AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Keeping my gaze on Merrick’s, I stepped forward, resting my hands on his shoulders as I settled slowly onto his lap, just like I had back in the cave in the godly realm. I studied his face for a moment—his intense amber eyes, the high line of his cheekbones, his long, straight nose.
There was something commanding about him, something that drew my eye and made me want to never look away.
And from now on, I wouldn’t.
“I should have, Merrick. The truth is, the only people I wanted to talk to ever since we got back were you three. I can’t even talk to Eden about this. She doesn’t understand. I need you. And not just because something fucked up is going on at this school, and I need help figuring out what it is. I would want you guys in my life even if everything was rainbows and baby bunnies.”
“Hey. Baby bunnies can be deadly. We talked about this.”
Trace’s comment from the peanut gallery made a snort-laugh burst out of me, and I saw a glimmer of amusement shine in Merrick’s eyes. He leaned forward, catching my face in his hands, his touch light and gentle.
“So, what do you say?” I asked softly. “Can we be an us again?”
A slow smile spread across his face, and as it grew, I swore I could feel the knot in my chest unwind.
“Ari,” he murmured, bringing his lips to mine. “I thought you’d never fucking ask.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The three men and I stayed up until almost dawn, talking through everything we knew about the school, the challenge, and our time in the godly realm.
There were so many unknowns. As I searched for answers about this place, I was starting to realize how spotty my knowledge of magical culture was, and the guys weren’t much help in that arena. We’d all been raised in non-magical society, and Magic Blessed Academy focused much more on practical magic application than on the history or philosophy of magic.
We didn’t come up with any groundbreaking insights or figure out what it was about the challenge that had seemed so “off” to all of us, but just talking about it—hell, talking about anything—with the three of them made me feel exponentially better.
We all passed out in Merrick’s bed eventually, and when we woke up late for class the next morning, I kicked myself for not taking the opportunity to push for a replay of our little cave adventure.
But there would be plenty of time for that later.
Because we were an “us.”
With things between me and the guys resolved, the next two weeks seemed to fly by at warp speed. We were all determined to start digging for answers, but studying for finals and making up for all the assignments we’d missed while we were gone took up so much time there was hardly a moment left for anything else.
On the morning of our first final, I stepped out of the shower and was drying my hair when there was a knock on the door.
I was used to the drill by now, and I almost made it to the door before Eden’s second knock. I’d barely even pulled it open before the blonde whirlwind burst inside, pacing back and forth.
“Uh, hey, Eden.” I grinned. “Come on in.”
She stopped in her tracks and spun to face me, as if she’d just realized I was standing there. She blinked at me wildly for a few seconds, then shook her head and sucked in a deep breath. When she blew it out, she seemed marginally more relaxed—which basically meant she was no longer vibrating with anxiety.
“Ari, I’m freaking out. I’m really worried about my finals. I mean, I’ve been studying, of course I have. But I’ve never been very good at memorizing things. What if I fail? What if I just can’t do it?”
I chuckled, shaking my head. “
You’ll be fine. I promise. Honestly, I’m the one who should be nervous. I missed weeks of school, and even though I had to learn a lot of magic in a hurry during the challenge, I don’t know how that’ll translate when it comes to passing tests. I barely got caught up on the classwork I missed while I was gone.”
Eden gave me that look again, the one of worry mixed with a bit of pity.
I put my hand up and shook my head. “Hey, don’t worry about me. I’m fine. I chose to enter the challenge, so that’s on me. I just didn’t realize it would be so… consuming.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
She peered at me like she couldn’t quite figure me out, and I wished for about the dozenth time that I could confide in her. But there was nothing to confide, really. Just a bunch of vague, unsettled feelings that something had gone very wrong with the Gods’ Challenge.
Then Eden shook her head, perking up again. I’d never seen her in a bad mood that lasted more than five minutes. She was one of the most perpetually happy people I knew. There was a time when that would’ve driven me crazy, but now, I kinda liked it.
“You’ll do great too! We both will.” She drew in another deep breath, waving her hands near her face as if to waft more oxygen into her nostrils. “We’ll just take each final in stride together, right?”
