Magic Trials (Half-Blood Academy #1)(16)

Two of the outcasts constantly darted longing gazes at the popular group, as if that would get them into the exclusive club. All they got was the evil eye from the snobs, who regarded the rest of us as the slough beneath their noble feet.

“Stay away!” A clique girl, Barbara, hissed and patted her sleeve as if even our gazes could dirty her clothes.

The instructor had read all our names when he brought us here, and I’d made a point of learning them.

The other two outsiders, Nat and Yelena, acted like childhood friends, which was probably why they didn’t seem to care much about being shunned.

I didn’t give a damn who was more or less popular either.

Even though we were all dressed in the same white robes, it was easy to detect who came from an affluent family and who was raised in poverty.

I had my own rough-around-the-edges style, which I’d seen some guys use to their social advantage when they owned it. The bad boy appeal, I guess, it didn’t work so well for me.

Class existed everywhere, and wherever you went, you could never avoid bitches and dicks.

That Demetra chick had been bragging about her revered family non-stop, and her high-pitched voice began to grate on my thin nerves. Man, I was brooding on a survival strategy here.

“The invitation came as expected.” She started again. “Obviously, the demigods know that I’m a quarter, which is a big deal. They must have looked into my family’s legacy. None of the academies has had a quarter in nearly a century. I was born to rise above all others and sit next to the demigods.”

“I heard that the demigods are all super hot,” Barbara whispered, licking her lips, her eyes sparking with hope. “They can have anyone they want.”

My damn super hearing could catch every word.

“Believe me, now that I’m here, they won’t look anywhere else,” Demetra declared with one hundred percent confidence.

The other girls looked at her with equal measures of envy and admiration.

From eavesdropping on their gossip, I realized that no one, except me, had resisted being recruited by the Dominions. Most people considered it a privilege to be summoned by the Half-Blood Academy.

Once initiates passed the trials, they were verified as descendants of the gods. Their elite status would enhance their family’s names and influence.

I was probably the only one who didn’t give a damn about being elite.

“We’re the best the world has to offer,” Demetra said while she thrust her chin toward mostly me. “I’m not sure the rest will make the cut. There’re always winners, and there’re always losers. The Academy can’t have the weak among us. It’s a great practice to weed them out.”

Did she even have a brain?

I’d had enough of her shit talking.

“Can we have some quiet before the ritual,” I asked as politely as I could. “Please, ladies and gentlemen?”

The clique gasped at my audacity to even talk to them, as my low class status seemed to mean I was supposed to shut up and bow down.

Yelena and Nat gave me a curious glance, and the other two timid outsiders held their breath, as if expecting lightning to strike me now. They even pulled back a little farther from me to show the clique that we weren’t in league.

Walking ahead of me at two o’clock, Demetra snapped her golden head around and spared me a contemptuous glance over her shoulder.

“Are you the lowly girl who talked to me?” she asked incredulously, apparently not believing that I dared talk to a “queen” without kneeling or whatever sucking up she was used to. Her gorgeous face twisted into a sneer.

“Lowly?” I asked huskily. “Wow, that’s classy. So, you’re the self-appointed queen bee who lives in her own delusions of grandeur? Pardon if I don’t curtsy. I’ve never learned to be submissive. I don’t curtsy to the demigods. What makes you think I’d even nod my head to you?”

Her minions gasped, as if they had collective hiccups.

“How rude,” one of the girls said in a polished accent. “The low class hussy never learned manners.”

“Then show me your manners,” I said. “They probably come from where the sun doesn’t shine.”

“Don’t mind her,” a clique boy said dismissively. “She isn’t worth it. She just wants attention, and we’re not going to give it to her.”

I shook my head and laughed. “Comedians.”

Jack, the boy leader of the clique, turned his narrowed, hazel eyes on me from beside Demetra. He was the largest among us, and he had this tough build and look, like he could kill anyone without a peep from his conscience, despite his handsome face.

He appeared at ease and totally fit in. He might turn out even stronger than Cameron.

Speaking of, Cameron emerged in a new, clean uniform with the three-bar ranking on his badge. He strode beside me.

Jack dimmed his death-threat look and kept walking.

Demetra immediately noticed the Dominion lieutenant and flashed him a saccharine smile, the voltage so high it could melt most guys’ belts off their trousers.

I hated to admit it, but she had looks going for her with her perfectly toned body. And lucky for her, blonde was still in fashion. Maybe it always would be. She could’ve been a successful runway model if she hadn’t come to the Academy.

She evidently knew it, too. I bet she’d use her stunning looks as her most lethal weapon in any setting. That vain confidence was why she openly boasted that once she’d caught the demigods’ eyes, they’d never wander again. If she could sink her claws into one of them, or all of them for all I cared, she could have offspring with a demigod. Then she could brag to no end that her children were a step closer to being demigods themselves.