Page 31

YOU CAN RING MY BELL

SYDNEY

I made Stormbringer exit stage right eventually, and oddly, I was able to get decent sleep. Once I got up and dressed, I headed for the kitchenette to find all of the dudes in there having coffee. The conversation stops the second I walk in, and I glare at them. That definitely means they were talking about me, which sets my teeth on edge.

Are they trying to piss me off? What the shit.

“Whatever you chucklefucks were discussing before I showed up had better not be me. I’m warning you—today is not the day and I am not the one. I’ve got a lot of things to come to grips with, while pretending to be a good little automaton at this goddamned training.”

Their expressions don’t change and I sigh internally. Men are fucking exhausting and I’m really not in the mood to push this after last night. I roll my eyes and stomp over to the coffee machine, pouring myself a mug and taking a long, restorative sip. Coffee this rich and full is definitely a perk of this stupid place; in the camps, it’s usually watered down to almost eagle piss because of the need to make it last. The bitterness helps me curb the fury roiling inside of me for a moment, and I open my eyes to see every one of them looking at me with a stupid grin.

“What the fuck are you all grinning like dumbasses for?”

Thad clears his throat, scratching his chin as he tries to get his face under control. “It’s just nice to see you look so damned ecstatic for once. I had no idea a good cup of joe would do that.”

Smug asshole.

“How often do we get shit like this, Thad? It’s heaven in a fucking stupid cup.” My frown is hidden by the edge of the cup, as I take another fortifying drink. “I don’t know about the two fancy pants guys, but our version of these hellholes doesn’t allow for such a luxury.”

“Mine, either.” Elias says mildly. “But he’s not wrong, little rebel.”

Mollified, I continue sipping the delicious brew as I mull over what I learned and what I think we need to do. “Anyone concerned about the fact that we haven’t been given a start date or real info about when we go from training to the real thing?”

“Me,” Sebastian says as he licks a spot of red from his lips. It reminds me of what he is and I have to suppress my long encouraged urge to sneer at him. He arches a brow like he’s read my mind, then continues. “I believe they will soon, because this ‘warming up’ period was more about figuring out what we can do and how our minds work. They likely had shrinks watching videos and taking reports from the coaches and trainers to analyze every word and move, so that they can create marketing based on each team.”

“Awesome,” I mutter. “Love feeling watched everywhere I go for years on end, only to be shoved in the world’s biggest fish bowl until I get to fight to the death to amuse people.”

Elias chuckles. “Perfect way to describe it. I like it.”

“Privacy died long before the sweeps, sweet pea,” Huck comments as he returns his mug to the sink. “The humans gave it up as a trade for games in their pockets and our leaders gave it up hoping to prevent the exact bullshit we’re living through. This is just trading a prison for a trophy case.”

Goddess, I hate how right that demon always is.

“Okay, so we’re fucked and people watch our every move like we’re in a terrarium. You guys are supposed to act like you’re lusting after me and I’m supposed to fight you off and be a snarky rebel. Got it—yay team.”

Thad dumps his mug as well, walking over to me and standing so he’s all I can see. His kind eyes meet mine as he does what he always does when I’m clearly going to go off the rails in a snit. “Syd, I know all of this shit is so far beyond your boundaries that it probably chafes inside and out. Your world has been rocked so many times in a few days that you’re on the edge of spiraling. But we don’t have the time for you to do your normal ‘disappear into a black hole’ somewhere for a week act.”

I suck in a deep breath and blow it out in annoyance. The damn bear knows me so fucking well that it irks me on a good day, but now it’s so much worse, especially because he’s right. In the past, when my impotent rage welled up like this, I’d ditch everyone and go hide out away from the academy, my friends, and my life in the darkest parts of our camp. Neither of the boys ever found me, because I made sure I disguised myself well enough that I could blend into the darkness of that quarter.

That kind of emotional indulgence isn’t possible here and now; I have to get my shit together.

“Okay,” I finally mumble to my towering best friend. “I’ll do my best not to react the way every cell in my body is screaming. But it won’t be easy.”

“Sydney Jolie never takes the easy way out,” he replies with a grin. His arms reach around me, crushing me into a tight hug that makes me grunt as he squeezes. If anyone but Thad was doing this without warning, I’d probably go for a nut shot, but I know he’s trying to ground me.

The problem is that suddenly, I don’t feel very grounded and it’s like even my comfort zone has morphed into something I didn’t expect—just fucking fabulous.

“Good morning, faithful competitors!”

I blink as Dean Wallace-Brickman stands on a platform in the area just outside of the cafeteria and booms the greeting via microphone. We haven’t seen her since we were moved into this facility, and I’m not certain why she’s here now. The teams aren’t students at F.E.A.R. anymore; we’re basically property of the fucking FSHA. What’s a feckless administrator doing here disrupting my digestion after I eat?

