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The noises in the room faded until only our deep breaths filled the space. My upper body was limp against the table, and Trace bent over me, sliding his thumb out of my ass as he reached up with his other hand to brush the wild dark hair out of my face. He kissed my cheek and my jaw, then captured my lips in a kiss that was just as sweet as the one he had given me when he’d first pulled me into the room.
From sweet to dirty and back to sweet. Only Trace could bounce back and forth between the two extremes with such ease. And the truth was, I loved both of those things from him.
“You’re a very dirty girl,” he murmured, amusement and heat in his voice.
“You love it,” I shot back, and he laughed and kissed me again.
“Yup. You got that right.”
He withdrew and helped me clean myself up a bit before spinning me around to kiss me again. Then we both straightened our clothes as best we could, although I was pretty sure anyone who caught sight of us right now would be able to guess what we’d been doing.
Ah, well. Fuck ’em if they don’t like it. I’m not sorry.
“You ready?” Trace asked, catching my gaze.
“Yeah.” I nodded, and he took me by the hand and opened the door, leading me out to the hallway. We walked along quietly, our fingers laced together, not really caring if anybody saw us at that point.
I was really starting to care about those men, and I hoped that their willingness to follow me into hell wouldn’t end with us all getting burned.
My stomach clenched with nerves at the thought. I had a feeling that after the last challenge, we were going to be a target for the gods and everyone else. I just hoped that the guys and I were ready for it.
Brushing the hair from my face as we stood in front of my dorm room door, Trace kissed my forehead and nodded once before turning away. I watched him until he disappeared around the corner before I entered the room.
Less than two minutes later, a knock came at the door. It was peppy and sharp, and just from the sound of it, I guessed who it was even before I opened the door. Eden burst into my room in a whirlwind.
“There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Seriously, where were you hiding? Some secret room?”
I lifted an eyebrow at her and chuckled as she enveloped me in a surprisingly hard hug. She was little, but she could pack some punch.
“I was just doing a little bit of last minute… uh, studying,” I said, disentangling myself from her arms with a smile.
“Yeah?” Her face grew pensive. “Cramming for the challenge? Are you worried about it?”
We sat down on the bed and I turned toward her, feeling the need to at least confide in her a bit.
“A little, I guess.” I shrugged. “There’s so much going on here. It just feels so much deeper than some silly challenge. With everything that I’ve learned, I feel like there’s something weird going on. There’s… something that they’re not telling us.”
Eden shifted nervously. “Are you sure you want to do the Gods’ Challenge again? Maybe you can still get out of it. It might be too late to back out, but if you can, maybe you should. If you don’t think it’s safe, don’t go.”
I shook my head and put a hand on her shoulder, trying to reassure her. “Eden, take a deep breath. Everything is going to be fine. I’m going to be fine. I’ve been training really hard, and I’ve got the guys behind me. Together, we can do anything.”
She let out a shaky breath, looking a little more confident. As her forehead smoothed, a small smirk pulled at her lips. “So, on that subject… what’s going on with all of you? At first, I thought you were dating one of them, but I could never figure out which one it was. Are you… dating all of them?”
I chuckled at the scandalized sound of her life. “Well, it’s kinda hard to go on a date with anyone when we can’t even leave the school grounds. And, I don’t know, dating doesn’t really cover it. But yeah, I guess you could say I’m with all of them. I like them. I trust them.”
Eden’s eyes opened wide, her cheeks flushing. “Holy crap, Ari! That’s—that’s—whoa.” Her voice dropped, as if this was the hottest piece of gossip she’d gotten in weeks. “You have three of the hottest guys in the school. And they’re okay with it? With… I dunno, sharing?”
“Yeah.” I chuckled, thinking back to our moment in the cave. “They’re okay with it.”
“Ho-ly. Fuck.”
Her shocked face made me laugh harder, and I held up my hand and snapped my fingers, letting magic swirl around my wrist. “A year ago, I couldn’t do this. It’s absolutely insane that I can do it now. How is dating three guys any crazier than this?”
Eden opened and closed her mouth, her brows drawing together. Then she tilted her head back and guffawed. “I guess it’s not. Not even in the least.”
Chapter Twelve
The next few days flew by in a whirlwind, until finally, the day I’d been both waiting for and dreading arrived.
