27

G E O R G I E

✿

“Hey, we're off to the Ayrun River after practice. We could all use a cool down,” Isaac said, holding out his hand.

The adrenaline was still rushing through my veins. I felt fantastic, really great. awake and alive. Isaac had won the fight, but it had been very close. I almost hit him. Spurred on by the fighting frenzy, I slammed in and let him pull me up.

His sweat-soaked t-shirt was clinging to his toned torso and a single strand of blond hair hung across his forehead. "Are you coming?"

I grimaced. “Uh no, sorry. I have something I should do.” The dozen books piled up in the library, maybe? I ducked under the ring ropes and then flopped onto one of the steel benches with a soft Oof as the next contestants stepped into the ring.

Isaac, who was following me, stopped right in front of me. He grabbed the plastic bottle from his pocket that was lying on the floor by my feet and opened it. "Come on, G, get a grip." He winked at me and put the bottle to his mouth. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down with the several sips he took.

His full-watt smile drew all female eyes and when he ran his fingers through his blonde, perfectly fitting hairstyle, I thought I heard a sigh from the two girls next to me. Grinning, I suppressed an eye roll. Are you serious, Heather? Kaylee?

I laughed and wiped the sweat from my forehead. "Sorry, I really can't."

His grip on the bottle tightened and he was about to reply when Kaylee cut in, "Have you heard the news from Maeryn?"

Isaac, who didn't seem particularly interested, said, "No, why?"

"She healed Jack," Kaylee said, speaking more to Isaac than to me.

"Okay?" Isaac didn't understand what she was getting at.

But me. Jack was one of us, a healer werewolf. He owned the hut right next to mine where he lived with his little daughter Anu. I hadn't talked to him often. Not because he wasn't nice, but because he couldn't speak. He suffered from a severe brain injury that disabled his ability to speak. "What? How is that? I didn't think even Zaira could have done it."

"Yes, I know, but Maeryn has discovered that she can . . . how do you always say it in the neural strands of the brain?" Kaylee searched for the right word, "immerse."

"Wow." I didn't know what to say. Of course I was happy for Jack and Anu. But I couldn't fight back the feeling that I was failing even more in my own species. It rose in me in high waves. Maeryn was the only healer werewolf besides me to fail lengthwise in healing. Now I was probably the only loser.

I glanced around the ring where the final fight was just about to end. Automatically, my eyes wandered to the werewolf next to Hawkings, whose wolf eyes were not on the ring like everyone else, but on me. He wore a black tank top that revealed a gorgeous view of his muscular upper arms. I got hot under his gaze and could hardly sit still. Images from the last two nights popped into my head. How we roamed the forest when I couldn't sleep any longer. How he hugged me. kissed me We in the training hall. His sweaty body against mine. Hot. Vicinity.

I hadn't brought up the mate thing again, as if it were a secretly taboo subject not to be discussed. Because as soon as I brought it up, he would distance himself again. Remind myself not to offend him. It was like I was floating in mid-air, on cloud nine. It felt incredible. But as soon as reality caught up with us, I would fall in a rapid dive, not sure if he would catch me or if I would hit the ground hard. It was clear to me that this couldn't go on much longer. At some point he would have to decide whether he wanted me or not. And I had to accept it.

I pulled my ponytail up and then stood up.

"Can we talk for a minute?" Isaac stopped me.

I picked up my training bag. “Now is bad. Later?"

Isaac furrowed his brows. “G, you're avoiding me. We're friends, aren't we?"

I could feel Beau's burning eyes on my back. I nodded. "Of course we are."

"Then why don't we hardly see each other anymore?"

Tiam slapped Isaac's shoulder. "Hey, dude, what are you standing there for, come on, class's over! That goes for you too, Georgie!” He winked at me, then headed for the door.

Isaac spoke up again, "I know you're under the protégé program and things aren't easy for you right now, but I wanted to tell you that I-"

“Isaac, would you stay here? We still have something to discuss. Everyone else, fuck off!” Beau called across the hall, giving Isaac a stern look.

Immediately everyone got up from the benches and started to leave the hall.

"I should go now," I said to Isaac, shouldering my bag. "We'll talk later, I promise." I don't know what Beau wanted from Isaac, but I really needed to get back to the library.

As soon as I saw the long wooden tables in front of me, I sighed in surrender and headed for my seat by the window. I sat down, reached for the next best book that lay in front of me like all dozens of others on the long table. A few wolves of our pack stayed like me in the otherwise deserted library and sat at the tables next to me, completely engrossed in their works.

The colorful autumn leaves dancing in the wind slapped the window pane in front of me and for a moment I overlooked the young girl who was staying at the edge of the forest. Only when I saw her reddish-orange hair, which shimmered in the same color as the dancing maple leaves in front of me, did I notice her.

I hesitated slightly. She looked familiar, but from where? Then, when the boy next to her leaned in to kiss her, I looked away with a smile and went back to the boring legends. Xenos, huh? How could you get excited about something like that?

I opened the thin red book and discouragedly leafed through the uninformative pages. I was just wondering if it wouldn't be wiser to use the time to exercise. I could go through the course one more time. Or hone my swordplay. Because when I wasn't busy worrying about tomorrow's exam for the past three days, I'd been in the library, flipping through more books than ever before. In vain. Not a single chapter I skimmed mentioned a so-called deathbringer.

What if the pirates had retreated? What if they realized we were too strong for them?

What about the others? The masked ones? whispered the voice in my head. They were neither made up nor delusional. And they would come back.

Crack, crack, crack. I lifted my head and suppressed an annoyed exhale. Couldn't Jordan eat his apple more quietly? I was leafing through the pages with my head in my hand when a word suddenly popped out. I read the first line of the page again.

Chapter 12

He is cursed with the fate of being imprisoned in the underworld and not seeing a single light of day. He goes by many names. He was called the beast of the underworld, demon of hell, bringer of death. But most people know him by his name: H-

My eyes darted over to the next page...nothing. Further unconnected lines printed the subsequent sheets. Words that had nothing to do with the Deathbringer. My finger traced the scraps of parchment, which were the only indication that some pages were missing from the book. The next few pages were torn out.

I kept turning the pages hoping to read more about him, find out something. I groaned in frustration and slammed the book shut. Jordan, who was just taking another bite out of his crunchy apple, looked at me wide-eyed.

"Sorry," I mumbled, too upset to offer a proper apology. I pushed back the chair, which squeaked and slid across the stone floor. With the book in hand, I rushed out of the library.

Deathbringer. beast of the underworld. demon of hell. And then a name that started with an H. My eyes watered and my quick gait lapsed into a jog. I pushed open the heavy oak door and hurried out into the deserted corridor. When I was sure no one was there, I put my hand over my mouth and pressed myself against the wall. I fell to the floor sobbing.

It wasn't a dream. It wasn't some stupid hallucination like Arya had said. Hades had risen. The monster that had tormented me for years. Had put me in agony. The monster that murdered my own parents in cold blood and then laughed and rubbed it in my face.

As soon as I squinted my eyes, everything went up. The memory of the cold, dark cells. His hand on mine sucking everything out of me. The searing pain stabbing into every pore of my body. The burning agony that felt like I was on fire. my screams

I had hoped, prayed, that I had imagined everything. That if I didn't say it, it wouldn't be true.

But Hades lived. However that was possible.

And he was looking for me.