“Who’s that, Vicious? You look like you’d happily gut her and wear her intestines as a feather boa.”

Rolling my eyes at Rory, I shake my head. I’m not explaining my complex history with camp schools and the way our academy allowed the guards to be abusive and skeevy, even at the college level. “She’s the dean of the college Thad, Huck, and I had just started when they yanked us for this shit.”

He makes an interested sound as he nods, then says, “I take it this place wasn’t very fun.”

“Is anything in our world right now fun?”

His brows bob and he winks at me playfully, obviously putting on a show for the people around us as instructed. “Oh, I can think of a few fun things they can’t take from us.”

I want to smack the smirk off his handsome face, but also… I don’t. Not because we’re playing the roles assigned to us, but because the idiot kissed me the other night and still doesn’t realize that he’s the first person to ever do so. That little act of rebellion on his part has awakened something I repressed for so long that I don’t remember when I started to, and I have zero clue how the fuck to stuff that shit back into the box.

“Fuck off, Stormbringer,” I growl loud enough to be heard. “Don’t be a perv.”

A loud blast of sound echoes in the room, making every single supe grab their ears and wince. Dean Wallace-Brickman gives us all a bland, happy look when the room is silent as a tomb while we all struggle with the pain. “Very good. Now you understand that this is not all luxury, yes? You will be required to comply with our edicts and the punishment for not doing so will be far more severe than what I just used.”

I knew these motherfuckers were gaslighting us with this royal treatment.

“We have finished assessing your teams and thus, have created specific schedules and lessons you will attend during the training. These are mandatory and your progress will be reported by coaches, professors, guards, and all applicable advisors. You will not skip any sessions that are not approved by your main coach or medical staff. Nothing we instruct you to do is in any way a request.”

Thad has his big hands over his ears, but he gives me a knowing look. Our gazes drift to Huck, who seems to be having even more trouble with the effects of the weird noise. I frown, checking on the other three. The dragon and the vampire are doubled over like Huck, while Rory is about equal to Thad and me. I wonder for a moment if that means I’m going to turn out to be like them or does my ability to withstand it better than any of my team mean I’m something else entirely? The thought of revealing that to whatever spies are in this room makes me nervous, so I amp up the theatrics on my ‘pain’ while the bitchy dean continues her tirade.

“Your coaches will escort you to the first session of the day and provide you with your schedules. You will program them into the tech we have provided, and you will complete any and all work given to you by these skilled instructors. Compliance is mandatory and failure is not an option—not if you want to survive to see the actual Games. Am I understood?”

Everyone stays quiet, either unsure if the question is hypothetical or trying to deal with the effects of her crowd control device. The lack of enthusiasm makes her face turn bright red and she lifts her hand to do something about it. Enough supes get the picture and start the shouts of ‘yes, ma’am’ before Brickman deafens us all again.

I’m not sure if doing that a second time wouldn’t bust some people’s eardrums, honestly.

I know she thinks we’re lower life forms, and it makes my stomach churn with hatred. No living being should be treated the way humans have treated supes since Taterman’s rule began. The disconnect between ‘humanity’ and how they see us as less useful than the animals they consume is puke-worthy. Not a single employee of the camps and F.E.A.R. would give a damn if her stupid noisemaker actually harmed one of us. They’d just go steal a replacement from the college and keep going.

“Calm down, little rebel. This behavior is not unexpected.”

I look at Elias as he looms over me. He’s quick for a big ass motherfucker, and even though I know he’s hurting worse than me, he’s at my side trying to keep me from getting everyone punished with a snarky remark. “It isn’t. But I’ll never be numb to cruelty, Elias—never. I’m not perfect and I’m obviously learning the world is very different than I knew. At least I’m willing to admit that and learn, rather than operate from a place of hate and fear. They will never be able to say that.”

His darkly handsome features turn amused as he cracks his neck. “You’re right, but beings like this—human or supernatural —do not care what we think of them. They are so brainwashed to believe the rhetoric that confirmed all their biases and resentment, that logic and truth will not sway them. Their one tiny scrap of power in this world is attached to abusing those ‘below’ them. They don’t realize that they’re no better off now than when the terracotta tater ascended to his fake throne.”

I have to cover my mouth when a giggle almost slips free. This is serious and the announcement was another abuse mechanism; I shouldn’t be laughing. But the big guy gives me a proud grin that looks so gorgeous on his bad boy face that I can’t help it, even if I feel terrible. “Elias, that was bad.”

“Who cares? If we cannot laugh, we are truly lost. I believe that.”

“What are we laughing at?” Huck asks, his voice a low rasp as he moves to stand by the dragon. “I could use a chuckle or two after that horse pucky. My bell’s been rung like a lightweight boxing heavy, and all I can see is blurry shit.”

Fuck. I have a bad feeling about this.