Valkyrie's Harem (Academy of Immortals 1)

When we reach the main hall, voices carry up from the staircase. I look at Miya with relief. They haven’t gotten in.

“Get the key, stop the idiots, right?” Marshal confirms.

“Yep. Totally simple.”

“Wait!”

We turn toward the voice. Professor Christensen walks our way. He’s out of his formal clothing and in what I assume are his bed clothes. I’m not even sure I knew he slept.

“What’s happening? I felt the shudders and saw the light.”

“They have the stone—the key stone,” Marshal says.

“Oh my.” He rubs his face. “So it begins.”

“Not if we can help it. At least, not by them. Agis is down there, and he’s strong but there are four of them and one bites.”

We run past him, stampeding down the hall. I pass the paintings, the ones that hold the secrets to the apocalypse, past the wall where Luke tried his best to take advantage of me. Turning the slight corner, I see Agis and stop abruptly. I lift my hands, a signal for the others to stop. They press behind me.

Agis’ eyes meet mine. He shakes his head. He’s contained by my four classmates. Another person stands by the door.

Headmaster Gardener.

The smooth, stone key is in his hand.

“Ah,” he says, seeing us arrive. His eyes flick behind me. “Christensen, you ready to record history?”

“Think about what you’re doing,” the professor says warily. “You don’t know what’s behind the door or what you’ll start.”

“I know perfectly well what will happen. The day we’ve all been waiting for. The parents of these children sent them to my school to begin the end. I’ll open the door and reach the temple. From there they’ll fight to claim the Upperworld for their respective Kingdoms.”

Luke, Mariell

e, and the twins glance at one another.

“You just realized you’re not on the same side, didn’t you?” I say, holding back an astonished laugh. “You’re going to kill one another to gain land for your parents. You’re pawns.”

“Like you aren’t,” Marielle says. “You’re less than a pawn. You’re a tag-along in a fight bigger than you, with people stronger than you. You shouldn’t be here, Hildi.”

Her words land harder than they should but I hold my chin up. “I helped you get the key. My blood works just fine.”

Luke snorts and I glare at him.

“Do you really just want to do your father’s dirty work?” I ask him. “What about your mother? Your human mother. Do you not care about her?” He blanches. I shift my focus to the twins. “And you? You want to spend the next millennia fighting a war? There won’t be any clothes or manicures or making out with cute boys—”

“We’ll own them—”

“And eat their hearts out.”

“Or,” I say, “You refuse. You finish school. You go back home. You rebel against your parents.”

Shockingly, they all look like they may be considering it.

“Enough of this nonsense!” Headmaster Gardener shouts. He lines the key up to go in the slot. It’s a smooth stone, obsidian like the orb with streaks of color running through it. He doesn’t get far before the ringing of Miya’s sword cuts through the air, the blade cartwheeling across the narrow space aiming for the Headmaster. Luke reaches out and pulls him back just before the blade slices across his throat, instead sticking into the wooden door.

“You tried to kill me!” Gardener shouts, clutching his neck.

“Unlock the door,” Luke tells the headmaster, clearly having made his decision. He uses his body to block Gardener and takes the first hits from Marshal, who is primed and ready to fight. Luke is big enough to provide a shield and the Headmaster slips the key into the lock. The symbols glow, bluish like the orb. This building, and every object in it, is a living, breathing, thing.