Merrick and Trace were each a perfect counterpoint to each other. Merrick had white-blond hair, a lean, muscled frame, and shining amber eyes. Trace, on the other hand, had black hair that flopped down over his forehead, piercing blue eyes, and enough tattoos that I could spend hours poring over them, examining each one. Some of them had been partially burned off when he’d been attacked by a fire dragon in the godly realm, but that didn’t detract from their allure.
I could feel Lachlan react as the two men approached us, his body tensing as he shifted a little closer to me.
Ah, fuck.
They’d agreed not to fight over me, but old habits would be a bit hard to shake, it seemed.
I half-expected him to step in front of me like a lion protecting his mate, but as Trace and Merrick reached us, Lach surprised the fuck out of me by stepping to the side, allowing Merrick to pull me into his arms.
We were in full view of all the students in the hallway, but he didn’t seem to give a shit. His arms banded around me, and I could feel his breath against the skin of my neck as he let out a low noise, half sigh and half moan.
My stomach clenched with a sudden onslaught of emotions, and just like Lachlan had, I fought against my knee-jerk instinct. His had been to fight, and so was mine—to fight the feelings that stirred inside me as I held Merrick, as I inhaled his bergamot and honey scent. But although my instincts had kept me alive and safe for years on the dangerous streets of Boston, I was finally starting to realize that some of them didn’t serve me well.
“Missed you,” Merrick murmured in a low voice, and then he let go of me, yielding me into Trace’s waiting hold.
The ex-rock star grabbed me and pulled me into a hug. “There she fuckin’ is. Glad you made it back in one piece, Snow White.”
Our bodies pressed tightly together, and the memories of what’d felt like to be this close to him with nothing between us made fire lick through my veins.
I hugged him back, letting myself indulge in the feel and scent of him. He was right. In a way, it was amazing that any of us had made it back there at all. Given what we’d learned last semester, it wouldn’t have surprised me if somebody had tried to take us out before we got back to the academy. But here we were, all back together, preparing to face a new semester.
“Glad you did too.”
“Good to see ye, ye fuckin’ eejits!” Lachlan accentuated his Irish accent, and Trace released me as he burst into laughter.
The men greeted each other with slaps on the back, and despite Lachlan’s moment of tension when the other two had touched me, I could tell they were happy to see each other. They’d been close friends before all four of us had ended up competing in the godly realm, and I was glad they hadn’t let this thing between all of us drive them apart. Anymore.
A second later, Eden bobbed over, waving at the guys. “You guys ready to get this over with? I think we have to check in before we head up to our rooms.”
“Right.” I nodded.
As the four of us turned and headed down the hallway, which was still packed with students, a surge of anticipation and nerves filled me.
Ready or not, here we go.
Chapter Five
All five of us went through the tedious process of checking in and getting our class schedules for the coming semester. It felt strange to be doing something so normal, to be going through the motions of getting settled in for the semester when the men and I had plans far beyond simple classwork.
We were going to infiltrate the godly realm.
We were going to find answers.
But to do that, we had to pretend everything was fine. We had to make sure Dean Frost and the other admins didn’t suspect us of having ulterior motives for wanting to compete in the Gods’ Challenge again this semester.
I had never been great at hiding my emotions, but I was going to have to become a good actress if we wanted to pull this off.
After checking in, we split up to go to our respective dorm rooms. Eden followed me to mine, keeping up a lively patter of conversation the whole way. It was good to see her. I had missed Trace and Merrick over the break, but I was surprised to realize I’d missed her too. We were complete opposites in so many ways, but I’d come to genuinely like the perky blonde girl. She had a good heart, something I had come to realize a long time ago was a rarity in this world.
“I’m glad you’re back. I’m glad we’re all back,” she said excitedly as I opened the door to my dorm room. “I can’t wait to see what this semester brings!”
I wanted to caution her not to be too excited and warn her not to trust the school staff, but I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want to put her in danger by keeping her in the dark, but I also didn’t want to risk her getting dragged under with me and the guys if the admins found out what we were doing.
“Yeah.” I smiled a little stiffly. “Me… too.”
Once she had traipsed down the hall to her own room, I surveyed my small dorm. Then I plopped my bag onto the bed and began unpacking. I had stuffed the medal I’d received for winning the Gods’ Challenge into a drawer, not wanting to look at it, and it glinted at me as I shoved some clothes inside the drawer.
It didn’t take me long to unpack—I hadn’t brought that much back to Boston with me, just the basic necessities.