One black eye and one yellow eye flashed as the angel sneered at our legion.
Up close, his black feathers looked clear, almost like crystals.
“The devil legion,” Lothaire announced the next legion, and I turned forward.
Four men entered.
Like Malum, they were all about seven feet tall with deep-bronze skin and buzz cuts. Apparently devils ran tall. Every inch of their exposed skin was covered in Latin words. They even had words tattooed across their cheekbones.
That was where the similarities ended.
They were lean. In contrast, Malum and Scorpius were covered in striated muscles and looked more like enchanted comic-book warriors than flesh-and-blood men. Even Orion had a whipcord strength that these men were missing.
The devils marched forward down the aisle toward Lothaire. Flaming broadswords were strapped across their backs.
Up close, their features were harsh and ugly.
Unattractive men were kind of hot. I’d fuck them.
They were like Malum’s ugly stepsisters; where his features were patrician and regal like he was carved from bronze, theirs were too wide for their faces.
They bowed to Lothaire, then stomped into a line beside us.
“Corvus from the House of Malum,” the man in the front of the line said coldly as he stared straight ahead at the hall.
Malum muttered back, “Tal from the House of Dar.”
Aggression swirled between them.
I waited for something to happen, aka prayed Tal would accidentally stab Malum with his sword.
Neither man said anything else. Pussies.
Lothaire said, “The leviathan legion.”
Seven average-looking men entered.
They differed from the other competitors. No wings, tattoos, fire, or unnaturally large bodies. Most of the men were short, almost Sadie’s size, and they didn’t look that powerful.
Leviathans were rumored to be a secretive race that turned into monstrous beasts. Their unassuming nature was a disguise which lured in their prey.
In history, almost every famous rampaging serial killer had been a leviathan.
Not my type. Pass.
As they fell into line next to the devils, one of the short men smiled at me. He looked nice.
I moved closer to John.
Smiling men always creeped me out.
“The assassin legion,” Lothaire announced.
Four pale women entered next, and like the leviathans, they were short, but they sure as shit weren’t average-looking.
They moved like wraiths, gliding over the air.
If I wasn’t a raging heterosexual, we’d totally make love.
As they were clad in all black, with dark features and bony builds, it was hard to look at them. My eyes kept bouncing over them as they blended into the background.
They slinked toward the tree.
My brain struggled to comprehend that they weren’t just silhouettes.
They stopped in front of Lothaire and bowed deeply. “Nice to be back, sir. We’ve missed the program.”
Lothaire’s lips pulled up. “You’re still the best recruits I’ve ever had.” He pointedly looked over his shoulder and glared at us.
We stared back.
None of us were offended by his words because he’d already told us we were the most powerful people he’d ever trained.
However, the assassin legion moved to the top of my list of people to avoid.
Who would ever miss drowning in the ocean and getting boulders thrown at them? Not people I wanted to be around.
Thank the sun god, it was a relief to not be the first woman in the assassin program.
I wasn’t born to be a trailblazer. I was born to kill men and suffer.
The assassins were lined up on the other side of the angels, and it was comical, the contrast between the two groups. Like shadows next to glistening diamonds.
One of them I could barely see.
The other group was mesmerizing.
I’d thought our legion would be a shoo-in for the assassin position in the war, but now I wasn’t so sure. Something told me these women could kill me before I knew they were present.
“Finally, our last group,” Lothaire said.
The last line of people came into view.
“The shifter legion.”
The realm stopped spinning.
My jaw dropped.
In a religious way, immediate smash. In a realistic way, hard pass.
Four powerful men stalked behind a short, scowling woman. She had long white hair and glowing ruby eyes and wore a low-cut top that showed off a patchwork of thin, jagged scars. She was missing a finger.
“Wait, isn’t that…” John trailed off with a frown.
The kings swore under their breath.
I bounced up and down on my toes and tried to stop myself from running across the room and flying into her arms.
“We’re honored to have you,” Lothaire said, and Sadie ignored him.
She shoved between the devil legion and forced the tattooed men to move over so she could squeeze next to me in line.
Tal from the House of Dar puffed up his chest with aggression.
He quickly piped down once four shifters surrounded him with glowing eyes. Xerxes brandished his knives, and Ascher cracked his knuckles.
The shifter legion settled into line beside us, and Sadie launched herself into my arms. She straddled me and squealed, “Oh my sun god, you’re a girl again! Damn, I forgot how gorgeous you were. Sexy mama.”
I choked on laughter. “Never call me that again.”
“Get out of our line.” John stared at her with narrowed eyes, and I stomped on his foot. He’d never liked her for some reason.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” I whispered to Sadie.
She squeezed. “I know. We’re going to have so much fun together!”
Lothaire cleared his throat, and Sadie awkwardly climbed off me. Cobra grabbed her shoulders and yanked her into line behind him.
Her snake shifter mate glared at me with slit pupils and said, “Aran.”
“Cobra.” I glared back.
He scowled menacingly.
Lothaire raised both his fists and tipped his head back as he bellowed, “We bleed for the gods!”
Everyone chanted back, “And we will kill for the glory!”
Students stomped their feet and hollered.
Sadie and I locked eyes.
“Kind of fun,” she whispered at the same time I said, “We’re so screwed.”
Chapter 10
Aran
PSYCHOLOGY
The Legionnaire Games: Day 6, hour 5
I dug my toes into the silky grass and closed my eyes.
The crashing surf, howling wind, and sulfuric stench faded into the background.
In my mind I stood in a flower field.
Two fae suns warmed my skin.
Lothaire shouted over the icy wind, “For the first four games, only a few competitors from each team will be selected to represent their legion.”
The mirage broke, and I opened my eyes.
The eclipse swallowed the sky and cast everything in blood red. The salty air whipped my curls into an unruly mess.
We stood in our lines on the west side of the island on what used to be rocks.
It was now an arena.
Neon-green grass was squishy beneath my bare toes.
A perfect circle of lawn was surrounded by dozens of wide pillars. They jutted high into the cloud cover. The arena was about the same size as the gladiator stadium in the fae realm, but there were no surrounding seats.
A small silver set of bleachers sat off to one side.
The seating was comically out of place compared to the height of the posts and the tall spires of the academy.