“How could she erect such an orb in such a state?” the healer, a dark-skinned mature woman in her thirties, murmured as she put a healthy distance between herself and the bubble.
“Her magic must have kicked in and created it to protect her,” Zak said.
He was facing off against Paxton to prevent him from getting near me.
“We need to get her shield down, or she’ll bleed out,” Axel said, devastation and grief in his dark-golden eyes.
“We don’t want to force it down and hurt her,” Zak said, one hand rubbing his temple, the other up in the air to fend off Paxton. “We need to call Héctor back. He’s an expert on shielding.”
“Let me try it,” Paxton said. “I might be able to bring down her shield so our healer can fix her.”
At the sound of his voice, all my emotions wheeled back. My hackles rose, my skin prickled, and cold hatred burned through me.
“Fuck off, Paxton,” Zak snarled. “You have no rights to her anymore.”
“Don’t let that fucker get one inch closer to her,” Axel bellowed. “I’ll have a word with him after I make sure Marigold lives. He’s started a war this time.”
“The hell I’ll let any of you kick me out of the game,” Paxton said. “She’s mine as much as she’s yours.”
Game?What kind of sick game was he talking about? Were the demigods all playing a game with me? How dare that psychopath think I was his? Did he have an ounce of fucking common sense?
“After what you did to her?” Axel hissed in wrath.
“You’ve gone too far, Paxton,” Zak agreed, regarding the sea demigod like an icy statue. “You don’t deserve a mate like her after you laid your hands on her—after you encouraged another student do this to her. We never hurt our own. There’s no coming back from this for you.”
“I never meant for this to happen,” Paxton growled. “I didn’t expect her to be so bullheaded. I’ve never met anyone as stubborn, hot-headed, and infuriating as her. She refused to yield, and it got out of control. I was about to stop it. I just wanted to see what she was made of, what made her tick, and how much she could take so I could bend her a little. Our girl has a short fuse and a hotter temper. So it backfired, all right. I’ll fix it.”
“Fix it, my ass!” Axel said. “Look at her. Look what you did to her. You crossed the line, you sick fuck! She’s not your girl, and you’ll never touch her again.”
“You don’t get the final say in our pact, cub,” Paxton said coldly. “We’ve found the one woman for us all, and I won’t back off. I’ll have my share. And for your information, she hates you, too. She knows exactly what you’ve done to her. You dragged her to the Academy and risked her life in the ritual for your own curiosity.”
“I knew she’d survive!” Axel shouted.
“But she didn’t know that,” Paxton sneered. “You aren’t on better ground than I am. She didn’t just declare war on me; she declared it on all of us. If I can’t have her, neither can you.”
“You bastard!” Axel snarled. “You ruined everything. If she doesn’t live, I’ll kill you with my bare hands.”
“Bring it on, cousin,” Paxton said. “I’ll take you down first and have her all for my own.”
The Demigod of War wheeled from the orb that encased me, wrath radiating off him, and charged the Demigod of Sea.
The two demigods crashed.
Kicks and punches flew as they pounded each other without mercy. The brutality of their fight would’ve shocked me before, but not after today.
“Enough!” Zak shouted.
The priest and the healer darted nervous glances between the battling demigods.
I put a few things together.
I wasn’t dead.
Those assholes were fighting over me. They wanted to make me theirs, even after what they’d done to me.
They thought they could just take whatever they wanted.
I needed to get out of here. I needed to stay as far away from those psychopaths as possible.