After a quick shower and change of clothes, Georgina, Jasmine, and I met up with the others in the north hall. Music was already thumping before we even rounded the corner. As promised, Dionysus was DJing some epic beats, and there was food and drink a plenty, served by Hephaistos’s little wooden robots on wheels. Laser lights danced around to the music.
I grabbed a plate of food and a drink and then commandeered a sitting area, which consisted of a sofa and bean-bag chair just off the makeshift dancefloor to eat. Georgina, Jasmine, Mia, Ren, and Marek joined me, all cramming in the space together. I looked around for Lucian but didn’t see him. Disappointment flooded me. Despite our stolen moments in the maze, we hadn’t had a lot of opportunity to socialize, especially in a group. I honestly didn’t even know if he wanted people to know we were… I didn’t even know what to call it. It’s not like we were dating, the academy wasn’t a place to date in. A relationship would’ve been too serious. I guess we were hanging out together. I really hoped he didn’t want to hide that. I was already feeling pretty raw from the Ares incident I didn’t want my whole heart torn out by Lucian’s rejection.
After eating, Mia grabbed Jasmine’s arm and pulled her out onto the dancefloor. I loved that Mia had been slowly urging Jasmine out of her shell. She’d been guarded before, but with Mia she let those walls down.
After watching them dance for a song, I couldn’t resist getting out there myself, and I pulled everyone out there with me. We all deserved a chance to just let go and have some fun. It wouldn’t be long before things got really serious and after the trials, some of us might even be kicked out if we didn’t pass. There were twelve of them, and everyone had to pass at least eight to be considered for placement in a clan.
On the floor, I closed my eyes and let the music take over. Every thump of the bass oscillated through my body. It was like the music originated inside me. It was vibrant and exciting, and I couldn’t stop smiling as I moved to the beat. Bodies pressed against mine, as we all jumped and gyrated. Then I felt a hand on my waist. Opening my eyes, I twirled around to find Lucian swaying his body next to me.
My grin nearly split my face it was so wide. Overjoyed he was here, I moved in closer to him and wrapped my arms around his neck. He settled his hands at my waist, and we danced together, our bodies in perfect rhythm. I knew we were getting looks, but I didn’t care, and he didn’t seem to, either.
We danced and laughed into the late hours. It was the best night of my life. When he ran off with Ren and a few others to check out Dionysus’s music collection, I decided to duck out to get some air. Dionysus had used too much dry ice in the smoke machine, and it had clogged in my nose and throat.
I left the hall and stepped out into the main lobby. There were a few students gathered here and there in small groups. I moved around them, heading toward a small alcove containing a stone bench. But when I neared it, I realized it was occupied by Jasmine and Mia. They were sharing an intimate kiss. They both looked up as I approached.
“Oops, sorry.” I put up my hand to excuse myself, making an abrupt right turn and out into the dark corridor nearby, smiling to myself. I was so happy Jasmine had found someone in this place.
I kept walking until I was alone and found a bench to sit on. I’d been there no more than five minutes before I heard footsteps as someone approached. Revana stepped into a pool of moonlight that radiated through one of the big arched windows high above.
“Did you actually follow me out here? That’s a bit creepy, don’t you think?”
“You think you’re so clever.”
I got to my feet. I had a feeling this wasn’t just going to be a social call. “Yeah, pretty much.”
“Lucian just feels sorry for you, you know? That’s the only reason he’s slumming it with you.”
“Maybe.” I shrugged. “But he’s still with me and not you.”
“For now.” Her eyes narrowed. “I’ve had him before. I’ll have him again. We were meant to be together.”
“Whatever, Revana.” I was going to have to pass by her to return to the hall. “Have your little fantasy. Doesn’t bother me any.” I walked toward her with every intention of just brushing past her.
But she had other plans.
She grabbed my arm, turning me slightly. With her other hand, she tried to punch me in the face, but I sensed it coming and blocked her blow, countering with a strike to her midsection. It wasn’t a hard blow, just a reminder to her that she shouldn’t test me. I was better at hand to hand then she was.
“Walk away, Revana.” I stepped back onto my left foot, preparing to fight if she provoked me any further. “This is a fight you won’t win. I guarantee you that.”
I thought for one moment, she was going to stand down, but then she flicked her wrist, and there was a small dagger in her hand. I didn’t know where she’d had it stashed, but I knew she’d become proficient with knives, as she’d done some special training with Ares when he saw that she had an affinity to them.
“What? Are you going to kill me?”
“No, I’d get expelled for that.” She spun the dagger expertly in her hand. “I’m just going to add to the ugly scars you already have.”
She was skilled enough to wound me before I could disarm her. I had to find another way out of this. I cast my gaze around, sensing the shadows creeping along the walls and floor. I wasn’t sure if I was doing it or someone else was, but soon we were cloaked in darkness.
“Coward!”
Revana’s voice faded into the background, muffled by the thick murkiness of the air.
Not completely confident of where I was going, I took a few steps to the left, hoping to pass by Revana and escape the corridor. After another few steps, I realized the ground beneath my shoes felt different. I was no longer walking on tile, but spongey grass.
I took another few steps forward and waved my hands in front of me. The shadows dissipated to reveal I was out in the center of the maze and not in the academy at all.
“Well done. I didn’t think you’d be able to transport through the shadows, but you’ve proven me wrong.”
I whipped around to see Hades sitting on the stone bench in the gazebo, as nonchalant as could be.
I walked toward him. “Did you bring me here?”
“I merely sent the darkness to you. You decided what to do with it.”
Another thought popped into my mind. I remembered something Lucian had said to me before. “Did you save me from being electrocuted by Zeus’s lightning?”
He tilted his head as he regarded me. “And what if I did? What would you say?”
I shrugged. “Thank you, I guess.”
He laughed. “Yes, perfect.” He stood and came toward me. “I like you, Melany. You have a lot of feistiness. It’ll serve you well in the days to come.”
“What days? What do you mean?”
Before he could answer, he stepped into a circle of darkness and sunk into it, like quicksand, and vanished.
Chapter Twenty
MELANY
I didn’t tell anyone about the confrontation with Revana and the subsequent transporting through the shadows and talking with Hades in the maze. One, I didn’t want to make the situation worse with Revana—besides that, I wasn’t a snitch—and two, I didn’t want to have to explain seeing Hades, a God who wasn’t supposed to be allowed on school grounds. That would lead to too many questions, especially the one I didn’t have an answer for—what was Hades’s interest in me?
I put it all in the back of my mind as I buckled in for long, hard training. It was crunch time. We had only a couple of weeks until the trials.
Every day, I worked hard in my classes, even clocking in extra time in the evening before curfew, especially in animal handling class with Artemis and prophecy with Apollo, well, not directly with Apollo, but with Pythia, his assistant. I was having trouble wrangling and riding the fire-breathing horses in the stable. I’d had some luck with the griffin, and I once rode one of the unicorns, but the fire-breathing horses were the most powerful out of all the beasts. I wanted to learn how to tame them.