Cursed Academy (Year One) Page 10

  "Um, what? Golems?" I eyed the woman statue. She looked a lot like Athena with her spectacles and her glare. Like the world's scariest librarian. She also held a sword and a shield, one on each side. And the male statue wore a helmet and held the same weapons.

  "Golems." Ronin pointed to the statues and shook his head. "He thinks you can fight these guys. Zeus himself breathed life into these two, and trust me, they hurt."

  "You mean these statues are going to attack me?"

  "Yes."

  My knees weakened. "Could you stop smiling about it?"

  "No. This might be interesting. Maybe you can trip them."

  Great. And why was Ronin still being such a jerk, especially after what he did at lunch? "Why are you being like this? And I need a weapon." I had to stall. Anything. Then I spotted a marble shed near the clearing.

  "Giselle—" Ronin said.

  But I was already walking to it. Ronin sighed behind me. "Those are all god descendant weapons in there. You won't be able to handle them."

  "Then you should have let me bring my stick." I balled my fists, holding back tears of frustration. Ronin was just frustrating. Did he want me to fail? I went inside, letting my eyes adjust to the gloom. Yeah, there were weapons here, lots of them. Swords hung from the walls, shining and new, each with a metal handle that must have been crafted by the god of metalwork himself. I spotted handles adorned with lightning bolts, others with fighting warriors, and still others with vines and flowers. I picked up a random sword that looked heavy, which promptly sunk in my hands and made me bend over.

  I cursed as I dropped the heavy weapon.

  And of course, Ronin stood in the doorway.

  "You know, the Hephaestus Society are smart people. His descendants craft weapons actually meant for hot, irresistible people like me. That's a sword made for a descendant of Ares. You can tell by the fighting dudes on the handle. No way you'll ever handle it. And mine's the one with the lightning bolt. Touch it, and get shocked."

  "Shut up!" These were birthright weapons. Did Ronin expect me to fight a golem with my fists? But I had to try.

  "Oh, you stand up to yourself to me," Ronin says. "Why can't you do that at any other time?"

  His words turned my limbs to wax. Ronin was an easy target for my frustration. Wendy wasn't. Neither was Grandma. He was getting to me and I turned away from him so he wouldn't see. How could I ever stand spending every evening around him? I picked up sword after sword as my heart raced for multiple reasons. And each one I put back (or dropped, just as Ronin predicted.)

  "That one belongs to descendants of Gaia. No, that one goes to someone who comes from Bacchus. See the grape leaves on the handle?" As Ronin spoke, he got more amused. Heat rushed into my cheeks.

  Holding the Bacchus sword, though it was light, made me dizzy, almost like I was drunk, so I dropped that one, too. "Just let me pick out the crappiest possible weapon and get it over with." I stormed to the back of the shed as my gaze fell on a dagger with a black handle that actually fit in my hand. "Look. This one's the most pathetic blade in this building, and I bet it's mine on that alone. See? I haven't even dropped—"

  The electric, cold darkness filled my limbs as I held the blade in front of my face, pointing it at Ronin. It was an automatic response. I took a breath as the sensation spread through my body, filling me with icy plasma. The dagger felt right in my hand, almost as if it were an extension of my body, and a strange strength flowed under my skin.

  Ronin let his jaw fall. His gaze darted side to side like he was trying to figure out which swear word was the best for this situation. He clearly hadn't expected this. Or wanted it.

  And that made a tingle of satisfaction race up my spine.

  Was this my birthright weapon?

  It was at Olympian Academy the whole time?

  He'd given me the wrong one?

  "Ronin?" I asked. "Is this dagger actually something scary and dangerous?" I lowered the six-inch-long blade and tossed it to my other hand. The handle offered no clues except for a bunch of swirling lines around it. That could mean anything. It was just as vague as the vision back in the sorting temple.

  "I..." he started. "I didn't expect you to pick that one. Nobody's picked that weapon, ever. And since I've been picking on you, I thought you'd go for that sword on the other side of you and try to cut me down with it. Note that I say try."

  "Or did you hide this from me?" I asked. "And you wanted me to think I just had that stupid stick?" I should have known.

