Page 3 of Wild Hunt
I hesitated but finally gave up straining when Atlas and his posse of lunkheads turned the corner. The crowd was still gawking at us and all it took was a step in their direction to make them fall back.
Once they’d dispersed, I turned to see Dionysus stuffing his things into his bag. “I should get back in there for the rest of my stuff before he comes back,” he muttered.
“I’ll help you,” I offered.
He hesitated, looking me over. “This is probably the one case where even your reputation could be damaged by association.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I do, and… I’m sorry about all that,” I said, unsure of how else to say it. “Atlas is a douchebag and so are they.”
“It’s fine. I’m used to it,” he said with a shrug. “It was only a matter of time before it got out anyway.”
I frowned. “Who you are isn’t something that should matter if it ‘gets out,’ and it’s total bullshit that it does. Just another reason to hate this shitty school and I don’t give a fuck who knows we’re friends. There are plenty of reasons to look down on me, but that’s definitely not one of them.”
He gave me a tired smile. “Thanks. I mean it.”
“I’m sorry for losing it back there,” I muttered. “Probably didn’t help anything.”
“No,” he mused with a glimmer in his eyes. “Looks like we’re both social pariahs now.”
“Yeah,” I sighed. “We should form a club or something.
Chapter 2
Kore
Once I’d helped Dionysus gather the rest of his things, I brought him back to my room to stash them while he figured out what to do next. And that was how I found myself pacing the floor of my dorm, getting madder the more I thought about the whole thing.
“This is textbook discrimination,” I told him. “We should go to the headmaster. Atlas is the one who should be getting kicked out of his room and the Academy itself, not you.”
“Right, because Odin issofair and progressive.”
He had a point, but still. “It’s worth a shot. We can’t let him get away with it.”
“Look at the world we live in, Kory. People even more ignorant than Atlas are getting away with a lot worse on a daily basis,” he said calmly.
“That just makes it even more fucked up,” I muttered. “How are you so calm about this?”
He shrugged. “When you’ve spent your life hiding, it’s not a huge shock when people confirm you had a reason to hide in the first place.”
I frowned as his words sank in, but it was eye opening, to say the least. At least people hated me because of what I’d done. Dionysus was a model student and he’d never done shit to anyone, but some prick with an anger problem could just come along and ruin his reputation for something that shouldn’t have even mattered in the first place.
And the worst part was, I knew he was right. Odin wouldn’t care. