Page 10 of Hades' Shadow
Draven sits on my other side a wide grin on his face. “Hey, Beth.”
Another growl from my left has me turning abruptly and glaring at Dax. Why the fuck is he acting like this? Did one of the Aphrodite girls put some kind of infatuation or obsession spell on him?
“Knock it fucking off,” I yell at him and turn my back so I can talk to Draven. “Hey, Draven.”
“I wanted to talk to you about something.” He peers up at me.
“It’s not the wards, is it? Are they holding?” I say as I straighten in my seat, panic clear in my tone. Every head in the room turns to us and I flinch.
“The wards are fine. They are holding strong,” Draven says loud enough for everyone in the class to hear and a collective sigh fills the room.
No one wants a repeat of the battle last week, even if we are looking down the barrel of an all-out war.
“So what’s going on, then?” I ask, not taking my eyes off him, though I notice Raven out of the corner of my eye turned to see what’s going on.
He peers around the room and his face falls as he realizes everyone is watching us. “I’m concerned about everyone weakening. You don’t think Jayden is somehow draining them?”
“Why the fuck would you even think something like that?” Raven screeches, nearly killing my eardrum, but she’s on the right track. Jayden would never do that.
“His power has grown while everyone else is becoming weak.” His eyes plead with me to back him up on this, but I shake my head.
“Jayden would never do something like that.” I may not like the son of Hades much right now, but accusing him of something so heinous is a complete dick move.
What is his motivation in even asking me this? Is there something he gets out of trying to poison me against Jayden?
Raven growls, “Jayden isn’t stealing magic. My strength has grown since too. I knocked Dax clean out yesterday.”
“I also have more control and precision,” I agree with her, straightening my shoulders.
My hackles are up that he would even voice something like that against another student. Especially a student who helped save him and his siblings.
Before we can really rip into him for this bullshit, Cross hobbles in and I turn to the front of the class.
Raven frowns at me over her shoulder, and I note how drawn the teacher’s shoulders are. He’s hunched over and his green eyes are dull. He looks about a hundred years old.
What the fuck is going on with him?
“Cross looks weakened,” Draven whispers close to my ear. A little too close.
I lean away from him but keep my gaze forward on Cross. He slumps into his chair behind his desk.
“Everyone open your books and read the chapter on the Hydra. You can work on the questions in the back of the chapter in groups if you would like.”
He waves at us all to get to work and I can’t help the frown that pulls down my lips. He’s that tired, but yesterday he was running around, frantic about something.
The screech of chair legs fills the room as everyone gets into groups. Draven and Dax scoot closer as Raven turns her desk around. She raises an eyebrow at the two men.
I heave a sigh. It’s not worth trying to stop them. It would be a waste of breath. I shake my head, hoping Raven just leaves it alone.
Dax glares at Draven scooting so close that I am trapped in my desk and his big arm brushes mine. “What are you doing?”
Raven rolls her eyes and waves her hand in front of Dax when he doesn’t immediately respond, too busy glaring at Draven, so she twists his ear. Dax yelps in pain and turns to Raven.
“He’s our friend. You are an unwelcome pest. Stop being an asshole or find another group,” Raven says, twisting his ear again for good measure.
Dax bats her hand away. “Fine.”
Draven opens his book but grins up at me. “Didn’t you fight a Hydra in that cave?”
