Is this what they wanted all along? I wonder frantically. To get us out here, away from our parents, and then kill us all? The thought seems absurd, but Sullivan has just fallen to his side, his face a terrifying mix of red and purple as he tries to pry the hands off his throat.
“Death is the sneakiest—and the most irrevocable—thing to fly out of Pandora’s box,” Dr. Minthe tells us in his normal tone despite what’s happening around us and to us. “Tocommemorate it, you will have to find a replica of Hades’sBook of Death. It won’t protect you, but it will give you something to hold on to as things around you fall apart.”
The book is the only tangible thing he’s given us as a class, but as I watch, the fog transforms itself into a list of words.
Path to Victory
Despair: Unlightable Candle
Disease: Empty Syringe
Greed: Bag of Coins
Conflict: Broken Hearts
Envy: Emerald Key
Pride: Shattered Mirror
Death: Book of Death
It seems strange to see everything listed in one place after the theatrics that just happened. But before I can say as much to Fifi, Dr. Minthe says, “It seems one of you has already found an item for the scavenger hunt.”
Immediately my classmates explode into a bunch of whispered conversations as they try to figure out who he’s talking about.
Fifi’s eyes go wide as she leans over to Arjun and me. “Who do you think it is?”
“I don’t know,” I tell them, my heart sinking at already being behind in the competition. I know it’s just one object, but there are only seven. Whoever has one already has a distinct advantage over everyone else.
“It’ll be okay,” Arjun tells me, bumping his shoulder against mine. “We’ve got months to figure this out.”
I nod, because I know he’s right, Plus, all it means if someone already has one of the items is that I’ll have to work harder. No big deal. Everything about my experience at Anaximander’s has been about coming from behind. What’s one more time? I just need to concentrate—
“Ms. Weaver.” Dr. Minthe’s voice booms across the field, interrupting the pep talk I’m giving myself.
And just like that, my heart takes up residence in my throat, where it proceeds to beat so fast, I can’t help but worry that it’s going to take flight—and take me along with it. The fact that my palms have also turned rainwater slick only makes everything worse.
“Yes?” I force the whisper out as my entire class turns to look at me.
“You’re the only one whose key chose to return to this side of the door with you.” He holds up the key I plucked out of the chest and used to get us free. For the first time, I pay attention to the fact that right in the center of the decorative bow of the key is a giant green gemstone.
I assumed it was fake when I first saw it, but now I can’t help but wonder if I was wrong about that.
Before I can wrap my head around that thought, Dr. Minthe holds the key out to me. “Please come forward and claim the Emerald Key of envy for Aphrodite Hall.”
37.Never Give a Girl a Dented Donut Hole
FIFI AND ARJUN IMMEDIATELY ERUPTinto cheers, as do all the other first-year Aphrodites who are in the class, along with Sullivan. Everyone else just kind of glares at me, except Rhea—who immediately starts complaining that I stole the key from her.
Apparently, she’s totally missed the point about envy…
Her complaints don’t upset me overly much—she is who she is, after all—but what does bother me is the way Paris doesn’t stick up for me. In fact, he doesn’t even congratulate me. He just attempts to placate her, and when I try to meet his eyes across the field, he deliberately looks away.
Which makes me mad, sure, but it also hurts me a lot more than I expect it to. Paris and I have had our fights through the years, but he’s always taken my side against any outsiders, and I’ve always done the same for him. Until now.
I watch as Rhea throws me a hate-filled look before allowing Paris—who still refuses to so much as glance my way—to lead her off the field.
“Don’t worry about them,” Sullivan tells me with a surprisingly sweet smile. “You know how Athenas are. They’ll come around eventually.”
