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Merrick, Lachlan, Trace, and Eden. Everyone else at the school. Me. We had all manifested our magic ourselves. It had appeared in us spontaneously, not as a gift from the gods at all.
And they didn’t want us to have it.
They considered us a threat.
“I’ve heard your ranting too many times to count, old man,” Ryker drawled, anger in his tone. “Save it for your followers.”
“My followers understand the danger,” Omari insisted, his voice cracking like thunder as waves of power poured from him. “We need to nip this in the bud. Destroy the most powerful of their kind now. Because we can’t control the spread of this magic. It was never part of our plan.”
“Not everything has to fit your plan,” Ryker shot back angrily.
“No.” Omari shook his head. “But I’m the leader here, and I decide what’s important and what’s not.”
Ryker’s lips curled back, and I swore he actually swelled with anger. He pointed his finger at Omari, just inches from the white-haired god’s face. “Then understand what you are doing, fearless leader. What was in the plan is the mages. We rely on the magic users who live here, and those who worship us on earth. If they begin seeing you, us, murdering magic users indiscriminately, they’re going to start a rebellion.”
Omari and Ryker began to move away as they continued arguing, their strides eating up the ground. My mind was reeling from what I’d heard, but I followed after them anyway, desperate to learn more. Rage was burning inside me, and I still couldn’t quite comprehend what they were saying. The magnitude of what it meant stunned me.
As I stepped forward, Ryker turned to look over his shoulder, and my heart seized in terror.
Shit. Can he see me?
I stumbled backward in panic, crashing into a stone birdbath, and the mask of illusion I had wrapped around myself slipped. My hands faded into view as I suddenly became visible again, and I gasped and concentrated hard, trying to send myself back to the school.
I could feel the world blurring around me as my magic took control.
As my body began to sink back through whatever portal I had come from, I looked up, catching sight of Ryker staring at me for just a split second.
Piercing gray eyes met mine, and fear suffused me.
He knew I was there.
The dark abyss pulled me in, sending me hurtling back to the earthly plane, but it was too late.
Whatever cover of invisibility I’d had before, it had faded before the ether sucked me in.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Whatever magical force had dropped me in the palace hurled me back into the Magic Blessed Academy building.
But this time, it was a lot more violent.
My eyes were open, my senses sharp—not just physically, but mentally as well.
All around me, I could see visions of the world, mixed with scenery from the godly realm. It swirled and contorted, and loud shrieking noises echoed through my ears. I couldn’t catch my breath, and it felt as if I was careening toward the ground at maximum speed.
For a moment, I feared I would smash down and never survive the fall.
But just like in the palace, my feet were suddenly firm on the solid stone floor, and everything snapped back into place. My head whirled, and I clutched it tightly as I dropped to my knees.
It took me a second to get both my vision and my hearing back, but when I did, I looked around quickly, finding myself in one of the empty practice rooms.
It was dark, and I was alone. No one had seen me fall there. I tried to stand back up, but I was so dizzy that it took me three tries.
Everything was spinning, and my stomach lurched. It took a minute for my mind to catch up, but when it did, a fresh wave of panic hit me. My hands rested on my knees, and I sucked in gasping breaths.
Ryker had seen me.
He had seen me, and he knew that I’d heard what they were saying. I hated Omari with a burning passion, but just because Ryker opposed him didn’t mean that the strange, powerful god was on my side.
