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When they’re all gone I use a rune to clean my swords and conjure two sheaths for my back before sliding them into it. Dusting off my pants, I take a better look at our surroundings. We’re still in a large hallway, but the walls that were white for a few seconds are now a rock-like texture and the area behind us is a dead-end. Trees and other plant life are growing out of the walls and over the area. The entire space now resembles that of a thick jungle and I stand on my tiptoes to peer the way that’s not a dead-end and can’t see an obvious ending, so I drop back down to the flats of my feet and focus on Oscar.
“Are you injured at all?”
“No, I’m alright. You?” he asks, concern clear in his voice.
I smile, the adrenaline still pumping through my veins making it more carefree than usual. “I’m great.”
I conjure a light throwing knife and point the sharp end towards our only way we can go. “We should get moving if we want a chance at the prize.” We’ve wasted enough time fighting. Unicorn lets out a coo and leaps over to my shoulder, flapping her wings once mid-air before landing. Her tail curls around my neck and I give her chin a scritch before I start walking.
We move through the space for a few minutes, the area oddly silent. It’s unnatural and I barely contain a hiss. Indecision fills me when no obvious exit appears.Maybe we should have checked the dead-end instead of taking the obvious way. I’m about to mention it to Oscar when suddenly the air about ten feet from us shimmers before revealing a closed door. Both Oscar and I jerk to stop and glancing at each other warily. We approach at a slow space, and I trail my hands around the frame to make sure it’s not just an illusion. Nope, it’s real.
Before I give myself a chance to really think about it, I grab the handle and open it in one swift movement. The sight that greets me has me sucking in a breath.Wow.
Chapter Thirty — Oscar
WhenNessamovestothrow the door open, I’m too slow to stop the movement and I curse under my breath when her body turns rigid at whatever—probably awful or potentially dangerous—sight greets her through the doorway. The academy obstacle course is known for its mind games when you reach a higher level so I’d rather err on the side of caution until we know what we’re facing. My hand brushes her shoulder, curling around it in question and she jolts at the contact before shaking her head as though to clear it. “Well, this is unexpected,” she whispers before stepping over the threshold allowing me my first glance of the space beyond.
My eyebrows raise in surprise as I follow her through. Compared to the jungle and previous glimpse of the obstacle course in the gym this is definitely not what I imagined. We’re in a study, the walls are lined with ancient looking books and the floor seems to be a resin covered map. The moment I’m fully through the door with it behind me, it slams closed.
“Shit.”
Nessa and I curse at the same time and I’m momentarily distracted as I yell, “Jinx.”
“Jinx.” She pouts at me when I beat her and I grin. There’s only a few feet between us, and when my eyes lock onto hers I swallow roughly. Our kiss rolls through my head and my focus dips to her lips for half a second before returning to her golden eyes. Tension crackles between us again and I take a step forward, but the moment is broken by a metallic clank, presumably the doors lock, clicking into place. I blink, stepping back and Nessa does the same. Goddess, I need to focus.We need to win this course.
I check the door and grunt when as expected I find it locked, then start searching the room to find any hint of a way out but I come up empty. Nessa stalks around the room after me and after a few seconds she does a little shimmy in victory. “I think I know what to do.”
A grin curls my lips as she continues. “Alright, so you see this little tag here? Well it was on the front of one of the many books in here. When I touched it, it literally fell off the book and said book, disappeared. I’m not sure if you noticed, but several places on the map are missing, and they all correlate with where wars took place.”
“The ones we studied to learn battle strategies,” I guess and she beams at me. My cheeks flush and I drop my eyes, pleasure swirling in my chest.That smile.
“To get out we need to find all of them and put them back on the map.”
Not giving her room to doubt, I nod before scouring the room, this time with a specific purpose. We complete the exercise in under five minutes, and Nessa’s shoulders sink in relief when another door appears. I share a smile with her and this time we step through together—into a warzone.
I let out a colourful string of curses as an arrow narrowly misses my head.Throwing a shoulder over Nessa’s back, I encourage her to drop into a crouch as we survey the area. I pull up a barrier around us and she does the same, then something strange happens. I’m an O-class supernatural so I have very weak power, but unlike my usual barrier, Nessa’s magic seems to weave into mine until I can physically reach out and touch the edge. Arrows, knives and even a small flame smack into our barrier, but they all bounce off uselessly.Feeling our magic melding together has a shiver rolling down my spine, awe and admiration simmer in my chest.
Now that I have a chance to breathe I can see that we’re actually at the start of the original obstacle course. Its winding path veers up until you can’t see the finish. From our position I’m able to see at least five of our classmates working their way through the course. I suck in a breath when Wendy—a vampire—is taken out by a giant pendulum. The scream she lets out as she falls will be seared in my brain forever, much like that of the girl who drew my attention to the dead body.Goddess, I need a vacation. Two years and gaining at Monster school will have that effect. I shake my head when her body is a split second away from hitting the ground, and disappears before she can actually connect with it.
Good, the spell is working. I spy Dumb and Dumber—AKA friends of the asshole Nessa scared shitless at the start of the term—ahead of us and turn my head to meet Nessa’s eyes. “You ready?” I mouth and she nods with a tiny smirk.
“Always.”
We take off at a dead sprint and I allow the adrenaline to roll through my body, using it to my advantage as we vault over the first obstacle. Supernatural speed and strength can come in handy on some occasions. As a Troll I have both in abundance, along with stamina. We’re a lot like wolf shifters in that sense, except our physicality is almost bomb proof. The next few minutes pass in much of a blur until we reach the peak of an A-frame and are forced to launch out of the way of a fireball.
A human sized fireball. Anger clenches my chest and I barely suppress a growl as I squat on the edge of the A-frame and search for the culprit, almost certain it wasn’t the academy’s doing. Despite the professors wanting us to fail, the academy has never shown that same mentality. My gaze locks on Dumb and Dumber standing two obstacles away, both perched on top of a climbing wall.Gargoyles. The realisation has my gut sinking.Fuck. I can’t beat supes like that, even if their magic traits are almost identical to that of a Troll, they havewings.
I’m pulled out of my pity party when Nessa cackles. I slowly blink at her reaction. When she catches my disbelief she laughs harder, doubling over. After she gets herself together, wiping away a tear from how hard she was laughing, she draws her twin broadswords. I prefer hand-to-hand combat so I ready my stance.
“Fuck the prize and the rules. It’s time you dicks learn a lesson.” Those golden eyes of hers glitter as they bleed to red, her nails extending until she has to shift her grip on the hilts of her swords. Her confidence has my more animalistic side rising and a low growl rumbles from my chest in agreement, but then I pause.Shit, I can’t afford to fail this term. Let alone risk getting kicked out.
Nessa must sense the change in my posture as she straightens, before a lazy grin curls her lips. “How about a race, instead? We’re already on the course and that way we still have a chance to win the prize. I mean, we’re still going to kick your asses, but this way will be more entertaining,” Nessa calls over to them. The last bit is a mutter only for us, and I smother a laugh. When Dumb and Dumber nod their agreement, I drop from my perch on the A-frame to the sponge-like obstacle course floor. Nessa follows suit, and the other two fly over to us, keeping as much distance between us as they can.
“So what are the rules?” the shorter one asks.
“Same as the teacher said, to keep it simple. Oh, and no flying, or at least no flying for more than ten seconds at a time.”
The taller one makes a humming sound before shrugging and engaging in a silent conversation with his friend. “Deal,” the short one says.
