Broken Knights (Gifted Academy #4) - Michelle Hercules Page 0,102
games, but mercifully, their expressions are suspicious, as they should be. Soren’s jaw, on the other hand, is hanging loose, and I can totally picture his tongue rolling out cartoon-style. Dumbass.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
Her grin vanishes when her attention switches to me. “I came to warn you that what I feared has happened. Chaos took Morpheus to his island.”
40
Daisy
Everything else takes a back seat, including raiding the Neo Gods’ headquarters. Our top priority now is to save Morpheus from Chaos.
“You must take us there,” I say.
Eris shakes her head. “Absolutely not. If I take you, Chaos will trap me too. He’s been trying to put me in a cell for centuries. I’m not going to make it easy for him.”
“You must! It’ll take days to get to the island by boat, and that’s assuming we can find it again,” Mrs. Malek argues.
“I’m not taking you there, but there’s another way to get to Starlight Island fast.” Eris looks pointedly at Jodie. “Come on, darling. Tell them about our arrangement.”
All eyes turn to Jodie, who has gone whiter than a sheet of paper. Her eyes are trained on Eris, wide and unblinking.
“Mother, what the hell is she talking about?” Bryce asks.
Jodie swallows hard, amplifying the visible tension around her mouth. “When William died, I vowed to avenge his death. Eris came to me and proposed a deal. She would help me bring the downfall of the Neo Gods and kill Jonathan in the process in exchange for my assistance.”
“Assistance with what?” Rufio asks angrily.
“With anything she needed.”
“Son of a bitch,” Phoenix mutters.
“Don’t look so shocked, guys. In comparison to Chaos, I was a pretty good boss. I helped more than I asked for stuff in return. Who do you think told Jodie Daisy was the descendant of Magia destined to receive her powers? Or that Bryce had the ability to make Idols?”
“Oh my God.” I hug my middle, remembering the conversation Bryce and I had last night. He was right. We’ve been nothing but puppets this whole time.
“That’s messed up,” Soren pipes up.
Eris turns to him. “Maybe, but your father benefited greatly from the intel I gave Jodie.”
“No offense, but can we deal with this revelation later? We have to rescue my son. How do we get to the island?” Mrs. Malek asks.
“I gave Jodie a portal-key in case Chaos ever managed to capture me. It’s still in your office, isn’t it?” She raises an eyebrow at her.
“Yes, which presents a problem since I no longer have access to it.”
“I guess you’ll just have to find a way to retrieve it, then.” Eris shrugs.
“But the school has been overrun by the Neo Gods,” Renata chimes in.
“I can get you inside the campus, but I’m sure Chaos has his sight trained on it. I won’t be able to linger.”
“That’s fine,” Xavier says. “How many can you tele-transport to Gifted Academy?”
Her eyes flash with amusement. “All of you.”
One moment we’re in the warehouse, and in the next we’re standing right in front of Gifted Academy’s main building. Eris is nowhere to be seen.
“Fuck! A little warning would have been nice,” Phoenix complains.
“Shit. We’re out in the open. Let’s look for cover,” Xavier commands.
We scramble, splitting into two groups. I head for the right with Bryce, Phoenix, Rufio, Toby, Rosie, and Renata. Soren, the rest of the Knights, Jodie, Mrs. Malek, and Xavier veer for the left.
“Man, it would be nice to have Morpheus’s concealing powers right about now.” Phoenix tries to become smaller by hiding behind the shrubbery next to the building.
A moment later, a group of students exits the building. They’re relaxed and chatting animatedly, which means they don’t know we’re out here. Maybe the security cameras didn’t catch us after all. They stop suddenly when Jonathan Kent turns a corner. I tense for a split second before my brain grasps that he’s wearing the same clothes Xavier was.
“Damn. Your uncle is good, Daisy,” Phoenix whispers.
“Mr. Kent. How did you get here so fast?” one of the guys asks.
Crap. So Bryce and Rufio’s father is around. That’s not good for us at all. Bryce’s anger flares like fireworks. He wants to make his father pay for what he did to Rufio, but we can’t deviate from the plan, which is to get to Jodie’s old office and retrieve the portal-key. Too bad we don’t know what it looks like. Damn, Eris didn’t give us a second to get organized.
“Where are you going?” Xavier asks instead of replying.