Page 37 of The Blood of Gods and Monsters

The sight of the mortal servants of the Academy reminds me of something. “Now that I’m no longer a Terra, will the three of you get a new servant?” I ask curiously, turning my gaze to first Theos and then Ruen.

“No,” Ruen says, keeping his eyes pinned to the front of the room. The door at the front of the classroom opens and Narelle enters in a wash of robes and skirts, slamming the door as she strides across the open space before the students until she reaches the board. My body goes rigid as she casts a look up, freezing for a mere second when she spots me sitting.

I half expect her not to realize that my station at the Academy has changed and to say something, but she doesn’t. In fact, other than that single slip, she doesn’t even acknowledge my existence in the seats—forbidden, of course, to Terra—as she launches into her lesson.

A little over an hour later, my back is tight with tension and my head is throbbing. It isn’t until we’re leaving the classroom, however, that I notice something off with both Ruen and Theos. For the fourth or fifth time, one of them lifts their head and peers over the crowd of students as they leave the room and gather in the corridors.

“What are you looking for?” I ask, frowning as the throbbing in my temples increases.

Almost absently, Theos moves to my side and takes my arm, urging me to the side as several female Second Tiers pass by, their heads swiveling to stare at me as they do.

I grit back the urge to bare my teeth at them before I realize I don’t have to anymore. At least … I don’t think I do. I flip my gaze to Ruen as he steps in front of me and continues to scan the sea of students on their way to their next classes. “What Tier am I?” I ask suddenly.

Ruen jolts as if shocked and turns, blinking at me with a stunned expression. “What?”

“What Tier am I?” I repeat. When that still doesn’t elicit an answer, I sigh. “You and the other Darkhavens are First Tiers, right? Do I need to take a test to determine what Tier I am?—”

“First.” I’m so focused on Ruen’s face as I speak that when that answer comes, I’m confused because it’s spoken without his lips having moved to shape that one word.

I turn to Theos, but he shakes his head as if he already senses my question—or perhaps it’s written all over my face. When Theos jerks his chin to the right and I follow the silent urging, I realize Kalix is standing there between us and the crowd.

Ah, I realize. It wasn’t a what they were looking for, but a who. Him. Kalix.

“I’m a First Tier?” I clarify, frowning as Kalix begins to move towards us, cutting through the crowd like a hot knife through butter. The other students part, several nearly falling all over themselves to get out of his way as he moves. I don’t blame them. Kalix is so far from a normal person—Mortal God or otherwise—that there’s no telling his reactions to things that other people would consider normal. Who’s to say he wouldn’t straight up rip the head off someone who steps in his path, accidentally or not?

When Kalix smiles as he approaches, I nearly stumble in my own surprise as the others nudge me forward to meet him. The picture of Kalix’s expression far more confusing than anything he could’ve said. When he smiles, he almost looks … normal.

It’s a mask, that’s for damn sure. My body still remembers how he’d nearly drowned me when he fucked me in the Terra baths. A shiver skids down my spine as if recalling that memory has my senses reacting on instinct.

Kalix’s lips widen as if he scents the sudden wetness that I’m almost half ashamed of soaking the place between my thighs. His teeth appear sharper for all of a second before he stops before the three of us and answers my question that he obviously heard over the crowd’s low hum. “Your Tier will be determined during the ceremony at the Spring Equinox,” he states. “But if any of us would guess, we’d say you’ll likely be a First Tier. Few Mortal Gods can wield as much power over familiars as we’ve seen you do.”

“But you?—”

“First. Tier.” Kalix repeats the words with that grin of his.

Right. He’s a First Tier and I have to admit, he’s right. In the months I’ve been at the Academy, I haven’t seen many other Mortal Gods openly use familiars, and the ones I had seen were considered First Tiers as well.

“Don’t forget that you were also able to wield at least some of your powers even with a sliver of brimstone in your neck.” Ruen’s voice lowers as he dips his head closer to the side of my face. His nearness as well as the warm breath he sends over the shell of my ear reawakens that odd emotion that flutters in my lower belly.

I’m pulling away from him before I even realize I’m doing it. I recognize the action for what it is—self-preservation. “Why is that so shocking?” I ask, trying not to sound as breathless as I feel.

Three sets of eyes spear me. “Not here,” Ruen finally answers. He nods somewhere over Kalix’s shoulder. “We’ll talk about it later, but for now, we should head to our next class.”

I must make a face because when Theos looks at me, he snorts out a laugh before casually moving closer and slinging an arm around both of my shoulders. “Oh, don’t be like that, Dea,” he says jovially. “You’ll like the next one—it’s battle practice.”

Battle practice? Oh shit. Shock slams into me along with a new realization. The Battles.

Now that I’m a Mortal God out in the open, I, too, will be expected to fight in them if I’m called. Theos’ hand tightens on my shoulder.

“Don’t worry,” he says. “With your … previous training”—he lowers his voice at that before returning to a normal tone—“and all that we’ll teach you, we’ll make sure that you’re in fighting shape before they announce the next rounds.”

I shrug his hand off before shooting him a scathing glare. “If anything, Theos,” I reply, “you should be worried about yourself and your fellow Mortal Gods.”

Though I never expected it, now that I no longer have to hide my skills or who I am, I’m more than ready to show these men what my ‘previous training’ taught me.

Theos grins. “I look forward to kicking your ass,” he says.

I smile sweetly back at him, showing him my teeth. “That’s if you can touch it,” I reply.

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