“Our gods aren’t to blame,” Melody argued. “They’re not the ones bombing our cities!”
“Know your place, Miss Lowe,” Mazur said harshly, sounding more like herself. “You all seem so eager to know what’s happening out there. The truth is, this war began with the gods. Your gods have the power to protect their people, so why are so many dying? Because your godsdon’t care.”
“How can you say that?” Melody demanded. “Our gods would never abandon—”
“Your gods have already abandoned you,” Mazur interrupted. “Look around you. Every one of you has a story, and no one comes to the Institute with a good one. You’ve all seen death and abuse, and some of you have murdered people yourselves.”
Just rub the salt in the wound, why don’t you? She wasn’t saying all this to show compassion. She was saying it to make a point.
“Do you really think any of you would be put through such pain if your gods cared?” Mazur continued. “Your gods pick and choose who they care about, and then throw the others to the wolves. I did nothing wrong, and my daughter was taken from me. She was a devout member of the Celestial Church, and her sentence was terminal cancer. If anyone is going to rule us, then it needs to be someone who cares aboutallhis people. The angel god didn’t cure my daughter, but if someone else were to take his place, others would be spared the same suffering.”
As much as I despised Mazur, she made a good point. The Hawkei gods stood by and observed from the spirit world when I was taken from my parents as a baby. They watched me grow up on the streets and never stepped in to help. Hell, our gods watched Ava suffer. If they really loved us, they couldn’t let something like that happen. I loved my wife so damn much, and sitting here watching her be in pain was the worst. I wouldn’t be sitting around doing nothing about it if I had the power to stop it, yet our gods were doing just that.
At the back of the room, a guy scoffed. “And who’s going to step up and fight the old gods? The Warden? What acompassionatefellow, taking usrejectsin when our gods abandoned us.”
“That’s exactly what he did,” Mazur said proudly. “The Warden has done nothing but protect you all and give you an education. You should all want revenge for what your gods have put you through. You should want to build a better world.”
“Only the Almighty One can build a better world,” a student said ahead of me. His feathers rustled, and I knew it had to be an angel.
“There can only be one god,” Mazur said. “But gods have risen to power before, and a new god is rising. When multiple deities have a say, it throws off the balance. They must be eliminated so that a new god can rule— a god whocares. The world would be a better place with only one god in power.”
There it was. There was always a catch with the angels, wasn’t there?
“The Warden received a revelation to create The Mission, to guide you along this new path and into the light. Doctor Taurus is the prophet of The Mission, and he will bring us to a new god of peace,” Professor Mazur pressed. “If we allow ourselves to open our minds and think in new ways, the world can be healed. Supernaturals have gone to war because their gods told them to. If we were all governed under one god, there’d be no reason for war. The Mission seeks to unite us as one, so that we can follow the rising god to salvation. The God of The Mission will reveal himself when the time is right, but only once his followers have proven themselves.”
Murmurs traveled around the room. It sounded like several people were buying it.
“You’ve all come to the Institute to be reformed,” Mazur said. “If there’s any way for a student to better themselves, The Mission is it.”
I leaned over to Chancey and whispered, “You’re not actually considering this, are you?”
Chancey scoffed. “Nah, but the other angels are. Can’t say I’m not intrigued, though, even if just for a better shot at graduating.”
“You could offer me all the money in the world, and I still wouldn’t work for the Warden—”
“What was that, Mister Wahkin?” Mazur demanded. Her heels clicked as she approached our table.
I cleared my throat. “Just discussing our options, ma’am.”
“Surely you’ll join,” she stated. “After all, what other job prospects could someone likeyouhave? I’m sure The Mission can findsomethingfor you to do.”
“Someone like me? You mean because I’m blind?” That really pissed me off. I crossed my arms and leaned back in my chair. “Thanks for the offer, but I’ve already declared my major.”
Mazur laughed. “Criminal Justice? You may want to think more realistically about your options before it’s too late, Mister Wahkin.”
“What’s wrong with him majoring in Criminal Justice?” Chancey demanded.
“What role couldhepossibly serve in a criminal justice department?” Mazur sneered. “He certainly can’t be solving crimes out in the field, and he won’t be pushing papers behind a desk.”
“You clearly didn’t see his performance in the Darke Games,” Chancey growled. “For your information, Charlie’s going to be a supernatural bounty hunter, and a great one at that!”
I grabbed his arm to stop him, but he was royally pissed off.
Mazur laughed harder. “Is that so, Mister Wahkin? You’re going to hunt down criminals like yourself? How… interesting.”
My guts sank. It was such an innocent word, but the deepest of insults. I shouldn’t have given a shit what Mazur said, so why did it bother me?
Mazur walked to the front of the room again. “I suggest you all think very carefully about your futures. Fever dreams have no place at the Institute. The Mission is taking sign-ups now.”
