Page 48 of Ascension

The footsteps echo off the walls, the crisp sound of expensive loafers slapping against the marble floor. A sick feeling washes over me at the new presence. My eyes raise to meet the headmaster. His eyes move about the room, appraising the situation before they land on the asshat.

“God of Destruction,” the headmaster greets the man, inclining his head slightly in deference. The man, or should I say, God of Destruction, nods at him, not bothering to greet him formally.

I see his lips purse before he steps in front of me, shielding me from the headmaster’s view. My brows furrow in confusion. I definitely did not want his attention on me, yet my suspicion grows at this simple movement. This man is the headmaster. Despite my adverse reaction towards him, he shouldn’t truly be a threat if he’s in charge.

“I received word of a chaos demon attack.” His voice hitches upwards slightly at the end, as though he has to remind himself to feign concern. A niggling sensation in the back of my head has me questioning his intentions. Why even bother showing up here himself if he wasn’t anxious about his students’ safety?

“Yes, I already have the guards searching. However, I believe it’s more prudent to care for the injured students and your professor encased in ice.” The god’s tone is scathing, gesturing towards the large block of ice. Slow streams of water trickle down its edges, pooling on the floor.

My amusement outweighs my bewilderment at the headmaster’s nonchalance towards his students’ and staff’s safety and wellbeing. I snicker at the no-name surly God of Destruction’s assessment of the situation, remembering not long ago when I myself had to point out to him Gabris trapped in ice.

My amusement quickly fades as the reality of the situation comes crashing back down over me. I bite my lip, anxiety ratcheting within me, hoping whatever the professor chanted before the ice took over her form saved her from its icy grip.

I raise up onto my toes, surveying the headmaster over the top of surly man—or surly god now, I suppose. He towers above me and I’m barely able to see over him. I really need to find out his name. Strictly for the purpose of having a proper term to internally curse him by, of course. There’s definitely no other reason.

I catch the headmaster following his gaze, assessing the professor frozen in ice. His face stays stoic as he circles the slab, no inkling of concern for his colleague softening his eyes. He spots the book open on the floor, having fallen from Gabris’ grasp as the class was consumed by the demon’s black smoke. He stoops to pick it up, and skims the pages.

“Very good.” He nods to himself, flipping the page. “It seems Professor Gabris was attempting to cast a stasis ward on herself as the demon attacked,” he observes, flipping another page in thought. Holding the book out before him, he begins to chant.

For a moment, the class stands in silence, collectively holding our breath. Waiting for some sign she will be alright. Slowly the ice begins to melt around her. Water spilling across the floor in streams, the top of her head first visible.

The ice steadily melts around her until she stands there, still frozen, but now free from the icy tomb. The headmaster flips back a page, renewing his efforts, stretching a hand out towards her. Destruction man moves a step, blocking off my view.

“Hey,” I protest. His head whips around, cutting off my words and sending me a silent warning with his gaze to stay quiet. I bare my teeth at him, really not wanting to listen to him. Yet as my gaze moves back to where the headmaster stands I grimace. Rolling my eyes, I decide to stay quiet. Yes, it is definitely my decision.

I lean to the side, tilting my head slightly to peer around his hulking form. A silver mist vibrates around the professor, probing and searching her prone form. Her skin absorbs the fine mist for a moment before it bursts out of her, a cloud of the fine glittery dust billowing around her, dissipating into nothing.

She wheezes, bringing in a long gasping breath. As air fills her desperate lungs, she rocks on her feet, unsteady with the weight of gravity now pushing down on her. Her legs unable to support her, she collapses on the hard floor.

I gasp at the sight of her crumpled form hitting the ground, and rush to check on her. My movement is stopped by a giant arm, pushing me back to stand behind him. A few other students leap forward, checking on the professor, to my relief.

He gives me a scathing, sidelong glance, which I don’t meet. Instead, I raise my gaze to the ceiling, tilting my head back and forth, feigning innocence. He huffs out an annoyed breath and turns back to the front of the room. I silently rejoice at that. Sure, he may not have believed me, but at least I avoided his reprimand.

“Now, let’s discuss what happened with the demon,” Headmaster Mavros states abruptly, snapping the book closed and throwing it on the desk and not bothering to feign the slightest bit of concern and check on the professor. My mouth curls into a sneer, glad at this moment no one can see my face, still shrouded by destruction man.

“That’s none of your concern. I took care of the demon. I will be launching my own investigation into the incident since apparently, the administration has become so lax around here that a chaos demon can break through the wards.” The god’s words are laced with venom, and the students around us cringe from the intensity of the power rolling off him.

“With all due respect Maximus, this is my school. The students are under my care and protection. I need to know if the demon targeted any of them,” Mavros continues, surprisingly not cowed in the least by the intensity of the surly destruction god, whom I now know is named Maximus.

Maximus growls, followed by a sharp intake of breath. He is clearly about to cut the headmaster with another scathing remark when a female voice across the room interrupts.

“The demon attacked a few students that were closest to him before he focused on Olivia, headmaster,” Katrina informs him in a sickly-sweet tone, her hand raising to point in my direction. The headmaster locks onto me where I’m still peering out from behind Maximus. A hushed curse slips past his lips but he steps to the side, allowing Mavros to fully assess me. A sly smile curves his lips as he appraises me.

“Again, it is none of your concern. I will speak with the student and gather the details on the attack,” Maximus grinds out, attempting to compose the raging anger I see building in his narrowed eyes. His hands tighten into fists. Mavros goes to open his mouth, yet a feminine voice cuts him off before he’s able to get a word out.

“Olivia started throwing items at the demon before she stupidly threw herself at him. Like really, what did you think you were going to accomplish with that.” Katrina crosses her arms over her chest, giving me a smug smile. As though her sitting there cowering under her desk would accomplish anything.

I sneer back at her, moving to show her exactly what throwing myself at someone my own size could accomplish when a firm hand grips my shoulder, stopping me in place. My anger washes away as realization hits me. Attacking another student in front of the headmaster is probably not the best idea, regardless of his apathetic nature towards his students’ safety and wellbeing.

My gaze flits back to his, expecting to see a stern look of disapproval. Instead, Mavros’ smile grows even broader, a wicked gleam in his eyes. He appraises me, running over every inch of my body shamelessly, undeterred by Maximus’ growl of protest. I hold my breath, my skin crawling in discomfort at his attention.

“I see. Well, I trust you have everything under control then.” He nods at Maximus before turning on his heel and striding back out the open doorway. My brows furrow, eyes glued on his retreating back. He was so adamant about speaking to the students. Now, all of a sudden, he’s satisfied that Maximus is handling the situation. I glance to my right, to the god of destruction still standing beside me. Finding his brows drawn in confusion as well.

“Is it just me, or was he acting very suspicious?” I ask Maximus, stepping closer to him. I keep my voice pitched low. Not wanting the other students to overhear us. Despite the strange vibe that radiated off the headmaster, none of the other students batted an eye at the abrupt dismissal. He grimaces at my words—eyes drifting from the door to me and back again.

“I’m more concerned about how interested he was in you,” he grumbles, moving in even closer. So close, I can feel the heat radiating off his skin, smell his intoxicating scent of dry cedar and cloves.

“Well, that seems to be a theme in my life lately,” I mutter, giving him a pointed look.

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