Alex’s reasoning was as good as any. Although I suspected that wasn’t his only motive for turning down the games.
I bit my lip and decided it was best to get this over with. “I’m going to do it.”
Alex’s face hardened, but Diana demanded my attention more by slapping me hard on the shoulder.
“Yeah, Dane! It’s a good thing we made up last year, huh?”
“Yeah,” I agreed. Hell, if we hadn’t, I would have insisted that Alex participate so I wouldn’t have to partner with Diana. But there was no need for that now.
“Awesome. I can’t wait to tell Mother.” Diana dashed off and, against my better judgment, my eyes shifted to Alex.
He shook his head, and in the thin set of his lips, I read frustration. He did not agree with my choice.
I inhaled a soft breath. Later, when we were alone, I was sure to be in for quite the talk.
Chapter Five
At the end of the feast, I hung back to tell Headmistress Wake that I was interested in being the Spellcasters champion. Once I’d been assured a spot, I left Agnes Sampson Hall and had just caught sight of Eva and Hunter, when Alex swooped in.
He wrapped his hand around my wrist.“Can we take a walk?” His eyes blazed with intensity, even though his tone was measured and careful.
I nodded as my stomach twisted into knots.
Across the room, Eva shot me a sympathetic look, but I couldn’t say no to him. He was my boyfriend, and even though after eight months westillhadn’t said itout loud because I was weird about relationships and needed to move slowly, I loved him. Plus, Alex’s frustration over my choice was justified.
I’d done the exact opposite of what M&M told us to do. Even though I realized that about halfway through the feast, I’d stuck by my choice.
In my defense, this wasn’t the first time Alex and I would be separated. Our internships had been hours from each other, and after that, we’d lived on opposite coasts for three weeks. We hadn’t wanted to part in either instance, but a healing internship with Tiberius Thorn had been too good an opportunity for Alex to pass up. And what would our parents have said if we’d told them we needed to always be together?
It wouldn’t have gone over well in my house.
We broke from the crowd, and walked out the front door of the academy, toward the lake. Anxiety bubbled inside me. Alex hadn’t spoken a word, but I knew he was angry. Sweat began to trickle down my back as I debated what to say—how to defend my actions.
“Why did you do that?” The question burst from him as we stepped onto the lake path. “Morgan and Merlin said we needed to stick together. We can’t help that Headmistress Wake will separate us on missions, but there’s no need for you to leave the safety of Spellcasters outside of those. Especially without me.”
A swathe of nerves eased at his statement. I arched an eyebrow. “The ‘safety of Spellcasters’? You mean the same place where three of our classmates died last year?” Alex’s cheeks darkened, and my tone softened accordingly. “I’m not sure we’re safer here than anywhere else, babe.”
Alex’s lips flattened. “You heard Diana and the headmistress talking about all the extra precautions. They might be oblivious to what’s happening with Morgan and Merlin, but theyknowabout the demons.”
I bit my lower lip, still not buying it. “I’m sure their wards are all fine and dandy—against a lesser demon. But Ishtar or Lucifer? Or even the prince and princesses of Hell? No one has been up against them in living memory.”
I paused, realizing that my statement was no longer true. Alex, Hunter, and I had gone up against the queen of Hell just a few weeks ago.
“Well, no one except us,” I amended. “And we needed a fair bit of luck to get through that.” I patted the spot where my totem, a ruby and moonstone encrusted necklace that had once belonged to Morgan Le Fay, rested beneath the scoop neck of my dress.
At my touch, the totem warmed, as if asking if I needed anything. It was strange how the magical object operated, but it had saved my butt a few times, so while I wished I understood it better, I wasn’t about to complain.
“And no offense to the headmistress, but if any of the royals of Hell want to breach the academy wards, they’ll figure out a way,” I continued. “We already know that they’re experimenting with new methods to infiltrate our realm. A few wards won’t stop them.”
Suddenly, acrackrang through the night as Alex turned and slammed his fist into a tree. “Dammit, Odie. Why are you making this so hard? Can’t you see you’re putting yourself in unnecessary danger?”
I threw up my hands. “Of course I can! But I can’t help it! I have something to prove to people. They don’t think I’m good enough for the spymaster position. I want to show them otherwise. You can’t judge me for that. Not after taking the internship with Tiberius that was three hours away when there was a perfectly respectable healer in Portland. You can’t judge me for wanting the best, because that’s what you want too.”
He jerked back.
I pressed my lips together hard. Had I gone too far? We’d both agreed that Alex’s internship was important, just like mine was. There were things Thorn could teach him that no other healer in the country could. Considering our circumstances having a skilled healer around seemed paramount. And as not a single warper lived in Seattle, separating had been a fair compromise. I still believed that.
So why had I thrown that in his face? It was a dick move.
