Chapter One
Breathing heavy, I spin in a roundhouse kick.
Raven jumps back at the last second and drops her shield. “What is wrong with you?”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“That shield is like titanium. My brothers have all broken their hands at least once trying to punch me while it’s up and instead of training with magic, you try to kick me?” she says.
“I guess I wasn’t thinking, okay? It’s been days since Hermes told us about his caduceus going missing and Alpheus’ warnings and we still don’t have any clues. Not to mention the three unconscious demigods in the fucking dungeon,” I say.
“You need to practice your new magic and I’m the only one who can effectively shield against you other than Jayden. You need to try to use your magic against me and stop being scared.” She folds her arms.
“Who said I’m scared?” I ask, feigning bravery.
“Seriously? You’re scared you’re too strong and you’re going to hurt me or break through my armor. You’re not. This is crazy. Hit me with your magic or I’m leaving and I won’t train with you anymore,” Raven says.
“Fine,” I say and pool my magic in my palm.
The lightning crackles against my skin as I crouch into a fighting stance and Raven readies herself, shielding against my magic. She gets in her own stance and before I can attack, she transports behind me. I spin, lobbing my magic at her.
The magic hits her, throwing her back on her ass, and I race over to her. She’s laughing hysterically as I plant my hands on my hips and stare her down.
“When did you learn that?” I ask.
“I didn’t. That’s the first time I’ve ever transported myself.” She grips my offered hand and I pull her up. “See? You didn’t hurt me. It’s all good.”
“That’s a relief that you can shield like that now and we have one more person who can transport in battle. This is a good development.” I roll my shoulders back.
“Shut up, traitor,” someone yells.
We both spin to find a Hermes girl facing off with a daughter of Athena. What the fuck are they doing? We’ve already been over all this. The only traitors are the ones that left to side with their godly parents even though they are still trying to kill us all.
“What is going on here?” I ask.
Draven rushes forward at the same time his sister launches a ball of magic at the daughter of Athena. It hits Draven square in the chest.
“Stop it,” I scream.
Draven flies back ten feet and lands in a heap in the grass. Kira screams as she rushes to Draven and cradles his head in her lap.
“What is wrong with you all?” Kira glares at them.
“Draven needs the healer,” I tell her.
Dax crouches next to Kira and places a hand on her shoulder. “Come on, let’s get him to the healers so we can get him patched up.”
Kira stares the girls down as she nods to Dax. He lifts Draven in his arms like he weighs nothing at all and the two of them race off to the academic wing. I round on the Hermes girl. I’m a terrible person because I can’t remember her name and I’m sure we’ve spoken to each other before.
“What in Hades is going on here?”
“Nothing,” the Hermes girl spits. “It doesn’t concern you.”
“It does concern me if you’re still bullying people,” I say.
“Whatever. You were the one who told us that they were against us, but then you let them stay and just spy on us for their parents. It’s disgraceful.” She crosses her arms over her chest.
“They aren’t… Oh my gods, are you all fucking dense? Your brother just took a shot of your magic because he was trying to break this up before you did something you couldn’t come back from.”
