Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 69923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69923 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
“I do not want you in my academy. If I had my way, I’d execute you on the spot and save Trono the trial. You’re not worthy to walk these hallowed halls among true warriors—each of them ready to fight to the end.”
I shot out of my seat. “I am willing to fight. All I’ve been doing is fighting! What don’t you understand? If I don’t get out of here, I’ll be the death of you all!”
The goddess chuckled. “And I’ll have you start with this interesting fellow. Such a nasty power he has. That’ll make it so much more fun when it fails him against my pet. The best soldiers of the Olympian gods all falling at the feet of my little beastie.
“So much fun.”
“Nonsense.” Drakos waved a hand as if swatting my fears from the air. “We are not a school full of children. No lamia could make it past the barrier spells, and if it did, it’d be killed before it reached the steps. You’d have known that if you’d spared a second from your noble flight to trust the comrades you claim you’re protecting.”
Frustration exploded from my chest. “You have no idea,” I shrieked. “No idea what I’ve gone through to protect Olympia. No idea of the sacrifices I’m still willing to make. I won’t be judged by a pompous, soft-bottomed schoolteacher who speaks of battle while he sits safe behind his barrier spells!”
I knew it was the wrong thing to say the second it was out of my mouth. I’d seen very few emotions on the headmaster’s face in the short time I knew the awful man, but as long as I lived, I prayed to the gods that I’d never again see that look.
“This pompous, soft-bottomed schoolteacher knows more of battle than you learned while sucking at your mama’s teat, then whining for more as you cowered at the back of the cave.” Drakos moved around the desk—a slow, deliberate movement that sent me running to the door—scrabbling at the knob. My talons dug deep grooves in the wood.
“Go ahead and run, little Aella. There are worse things within these walls.”
I threw it open, tearing out.
“One way or another, my judgment is delivered.”
Sebastian
I stopped dead on the staircase. “She said what?”
“Called him a pompous, soft-bottomed schoolteacher.”
My brows shot up my forehead and disappeared into my hairline—as fast as I hoped Aella Galanis ran.
A low whistle cut through my lips. “She truly doesn’t know what that man can do. Does that make her brave or stupid?”
“It’s never wise to insult someone with that much power over your life.” Linus absentmindedly rubbed his side. “Although, I must say, I admire her all the same. Seven days in the reflection room. They dragged her out of there on the edge of death, and still she told that bastard exactly what she thought.”
“Yes, but did she tell him the truth?” I resumed my climb, enduring the stone walls brushing my shoulders as the staircase narrowed. “Do we believe this story of living as a lamia’s captive pet for eight years?”
“It’s so absurd it must be true.”
“Find out for certain.”
He snapped to his full six feet, seven inches. “Yes, my lord.”
“And the guard in the cell,” I mused. “I want every detail of what happened there.”
“Surely we know, my lord. She killed him with a power she doesn’t want revealed.”
“Not a power,” I said with surety. “Demigods glow with divinity. One drop of essence on their souls transforms them from the tips of their hair to their toenail clippings. It doesn’t hide itself, unlike whatever’s inside her. It’s a flicker out of the corner of your eye. It’s the black spots in your vision—there and not there. The wrongness of it almost forces me to look away.”
I paused near the top. “She is hiding it for a very good reason, but her secrets won’t be kept from me.”
“You may not want to know her secrets, my lord. When your instincts say to turn away, it’s because there’s a battle ahead you’re not prepared to fight. It might not be stupidity that gives the girl the confidence to face down a man like Drakos. One thing we do know is that people around her tend to die.”
Humming, I continued up to the top of the tower. A gust of air swept my hair back and whipped it against the wall. The slight sound made him jump.
“Easy,” I said. “Not a great place to get jumpy.”
“You’re telling me.” He laughed—a strange one where his teeth didn’t part. The chuckle simply hissed through them. “Didn’t know anyone came up here. I’m always alone.”
The guy sat atop the parapet, reclined within the gaps of the battlement. He was a year older than me and in his competent year, but youth clung to his round cheeks and floppy brown hair blowing in the wind.