Blood Oath (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book Two) (33 page)

Thrown into uncontrollable defense mode, I pushed my hands out, sending the energy back, breaking its hold on me.

Justice shook his head like he was trying to wake up from some sort of dream, his eyes going from black back to light gray. "Don’t I? Maybe I’m not as strong as you to resist it. Maybe I don’t have as much as you do to keep me from it." He pulled out of Chaos’s grip, standing with fists tight and body shaking with unleashed rage.

Thallo’s face tightened as she looked at me with a look of utter disgust and blame. She pushed me away as if I was the problem that needed to go away. "Enough! Gabrielle and Justice, get back to your rooms now!"

I looked at her with resentment, but didn’t say anything. I knew that I shouldn’t have been in this very explosive situation. But I wanted to rip her throat out because of the way she was looking at me, confrontational, catty, like I was in her way.

I grabbed Justice’s sleeve. "Come on, let’s go."

Justice pulled away, giving Chaos a menacing stare.

I shut my eyes, running my hand over my face. "It’s not worth getting into trouble, Justice."

Chaos’s gaze never left Justice. "Yes, you better listen to the little
Circle
, Justice. She’s trying to save you from getting a well-deserved thrashing."

Justice growled, taking a step toward him. I touched his shoulder gently; Justice swung around, but when he saw my pleading look, he exhaled loudly as I looped my arm through his and gently tugged. "Come on."

We turned around and strode away from Chaos and Thallo. When we reached the edge of the garden, I could hear Chaos and Thallo arguing furiously in low tones. I smirked; obviously all was not well in lovers’ land.

We walked toward the castle in complete silence. When we reached the edge of the courtyard, I stopped short, rounding angrily on him. "Look, I don’t know what family drama is going on between you and Chaos, but leave me out of it, okay?"

He looked at me innocently. "I don’t know what you’re talking about, first leveler."

I crossed my arms in front of me. "Oh, you don’t, huh? You all but said that you and I were making out in the dark, and you know that will never happen," I said with an icy voice.

Justice stepped close to me, his chest brushing against my body. "Never? I don’t know about that," he said with a very husky voice.

I pushed his chest with disgust, then threw my arms up. "I give up; just leave me out of your family drama. I don’t want any issues with Chaos."

His face tightened. "Oh, I see, you still think that you have a shot with him," he laughed mockingly. "Be careful, first leveler. Chaos is not the type you want to tangle with."

I pointed my finger in his chest. "You know full well that this has nothing to do with getting with Chaos." My face twisted angrily.

I was so tired of all this cloak-and-dagger mystery stuff. I wanted answers, and now. "What was that whole thing about us and destiny?"

His eyes clouded over, his face tight. "I don’t know what you’re talking about."

I stepped in closer, not letting him escape. "Oh, you don’t know what I’m talking about?" I grabbed the front of his shirt with trembling hands. "You said it. You said that I have something to do with your and Chaos’s destiny, and I want to know what."

He looked back at me blankly.

I was one fine step away from going hysterical, and once I passed that line, it was going to turn ugly.

"Right now, Justice."

I pushed him, angry that everyone was hiding things from me that had everything that had to do with my life. No more secrets, I was tired of secrets. I shoved him again with more strength than I thought I had. He stepped back with a smirk on his face, and that was it, my breaking point. I flicked my hand, sending a spark of white energy over his head. Justice jumped back, shocked.

I looked down at my now-trembling hands. Where had that come from? Sheer rage was rolling over my body, uncontrollable rage, first slow, simmering, pressing me to unleash something that I knew was really bad.

Justice’s eyes softened as he grabbed my hands. "Don’t, Gabi. Let it go. Let the anger go. I apologize, okay?"

My breath slowed, calmed. "What’s happening to me?" I looked at him scared out of my mind. "Look, I get it, there are things going on that maybe I shouldn’t know…right now…but please just tell me something, like what by the goddess is the
Taint
?"

He sighed, looking away, then back at me cautiously. "It’s short for the
‘Tainted,’
as in tainted blood." He swallowed hard. "The
Tainted
are children born from a parent that’s a
Banished
."

I stepped back. Did he know about my father? My eyes opened wide with fear.

He stepped in closer, leaving little space between us. "The
Tainted
have the blood of the dark Underworld coursing through their veins, the mark of the Underworld, which can be claimed at any time."

"What is the claim?" I croaked.

He looked at me darkly. "It’s the call to serve as the Underworld’s foot soldier."

I avoided his penetrating stare, swallowing hard. "Uh, but what does that have to do with you and Chaos?"

"Because Chaos and I are considered
Tainted
. Our father is a
Banished
."

Oh, by the goddess, my head was swimming. I actually swayed toward him, causing him to wrap his arms around me strongly. I tried to step back quickly, but he tightened his hold, placing his chin on the top of my head; his closeness was confusing me even more, and I started to actually nuzzle into the warmth of his chest.

Why hadn’t Grandma Celeste told me that I was considered a
Tainted
? My hands trembled angrily and pushed against his chest hard. Why was everyone keeping information from me? It was like they were all hell-bent on telling half the story.

Something flashed across his eyes. "You won’t get infected with the
Taint
by touching me, first leveler," he sneered.

"Huh?" I looked up at him surprised, forgetting that he was even there for a minute. "So your father is a
Banished
? What about your mother?"

He shoved his hands into his jeans pockets angrily. "My mother," he spat like it was distasteful, "is the head of the Conclave of Boreus—earth. And my father…was the king of the
Ares
Warriors."

