Magic Trials (Half-Blood Academy #1)(25)

From the reflection in Axel’s grief-stricken eyes, I could see my eyes glowing red.

I saw red.

I wanted to kill him. I wanted to kill them all.

“I’m a human. I can’t contain the runes, assholes,” I shouted in rage. “A human life means nothing to you. My life means nothing to you.”

“If you were a human, you’d have been burned to ashes by now,” Theodore argued.

What nerve he had! How could I pass this burn to him?

“Shush, Marigold,” Axel tried to calm me. “Your life means everything to me. I’ve opened a link to my father and called for his immediate assistance. He’s coming, and we’ll figure it out. We’ll save you.”

“Yeah, you just keep saying that, you lying son of a bitch,” I shouted and sobbed and screamed. And when I cursed, I felt a bit better. “All you want is to win the war against the demons, so you have to drag everyone you think can fight into your Dominion ranks. Five initiates died today. Actually six, since I’ll soon join them. I’m only twenty. I haven’t even really lived. And I’m still a fucking virgin! Damn you! Damn you all. After my death, I’ll come to haunt you as a ghost, a poltergeist, actually. I’ll be worse than the devils you fight. I’ll be your everyday’s fucking nightmare. Especially Axel! I’ll haunt you! You won’t have a second of fucking peace...”

“Blasphemy!” Theodore said. “I’ve never heard anyone curse so much. We should just give her what she wants and end her.”

“Shut up, Theodore,” Axel said. “Touch her, and I’ll end you.”

Then I was lifted off the ground while I thrashed violently.

The next moment, I was in Axel’s arms. “I won’t let you die,” he said. “Let me take the burn for you. If we die, we die together.”

The merciless fire leapt from me to him, eager to find a new host, even though it still roasted me.

Agony twisted the handsome face of the Demigod of War, but he suppressed a scream and only held me tighter.

Shock slammed into me, despite the awful fire still inside me.

I’d never expected anyone, least of all a demigod, to do this for me, even though he’d brought me to this stage in the first place.

A demigod would never sacrifice himself for a mortal. They were notorious for being the most selfish, self-serving bastards on the planet.

But Axel was ready to die for me—or with me.

“No.” I struggled in his arms. “Just kill me.”

“Perhaps with our combined powers, the fire will distribute among us instead of burning her alone,” Zak said, and he embraced me, too.

Then I felt the Demigod of Sea join us.

“What are you doing?” Theodore shouted. “You’re the immortal demigods, but you can still be killed. You can’t waste your lives for a girl you barely know.”

The demigods let the fire burn them as well as they kept pouring their power into me to shield me.

A stream of cool air coursed through my veins.

Then, all of a sudden, the fire vanished and the burning ceased.

I slumped in Axel’s arms, still murmuring about haunting them as a vengeful ghost.

“Stop babbling, Cookie,” Axel whispered. “You’ll live. You survived.”

Who was Cookie? Were there cookies around?

“Cookies?” I choked. “I want one. And where am I?”

“In my arms,” he said, and then he kissed me.

I didn’t know what had gotten into me, but I wasn’t in my strongest state or my right mind. I didn’t resist him, even though I still hated him.

The Demigod of War tasted me as if I was the most delicious thing he’d ever tried.

I liked his pure male scent, like the wind and the burning stars—even though I’d just gotten burned.

I stretched against his hard torso, threaded my fingers into his rich brown hair, and grabbed hold to anchor myself.

Our kiss deepened, and instantly, liquid fire twirled between my thighs.

I vaguely remembered that I wasn’t wearing panties, but I didn’t remember why I hadn’t put them on in the first place.

A new kind of desire seared me, unlike anything I’d experienced.

I arched my back and pressed tighter against my enemy, knowing that I wanted him more than the world.

A rough groan rumbled from his chest.

Axel’s lust slammed into me like hard steel and nectar at once. He was the Demigod of War, so even his desire was warlike, yet it turned me on like no one ever had.

I’d become a Marigold I barely recognized.

Axel pulled away from me, and I glared at him for depriving me of the carnal pleasure of his mouth and body.

He chuckled darkly, prying my fingers off the locks of his lush hair.

“We have to stop now, Cookie,” he said. “Or I won’t be able to stop. I’ll do wicked things to you, dirty and wicked things.”

I parted my lips and blinked at him incredulously.

Then slowly, common sense returned to me.

The vast Hall of Olympia was eerily quiet, my throat raw and hoarse, and I recalled that I’d almost burned to a pile of ashes.

Two other demigods and the priest stared at me as if I’d grown a demon horn.

I swept a shaking hand over my head to make sure I hadn’t.