“How do they work?”
He eyed me for a moment and then opened the box for me to see inside. “After you open the box, a scroll appears. On the scroll will be an invitation and etched inside the box a riddle for you to solve, so you can find the location of the portal to the academy.” He snapped the box closed. “But of course, you know all that, since you’re here.”
I couldn’t give myself away, but I had to know the truth. “Is there a way to trick the box? To come to the academy on someone else’s invitation?”
He snorted. “Absolutely not. That would be impossible. The box will only respond to its intended recipient. One of the Gods couldn’t even break the magic tied to the box.”
I gnawed at my lip. The relief was so instant that tears welled in my eyes.
“Besides that, the portal only opens for those who are supposed to come to the academy. A person could swim to Atlantis and never find it.”
I nodded to him, trying hard not to sob with elation at the fact that I was supposed to be here. That I was invited by the Gods to train in the Gods’ Army. That they wanted me, Melany Richmond, poor orphan girl, rebel, troublemaker, and not Callie Demos, the perfect specimen of Greek devotion, to come to the legendary academy.
He set the box back onto the shelf.
“Thank you, Hephaistos, sir.”
I couldn’t stop the smile spreading on my face. I turned to head back to the stairs.
“I saw your leap earlier.”
I froze, unsure of what to say.
“That was sixteen feet, give or take a few inches.” He rubbed at his bulbous nose.
I stared at him, wondering if somehow I had broken even more rules or had broken something when I jumped.
“It was impressive.” He gave me a dismissive wave of his meaty hand. “Now, get the hell out of my foundry, and if you ever come here unsupervised again, I’ll have you expelled.”
I almost ran out of there but was careful on the bridge this time. As I mounted the stairs, my heart was hammering as loud as the one I’d used earlier. I vibrated with excitement. I wasn’t the outcast I thought I was. I had every right to be here. The knowledge of that propelled me up the stairs two at a time.
When I reached the top, I had a skip in my step and was going to go to the dining hall and eat as much pizza as I could fit into my mouth. As I came around the corner, a hand clamped over my mouth, and I was pushed up against the wall. Instinct took over and I lashed out, biting down on the hand over my lips.
“Ow, Blue. You didn’t have to bite me so damn hard.”
Chapter Eight
MELANY
My heart still pounded in my chest as I stared Lucian in the face. I had to take in a big breath to try and calm down. My flight or fight instincts had kicked in, and unlucky for him I was a fighter. “Why did you grab me?”
Rubbing at his hand, I noticed a red mark on his palm where my teeth had sunk in. He shrugged. “I don’t know. I saw you sneaking around and thought I’d surprise you.”
“Well, you deserved that bite.”
His eyes narrowed. “What were you doing, anyway?”
“Nothing.”
“Were you coming from the forge?” He peered around the corner at the winding staircase.
“No.” I started walking to the dining hall, hoping our conversation was over, but he got in step with me. My stomach growled in reminder I hadn’t eaten since breakfast, which was a bowl of oatmeal and an apple.
“You know, I can’t figure you out, Blue.”
“I didn’t realize I was a math equation.”
He laughed. “That’s what I’m talking about. That surly attitude.”
“You know what I think? You’re not used to girls with brains. You like girls who fawn at your every word. Girls who swoon when you flex your biceps.”
He flexed his arm. “I think it’s pretty impressive.”
I hated that it was impressive and wouldn’t mind wrapping a hand over it. But I wasn’t about to let him know that. I knew boys like Lucian. I’d seen them sniffing around Callie. One had sniffed around me once, thinking he could take advantage of the poor girl who lived in the housekeeper’s cottage. That boy ended up with a broken nose and ice on his junk after I set him straight and taught him some manners and how consent actually worked.
When we reached the dining hall, I quickly spotted Jasmine and Georgina and fully intended to go sit with them and eat some pizza where it was safe. Standing here next to Lucian felt dangerous. We weren’t touching, but I wanted us to. I hated that I thought about his full, soft-looking lips, and how they would feel on mine.
He leaned into me, taking advantage of our height difference. Did he know what I was thinking? The gleam in his eyes worried me. “You look like you want to jump out of your skin.”
I licked my lips. “I’m just hungry. I look edgy when I’m hungry.”
“I think I make you nervous.”
I met his gaze head on. His green eyes had pretty gold flecks in them. “No. Why would you?”
His eyes traveled my face, lingering a bit too long on my mouth. “No reason. I look forward to our next sparring class.” He tipped his head and walked into the dining hall to join his friends, who stared our way. I could just imagine what Revana was going to say to him about talking to me.
I quickly made my way to where Jasmine and Georgina sat. Both of them had lifted eyebrows when I sat down and grabbed the piece of pizza they’d gotten for me.
“What was that all about?” Jasmine asked.
“Nothing.”
“You know, I think maybe you and I have a very different definition of nothing.”
I shoved the pizza in my mouth, ending the conversation about Lucian. I didn’t want to talk about him because there was something between us. Some kind of energy that sparked every time he was near. It unnerved me. And I couldn’t afford to be unnerved. Now that I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I was supposed to be here, I had to concentrate on being the best. Failure wasn’t an option for me.
Elemental class was the one class everyone had been waiting for. Not only was it an opportunity to learn how to control various elements like water and lightning, but it was a chance to impress the God of all Gods: Zeus. Just about everyone I knew hoped they had an affinity to lightning, everyone except Georgina. The only God she wished to impress was Demeter. And it’s all she would talk about as we made our way across the courtyard to the huge training facility behind the academy.
“Did you know Demeter invented agriculture? Without her we wouldn’t even be able to feed ourselves. We’d still be a bunch of Neanderthals eating meat for every meal.”
I just nodded and made agreeing noises, as she listed off all the things that Demeter had done or said or discovered. It was a long list, but we made it to the building by the time she finished. The doors opened, and we all walked into a huge, open-air facility that had been separated into different areas. Some of the areas were raised on platforms connected by metal staircases. In each area, I assumed, stood one of the Gods.
I recognized Zeus, who stood on the highest level, three metal rods erected behind him, and Hephaistos, who stood on a lower level next to a large unlit fire pit.
Georgina grabbed my arm and squealed, “It’s Demeter.” She gestured to the woman with long, messy dark blonde hair, who sat on a huge rock in the middle of a small garden. She wore a long, gauzy skirt, a band T-shirt that I think it said Jefferson Airplane, and was shoeless.
The man standing near a small pool of water on the lowest level had to be Poseidon. He had a similar face as Zeus, but his hair was dark brown in short waves. I supposed he would be called ruggedly handsome.
“I wonder who that is?” I gestured to the nearest area shrouded in darkness. Every once in a while, I could see a shimmer of movement.
Jasmine frowned. “Who?”
I pointed to the shadows. “There’s someone moving around on that platform.”
“You’re seeing things, Mel. There’s no one there.”