Wrath of the Gods (Magic Blessed Academy 3)

“Nah, he’s just the biggest fucking conniver and cheater of us all.” My voice dropped as I turned to face her more fully. “But there’s one more thing.”

I finished my story with the part about going back to the godly realm on my own, after last semester’s challenge had completed. My gaze dropped to the floor as I told her the guys’ hypothesis on why I could travel to and from the godly realm.

Her mouth hung open like a fish, and it felt like a full minute passed before she finally snapped it shut, shaking her head. “Wow. That’s just… wow. You’re a god.”

“I don’t know that for sure,” I insisted quickly. “There could be some other explanation.”

“No.” She shook her head, her light brown eyebrows pulling together. “I think you are.”

For some reason, a blush burned my cheeks. Maybe it was the certainty in her voice, the absolute confidence that it was possible I was a supreme magical deity. It sort of felt like someone had given me the biggest, most outrageous compliment in the world. And of course, I was awful at taking compliments.

Deciding to deflect like mad, I straightened up a little. “The main point is, the gods have been lying to everyone here—except the admins they’re in league with.”

“Holy shit.” Eden’s eyes seemed to keep getting bigger, to the point where I was afraid they would pop out of her head. “So… you’re gonna do something, right?” Worry tinged her tone. “I know you. Of course you’re gonna do something. What are you gonna do?”

I dragged in a breath and let it out slowly. “The guys and I have been working on a plan to go up against the gods. We’re not going to let them do this to us. We’re gonna stop it.”

Eden’s already pale face grew a little paler. “Alone?”

I shrugged. “If we have to. Yeah.”

“Aria…” Her fingertips wound around the ends of her light brown hair, fiddling with the strands nervously. “Even if you are a god, or you have god-like magic somehow, I don’t know if that’s enough. You’re just one person, and even with three guys who’d march into hell with you if you asked, you’re completely outnumbered.” Her gaze caught mine, her expression earnest. “If you really want to have a chance against them, you need an army.”

Chapter Four

Eden and I stayed in the closet for another hour, at least. She had dozens more questions, and I answered every one, getting her as up to speed on everything as I could.

Now that she knew as much as she did, I wanted her to know everything. Shit was about to get dangerous, but maybe she had a point.

An army.

More people who would fight on our side.

It wasn’t something I had ever really considered, but maybe there was something to that. If all magic users revolted against the gods, would they be able to stop us? Or would we truly have a chance of bringing them down?

Surely, all of our wild magic combined with the god gifted magic of everyone else would be a formidable force. If we had all of that power working together, fighting one God—or even all of them—might actually work.

Or… it might be a complete disaster.

We didn’t even know exactly what the gods were capable of. Going up against them could be suicide. If the gods were capable of taking us all out, and we all gathered in one place to fight them, they could wipe us out in an instant.

Another problem with trying to rally the school like Eden had suggested was the fact that at this point, I didn’t have a lot of allies.

The entire school had turned against me and the guys, thinking that we had cheated somehow in the Gods’ Challenges. Wesley hated my guts, and he was the golden boy right now after winning the last Gods’ Challenge.

Eden and I had spent so long talking that I barely made it to my first class on time. There was a buzz of excitement in the air at the first day of classes, but I found my mind constantly wandering, making it hard to focus on the lessons. In my Power and Precision class, I tuned out Professor Wist, glancing around at the other students as they listened intently.

All of this. The gods want to end all of this.

Ultimately, it didn’t really matter if everyone at this school hated me or not. I wasn’t going to let the gods kill them with impunity. I’d even stick up for Wesley, the stupid fuck, if the gods came after him.

The day seemed to drag on for eternity, and by the time my last class let out, I felt like a jittery mess. As students headed toward the cafeteria for dinner, I went to find Merrick. He was in the library, tucked away in a corner poring over a textbook in a magical bubble he’d created. When I was close enough that my movement caught his eye, he looked up, a smile spreading across his face as he realized it was me.

With the push, he expanded his bubble to include me. I sat down next to him and looked around. The stacks and chairs around us were empty; most of the students had already gone to dinner.

“I was just about to call it on studying and come find you.” He smiled. “Everything okay?”

I dropped my bag on the table and rubbed my hands over my face. “No. I mean, it’s no worse than it was when we got here, but that’s not saying much.”