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Shit. We’d managed to wriggle out of the god’s magic, but Nadia was out for the count. And the god was still pissed.
I clambered to my feet, squaring off against him as my breath came hard and fast. From the corner of my eye, I saw Trace and another student break past the god they’d been battling, and my heart leapt.
“Hey! You think you’re better than us, you dumb fuck?” Raising my hands, I created a web of magic between my fingers, taunting the god with the beady eyes.
That’s right, keep watching me.
I threw the net at him, but he raised an arm and swept it aside. Then he lifted one foot and stomped hard on the ground. A ripple of power spread out from where his foot connected with the earth, sending Nadia back down as she tried to stand. I nearly lost my footing, and I saw Trace stumble as he reached for the gem.
Come on, come on…
He righted himself as the student behind him was caught again by the tendrils of magic a god shot at him. The magic ropes pulled the other man back toward the angry god, but I could only focus on Trace’s hand as his fist closed around the gem.
But then he stumbled forward, nearly going to his knees.
The gem continued to hover about six feet off the ground. For a second, it looked almost transparent, as if it were a ghost of the real thing. Then it became opaque again.
What the fuck?
With an angry snarl, Trace turned to snatch at the gem again, but the god who had captured the other student released a pulse of blue light from his hand. It hit Trace in the chest and sent him flying backward.
“Trace!”
I ducked under a blast of magic that the middle-aged god sent flying toward me, sprinting over to where Trace was crumpled on the ground. He sat up as I reached him, coughing and gasping for breath.
“Dammit.” He shook his head to clear it. “It’s real, Ari. I’m sure of it. I felt my fingertips brush it. But those fuckers cheated. They made it fade out as soon as I tried to grab it. They never meant for this to be a fair fight, and they sure as hell aren’t gonna let us win.”
Anger made me clench my jaw so tightly my teeth ached. “Yeah. I don’t need anyone to let me win. Those assholes aren’t gonna get away with this.”
A slightly pained grin split his face. “Fuck, I love you.”
I grinned back, then helped him to his feet. The two of us wheeled to face the action again, realizing as we did that a third group had joined our efforts—the one led by Eden. Grim satisfaction filled me as I watched them hurl themselves into the fray. The gods might’ve thought that bringing us all here would give them more chances to kill us, but it had also given us the power in numbers that was so essential to combating the gods’ massive strength. And with more of us searching for the gem, it had only taken a day to find it, instead of a month.
As Eden and her team hurled spell after spell at the gods, keeping them on their heels and distracted, I looked over and caught Lachlan’s and Merrick’s gazes. Without a word, they nodded, sprinting forward to join Trace and me as the four of us raced for the gem.
It was eerily reminiscent of the first time we’d done this, after spending weeks in the godly realm fighting off unknown threats and getting to know and respect each other. In the final stretch, we had all had to sprint for the gem, pushing through a wall of magic that had slowed us to a crawl.
Nothing was slowing us this time though.
Lach, Trace, and Merrick all threw up shields as we dashed toward the gem, deflecting blasts of magic meant to knock us off course. The others were fighting the gods off, keeping them busy, but they couldn’t hold them much longer.
Ahead of me, the gem flickered slightly—not a glint of sunlight off its faceted surface, but as if the gen had blipped in and out of existence.
Motherfucker.
Trace was right. The gods were toying with us. This was the real gem; the power radiating from it made me certain of that. But every time someone reached out to grab it, I was certain it would fade into nothing.
That’s not fucking fair. This whole challenge isn’t fu
cking fair.
The thought made a burst of anger flare inside me, hot and bright.
Without thinking, I whipped my hand out, letting magic pour from my fingertips. As the gem flickered again, my magic wrapped around it. My body jolted, almost as if I’d touched a live wire. I could feel the power of the gem through my magic as the thing tried to repel the spell I was wrapping around it. But I held on tight, forcing more magic out as the men and I sprinted the last few feet toward the gem.
I pushed off with my back foot, hurtling through the air toward the glimmering stone.
My hand closed around it.
