Gift of the Gods (Magic Blessed Academy 1)

Merrick smiled, his amber eyes warming slightly. “You know I don’t like agreeing with you, but you do have a point. That was…” He shook his head, seeming at a loss for words. “Well, I wish we hadn’t had to stop. But the last thing I want to do is risk your life, or any of our lives. You’re right. We need to keep our focus and get to the end of this thing.”

Trace nodded too, sticking his hands in his pockets. He was still shirtless, and I could see the healed scars from his burns, the lighter skin contrasting the dark marks of his tattoos.

“Yeah. I guess so.” Heat flared in his eyes, and he shot me a wicked glance. “When we get out of this place alive, we’ll have plenty of time to do whatever we want. Besides, when we get to the end, we’re no longer a team anymore remember? I can’t have any of you assholes going soft on me.”

We all chuckled, and I ignored the pinch of regret in my chest, wondering if I saw a similar emotion flash across his face for a moment. It was too dark to be sure, and whatever the expression was, it was gone too fast for me to analyze it.

Lachlan let out a deep sigh and shrugged. “Ah, fine. Takin’ all the fun out of everythin’. All right, hands to myself.” He held them up as if to demonstrate. Then he lifted an eyebrow. “But I’m not promisin’ my mind won’t be thinkin’ dirty thoughts.”

I grinned. “I’m pretty sure that’s all your mind has ever done. So it’ll be just like usual. And at least I know you can function that way.”

He chuckled, a low rumble in his chest.

Ignoring the way the sound seemed to settle in my own chest, way too close to my heart, I turned out toward the godly realm below us again, scanning the forest and trying to figure out what route would be best to take.

Where do we go from here?

The gods set aside a huge swath of their land as the “playing field” for the challenge. I didn’t know whether we had successfully finished part of the course, or if we had been punished and sent to a different location to set us back.

Or were the gods not intervening at all?

Maybe they truly just plunked us down here, let a bunch of monsters loose in the wilderness, and waited to see who would make it out in one piece.

I wasn’t sure which one of those possibilities I hated more.

There has to be some sort of clue to at least give us an idea of where we are.

As my gaze drifted over the swaying treetops, it came to a stop in the valley below. The trees were much thinner there, the trunks smaller and more twisted. I stepped closer to the edge of the small rock platform we stood on and felt Merrick’s hand on my wrist.

He chuckled as I looked up at him. “We’ll get out of here, Ari. You don’t have to go jumping off a ledge.”

I shook my head, grinning at him. I liked the teasing light in his eyes. The warmth.

Turning back to the valley, I pointed at a flickering and pulsing light coming from the trees. “Don’t worry. Nobody’s jumping off a ledge today. But do you see that? I think it’s exactly what we’re looking for.”

In the distance, barely visible through the trees, a faint glow rose up, shining like a beacon in the night.

Chapter Twenty-Two

“This feels like when I was a kid,” Trace said as we stepped down the mountain, trying not to slide on the slick rocks. “My dad used to take me hiking. He was a huge hiker. But I hated it. I had two left feet, and I ended up tripping and falling every time we went.”

I smiled as I jumped down from another rock, grabbing on to a tree branch so I didn’t go tumbling headfirst the rest of the way.

“You’re a good fighter.” I shot a look back at him. “I’ve seen you in action, and you’ve got some great moves. It’s hard to believe you when you say you’re clumsy.”

He grinned down at me. “Hey, when it comes to some things, I’m smooth as butter, baby.” Then he grimaced. “It’s just walking down steep embankments that’s not my thing.”

My blood heated at the innuendo in his voice. But I was sure he wasn’t lying. He was extremely talented in several areas, and I had a secret plan to try to make him sing for me one day. I wanted to hear the voice that’d captivated thousands of fans.

But he must’ve been having flashbacks to his childhood at the moment, because he went slowly, hands held out on either side of his body like a tightrope walker.

“I’ve always had pretty good balance,” I commented. “I’m sure the fight training has a lot to do with that. I spent a lot of hours making sure I was quick on my feet. I used to think you couldn’t fix clumsy if you were that kind of person, but Vin proved me wrong on that one.”

As I finished speaking, Trace lost his footing on a rock, letting out a low grunt as he slid toward me. He recovered just as I grabbed his shoulders, bracing him with my body.

His bare shoulders were warm and solid in my grasp, and our chests pressed together as he looked down at me with wide eyes. He let out a bre

ath and shook his head. “Maybe I need to talk to your trainer when we get back.”