Fire & Flood (Mythverse #1)

Book 2 Chapter 18

18

A week later everything is back to normal…and yet not normal at all. The quarantine on non-infected shifters has been lifted, but the inter-species dating ban is still in effect. Relationships have broken up, and not just romantic ones. Some hard words have passed between friends with the arrival of the plague, and having the vamps test blood wasn’t the best move on the healers’ part.

I was cleared of the sickness and sent back to my room where Tina was freaking out because Vee wasn’t reacting well to the witches’ fumigation spell. She bared her fangs and hissed at me, “This is all your fault, Swamper.”

My roommate hating me was definitely normal. Almost comforting, actually. But Vee’s head was hanging low, and while it’s hard to develop a close personal relationship with a plant, I had been feeding Vee all summer. I didn’t like that she looked…sick.

Everything is different and the same all at once. I meet Cassie for our normal walk down to the dining hall. But when we got there, Greg wasn’t in his usual seat. The initial fever has passed, but he and the eight other students who fell ill still can’t shift. One girl, a lion shifter, is stuck in her animal form. She loses more words every day. There are worries they might have to cage her if the animal part of her nature eclipses the human.

Cassie’s also not back to normal. Much like the poor girl stuck as a lion, Cassie seems to still be stuck in her prison cell. I find myself desperately searching for topics that might interest her, but also not remind her of all the bad stuff that happened. Cassie saw her boyfriend decapitated, and then gods knew what else in the monster stronghold. Usually I tell Cassie everything. But the other day when I was bummed because most students received care packages, it seemed insensitive to grouse about it in front of Cassie.

It’s an unsolvable problem—I don’t want to talk about the bad stuff, and the good stuff feels too insensitive. So I settle for not talking. Just me and Cassie sitting side by side, eating silently.

At least summer classes are starting today. It’ll be nice to have that distraction.

There’s been enough drama on campus to keep people talking, but the impending arrival of Maddox Tralano (a.k.a. Nico’s mommy) has still been a hot topic. Cassie and I have our first class with her today.

Cassie and I stand to empty our trays. I have to guide her by the elbow, like she’s forgotten the layout of the dining hall.

“Ready for…” I glance at my schedule, forgetting the official name of the class. “Real World Applications for Assassination. That’s…cheery.” I fold the paper, sorry I said anything. Cassie doesn’t need to be reminded of killing.

“Hello? Edie?” Someone is yelling my name on the green, a voice I don’t recognize. I turn to find Larissa Golov—Val’s fiancée—waving at me. She crosses the grass, her long gauzy skirt blowing around her perfect legs. I get a sudden image of Val positioned in between them and have to turn away, fire shifting in my gut.

I affix a smile before I turn back. My instinct is to dislike her, but Larissa is pleasant, which is almost an unheard of trait for a vampire.

Besides, even if Val and I wanted to be together—we couldn’t. His family is strict about pure vampire blood. Plus Tina has reveled in telling me every night how lucky Val is to have arranged a marriage with the Golovs.

Also, interspecies dating is now banned on campus.

Oh, and the whole girls squabbling over a boy thing is kinda gross so…I guess I might as well be nice to this girl.

“Hey,” I call, waving to her. She joins me and Cassie, wrapping an arm around my friend to give her a one-armed side hug.

“I am so sorry for all you’ve been through,” she says, her voice quiet and sweet. “If there’s anything I can do…”

Astonishingly, Cassie lays her head against Larissa’s shoulder.

“Thank you,” she says—the first words I’ve heard out of her all day. And they’re to Val’s fiancée.

Nice.

The fire in my gut rolls again, but I stifle it. I should just be glad to hear Cassie’s voice.

We file into the amphitheater. The entire campus is enrolled in this class, and there are more students in here right now than I’ve seen together since…well, since Tina’s friend Jenn was turned into a pile of ash, burned to death by Ocypete.

Larissa waves and I follow her gesture to find Val across the aisle with his sister and her crew. Larissa cups her hands around her mouth and shouts, “I am going to sit here with my friends!”

He nods and turns away. Tina shoots me a dirty look, like I’ve brainwashed Larissa or something.

There are whispers all around us. Most people talk about the shifters who are still quarantined in the infirmary, unable to shift into their animal forms. I catch the name of the poor girl who is stuck as a lion—Rochelle—more than once, but she’s almost an afterthought. The name being tossed around the most is Maddox Tralano.

“Who?” Larissa asks. “Why is this name coming up so often?”

“She’s our teacher for this class, a guest instructor,” I tell her.

