“Sage and I had bigger things to discuss than her teammates. She didn’t actually request anyone for her team. If she feels the need to tell her teammates what we discussed, that is up to her. Now, the food really isn’t drugged, so you’re going to want to eat up because after I’ve decided on the teams, we’re going to do the ritual, give you supplies, and immediately send you out to the trials.”
“Have people died in these trials?”
“Yes, and it’s never by the students testing them. It’s never intended and all of you aresupposedto survive. You’re only supposed to fail the trials if you tap out before you collect the crystals. It’s usually one of the other teams that goes too far and tries to take out the other teams, even though we tell everyone every year that’s not how it works.”
“Don’t bullshit me because I can’t believe I’m saying this. Are crystals really magic?”
“Yes, they are. They need to be cared for and properly charged to be useful, but they all do different things.”
I sighed. I was a prick, but I wasn’t an arsehole and I could admit when I was wrong. I was going to have to send a heartfelt apology to a girl I went to school with who offered me an amethyst to improve my aura.
Fuck me.
Iliked Khalid, even if we didn’t get to talk that long before he got called to meet with Headmaster Mykene. The deathly hot guy from the hostel was here, but he was lurking like he did at the hostel. He seemed to keep to himself in Amsterdam and so did I, so we never really talked.
We were going to be going to school together, so I was going to go introduce myself after I finished eating. Except he was walking towards me looking like a predator. He had this gorgeous mop of black hair and these insanely blue eyes.
He was tall, but all the guys here seemed to be taller than average. The shortest of them seemed to be six foot four. They were all different builds, from ripped with muscles to fairly lean.The one face I knew from the hostel had the body of a ballet dancer. I only got to see the ballet after I left home because my father thought it was sinful, but I ended up loving it.
He was looking right at me. Shit, he was about to come over and talk to me. Why was I even nervous? I wasn’t really allowed to talk to anyone my father didn’t approve of when I was a teenager, but I got all that out of my system when my parents kicked me out.
Except before he could get to me, a woman stepped between us and cut off our eye connection. Shit, could he feel that, too? I didn’t feel it as much back in the hostel because I was mostly only there to sleep. I worked, saw everything I could, and then I went back and crashed. It was like there was this invisible cord drawing me to him when our eyes met.
I wasn’t a rude person, but I nearly snapped at the woman who broke the connection and had to stop myself.
“Hi, I’m Maya. I’m the campus healer. I’m trained in magical healing, but I also went to medical school with humans so I can treat diseases that affect us both. Do you have time to come get your insulin pump put in? The Headmaster is going to meet with everyone to get a read on them, take any requests, put the teams together, and then you’ll do the ritual and go straight to the trial.”
“Oh, yes. I’ve actually wanted it for a very long time. Ishouldhave had one, but my father refused to pay for it.”
“Want me to kill him?”
“Excuse me?”
The Irishman stepped around the healer with a dangerous smirk.
“Liam O’Breen. He played with your life. I could show him what that feels like.”
“Um, that’s okay. I pointed the IRS at him and I’m pretty sure they are going to find a lot more discrepancies than him claimingme as a dependent when he shouldn’t. I also notified them of some videos of his sermons, so his church is probably going to lose their tax-exempt status for getting political.”
He just nodded.
“I can appreciate that kind of justice, but if you want me to gut him, just say the word.”
Was the dick on my pillow some kind of weird gift from Liam? I couldn’t ask because I needed to take care of myself right now. And, oh. Liam intended on coming with us.
“So, is this going to hurt her?” he demanded.
“It’s a fairly simple procedure and if you’re thinking of getting stabby about it, remember that I’m a fully trained witch and can hex you in a number of ways.”
“Seriously? Can you give someone syphilis if I give you something of theirs?”
“Yes, but I won’t because they did nothing to me.”
I interrupted. I’d done my research on insulin pumps because I eventually hoped to be able to afford one, but I also wasn’t expecting to be kidnapped and stuck in the elements doing trials.
“I know I can disconnect it long enough to shower, but how is that going to work in the trials? How am I supposed to bathe?”
“The one we’re giving you is fully waterproof, so you’ll be fine. The beaches here are lovely, but this is not an ideal situation for you. Check your feet for cuts when you’re done.
