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My lips twitched, and my hands curled into fists.
“You’re a fucking dick, Wesley. I wouldn’t go celebrating your win too much—it wasn’t exactly legitimate. All we’d have to do is replay the beginning of the Gods’ Challenge to see just how much you cheated. You couldn’t even make it through the first five minutes without using potions and spells that were created by someone else. Pathetic.”
Anger boiled through my veins, and I moved to turn away. If I stuck around any longer, I was gonna fucking snap.
But before I could make it down the hall, he raised his voice, a petulant tone to his words. “Maybe I should’ve just killed your little boyfriends while I had the chance. I definitely think it’ll be on my list next time we meet up in the challenge.”
My heart stopped.
Rage like I had never known suffused me like lava pouring out of a volcano, and I whipped around so fast the world was nothing but a blur.
“You ugly little rat. If you’re gonna try to kill somebody, why don’t you come after me? And why wait until the challenge?”
Magic burst from me, fury given shape, and a stream of bright light wrapped around his legs, waist, and torso. The end of it continued to grow, pushing heavily on his chest and around his neck. Wesley shrieked and clawed at it, but it stayed firm. All I could think about was how much I hated him, how much I couldn’t stand to see another breath come from him his sniveling little face. The magic squeezed him like a snake as his eyes grew wide and scared.
“Aria!” Merrick shouted as all three men wrestled me back, grabbing me by the arms and around the waist.
They shook me out of my anger, and I blinked, sucking in a ragged breath. I felt like I was in a tunnel, like reality was miles away.
My gaze caught on Wesley’s beet-red face, and I swiped my hand, breaking the stranglehold I had on him. He fell to the ground and grabbed his throat, choking and coughing.
“You… bitch.”
Lachlan strode toward him, towering over him like an apex predator. Wesley flinched, but the Irishman crouched down and hauled him up by the front of his shirt, bringing them nearly nose-to-nose. “Be careful what ye say, ye little cock. Next time we’ll just let her kill ye. And if she takes mercy on ye, I’ll do it myself.”
He threw Wesley back down and stormed away, grabbing my arm and pulling me along with him as the other two men kept pace with us. Professors poked their heads out of classrooms, drawn by the disturbance, but we ignored them as we headed through the outer hallway doors and into an empty, quiet room.
As soon as the door closed, Merrick grabbed me by the shoulders and looked me in the eyes. “Are you okay, Ari? Fuck, you can’t let him get to you like that. You’re going to bring too much attention to yourself. That magic was insanely powerful.”
I nodded. “I’m okay. That was stupid, I know. But I can’t fucking take this. I can’t keep pretending nothing is wrong. I need answers.”
Trace put his hand on Merrick’s shoulder, his gaze serious as he watched me. “We’ll get them. We’ll go back next semester.”
My eyes stung with angry tears, and I shook my head. “That’s too damn long to wait. You should’ve just let me kill him. If that little shit hadn’t dragged me away just before I found out something, anything, things might be different. But he had to go and find the fucking gem and end the challenge.”
Lachlan stepped forward, taking my face in his large, rough hands. His eyes burned, but his touch was surprisingly gentle. “Ye’ve got to keep yerself together, sweetheart. We’ve got to handle this the right way. They could be watchin’ us right now.”
I licked my lips, letting the warmth of his skin and the feel of his palms comfort me. I didn’t want him to think I was upset with him. I wasn’t, but the whole reminder that people could be watching us made me even angrier.
Lach pressed a kiss to my lips, then stepped back, regret twisting his features. “Fuck. We have another final to get to. Are ye gonna be okay if we leave ye alone?”
I tilted my head back and groaned. “I have half a mind to go start some shit with Wesley again while you guys can’t stop me, but I won’t. I’m done for the day, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be safe in my room as long as Wesley doesn’t come hunt me down in there. Just come find me later.”
Merrick and Trace kissed me too, and I hated that I could practically feel the worry coming off them in waves. I was falling apart at the seams, and they had a front row seat to the shit show, unable to do anything but watch and try to reassure me.
We left the room together, splitting up in the hallway. I could feel the magic coursing through me as I made my way toward my dorm room, and it wrapped itself around my anger. I was almost blinded by it, and all I could think about was how badly I wished I could go back to the godly realm.
Not next semester.
Now.
I kept repeating those words over and over in my head, imagining myself finally finding answers.
As my foot swung forward to step through the doorway of my room, my stomach suddenly flipped, and I fell forward.
But I never hit the floor.
I plummeted straight through space.
