Magic Trials (Half-Blood Academy #1)(20)

It wasn’t merely the power rolling off the demigods in spades. They were the most gorgeous beings I’d ever seen. Each of them had the kind of perfect male physique men would die to attain—and women would die for a chance to ride—and I bet the demigods didn’t even need weight training to maintain those hot vessels.

Even I felt a bit overwhelmed. Unlike the drooling initiates around me, though, my mind was too occupied with dread over the ritual to fully appreciate the demigods’ masculine beauty.

When you were worried about your own mortality, lust had to take the backseat.

My gaze found Axel first since I’d had some kind of dealings with him already. His amber eyes focused on me. He even winked at me good-naturedly as a strand of rich, brown hair dropped to his bright forehead.

I wasn’t in the mood to wink back. I’d learned the hard way that getting the attention of a demigod was never a good thing.

I tore my livid gaze from him to regard the regal demigod perched on the throne of lightning. The Demigod of Sky had deep blue eyes and cropped golden hair that made him look more like a military god than the Demigod of War. Maybe Axel didn’t like people to stereotype him, so he aimed for a casual, playboy style?

The Demigod of Sky had a red cape draped around him, and his silver and black armor highlighted every taut muscle and defined every ridge.

The lightning in his eyes was much more potent than that in the priest’s eyes.

The sky demigod looked too delicious for his own good.

Fine. Next.

My gaze drifted to the giant of a man who’d taken possession of the throne with the symbol of a trident protruding from seafoam on it.

The Demigod of the Sea.

Silver hair flowed down to his broad, armored shoulders. It looked so silky and smooth and shining that it made me wonder what kind of shampoo he’d been using. He might consider it blasphemy if I asked him about that, though.

The sea demigod looked every bit as sexy as his brethren, but there was something else about him I was wary of, even detested. I could sense his capricious nature and explosive temper, and I’d heard that he was the most vicious among all the demigods.

I categorized him as the super-villain type.

As if sensing my assessment, his cruel, seductive, and violet eyes trained on me. We locked gazes for a heartbeat, and menace flashed through his narrowed eyes. None of the initiates stared at the demigods as boldly as I did.

Why the hell not? They still had some humanity left, right?

And I liked to look freely. It wasn’t just attitude—I was genuinely curious. I liked to think, evaluate, classify, and judge. What could he do to me and what harm could I do to him just by looking?

But the asshole sea demigod seemed to take serious offense anyway. His power assaulted me the next nanosecond. Waves of pressure crushed into me, kicking me in the gut, knocking brutally on my knees. He wanted to humiliate me and make me the only one to kneel before him in front of everyone.

Axel had tried and failed. I wouldn’t surrender to this asshole either.

I lifted my chin. My knees didn’t bend.

I was more prepared than when I’d confronted the Demigod of War, so I didn’t even shudder, though inwardly, I was shaking a little.

A surprised, displeased expression flitted by the sea demigod’s handsome, marble-like face.

Axel chuckled and smirked at his cousin, as if he realized what was going on and it made him giddy that I didn’t cave to his cousin’s bullying any more than I had his.

The others—the priest, the Dominion officers, and the initiates—didn’t seem to have a clue that one of the demigods and I were engaged in a battle of wills before the trial had even begun.

As the sea demigod pushed harder and I pushed back to nullify his exertion, the priest opened the ceremony with a statement and introduced himself as Saint Theodore. Then he prayed to the twelve Olympian gods in his deep, musical voice, and finally moved on to praise the four demigods.

The Demigod of Sky—Zak, Demigod of Sea—Paxton, Demigod of Death—Héctor, and Demigod of War—Axel.

The Demigod of Death was the only one absent. He was the darkest, most mysterious super-being, since he held the door to death.

I was glad he wasn’t around.

If he were here today, surely it would be to collect me and shove me to the other side of the veil, even though I wasn’t ready. That was his specialty, wasn’t it?

Zak flicked his gaze between his cousins and me for a brief second before closing his eyes, as if to meditate. He might be taking a nap, for all I knew.

Axel arched an eyebrow at me. If I read it right, he was asking me what I thought of his cousins.

Average assholes, I hissed in my mind.

Axel roared with laughter. All heads turned to him, but no one dared to ask what was so funny. If any of us had disturbed the beginning of a sacred ritual like that, we’d be dragged out to be executed.

Had he really read my thoughts?

Everyone knew that the sky demigod had the power of thunder and lightning, the sea demigod could cause tsunamis and flood cities, the death demigod collected souls, and the war demigod had all sorts of battle powers, including summoning storms in the battlefield.

No one had ever said they could read minds.

But then I’d tasted Axel’s compulsion.

I’d better put on an extra mental shield when they were around.

Theodore paused in his speech. I wondered if he’d been reading the same script over and over about the gods’ glory shining upon us and that we were so lucky to be chosen to receive the Blood Runes, which had created the elite gods’ army and culled the unworthy for generations.