“She spread her legs for a professor. Shameless…”
“Enjoy it while she can. The trial is coming, and we’ll leave her corpse in the arena for him to fuck…”
I turned out the malicious gossip from those jealous little shits.
“So,” Sindy said, leaning in and lowering her voice, as everyone was eavesdropping. “Any news from your… boyfriend about the trial?”
Her hazel eyes were hopeful. She thought I had insider information now. After all, I was with Nero, a founder. She still had a hard time wrapping her mind around the fact that her new bestie had landed Ravencrux and caused such an uproar in Reaper Academy.
“Not much more than what’s common knowledge.”
Her face fell a little.
“But I’ll tell you what I do know,” I added. “The trial is demanded by Zeus.”
She widened her eyes. “TheZeus, the King of the Gods?”
I struggled not to pull my lips into a snarl. “That one. It’s an excuse for a culling. The gods call it tradition, but it’s about eliminating threats.”
“Like you,” she said quietly.
My friend was incredibly smart, but I didn’t confirm it.
“Olympians will come to watch. It’ll be an open trial in the arena, gladiator style.”
“Shit.” She shuddered.
I nodded my agreement.
“Have you seen the arena on the northeast side, past Kingsley Tower?” she asked. “They built it in a day!”
“Yes.” Dante had taken me to scout it. We’d ridden on the hellhound’s back, circling above while the archdemon pointed out sightlines and weak points. “The entire arena is within the academy’s wards, but half of the spectator seats reserved for the Olympians are beyond the wards.”
“Gods are tricky business.”
“They are,” I said.
“I’ve studied the history of Reaper Academy extensively, and no gods have ever showed up before. We thought they’d long since left or were dead. And now they’ve all come back.”
“It seems that way,” I said, and I couldn’t tell her more.
Nero had been sick with worry. Every night he clung to me so tightly he could barely sleep, only to jerk awake from nightmares, gasping, and pull me closer still.
“Shh, I’m here,” I’d whisper, stroking his hair to calm him down.
But I knew the worst was yet to come.
Kingsley hadn’t made his move precisely because of the trial. Everyone knew it was a culling. My enemies would use it to finish me—to strike Hades through his mate.
But I held an advantage they couldn’t see. I’d dealt with the Fates. Bound their tongues. Not a soul knew what I’d done.
Around us, the hall hummed with speculation—chatting, chewing, glasses clinking. No one had the real facts.
Sebastian should have known. But he was nowhere to be found. I didn’t plan to seek him out. I didn’t want to owe him more than I already did.
I hold my fate in my own hands, I whispered under my breath. No one else would decide my path again.
I forced another spoonful of stew into my mouth. The air was so thick with anxiety it turned the food to ash. But I finished every drop. I’d need the fuel.
