Gift of the Gods (Magic Blessed Academy 1)

Where are Brielle and Shane? They were right behind us.

The cheers continued, and the dean greeted each of the five contestants, stepping forward to shake their hands.

“This concludes the Gods’ Challenge for this semester,” Dean Frost told the crowd. “There will be an award ceremony shortly, but first, we’ll give the competitors a chance to rest, eat, and freshen up. You may all return to the school, and after your last class, head to the auditorium. Dismissed.”

Students began to step away from the pavilion, heading back toward the massive academy building. I saw Eden waving wildly at me as she was swept away in the press of bodies, but I could barely coordinate the muscle movements to wave back at her.

As The Hill began to empty out, I glanced again at the five bedraggled people around me, then turned back to the dean.

“That’s… that’s it? There were ten of us.”

The dean nodded gravely, her smile dropping as her expression grew somber. “And you six have returned.” She reached out to squeeze my shoulder. “The dead will be honored, Aria. Come. There will be a proper award ceremony for you once you’ve cleaned up. Fallon, if you’ll bring the gem?”

She jerked her chin toward the large stone, which had fallen from my hand when I’d landed, and one of the admins stepped over to scoop it up, bringing it over and placing it in my palm.

The dead will be honored?

As I clutched the smooth gem, my stomach flip-flopped like a fish stuck on dry land.

Four out of the ten people who had ventured into the godly realm to compete had died in the attempt. They weren’t coming back, and from the looks of it, no one was going in after them either. Not even to retrieve their bodies.

What would their families think? Would they be told their sons and daughters had died honorably? For a good cause?

Suddenly, winning the competition felt utterly hollow.

The gem in my hand felt like a lead weight.

After the rest of the students cleared out, the admins led the competitors across the lawn to escort us back to our rooms.

As I crossed over the entryway into the school, I looked back over my shoulder at the guys. I hadn’t even gotten to say a word to them since we’d been spat back out on earth, and I wanted desperately to talk to them, to lean on them, to just… be near them.

But we were each being escorted by a different administrator, led in single file, and as soon as we were inside the building, we were hustled off to our separate dorms.

I’d only caught a brief glimpse of my once-teammates, but they had all seemed exhausted, almost dazed. As I passed by one of the glass cases holding trophies inside the school, I caught sight of my reflection.

I didn’t look any better than they did. I felt out of place in the quiet, empty halls of Magic Blessed.

When we reached my dorm room, the admin who’d led me there, a man named Charles Blackburn, gazed at me with a look of deep admiration, almost reverence. “Congratulations, champion. Go ahead and get cleaned up. There will be food provided whenever you’re ready.”

Food?

My stomach clenched.

I’d spent the past several weeks dreaming of everything from six course meals to greasy fast food as I forced down magically boosted energy bars. But at the moment, with too many emotions crashing around inside my body, I no longer felt hungry at all.

As soon as Blackburn left, I stepped into the shower and just stood there, letting the water wash over me. Mud and dirt streamed down my body and pooled at my feet as it twisted around the drain.

The normal smell of soap was incredibly sweet to me, and I shampooed my hair twice just because I could. When the hot water began to run cool, I turned off the shower and dried off my body before putting on a fresh set of clothes. They were loose on me, which wasn’t surprising since I’d spent all that time in a jungle hiking through the wilderness, fighting off various monsters, and never eating quite as much as I wanted.

As soon as I stepped out of the small bathroom attached to my dorm, exhaustion hit me like a sack of bricks to the face. I stumbled over to the bed and was asleep almost as soon as I hit the mattress.

I slept like the fucking dead, too tired to even dream.

When a knock came at the door several hours later, I jerked awake and bolted upright as my heart thundered in my chest, glancing around wildly.

Right. I’m back at school. Nothing is trying to kill me.

I crawled out of bed slowly. Another knock came before I even made it across the room, and as soon as I opened the door, Eden burst inside, a huge grin on her face. She practically bum-rushed me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders.