Page 188 of The Wishing Game

"I'm so excited to show you my home, Luce." Thea clasps her hands together as she gushes about her sister and their home, describing all the things we can do together and all the places we should visit. The way she's talking about it makes it seem like we're going on a vacation, not embarking on a potentially deadly trial.

I nod as I put on my shoes, signaling I'm ready to head to the courtyard. We head out of the apartment, walking alongside the other teams who qualified for the third trial. To my great surprise, there are quite a few people—at least half of those who were present at the inauguration. And that tells me one thing—these people arestrong.

A shiver goes down my back as I wonder how we'll fare in this trial without Ze and Cer. We don't even know what the trial will entail, but if it's something to do with strength, then I'm already at a disadvantage.

"There's this place in the city that I think you'll love," Thea continues in a sing-song voice, barely minding the glances she's getting from the other contestants.

"This is as far as I can accompany you," Cer interjects. "I will see you in Aperion." He turns to his sister. "Until then, you should come up with an excuse for our parents. They will want to know where their precious daughter has been," he says with the hint of a smile.

Thea's eyes widen in realization and she stops speaking, her lips trembling.

"What will I tell them?" she whispers. "They'll be so angry if they find out I sneaked into the game."

"What's going on?" I frown. She mentioned before that if they were found out to be participating in the game, they'd get in trouble, but she never specified why.

"I think it's time to come clean, Thea. She'll find out sooner or later anyway," Cer tells her. Thea licks her lips as she glances at her brother, fidgeting on the spot.

"Well... There might have been one tiny,verylittle detail I omitted."

I wait for her to continue, but she stalls as she keeps looking at Cer.

"There is a clause in the game that gods cannot participate." She starts in a hesitant tone, fiddling with her fingers. "And well... technically, I haven't passed my exams yet, so I haven't qualified as a deity, but..." She gives her brother a worried look. "You won't tell them, will you?" she whispers to him, pulling on his sleeve as she nestles closer to his side. She bats her lashes at him adoringly, and he doesn't seem immune to her charm.

"So you two are deities?" I raise a brow. At this point, I don't think anything can shock me anymore. In fact, all of Thea's vague answers so far and the fact that she has so much knowledge of everything should have given it away.

"He is." She points at Cer. "I am going to be too, at some point," she grumbles.

"How does this work? Youbecomea deity? You're not born one?" I ask, a little confused. In all the mythological stories I'd read, gods were born to other gods, and in rare cases, mortals were granted divine powers from other gods. But I haven't seen anywhere anything about exams.

"You must be born one, but you only qualify as a deity when your powers mature and you exhibit extraordinary abilities. That doesn't happen to everyone. There are those like Cer who are naturals, or there are those like me who need some time to get better," she explains. "It's not a very clear-cut system. In many ways, it is a meritocracy. Only the best get appointed positions, and only the most exceptional ones get nominated for the position of a Supreme."

"I'm sure you are familiar with human myths," Cer interrupts. "Many of the ancient ones have a pantheon of gods, and each god is assigned to different phenomena."

I nod.

"The Supremesarethose gods. But unlike your mortal stories, each main god is a position rather than a person. Take for example the God of Fire. There is no one being who is the God of Fire. Across time, multiple people have borne that name. Gods may be immortal, but they are not impervious. If one dies, another is elected to take its place to maintain the balance of the universe."

I blink slowly as I take in the new information.

"That is fascinating," I whisper. "But I'm not clear why you would participate in the game if you're not allowed to. Aren't you immortal? What more could you want?" Shouldn't that already give them the ability to have whatever they wish for?

"Well..." Thea stammers, a panicked look on her face. "I vowed to do it." She gives me a guilty smile. "And in our world, a vow is an unbreakable promise. Cer just followed me to make sure I'm safe. And Ze... He does what he wants." She shrugs, bitterness reflected in her tone.

"And of course, Ze is a deity too, isn't he?"

Why doesn't that surprise me? He's so powerful, I should have gotten an inkling about it. But we've already settled that I am far too foolish and too trusting.

"Not justadeity." She takes a deep breath. "He is one of the most powerful gods. And with the elections coming up, he might end up being the new Supreme."

FORTY-ONE

Cer disappears, leaving us alone in the middle of the courtyard as we await our turn to use the designated portal. Thea is still happily chatting away, but I'm too busy churning the new information in my mind.

They are all deities. Forbidden to take part in the game.

Then what the hell are they doing here, and more importantly, why with me?

Why would they get involved with a powerless human?

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