“Maddox Tralano,” Larissa repeats. “What a pretty name.”

“Don’t tell her that,” Cassie says, a little bit of life coming into her. “She won’t accept a compliment from a vampire. On second thought, don’t even talk to her. Don’t call attention to yourself in her presence.”

Larissa’s perfect brows come together, a pretty pout on her lips. I glance at them quickly, wondering if Val has kissed her. I mean, I assume he has. They’re getting married so—a small fireball pops out of my mouth, making Larissa and Cassie jump.

“Sorry,” I say quickly. “That chili at lunch had a real kick.”

“Why shouldn’t I talk to her?” Larissa asks.

“Oh, Maddox hates vampires,” Cassie says, sounding a little like her old self at the chance to share some gossip. “I mean, she’s like, half the reason there’s so much bad blood around the Academy.”

“What?” I ask. “Why?”

“Remember the Wall of Weeping?” Cassie asks me. I nod. How could I forget?

Apparently, years ago Themis thought it would be a good idea to ensure everyone on campus mourned when a student died in battle. It was supposed to bring students together, strengthen the bond of us against them, uniting them against the monsters.

“But it went wrong, like bad,” Cassie is explaining to Larissa. “Maddox was on her mourning shift with a vamp and well…the Academy ended up with more than one dead student on their hands.”

“Oh my gods,” I say. “That was her?”

I knew the story, how a werewolf tore a vamp to pieces at the Wall. But I didn’t know it was Nico’s mom.

“How are they even letting her come back to campus?” I ask. “And teaching?”

Larissa is nodding with me, but Cassie only shrugs. “Mr. Zee made a proclamation. My mom says that Maddox was always a favorite of his. And what Mr. Zee says, goes.”

Larissa shakes her head. “My family warned me not to associate with…shifters.” She lowers her voice, like it’s a bad word. “But I think you are very nice, Edie.”

“Thank you,” I tell her, ashamed at how much I wanted to hate her.

Suddenly, there’s a sharp rapping at the podium. Themis is there, eyeing the crowd of students. “Everyone,” she says, bringing the room to order. “I’m here to introduce you to—”

But Themis doesn’t get to introduce anybody. A tall, dark, lean woman saunters onto the stage, announcing her own self.

“I’m Maddox Tralano,” she says, her voice filling the entire space.

Anybody that hadn’t been sitting up straight is now. All eyes are locked on her, and not just because she has a commanding presence. She’s also gorgeous in a way that goes beyond hair styles or clothing choices. It’s pure animal magnetism. Nico has it too, but with Maddox the magnetism is way more intense. I can’t take my eyes off of her.

“Our official sessions will start in the morning,” Maddox continues. “But I want to make sure everyone understands what we’re doing here.”

Several students glance at one another, like they’d never really thought about it.

“We are AT WAR!” Maddox yells, thumping the podium.

Beside me, Larissa flinches, and Cassie lets out a little gasp.

“War is ugly,” Maddox says, now pacing the stage. “Ugly like the monsters we fight—harpies and manticores and minotaurs. War is death and destruction—the deaths of our enemies! The destruction of their way of life. War is what we bring to the doorsteps of those who have persecuted us for generations.”

There are still confused whispers, but also yells of agreement from the crowd as the students warm up to her pep talk.

“How many of you have been on a mission?” Maddox asks, scanning the crowd for hands. “Don’t be shy. Raise your hands. Be proud of your service, and I thank you all for it.”

Hesitantly, I put my hand in the air.

“The rest of you, look around. I want that number doubled!” She glares at the crowd, daring those who didn’t raise their hands to meet her gaze. “Now, how many of you have killed?”

I snap my hand back, uncertain. I don’t want to be praised for killing. I spot Nico in the front row, arm raised high.

Maddox looks down at him. I expect some maternal gleam of affection, but instead all I see is cold satisfaction. “Be proud of your abilities. Everyone else, look around. I want that number tripled!” she shouts, and there’s a roar of excitement.

“You don’t win a war by going to dances,” she goes on. “You don’t win a war by going to classes. You don’t win a war by just being a student at Mount Olympus Academy.” She stops, pausing for effect.

“How do you win a war?” she asks the crowd.

“Killing!” someone shouts. Was it Nico? Maddox nods in agreement.

“I’m not here to treat like you all like students—like children,” she says, giving everyone a final, grim look.

“I’m here to train you to be soldiers. The soldiers who finally win and end this war, once and for all!”

The students’ applause is deafening.