Thank you, Supernatural Academy, for developing those reflexes.
Or maybe it was all the practice I’d been doing lately. I was determined to up my game since the gods made me look like I was all but human. I refused to be taken down so easily again.
Either way, we got the artefact in about two minutes. Another burst of laughter left me. This game was fun.
The buzzer sounded, alerting the rest of the players that we were done, and my guys emerged from the forest, shaking their heads at me standing there with the golden statue in my hands.
“Go, Maddi,” Rone whooped, scooping me up and swinging me around. “That had to be some kind of record.”
I shook my head and smacked him on the arm to let me down. “Dude, it was a lucky fluke, nothing more.”
Jesse actually smiled at me, directly at my face, and for a moment we all pretended he didn’t hate my guts. “Nothing you do is a lucky fluke, Mads. You’re just naturally good at competitive sports.”
I’d never had much chance in my life to know if that was true or not. Sports back in America were expensive, and the schools I went to didn’t have a whole lot to offer in their curriculum. But it was a nice thought.
We all left the field and the other team’s artefact was handed to our officiate, before we rejoined the sideline of supes shouting and cheering. The morning bell rang soon after that and all the games ceased.
“Since this isn’t anything official,” one of the teachers shouted, his voice magically amplified, “we’ll stop there. But next Wednesday we’ll pick up from the same round robin draw. Thanks for today!”
I was already looking forward to it.
Chapter 8
When I was finishing up my classes on Friday, I found myself in the Atlantean library. I had an hour to kill before everyone was meeting for dinner. Axl was already in there, and so was Mab. She’d been coming and going, visiting friends, so it was nice to see her again.
“Maddison!” she exclaimed, fluttering over to send a burst of magic around me as she got closer. “I’ve missed you.”
“I missed you too,” I said, smiling broadly. Mab had a way about her; she made me feel both intensely safe and happy, even if part of me never forgot that she was one of the scariest creatures I’d ever met. “Where did you go this time?”
She flapped her wings hard enough to create a small breeze, elevating to my eyeline. “I was in Faerie,” she said simply.
I blinked at her, waiting for her to expand on that, only she just continued flapping her wings and smiling.
I pushed when I couldn’t take it any longer. “What were you in Faerie for?”
“I was talking to some old friends,” she said, without hesitation. It was always her answer though.
I sighed. “Are you going to tell me or will I have to pry every bit of information out of you?”
Her smile never faltered. “You’ve got to learn to ask the right questions, Maddison James.”
A snort escaped from Axl, but otherwise he remained silently reading in the corner.
“Okay,” I said softly. “Did you learn anything in Faerie that is pertinent to me, or to Atlantis, or the gods who we are currently trying to stop from destroying the worlds?”
Her smile grew wider. “Why yes, my lovely friend, I did.”
Energy swirled in my center and I tried to calm the racing of my heart.
“The cage keeping the gods inside the underworld will last only one more moon cycle. A reliable source from the inside said that the gods are teaming up and sharing their powers. Looks like Lotus is taking more than her fair share and will be the head runner for this final battle. Oh, and Galindra’s allies turned on her, and joined forces with your parents. Galindra has not been seen since she was locked inside, despite the other gods searching to find her.”
“Why are they searching?” I interrupted. “They can’t kill her without the Hellbringers, right?”
Otherwise locking her in with them was a really bad idea.
Mab lifted her head, face no longer wreathed in happiness. “Technically they could, but they know that her energy might destroy them all. So they won’t risk it. Not without the Hellbringers. And they can’t control those little devils without you, so they’re at a bit of an impasse. I’m guessing they just wanted to detain her, maybe a bit of torture to weaken her. The usual.”
I blinked.
