Deviant Descendants (Descendants Academy #2) - Belle Malory Page 0,6

much less a bow and arrow. I didn’t know the anything about archery either.

I felt Riley staring before I looked up. When I did, she looked away, but not before I caught the unmistakable fury in her gaze. She didn’t have to say a word for me to guess what she was thinking. This wasn’t over. I may have made her task more difficult by summoning my soul weapon, but she still had every intention of ending my life.

2

At lunch, a pair of Aphrodite students waved to me. It was weird because they were the same students who ignored me after I enrolled in Ares classes. I dumbly waved back, just one small rise of my hand as I looked around to see if they were waving to someone else. Hazel, who was normally under Birch’s rapt attention, noticed and grinned. “Hey, they like you again.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” I said, thinking it was probably a mistake. Or worse—a prank. Appearances could be deceiving.

The two of us used to eat lunch with Jett. But when Jett traded me for Hades magic, she split our little friendship trio apart. Now, I spent my lunchtime with Birch and Hazel’s overtly cutesy coupledom. To be honest, I didn’t mind. I was grateful I still had friends in this school.

Hazel reached for my hand and squeezed it. I caught the pity behind her neon purple frames, and I hated seeing it there. Birch, ever the optimistic faun that he was, offered a cheery wink. “If it makes you feel any better, creatures don’t care about descendant houses. We all bleed red.”

“I wish everyone felt like that.”

Life would be much simpler if magic didn’t separate us.

The day grew stranger as it wore on. In my Flight Equestrianism class, a kid from Zeus talked my ear off about his family’s collection of winged horses. I listened quietly, assuming he didn’t know who I was.

On my way back to my dorm room that evening, Phoebe Brightly, a junior in House Ares, known for her skill in combat, approached me on the sidewalk. Her strawberry blonde hair and freckles reminded me of my sister, before Riley became the fiery-haired stranger she was today.

“Hey, Sheridan.” Her toga swished as she fell into place beside me. She hadn’t called me Two, the name I was used to hearing. I blinked several times, stunned by her normal, everyday greeting. “Congrats on your soul weapon!”

My mind turned to mush. I didn’t say hello or thank you, the polite thing to do. Instead, I went with, “Do you know who I am?”

“Everyone knows who you are.”

“Then why are you talking to me?” I looked around. “Aren’t you afraid of someone seeing you?”

“Why should I?”

“Because I’m a traitor.” Duh.

She waved that off. “No one can fault a geniox for their heritage.”

“My heritage?”

She nodded. “Your ability to practice any magic—incredibly special. I have to admit, I’m jealous.”

What the—what? I had never heard of such a thing, but then again, I hadn’t been in Mythos that long.

“And where did you hear about my unique, ahem, bloodline?”

“Ione told everyone.” She offered a wide, gap-toothed smile. “You really should have said so right away. The other Ares descendants wouldn’t have been so hard on you.”

I should’ve known.

Ione, the reigning Queen of House Aphrodite. Of course she started a rumor. She was never one to stand by while anyone she cared about was drug through the mud. And I’d become someone she cared about.

Phoebe and I spoke about Weaponry class for a while, and she asked to see my bow. Still nameless, I handed it to her and she marveled in appreciation. Then she gave it back and we went our separate ways.

After she left, I practically flew up the stairs of House Aphrodite. Ione was inside our dorm room, sitting at her vanity. Hair wrapped in a towel, her delicate face covered in a thick paste the color of seaweed, she raised a brow at my rushed entrance.

“Did you really tell everyone I’m a geniox?” I tossed my bag down on the ground.

She swiveled around, crossing one leg over the other. Her eyes widened at the sight of my bow. “You summoned a soul weapon?”

“Nope—me first.” I laid it carefully on my bed. “Why did you start that rumor?”

She shrugged, not even an ounce of shame in her face. “You’re not the only one with secrets bad enough to ruin you. I’ve gotten good at lying.”

Both of our closets were packed full of baggage we wished