  Ronin didn't even work his jaw. He looked like a deer caught in headlights.

  "You asshole!"

  "I didn't know that was your dagger," he said, but it turned out Ronin was a crappy liar. He wouldn't look at me now.

  The ice calmed down a bit and allowed me to breathe. He had to know what this weapon meant and where it came from. Mentally I counted to ten. Screaming at Ronin wouldn't get me answers. "What do you know about this?" I held the dagger in front of my face, turning it towards the wall. Its blade carried a faint purple sheen.

  "Well, it's been sitting there for years. That's about it. You're the first person to pick it up." Ronin checked behind him, but no one stood in the hidden arena.

  "You seriously don't know. You were just telling me all about the other weapons."

  "Hey. We fight with swords and spend classes learning about them. I'm a second year, and that's part of the curriculum."

  "That's not good enough for me. You're going to tell me—"

  But Ronin backed out of the shed doorway and into the arena. Like he was trying to avoid me.

  Tightening my grasp on my new weapon, I followed him out into the arena. It thrummed with dark plasma. The sensation was both creepy and exhilarating. Like going on a scary amusement park ride must be like. Not that I'd ever done that.

  "Ronin!"

  He stood in the middle of the dirt clearing, right between the golems. I watched as he spread both arms and the air electrified. "Try not to fall on your face," he said, walking back to the sidelines as a pair of lightning bolts snapped from each of his arms and struck each statue.

  I jumped.

  He wasn't serious.

  Yes, he was.

  Why did he have to start training me on this? It wasn't fair. It wasn't right.

  Behind me, the scary librarian statue groaned. I whirled, almost losing my balance, just in time to see the stone statue lift its foot and take one terrifying, loud step towards me. The ground shook. This golem must weigh thousands of pounds.

  I backed off, which took me closer to the male statue, which also made a low rumble as it moved. The female warrior's dead eyes dared me to raise my voice above a whisper.

  This dagger might make me feel weird, but it was still a dagger. My heart raced with panic and roared in my ears. Shaking, I raised the dagger to point at the statue's chest, but slowly, she lifted her shield with one hand and her sword with the other. I'd die. It would happen at a snail's pace, but I'd die if I didn't run.

  And Ronin stood there, arms crossed, sweat forming at his temples. Unless he could shoot lightning from his nose, he wasn't helping me.

  Behind me, the male warrior crunched closer.

  Move, Giselle.

  I sidestepped.

  And stumbled, getting one foot caught on the other and almost losing grip on my weapon.

  "Typical!" he shouted.

  Even in the face of death he got on my nerves. Ice raced up and down my spine. When I blinked, all I saw was the swirling dark behind my eyelids. But the dagger thrummed again, begging me to use it, and then the strength returned to my limbs and I opened my eyes. The female warrior towered over me, sword now overhead—

  "Go away!" I shouted, pointing the dagger at her arm.

  A jolt of icy plasma shot down my arm. I fell back on my butt, but before Ronin could jeer and laugh, a bolt of purplish blackness shot from my blade. The darkness wrapped around the statue like a lasso, stopping it in its tracks.

  The golem
tried to slam me with its sword.

  Like a serpent, the darkness lashed around her wrist, stopping her. A low groan filled the air. The golem shook as it tried to deliver the killing blow.

  I came to my senses and rolled away.

  Just as the male golem stomped on the spot I'd been lying a second before. The ground shook again.

  Ronin ran towards me with wide eyes. I'd showed him. But I'd gloat later.

  And then he paled and mouthed something probably not rated G.

  I shuffled off the dirt arena as the male golem stilled, kicking up dust, dagger still in my grasp. Trying to get up just made me stumble back to the ground. Around the female statue, the purplish-black lasso intensified, sucking in the air around it. My hair whipped into my face. Crumbling sounds followed.

  The golem was collapsing in on itself, as if something were feeding on it from within. And I knew what that was.

  What had I done?

  "Giselle!" Ronin shouted.

