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“No questions!” He hung up.

“Well done,” Darien said.

Paxton beamed up at him, a picture of pride.

“Where’s this clubhouse?” Darien asked.

Paxton fumbled his phone away. “Technically, it’s on Roman’s property, but he doesn’t know about it.” That was highly doubtful.

Darien stepped off the curb and rounded his car, the black paint glistening in the rain.

Paxton was stumbling down the sidewalk, struggling to zip the pocket on his backpack shut.

“What are you doing?” Darien asked.

“Zipper’s stuck.” He yanked it closed. “Fixed it.”

“More like broke it.”

Paxton skidded to a halt and gaped at the car, the astonished look on his face comical as hell. “Whoaaa, sick whip! Is this thing yours?”

Darien merely unlocked the doors.

Paxton grinned. “Can I drive?”

“When you get your license.”

“Awe, man!” He stepped back to admire the car and gave his best attempt at a whistle. “Gee, it’s almost as nice as Roman’s!”

Bandit growled. Did he really just say that?

Be nice, Darien replied. He raised a brow at Pax. “Almost?”

Paxton smiled and shrugged. “Sorry to hurt your feelings.”

Darien opened the driver’s door. “Get in. I’ll show you how fast this thing can go.”

18

Elsewhere

In the heart of the universe, over two thousand years in the past, the girl and her dog continued to observe the three peculiar students as they went to and from their classes at the academy.

Erasmus was a genius who excelled at any task that came his way, so it was with ease that he created a fresh identity for his unlikely friend, Helia.

Of course, in order to create a new identity, Helia would need to change her name. But she loved her name, so she decided she would choose one that shared the same meaning as Helia—sunlight—but was different enough to never raise suspicion.

She would call herself ‘Cyra’.

Helia, under the new name of Cyra, began taking classes at Angelthene Academy, where she was sorted into the same house as her two friends: the House of Salt. Helia and Erasmus grew close quickly, and soon they were spending every waking moment possible by each other’s side. Elix, too, was with them often; Helia loved Elix as well, but in a different way than she loved Erasmus. While the love she felt for Elix was friendship, the kind she felt for Erasmus was far stronger.

One day, Erasmus and Elix left the school with Helia. For three days they journeyed to their destination—a bustling city built by the water, just like Angelthene.

But this city was older and colder, and its history bled even deeper into the past than Angelthene’s.

Helia brought her two friends to see a Nameless being, where they discovered that Helia was not just named after the goddess—she was the goddess.

The night prior, Erasmus had been made aware of this in secret; Helia had confessed to him by candlelight in the Old Hall, and Erasmus, because he loved and trusted her, had believed her, regardless of how unlikely it sounded, like something out of a fairytale book. Even now, he found himself in awe as he watched his new friend converse with the Nameless being in a cavern deep below an ancient city—a serpent king of old who never showed its face. Erasmus hadn’t told Elix about Helia’s true identity; Helia had asked Erasmus not to—she wanted to tell Elix herself.