Miss Mayhem (Rebel Belle #2)(11)

I thought of how David was when he was in the grips of a vision. I couldn’t imagine him being like that all the time. I didn’t want to.

When I looked over at David, his face was almost blank, his eyes fixed straight ahead. His foot was bouncing, which meant that he was thinking hard, but about what?

“But what do you mean about Harper not being a Paladin?” Ryan asked. He was slouching again, but he tugged at his sleeves, his eyes never leaving Alexander. “Does that mean I’m not a Mage? I mean, Oracles are born, I got that, but if we were both made into . . . whatever it is we are—”

The Ephor held up a hand. “Every point on the triangle is different, comes with different responsibilities and duties. A Mage, once powers have been transferred, is a Mage, fully and completely. All the knowledge the previous Mage contained is passed on. But a Paladin is a horse of a different color, as it were. Paladins have a sacred duty. As do the Oracle and the Mage, of course, but the Paladin has an especially challenging role. To be sure Miss Price is up to the task, she would have to go through the Peirasmos.”

The word rolled off his tongue in a pretty way, but there was power in those three syllables. I could feel it, and even David shuddered a little bit.

“Do you know what that is, Miss Price?” Alexander raised his eyebrows at me, still totally pleasant, and I hated to have to shake my head.

“No.”

Alexander made an exaggerated moue of disappointment. “What a shame. I hoped Miss Stark would have completed that part of your training.”

“Things were a little rushed,” I told him, scowling, “what with you people and your crazy Mage trying to kill us all the time. We didn’t have time for . . . whatever that word was.”

“Peirasmos,” he repeated. “And in all fairness, Miss Price, we were using the Mage to kill you, not the Oracle.”

“David,” Ryan interjected, and I glanced over at him, throwing him a quick smile.

Now all pleasantness disappeared from Alexander’s face, and he sat up in his chair. “Oh, for the love of the gods. Is it like that, too?”

My cheeks flamed red, and I looked away from Ryan, back toward the Ephor. “None of that is any of your business.”

Alexander only wrinkled his nose, bracing his elbows on the desk. “Teenagers,” he said on a long sigh. “Well, what can one expect, I suppose. In any case.” He steepled his long fingers. “When Saylor Stark and Christopher Hall broke away from us, they rejected many of our traditions, it would seem. Which is a shame since the Peirasmos is vital.”

“Says who?” I asked, crossing my legs at the ankle. “And why? I mean, I’m clearly a Paladin, I have all the . . . the . . .” I waved my hands in the air. “Superpowers or whatever. What would this Peirasmos change?”

Alexander sniffed, resting his elbows on the desk. “What would they change? For starters, by completing these trials, you get to live. Is that enough of a reason for you, Miss Price?”

It had been a long night. I’d had to go into possibly the grossest frat house in Alabama, I’d watched my boyfriend go all mega-Oracle, and I’d gotten my ex-boyfriend to wipe my friends’ minds; my life being threatened was the icing on a seriously crappy cake.

“So that whole ‘Hey, we want to help you and be besties’ thing lasted what, five minutes?” I asked. Next to me, I could feel Ryan go tense, and I nudged him with my elbow. I appreciated the chivalry, but dealing with death threats was kind of my area of expertise.

Alexander sat back in his chair, eyes narrowing even as he smiled. “You certainly have enough spark to be a Paladin. I can appreciate that. But let me make myself very clear, Miss Price. We are offering our assistance because you need us, and I think you know that. Work with us, and David stays safe and protected, as well as extremely useful as an Oracle. I think it should be clear by now that our powers are greater than yours. After all, I was able to penetrate your wards with hardly any trouble at all.”

“Please don’t say ‘penetrate,’” I muttered, but once again, Alexander ignored me and kept going.

“You and Mr. Bradshaw here have some of the weight taken off your shoulders. But if you choose not to follow our rules, then you declare yourselves our enemies, and we will spend however long it takes to eradicate all three of you. Should the Oracle die, another will be called. Another Paladin will be created, and another Mage.”

Leaning forward, he pressed his palms flat on the desktop. A strand of hair fell over his forehead, marring that whole men’s-magazine thing he had going on. “You are expendable to us.”

My heart was pounding, my mouth dry. On one side, Ryan was breathing hard, his fingers clenching and unclenching. On the other, David was glaring at Alexander. He wasn’t jiggling his foot anymore, and had gone so still it was almost unnerving.

“Then why not kill us all now?” I asked Alexander, trying to keep my voice steady. “I mean, we’re all here. It wouldn’t be hard.”

“Harper, could you not?” Ryan muttered, but Alexander only smiled.

“Because that’s not what we want. It’s true we can replace you, all three of you, but that’s not ideal. Much easier to simply welcome you all back into the fold.”

“I am not in your fold, buddy,” I said, standing up. “And neither are Ryan or David.”