Magic Trials (Half-Blood Academy #1)- Meg Xuemei X Page 0,53

his icy current crashing into my fire.

The impact of the two opposite forces sent shockwaves all around and tore through the ceiling.

Concrete, dirt, and rocks rained down with water and ice. Pieces of wood caught fire and flew in all directions.

The students scattered as fast as their feet could carry them, staying clear of Paxton and me.

I pushed my fire toward the demigod, my body trembling from the strain.

But my flame grew weaker.

I realized in dismay that I had no more magical juice left, just throbbing pain in my core. Embers of my fire sparked then smoldered as they died on my fingers.

The Demigod of Sea called off his storm.

I wobbled, waiting for the demigod to strike me down. My hands stretched like claws, ready to leave a trail of blood on his face when he came to me.

Instead of murdering me, he turned to Marie and ordered, “Call the healers. Now.”

Just then, Axel and Zak charged into the training hall, their gazes sweeping to me in utter shock.

I grinned at them savagely. I was but a standing, bloody meat pulp.

“What the bloody hell?” Zak thundered. “Who hurt her?”

Axel’s fiery eyes scanned the room, looking for threats, before alighting on me again.

“Who touched my Marigold?” he roared in rage.

My vision blurred as black dots danced before my eyes. I’d held on long enough. I still fought to stay conscious, though I’d now welcome a break from the unceasingly excruciating pain pounding in my skull, in my every cell.

I don’t know if Zak or Axel reached me before I fell on my face.

CHAPTER 12

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As if I was floating above my body, I saw myself curled up on the ground, my lavender hair spilling around my gory face. My left cheek split open, as were my lips. My left eye was a black circle and my right one a patch of swollen red.

I was a grotesque sight, but all I felt was a cold, detached emotion.

I must have died.

As I peered at myself more closely, I noticed that though broken, I was wrapped inside some kind of a protective bubble made of pale crimson light.

Axel, Theodore, and a healer crouched outside the orb.

None of the students were in the room. It was just the demigods, the priest, the healer, and me—my body and my ghost.

Axel touched the boundary of the bubble, and a slew of crimson lightning shocked him, throwing him back.

“None of us can take down her force field,” Theodore said. “We’d better stop trying and wait for her to wake up.”

“How could she erect such an orb in such a state?” the healer, a dark-skinned mature woman in her thirties, murmured as she put a healthy distance between herself and the bubble.

“Her magic must have kicked in and created it to protect her,” Zak said.

He was facing off against Paxton to prevent him from getting near me.

“We need to get her shield down, or she’ll bleed out,” Axel said, devastation and grief in his dark-golden eyes.

“We don’t want to force it down and hurt her,” Zak said, one hand rubbing his temple, the other up in the air to fend off Paxton. “We need to call Héctor back. He’s an expert on shielding.”

“Let me try it,” Paxton said. “I might be able to bring down her shield so our healer can fix her.”

At the sound of his voice, all my emotions wheeled back. My hackles rose, my skin prickled, and cold hatred burned through me.

“Fuck off, Paxton,” Zak snarled. “You have no rights to her anymore.”

“Don’t let that fucker get one inch closer to her,” Axel bellowed. “I’ll have a word with him after I make sure Marigold lives. He’s started a war this time.”

“The hell I’ll let any of you kick me out of the game,” Paxton said. “She’s mine as much as she’s yours.”

Game? What kind of sick game was he talking about? Were the demigods all playing a game with me? How dare that psychopath think I was his? Did he have an ounce of fucking common sense?

“After what you did to her?” Axel hissed in wrath.

“You’ve gone too far, Paxton,” Zak agreed, regarding the sea demigod like an icy statue. “You don’t deserve a mate like her after you laid your hands on her—after you encouraged another student do this to her. We never hurt our own. There’s no coming back from this for you.”

“I never meant for this to happen,” Paxton growled. “I didn’t expect her to be so bullheaded. I’ve never met anyone as