  He appeared at my side, grabbing my arm and helping me up. My mouth had gone dry. My heart banged into my ribs painfully. I leaned into Ronin, right up against his strong muscles, as he pulled me off the arena and back into the trees. The librarian statue continued to crumble, ensnared in a web of pure darkness.

  I looked away. Ronin's eyes were wide. Begging. Scared. We didn't have to speak to know the meaning. We had to go, and we had to go now.

  Ronin maintained his grasp, sending electric tingles up my arm. "Keep the dagger. We have to go before this draws attention. Come on. I know a spot."

  "What is happening?" The crumbling intensified. From the corner of my vision, I saw a stone arm fall. The whole upper half of the warrior had crumbled, exposing a purplish black hole inside.

  "I'll explain!"

  We ran away from the dirt arena and into the woods, away from the buildings of Olympian. A loud, final crumbling noise followed. Someone would hear the roar.

  Ronin hadn't wanted this to happen.

  "Even in an emergency, you're a jerk?" I asked.

  "Yes." Ronin pulled me down another trail, a barely visible one that led to a small lake that amazingly, didn't even have any garbage around it. Shouts rang out in the distance. People were going to find a big pile of Evil Librarian in the arena.

  I'd done that.

  It was as if Ronin's taunting had made me snap.

  Once I caught my breath, Ronin let go of my wrist. He paced as if angry. Kicked a rock. I tensed even more, if that was possible.

  "I didn't mean to do that," I said.

  "I know you didn't. I was hoping I could stop you from doing something like that. It's possible to beat down a god descendant's or a monster's powers if you make them believe they're powerless. Guess I had the opposite effect."

  Our gazes met. We stood just two feet apart, and the golden flecks in Ronin's eyes trained on me. But hatred surged through me and I let go of the dagger before I wound up opening another hole. Or summoning another lasso.

  "You were trying to trip me up?" I shouted.

  Ronin squared off with me. "Yes. I even left your birthright weapon here on purpose and gave you that worthless staff. Low, I know."

  "Why?" Did he just like seeing other people fail? I wanted to slap him. Instead, I sucked in a breath and searched for something to throw. Settling on some dead leaves, I chucked them at Ronin. Not only did they miss, but most of them flew back and stuck to my shirt.

  And this time, Ronin didn't snort.

  "I deserved that."

  "No kidding." The shouting in the distance drew closer, then stopped. Stunned silence dragged out. Whoever had investigated just found the destroyed statue.

  Ronin glanced in that direction, though we must be hundreds of feet away by now and surrounded by just wilderness.

  "Why did you try to subdue my magic?" I asked. Ronin was like Grandma. "Why didn't you just leave me with Grandma in that case?"

  "Because I had to bring you here. Zeus wanted you at Olympian and I wasn't going to argue with him. I'm not even a messenger and he sent me personally to get you. So he thinks you're valuable."

  A chill ran down my spine. "Me?" I was about to get some answers. The air rippled with tension.

  Ronin swallowed. "I'm amazed you developed your magic at all after living in that town and with that grandmother." He sighed, faced the ground, and turned his gaze back up to me. "Having a lot of power isn't always a good thing. It puts you on the spot. You know I'm Zeus's son. The pressure...you don't want it. You don't deserve it after all you've already dealt with. And now you're on the spot. The Lower Order is a problem for the gods and society, and they need everyone they can get to fight back."

  "You were being a jerk to protect me from that?" The anger vanished, but my racing pulse remained. "But why are my powers an issue? Lots of people here have magic. You need to tell me the truth."

  "Because," he said, facing the ground and gulping. "Because my father thinks you came from Chaos, the darkness that created everything. The first deity, in a way. And that makes you, well, I don't know what exactly, but what you just pulled is probably just the beginning."

  Chapter Eleven

  "What?" I choked.

  Ronin let out a slow breath. I hated the way that silence dragged out. "It's not fair. You didn't ask for this. I failed."

  "Okay. First you're telling me I come from that force that spit out everything and now you're telling me you're a failure?" I asked. "I'm not sure what to believe less."

  "My father is...my father is hard to please," Ronin said, taking my arms. "He's even worse than your grandmother."

