He didn’t call on anyone else and smiled at the other initiates when they asked questions.
He didn’t smile at me.
Not once.
An indeterminate amount of time later, which felt likeforever, Lost Classical Lore ended, and General Cleandro announced we had a three-hour break to study before Thagorean class with Pine. “I expect everyone to spend the time in the library, or there will be... consequences for you.”
My gut told me he wasnotbluffing.
But I was so tired and cold I could barely stand up straight.
In the library, I curled up (flung myself face forward) on a maroon velvet settee in front of a roaring fireplace, which was hidden in the back behind the stacks and was quiet.
A pretty muse with long pink hair stacked books on a shelf nearby. She frowned over at me, but glanced away when we made eye contact.
Most of the other initiates had curled up in front of fireplaces, but two boys sat at the long mahogany desks, working. Apparently, they were paragons of discipline and had enough physical and mental stamina to study.
Not relatable.
I didn’t even have enough energy to die, if it came down to it (hopefully it would).
Nothing could have stopped me from falling asleep.
Nyx muttered with contentment around my neck, and I pulled her close like a blanket.
Déjà vu washed over me. Everything had changed, yetnothingwas different. I was still an exhausted, unwanted little girl covered in bruises, shivering in a cardboard box.
“This place sucks,” I whispered. “I want to go home.”
“Home is not a place,” Nyx said softly. “It’s a person.”
I closed my eyes. “That literally makes zero sense.”
“You’ll understand, someday.”
Darkness claimed me.
Chapter 10
Torture
Kharon:A few hours earlier
I stood in the boat, dying of boredom as I waited for the idiot boys to finish their first lap of the circuit.
When the federation had randomly forced me to work the crucible this year (a decision that still didn’t make any sense), I’d assumed the torturing of Olympian spawn would make it a little fun.
I was wrong.
Ennui had already set in.
My fingers itched with the urge to palm my knife and stab something. Preferably,someone.
I wanted to be in the forest hunting Titans.
Needed it like I needed oxygen.
Craved it like a Cyclops desired blood.
