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Nothing could be farther from the truth. And Dean Frost knew that.
But it didn’t change the rumbling of low murmurs in the crowd as people reacted to her statement. Several people nearby, members of Wesley’s faction, scowled at me. I wanted to shake them, to force them to see that I was trying to save their stupid asses, but I couldn’t make them believe that.
They would only truly understand once the competition began.
I just hoped that understanding didn’t come a half-second before they were slaughtered.
“As in previous competitions, there can be only one winner. You must find and pick up the gem that’s been hidden in the godly realm. When you do, every other student will be transported back to the earthly plane, and you, as the winner, will be transported to the palace of the gods.” Her sharp features were a mask as she scanned the crowd again. “In previous challenges, winners have won the right to an audience with the gods after they finish their training at Magic Blessed. But given the changes to the competition this year, it’s been decided that the prize will be rewarded immediately.”
“Great,” I muttered, rolling my eyes. “So the winner can be killed off by the gods right away. How fucking efficient.”
Eden’s grip on my hand had become bone-crushing, and when she turned to look at me, I saw tears in her eyes. “I know you want it to be you, Aria. That you want to be the one to get the gem. But please, please, don’t do anything stupid.”
“I won’t.” I smiled at her reassuringly. “Promise.”
It was complete and utter bullshit, and she obviously knew it. Even though her gray eyes still shimmered with tears, she snorted a laugh.
“Uh huh. Sure.”
“In order to make the competition fair, you will all be transported to the godly realm before the challenge starts,” Frost continued. “Only once the final competitor has arrived will the challenge begin.”
School admins began clearing a space in the middle of the pavilion. The bodies around me pressed tighter as everyone shifted to make room. Once they had cleared an area that was about twenty feet across, five portals sprang up in a neat row.
“Good luck, everyone.” Dean Frost dipped her head, her expression serious. “Mageía mésa, ísos se óli.”
Magic Within, Might Throughout.
It was the same thing she’d said every semester before the start of the games, but as the crowd repeated it back to her, their voices rising as a single sound, I found myself joining in, saying the words with a fervency I’d never felt before.
Magic Within, Might Throughout.
The gods didn’t want wild magic users to exist. But we did. They hadn’t granted us our magic, but we had it anyway, and that made us strong.
And what about me? Where does my magic come from? Is it truly godly power, or is it yet another mutation in the natural magic of the world—a new generation of wild magic?
Those questions beat at my chest, but I couldn’t focus on them now. One day, I would dig up the answers. But first, I had to survive.
The admins began ushering students through the five portals, one after another after another.
It was unnerving to watch, somehow. The steady stream of students stepping through the portals and disappearing seemed like a terrifying premonition of what was to come, of what the gods wanted with us.
Our disappearance.
Our annihilation.
Finally, the crowd ahead of us thinned, and the guys and I stepped forward, followed by Eden. We spread out and took our places in line, and just before I stepped through the portal, I looked over to see my three men and the girl who had become my unlikely best friend all poised to step through too.
My stomach clenched.
We better fucking survive this. I didn’t find all of this just to lose it so soon.
Despite all the lies, the danger, and the betrayal we’d faced, this past year had been the happiest of my life in some ways. I’d found love with not one, but three amazing men. I had let down my walls, and amazing things had happened.
Now it was up to me to protect it.
Holding that thought close to my heart, I took a deep breath and stepped through the portal.
Wind immediately whipped at my hair as I emerged on the other side. Little pieces of sand pelted my skin, biting like bee stings, and I held an arm up to shield my face.
