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g other students who were trying to join in on the attack against us.
I caught Miss Avery against the face with a whip of magic. Her head flew to the side, a line of blood appearing across her cheek, and she collapsed to the ground. In a flash, Eden pounced on her, wrapping a magic bind tightly around her wrists.
“This is mutiny!” Dean Frost shouted, frustration and fear resonating in her voice as Professor Pfeiffer went down just like Miss Avery had. More students were rushing into the room, summoned by the noise, but instead of rushing to her aid, most of them just looked shocked and wary.
With one more burst of magic, I wrapped a tendril around the dean’s leg and yanked her off her feet. Then I darted forward, holding my hand over her face and performing a spell like the one I’d used against the rhino-bull all those weeks ago.
Her gaze locked on mine for a moment, angry and fearful.
Then her eyes rolled up as her eyelids drooped, and she went limp, sprawled out on the floor.
Keeping one hand raised in case anyone else tried to attack me, I glanced up at the students gathered around us.
“Dean Frost has been lying to us. Some of the teachers knew about it too, or at least suspected. The Gods’ Challenges were never meant to test our strength or give us a chance to earn the gods’ favor. They were designed for only one purpose: to cull our numbers. Because the gods fear us.” I raised my voice, watching the terrified faces around me as everyone absorbed my words. “They never gave us magic. They don’t know where it came from or why we developed powers. And that makes them fear us.”
“What are you talking about?” Justin sputtered, his cheeks flushing. “We’re magic blessed.”
I shrugged tiredly, suddenly feeling the pull of exhaustion after everything that’d happened in the past twenty-four hours. “Maybe so. But it wasn’t the gods who blessed us. And now they want to kill us.”
“So… what do we do?” Nadia looked like she might pass out at any moment, but she still squared her shoulders stubbornly, like she was prepared to fight until she literally dropped dead.
Fuck. That really is the million-dollar question, isn’t it?
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Omari said they plan to eliminate everyone at this school, but he didn’t say how. I don’t know if we should try to make a stand here or if we’d be better off scattering to the wind and hoping they never find us. But I have a feeling running won’t—”
My words broke off as a low rumble caught my ear. I felt it a second after I heard it—a shaking under my feet, as if the earth was shifting deep underground.
Oh, fuck.
Were the gods here already? Had they discovered that my men and I had escaped and decided to move up their attack, to take us all out now?
“Shit. Shit, shit, shit.”
Jerking my head at my men, I turned and darted back toward the entrance, yanking one of the heavy double doors open and peering outside. In the dim twilight, I couldn’t make out any figures on the lawn. But as I scanned our surroundings, something did catch my attention.
A ripple of color, deep blue and almost pearlescent, wavered in front of my eyes.
“What the hell?”
Reaching out, I brushed my fingertips over the magical film that seemed to surround the massive stone building like a tight-fitting bubble.
A shield.
The feel of powerful magic raced up my arm, making my bones tingle, and I drew my hand back, staring in surprise at the magical barrier.
Someone had put this up to protect us. Someone didn’t want the gods to have an easy time killing us.
But who?
I glanced over my shoulder, meeting Merrick’s gaze. I could see the same confusion I felt reflected in his amber eyes, and the same relief too. Regardless of where the shield came from, we were lucky as hell that it was here. Because it would buy us the one thing we needed most—time.
Letting the door fall shut, I turned back to sweep my gaze over the large entry room. Eden and Nadia were standing over Dean Frost’s prone body, as if ready to attack her again if she so much as stirred. Everyone else was staring at the four of us, fear and doubt in their eyes. I knew it would take more convincing to get some of them to believe us, but at least now we’d have that chance.
As I stepped forward to help tend to the wounded, a new thought occurred to me, and I glanced around the room again.
Where’s Wesley?
Had he not come back?