  He. Was. Touching. Me. With those electric palms. I couldn't breathe.

  And he felt like a failure? That didn't compute. If anyone had screwed things up it was me. Ronin was just too hot and perfect to be a failure, except in the manners department. How demanding was Zeus, anyway? He was only the master of the gods, the CEO of the world's biggest company, and the richest dude on the planet.

  Okay. Ronin had a lot to live up to.

  And I was shaking. I lifted my gaze to his. "So I was supposed to come to Olympian." How could I be angry at Ronin now?

  "Yes. I don't know what Prometheus was thinking, marking you. He and Zeus hate each other for reasons I don't understand. They don't talk about their history. I think there's a lot of old stuff going on between the immortals and now you're caught in the middle of it. I'm sorry, Giselle."

  Ronin. Just. Apologized.

  "You're not a complete asshole," I blurted.

  Then he let go of me, leaving the gentle, electric pressure on my arms. "Maybe not all of the time, but it comes with the territory. Now we can't go back on your training. Your powers are too far along, so it's better now if you learn to use them to protect yourself. And do try to stand up to other people more, not just me. I'll step in as much as I can, but I can't be there all the time. I knew you'd cause problems when you came here." Ronin, as if regretting his show of weakness, turned his back and looked out at the water.

  "Oh. There's the jerkwad." I pushed the words out now, because what else could I do? The swirling black void...the purplish blackness...I was opening portals to Chaos itself. The primordial, dark force that formed the universe and created the first gods.

  I was dark. Destructive.

  "Sinking in?" Ronin asked, whirling. "A lot of really tough crap is coming. Beware of everyone."

  "Ronin!"

  Zeus's thunderous voice boomed from the direction of the dirt arena.

  Ronin stiffened and worked his jaw. Was this what he dealt with every day?

  "Let me take care of this," he said, backing up to the secret trail. "I'll tell Zeus you tripped, and the golem was about to kill you, and I had to blast it apart. Then you freaked out and ran. That's the story. The longer he's not ready to use you against the Lower Order, the better it'll be for you. Stick to it."

  "Um..." That sounded plausible. My chest hurt and my heart raced. Disappointment filled my chest. Ronin w
as still keeping me under wraps. But before I could confront him about that, too, he darted back into the trees. "She ran off! I can't find her."

  Zeus went silent. I stood next to the lake as a few ducks landed and paddled on the water. I tried to listen to see what Ronin and Zeus were saying to each other, but it was impossible when I stood hundreds of feet from the arena. The light slowly faded as I forced in breath after breath.

  Chaos.

  That was like, below Hades. Below even Tartarus, the worst depths of the Underworld.

  And somehow I was descended from it. How?

  And what did that mean for me?

  The more I thought about it, the more I paced, and the more panic built in my chest. When Ronin didn't return after five more minutes, I scooped up my dagger, broke into a run, and tore through the trees in the direction of what I hoped was Cursed Academy. I had to tell Maria and Mikey. They'd be waiting up by my room for sure.

  Maria was my best shot.

  I was gasping for breath by the time I broke onto the back of the Cursed Academy grounds. I staggered onto the gravel path leading from the main arena. Somewhere, people laughed. Stopping for a second, I caught my breath. Still no athlete, I realized. Maybe being a klutz came from being a descendant of Chaos. Perfect.

  As I forced myself towards the back of the dorms, I walked past an assembled group of two dozen third and fourth years hanging out in the trees. Some really awful rap played from some speakers someone had hooked to a laptop. Cigarette smoke and the faint smell of booze washed over me. One of the fourth years, a guy in his black uniform who had the hairy hands of a werewolf, howled at me.

  "Want to join us?" he asked.

  "Um..." I started. I really had to get back to my dorm.

  "Dude, she's a first year," another guy, a third year, told him. "They're all scared of us."

  I hurried past because I was scared of myself. Even among all these werewolves and spider shifters and lamiai, I was the scariest, darkest thing here.

  Maria and Mikey were, it turned out, waiting on the stairwell for me. Maria got up, pulling Mikey to his feet, and lifted one eyebrow.

  I waved them both inside my room and told them what happened.