The soldiers around us gasped at the number of weapons I carried.
“You missed one, Marie,” Axel informed the soldier as he pulled a silver needle from my hair.
Cameron whistled. “She’ll fit right in with us.”
He’d hated my guts a few minutes ago.
I hissed, “I don’t share your confidence much.”
A couple of soldiers chuckled, either at my humiliation or my daring, I wasn’t sure.
Axel frowned at me. “Why did you need that many weapons, Marigold?”
“A girl shouldn’t be faulted for trying to take care of herself,” I said, surveying our surroundings. We were on the side of the road with five soldiers around a van, which meant the other two must be with Circe and Jasper.
“Where’s my team?” I asked.
“They’re no longer your team,” Axel said. “They’re in the other van, heading to the Other Academy now.”
He scooped me up, and involuntarily, I clasped my hands behind his neck. My body purred. He grinned, and I realized my mistake. Releasing my arms from around him, I pondered if I should elbow him in the throat.
He should have a weakness, right? And the throat might just be it.
He put me down on the back seat of the van and buckled me in with the safety belt.
I wiggled on the leather seat as I suddenly got a bright idea. “I think you made a mistake by separating my team and me.”
He squinted, yet his hands still held my waist. “I don’t make mistakes.”
“Listen,” I said, giving him a smile for the first time since we’d fought and he’d captured me. “I don’t have a trace of gods’ blood in me. I’m actually a witch. I’m sorry for hiding that part of my heritage from you. Being a witch, I should go to the Other Academy.”
I could survive the Other Academy. I’d just borrow some of the spells Circe created and toss them here and there. I’d pretend to be a witch as long as I could so I would see Jasper and Circe settle down and watch over them for a little while before I got kicked out.
Or when the Dominions weren’t looking or lost interest in me, I’d slip away, alone, if my team chose this new life for themselves.
My heart broke a little at the thought of moving on, but that was how things were now.
I’d be a free agent again, but I might have to leave Crack behind.
The Dominions would never find me again.
“Give up already,” Cameron said. “If you were a witch, we’d have known. Our psychic ball showed only your two pack members. You aren’t on any chart of any map.” At Axel’s glare, he clamped his mouth shut.
“Behave, Marigold,” the demigod said, giving me a measured look before his lingering hands left my body. A secret, treacherous part of me screamed at the absence of his heat and touch.
“Your friends will be better off in the Other Academy,” he continued. “They’ll get an education and regular meals and will be with their own kinds.”
I swallowed as I had to admit the truth of his words, no matter how hard it was for me to let go of my team and let them choose what they really wanted for their own lives. This could be a better opportunity for them.
Just when I starting warming up to his comfort, he added, “So will you.” As if he believed I’d survive the trial. But the next sentence out of his sensual, cruel mouth made me hate him again. “But if you give my soldiers any more headaches on the road, the other team will take it out on your friends.”
I stiffened, enraged at his callous threat, a threat aimed at the only two people I cared about in this world. But before I could come up with a vicious comeback for his ruthless coercion, the demigod ducked his head out of the van, and then he was gone.
There was nothing I could do but go along with this travesty—for now, anyway. I bit my nail as the van lurched forward, musing over how I was going to survive the trial.