. I saw Jasmine near the front of the group. Hopefully, I’d be able to catch up with her.