“Right.” I grinned. “That’s all we can ever do. The best we can.”
As we headed downstairs, I felt a little of Eden’s nerves seep into my body, but I did my best to brush them off. I had practiced and studied my ass off, and while there were some classes I was still a bit behind in, there were others I was way ahead in, thanks to things I’d learned during the challenge.
My first final was in Power and Precision, and although Professor Wist had been warning us all week that it was going to be incredibly difficult, I only struggled with one small section, sailing through the rest of it with flying colors.
I left the classroom flying high on adrenaline, ready to kick the asses of my next several finals and make it through to winter break. We were all allowed to leave the school for the holiday, and I was looking forward to it so much I could practically taste the Boston air.
Maybe a little time away from this place will help me see it with fresh eyes when I get back. Help me see what I’m missing.
I met up with the guys as we headed to our second final of the day, in Combat.
“How’d you all do on your first exam?” I asked, glancing around at them as we made our way down the hall.
Merrick made a check signed symbol in the air with a grin. “Way better than I thought I was gonna do.”
Lachlan shrugged nonchalantly. “Oh, ye know, just killin’ it as usual. The combination of learning all that stuff in the competition and then crammin’ when we got back made for an easy A.”
Trace shook his head glancing over at me with a smile. “I did well. I know you think Merrick’s the nerdiest one of us, but I’m a pretty good test-taker.”
I grinned, poking him in the side. “A rock star nerd. That’s fucking hot.”
He growled and leaned down to kiss me, not even breaking stride as he walked beside me. “You’ve got weird taste, Snow. But I like it.”
A flush worked its way through me, and I walked a little faster, chasing his kiss even as he pulled away. The fucker loved to tease me. We hadn’t had a repeat of that amazing night when I’d gone to his room—thanks a lot, finals—but he still found little moments to touch me or kiss me. All the men did actually, and although I still saw flashes of possessive jealousy flare in their eyes when they saw one of their friends touch me, it was always accompanied by a smoldering heat.
The Combat final was a guaranteed A for all of us, and I actually had a blast. We fought back and forth, using blocking spells and non-lethal or non-injuring offensive spells. There was magic flying all over the room, and though it wasn’t as strong as it had been in the godly arena, it felt good to let the electricity surge through my body.
We had to split up again afterward, the men heading to a Practical Magic final while I headed to the library to kill a couple hours until my next exam.
“Godsdammit,” I muttered under my breath, stopping midway down a hallway and glancing around. I’d taken a wrong turn, and instead of heading toward the library, I’d ended up in the administration wing. “I really should get a damn GPS to navigate this place.”
I’d been spoiled by spending most of my time with the guys. They all knew their way around a lot better than I did, so I could tune out the twists and turns and still arrive at my intended destination. Left to my own devices? Not so much.
I turned around to retrace my steps, but as I passed by a closed door, muffled voices slipped out.
The words “Gods’ Challenge” pulled me up short.
Glancing quickly up and down the empty hallway, I veered off course, pressing my back to the wall near the door. I didn’t dare stand in front of it in case someone opened it in a hurry, but I wanted to get as close as I could.
My previous experience with eavesdropping in this place had taught me not to tune out whispered voices, so I pressed my ear against the wall, straining to hear whatever I could.
“They aren’t happy about how it went.” A female voice spoke. It was hard to tell since the words were muffled by the door, but it sounded like Miss Avery. “They expected far more from us than this.”
They?
Fallon and that teacher had said the same thing. But who the hell were they?
Someone let out a long, exhausted breath, and when a new voice spoke, I recognized it as Dean Frost. “We’ll make sure it goes better next semester. This whole thing has been a PR nightmare, although luckily most of the footage made it hard to tell exactly who was present for the final sprint to the gem.”
“True,” Miss Avery said. “But still, those who were there know. And there was footage of the fight in the forest, before they were slowed down by the gem’s defensive aura.”
“I know.” Frost sounded annoyed, as if Miss Avery was telling her something she’d already thought of a dozen times. “I just don’t understand it. If they wanted the death count higher, why not kill the ones who were trapped in the cave? Their deaths would’ve been much easier to explain.”
“Well.” Miss Avery chuckled, although there was no humor in it. “You know what they say. The gods work in mysterious ways.”
There was a shuffling sound, then the sound of chairs scraping. My heart flew into my throat, and fear almost rooted my feet to the ground, but I shoved away from the wall and sprinted as silently as I could down the corridor.
I didn’t look back to see if either of the women had caught sight of me. I didn’t even slow down until I made it to the Practical Magic classroom. It would be too suspicious if I burst into the room and dragged the guys out, so instead, I found a little nook in the hallway and hid myself away in there.