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Several contestants stood to our left, and when Dean Frost reached them, she lifted one of their hands high in the air as the cheering from the crowd doubled in volume. “Welcome back, brave contestants. I’m glad to see all of your faces. This semester’s Gods’ Challenge winner is Wesley Marshall.”
My head immediately snapped toward her. Holy shit, it is Wesley.
I blinked, my eyebrows drawing together as I stared at a man I barely recognized. He was dirty and disheveled, bruised and bloody, and he looked like he’d been through some shit. In fact, he looked like he had been through multiple layers of shit.
Remembering what I’d felt like by the end of the challenge last semester, I couldn’t help but almost feel sorry for him. Then again, he had almost cost me Lachlan, and I’d made the promise to take him down the next time I saw him. I barely needed to do anything though. He looked like he was going to keel over on his own, as if he was barely capable of standing.
While I could remember what I’d felt like after winning the challenge last time, and I had seen myself in the mirror that afternoon, I hadn’t looked even half as bad as Wesley did. He was a stronger fighter than I had anticipated, as I’d found out when he had turned on us. The guy was no slouch. It made me wonder whether the challenges were getting harder.
Had this been an attempt to make sure fewer students survived?
With the thought in my mind, I looked around, counting the contestants. It was way worse than the semester before. Twenty people had been sent this time, and only half of us had made it back. Some of the contestants stared at the empty space next to them, where their friends and fellow students had once stood. My stomach dropped, and I felt sick.
The dean clapped her hands, startling me slightly. “Everyone return to the academy building. Our contestants will need a little time to get cleaned up and recover. The closing ceremony will be held in the auditorium in a few hours.”
I turned quickly and hurried down toward the large castle-lik
e building, the men close behind me. Lachlan wrapped an arm around my shoulders, as the other two crowded close, warming my chilled skin and protecting me from the eyes of ogling students.
They walked me to my dorm, and I explained what had happened in a quiet voice as we went. There wasn’t time to lay out more than the barest details though. We needed time to talk through everything we learned, but we couldn’t miss the closing ceremony without drawing more attention. And the dean was already suspicious. I was sure of it.
Each of the guys kissed me goodbye, and they headed to their own rooms. I showered and changed, trying to take my time so I didn’t have to stand in the auditorium any longer than I had to. When it was time, I walked out, hearing the roar of the crowd as I entered.
I was pretty sure I could hear Eden’s voice rising above the others, and my heart clenched. She was still so enthusiastic about this school, but I couldn’t join her in her excitement.
The contestants all sat in the front row just like the last time, leaving spaces for those who hadn’t made it back.
That same feeling of anger rushed through me, and I watched as Wesley was given the award for winning the challenge. As he waved to the crowd, he looked over at me, flashing me a smug smirk. Instantly, I no longer felt sorry for him.
What a fuckface. I could’ve beaten him easily if I’d actually been competing.
But I hadn’t actually been hunting the gem, I had been doing something far more important. Still, I hated to lose, and now Wesley had it in his head that he was the better mage. The better fighter.
It pissed me off, and I wanted to leap up onto the stage and fight him with my bare hands, but I kept my mouth shut and gripped Trace’s hand so hard my bones scraped together.
I had been on the admins’ radar since last semester, and we didn’t need to do anything else to stand out or draw negative attention.
We had snuck into the gods’ domain, outside of the perimeter of the games, and I was pretty sure that wasn’t sanctioned by the rules of the game. And not only had I shown up at the school wearing barely anything, but when I’d gotten sucked through the portal back to earth, there was a very good chance that the gods in that room had seen me vanish into thin air.
They would not have taken that lightly.
The ceremony finally concluded, and the men and I filed out of the auditorium. At least fewer people wanted to speak to me this semester, since I wasn’t the one who’d won a stupid gem.
As soon as we stepped out of the large room, a small body barreled into me, almost knocking me over. Eden hugged me tightly, and I chuckled, hugging her back. I could hear the fear in her voice when she spoke, her words slightly muffled by my shirt.
“Holy shit, Aria, that looked so much worse than last time. I thought you’d died for sure. When I saw you come through the portal, I just about passed out. I don’t care that you didn’t win, I’m just glad you’re back.” She pulled back to stare up at me with wide blue eyes. “There was a good portion of time that no one could see you guys. I don’t know if they were searching for you or not, but after a while, they didn’t even try on the screen. I thought for sure…” She swallowed, then shook her head. “But you’re not. You’re alive.”
I patted her awkwardly on the back and tried to smile, feeling her grip grow even tighter. “Eden… uh, I can’t breathe.”
“Oh.” Her eyes flew wide, and she loosened her grip a bit with a nervous laugh. “Sorry. Sometimes I don’t know my own strength.”
I pulled down on my shirt and chuckled. “I’m glad I’m back too. I’m not happy that Wesley won, but at least the guys and I made it back alive.”
Eden pointed at me, her expression growing very serious. It took everything in me not to laugh. “That’s right. You have to look at the positive. You went to the godly realm twice, and you survived both times.”
I nodded at her, and the men fell into step around me as we walked down the hall, joining the flow of students. Though I kept a smile on my face for Eden’s benefit, I was bitterly disappointed. We had made it so fucking far, only to be yanked back at the last second. The guys had risked their lives, and so had I, just by entering the challenge in the first place.
I was right there! I was so damn close.
