Gift of the Gods (Magic Blessed Academy 1)

The four of us ignored them for the moment, sprinting toward the portal. If we didn’t get there soon, we’d miss our chance.

The movement drew Knox’s attention, and the large man with curly black hair let out a yell, racing us to get there first.

“We should all just go through the portal together!” Merrick yelled out to him. “It’s the only way out of here.”

In response, Knox wiped the blood from his forehead and used his magic to create a long spear. Barely slowing his pace, he threw it as hard as he could, straight at Merrick’s face.

“Fuck!”

Merrick swiped his hand to the right, knocking

the magical spear away with his own burst of energy just before it impaled him. It dissipated into the stones, the light of the magic fading.

Oh, so that’s how it is, huh?

No fucking teamwork for this guy. Knox could see just as well as we could that the portal was about to collapse, but he wanted to be the only one to pass through.

Well, screw that.

Immediately, all four of us drew up our magic, rushing toward Knox and Chetna. I’d agreed to play nice with the three men by my side, but I hadn’t agreed to play nice with everyone, and I certainly hadn’t agreed to let assholes try to kill them while I stood by and watched.

Several of Trace’s whirling balls darted under Chetna’s feet, upsetting her balance as she ran and sending her sprawling across the dirty cave floor.

I glanced at the men. Between the four of us, we could probably take these two competitors out, bombard them with magic and get rid of them. But as my gaze met Trace’s and then Merrick’s, I could tell their hearts weren’t into it. They didn’t want to kill anyone.

All six of us were converging on the portal, and as my guys exchanged blows back and forth with Chetna and Knox, I stepped to the side. Using my magic, I swirled my hands around in a circle, knowing I had to do something to get those two students out of the way.

My magic created a long shimmering net, and I held it at each end taking in a deep breath.

“I’m sorry about this,” I called to Knox’s back as he fought against Lachlan. “But we need to get through the portal. We don’t have time to fight you.”

Before he or Chetna could look over at me, I pulled back and threw the net, watching as it blanketed both of them and then wrapped around their ankles, bringing them down hard.

They struggled uselessly. My binds wouldn’t hold forever, but they’d give us enough time to get out of here. Lachlan looked over at me and nodded in thanks, dropping the magic spear he’d held. We had all been through too much to end up killing one of our own classmates.

That wasn’t how I wanted to win this thing.

We sprinted the last few yards to the portal. Lachlan reached it first, and for a horrifying second, I was sure he was going to leave without us.

Instead, he turned around and put his hands out. The three of us skidded to a stop in front of him a second later, linking hands so we were all connected. Then we turned in unison to stare at the portal.

I hadn’t had magic for very long, but even when I’d thought I was just a regular human living in Boston, I’d been smart enough to follow the common wisdom—never step into a portal if you don’t know where it leads.

Ugh. I hate this.

The portal’s light was flickering and dimming. Our chance at escape was about to disappear. But what lurked on the other end?

“Where does this go?” Trace murmured, eyeing it warily.

“Guess we’ll just have to find out.” I squeezed his hand.

It was either that, or we’d end up fighting every contestant who came through there, waiting for whatever monster it was that’d left the bones behind in this.

Considered in that light, I was willing to take the chance.

Hands locked together tightly, we all stepped through the portal.

Nothingness swallowed me up and spun me around, making me dizzy, and just when I thought I might barf, it spit me out on the other side. I stumbled slightly, holding onto the guys for balance.