People seemed eager to join, and a crowd formed around the sign-up sheet at the end of class. I had to push through them to get out the door.
“Where are you going?” Someone pushed me back.
“Keep your hands off him, Cain,” Chancey growled.
I didn’t know Cain well, other than he was in some of my classes. He was a warlock, and I could easily take him in a fight.
“You really think you’re going to be a supernatural bounty hunter?” Cain scoffed. “So you’re just going to turn against your own?”
“My own?” I asked. “Meaning, what? Criminals?”
“You’re here for a reason,” Cain snapped. “That makes you a criminal. But you’re gonna betray your own kind, and hunt us down once you get out of here. What a stand-up guy, working for the fucking cops after running from them all his life. You think that makes you better than us, huh?”
“I never said that,” I sneered. “Keep your record clean, and you won’t have to deal with me. Or do you want to piss me off and see what happens?”
I’d had a reputation around here after my string of wins in fight club. Cain didn’t want to mess with me.
He huffed and said, “You’ll never amount to anything, Wahkin.”
I really didn’t give a shit what Cain thought. His words didn’t even warrant a response. I pushed past Cain, and Chancey followed.
I lowered my voice to whisper to him. “The Mission is nothing but bad news. We need to get everyone together. Now.”
Fifteen minutes later, my friends and I had gathered in our secret workout room, where we wouldn’t be heard. Ivy was noticeably missing, but everyone else was here.
“I assume by now, everyone’s heard about The Mission,” I said.
“Yeah. Some asshole angel professors showed up in my Miriamic Magic class to deliver the news,” Alistair said. “They want us working for the Warden? Hell, no.”
“It’s worse than that,” I stated. “Mazur says The Mission is all about uniting us under one god— some new, rising god.”
“Excuse me?” Alistair balked. “Mother Miriam is a better fit to lead us all.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ez demanded. “You’re just going to forget aboutourgods, or the entire Arcanean pantheon?”
“I meant nothing by it,” Alistair said. “This whole thing is bogus. People should be free to worship who they choose.”
“That’s what started this war in the first place,” Chancey replied. “People disagreeing about which god to worship.”
“You’re not on their side,” Ava insisted. Oberi ruffled her feathers from the back of Ava’s chair.
“Nah, but… they make a good point, right?” Chancey said. “Uniting the raceswouldprevent war.”
“I thought you left the Celestial Church,” Marcus said. “How can you agree with The Mission?”
Chancey hesitated. “I guess… you can take a guy out of the Celestial Church, but you can’t take the Celestial Church out of a guy. Look, I’m still deconstructing. They hammered that shit into my head, so it’s really hard to get it out. So you gotta explain something to me. What makes choosing your own faith better if it’s only going to get people hurt?”
“Because no onehasto get hurt,” Kallie said. “Not if we tolerate our differences. The Celestial Church takes every belief that isn’t their own as an attack upon their god, butthey’rethe ones attacking people.”
“Mazur says the witches and elementals have been the ones launching attacks on Celestial City,” Chancey argued.
“That’s not true, and you know it,” Marcus said. “The witches have been on the defense for months, trying to protect their city. The angels bombedthem, and they had to retaliate. A lot of people died. My mom told me herself. It’s really rough out there.”
“The angels attacked because the witches aligned themselves with the Elementai, whodidattack first,” Chancey reminded him. “So yeah, itistrue.”
“How are we supposed to know what to believe?” Alistair growled. “The Warden controls what information comes into the Institute.”
“All in the name ofconvertingpeople to hismission,” Opal sneered. “But why bother getting students to sign up?”