I looked at him with shocked eyes. Now, some of the pieces were fitting together, not all of them, but some. "So King Helios is your uncle?"

His mouth twisted sardonically. "Finally, the first leveler got it. It took you long enough."

I rolled my eyes. "You do know that you’re a giant butt? Jeez, relax. Why didn’t they just tell me? What’s the big secret?"

He scoffed, "If you haven’t noticed, this whole world is about secrets. Wake up, first leveler; do you actually think that they’ll tell you everything? They want to keep you fumbling in the dark; it’s more fun that way. The gods are up there playing games with our lives like one big chess game. The
Eternals
and
Elementi
are just pawns…disposable. Just remember that."

I jammed my hands on my hips. "Why are you looking at me like that? Like I’m so ridiculously naive?"

He ran his hands through his chocolate brown hair, tousling it even more. "Because you are. Wake up, Gabi. Look around you." He gestured around him. "You mean absolutely nothing to them. They’ll use you and spit you out in a blink of an eye. Stop being so darn naive."

I poked him in the chest. "Uh, don’t talk to me like that. Ever."

He just laughed at me like I was some sort of joke.

"Ugh, I give up." I swiveled on my heels and stormed away.

"Night, first leveler," he screamed after me.

I shook my head with disgust. "Whatever."

chapter

EIGHTEEN

Brooklyn grumbled, flopping
down tiredly in the middle of the C-Yard to lace up her boots. "Seriously, we probably shouldn’t have stayed out so late. I’m so ready to just sleep right here. Just come back for me later and pick me up for lunch."

My cell phone chirped loudly, and I almost dropped it in my haste to turn down the loud, annoying volume. I rubbed my eyes tiredly. "It’s a text from Professor Aceso." I read it aloud:

Today, Defensive Magic—Goddess Gaia Sanctuary

Tiredly, Rosalinda pulled her long black hair into a neat ponytail. "Great, more change."

Brooklyn nodded toward Jessica, who looked over at me nervously. She bit her bottom lip as she shuffled from one foot to the other.

I sighed, "What?"

Jessica cleared her throat. "Well, uh, you see, the thing is…"

I looked from Jessica, to Zora, to Brooklyn, then to Rosalinda. All of them were looking at me with questioning smiles.

"Really, what’s going on now?" I asked, irritated.

Jessica started anxiously, "Well, Super CVV…"

I looked at her questioningly. "Super CVV?"

Zora cleaned off her glasses. "Calleis" she responded dryly.

"Well, she’s spreading a nasty rumor about you being locked up in the corner with some Fire Prince, displaying some real embarrassing PDA at the Horae party," Jessica said in one breath. She was bright red and breathing like she was about to pass out.

I looked at them sheepishly.

Brooklyn jumped up excitedly. "Oh. My. Goodness. It’s true? Really?"

Rosalinda looked at everyone, annoyed. "What in the world is the Fire Prince?"

I shook my head angrily. "No, it’s not true. Well, not the part about the whole PDA thing. Okay, maybe it looked real suspicious."

They were looking at me with stupid grins on their faces.

I sighed, "Okay, he was really cute, and there was this weird magnetism thing going on. And that’s all I’m going to say on the topic."

Brooklyn’s light green eyes sparkled. "But the Fire Prince? What was he doing at the party? How do you know him? Oh. My. Goodness. I’m about to faint." She started fanning herself. "He’s so hot!"

My eyes darted away. Wait, Fire Prince? My life was so…complicated for no apparent reason. Ugh.

I slammed my hands on my hips. "Whoa, first of all, I didn’t know he was the ‘Fire Prince,’ whatever that is. He walked into the party, looking for me for some ungodly reason. Then he started talking about some journey thing. Frankly, he sounded like some weirdo."

"But he was hot, right?" Jessica asked quickly.

Rosalinda rolled her eyes. "Again, who is the Fire Prince? Some sort of royalty?"

"Drago. He’s the prince of Noteos—the Fire Conclave, the most powerful and most respected family of Royal
Elementi
Conclaves," Brooklyn gushed.

My eyes widened. "What?"

Jessica smiled happily. "Oh, you’re so lucky. A prince, Gabi, a real live prince."

"Seriously? You all are acting like you want to plan some sort of royal wedding." I sighed at the ridiculously dreamy looks on all of their faces. "Look, can we just go to class? I’m mentally exhausted right now."

I huffed angrily, walking off with them giggling like little girls behind me as we headed over to the far end of the castle, following the students filing into the doorway of the sanctuary excitedly.

Professor Aceso was standing in the vestibule, smiling warmly, looking perfect as usual in a tight knee-length black sheath dress with knee-high black stiletto boots. And of course, her makeup and hair were done impeccably.

"Hello, my lovely
Neophytes
. Step in quickly. We have a jam-packed lesson plan today."

They looked at her excitedly.

"Okay, follow me. The far end of the sanctuary has been set up for class today." She inhaled the air deliciously. "I just love the smell of Gaia in the morning."

They followed her through the winding hallway leading to an open garden filled with lush trees and flowers. Wooden chairs were placed in a U-shaped formation in the center of the garden. She smiled. "Everyone take a seat, please."

I sat down quickly, finding myself wedged between Dylan and Brooklyn, who were flirting with each other outrageously. I gave them a long-suffering glare, to which Brooklyn quickly responded with wide green eyes.

"What?"

I responded shortly, "I’m not putting up with you two all class." I gestured at Dylan. "Uh, move over, please." I quickly got up and switched places with him, which allowed them to sit by each other.

"Now you can flirt away to your hearts’ content."