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Sleep didn’t find me the night before the Gods’ Challenge, but I didn’t go to any of the guys’ rooms, hoping they were at least able to get some rest. The last thing I wanted to think about was how exhausted all of us were after the last challenge; I had far too many other things to worry about. There were people trying to kill us and gods trying to annihilate us.
So, no pressure.
Eden walked me to The Hill, where all of the competitors would be sent off through portals to the godly realm. When we reached the edge of the platform where I would join the other competitors, she kissed me on the cheek and nodded, finding no words. I knew she would be watching on the magical screens erected by the admins, and I gave her a confident smile, punching her lightly on the arm.
“I’ll kick ass. Don’t you worry.”
“I know you will.” She smiled, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes.
We weren’t allowed to bring anything with us—nothing but the clothes on our backs—so I emptied my pockets before heading into the center of the pavilion to join the others. The guys were all gathered together, and I came to stand in between them. We had given up trying to pretend we weren’t a team. Wesley and his groupies might not like it, but that was their damn problem.
Lachlan nodded, his hand coming
to rest on my lower back. “Here we are again.”
Merrick sniffed. “I always seem to be in some sort of trouble with you guys.”
Trace was rolling his shoulders as if limbering up for a fight. “Everything’s going to be fine.”
Merrick rolled his eyes. “If you say that one more time, I’m going to punch you in the teeth.” He glanced over at me. “He’s seriously said that at least fifty times since we got here.”
It was no surprise that all three of them were tense and on-edge. I was too. But we couldn’t let that get us in our heads.
“He’s right.” I held Merrick’s gaze, squaring my shoulders. “We all need to take deep breaths. Remember, we’re all good fighters. We’re going to be just fine.”
Those words weren’t just for them, they were a reminder for me too. Still, I couldn’t help but remember how many people hadn’t returned from the challenge the year before. They had all been good fighters too, possibly even better than any of us.
Like Brielle and Shane, the two students who were right behind us in our final dash for the gem. They were badasses, and what we’d done to hold them off our tails shouldn’t have kept them from making it back. But they had never come back through the portals.
I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe success in the challenge didn’t have anything to do with how good of a fighter someone was. Maybe it had more to do with what the gods wanted, and what they were looking for.
Stepping up to face all of the competitors, Dean Frost cleared her throat and waved one arm. The cheering crowds in the stands around us grew quiet, and the dean nodded to each one of us as we took our places. One by one, we stepped through our portals, and I closed my eyes as I felt a familiar rush of energy and a booster shot of magic as I fell through the ether.
A second later, I emerged on the other side. Back in the godly realm.
When I opened my eyes and looked around, I found myself in a more desert-like area than before. We were all standing in a rough line, staring at the space around us. Every one of us jumped as the dean’s loud, booming voice echoed in the air above us.
Her magically amplified voice seemed to spread out in all directions, repeating the exact same thing she had said the semester before.
“Welcome to a new Gods’ Challenge. You are the ones who have surpassed all expectations. You dug deep in the initial challenge and combined your skill with your intellect to win the game. But beware, from here on out, it will take a lot more than what you’ve been taught in class. Your goal is to collect an object, a bright and sparkling gem. There is only one gem in the course. This semester’s course is set in the desert of the gods. Each of you is going for the same gem and whoever gets to it first will be the winner. You are not only competing against the trials, tests, and dangers of the gods’ desert, but against each other as well.”
Glancing down the row of people around me, my attention was snagged quickly by the unwavering and angry stare Wesley was directing my way.
The dean continued, bidding us farewell and good luck, and ending her speech with the magical community saying, mageía mésa, ísos se óli, “Magic Within, Might Throughout.”
Just like last year, I knew there would be a threat right away, and I braced myself, ready to face whatever it was.
But the threat came from a completely different place than I expected.
I assumed there would be some sort of flying beast, something huge attempting to trample over us, or a wave of magic that morphed itself into just about any horrible thing I could imagine.
But this threat? It came more in the form of flesh and blood.
As the other contestants began to move, Wesley ran out in front of me and my men. He stopped, gripping his fists tightly at his sides. His eyes narrowed as he slowly uncurled his fingers, revealing a small glass vial hidden in one of his hands. His lips curled into a cruel smile as he threw it down on the ground. The vial smashed, and a swirling purple fog shot out, sending shards of what looked like magical glass straight at us.
“Get down!” I screamed, throwing myself to the ground.
All four of us hit the sandy ground, wincing as the shards flew just inches away from us.
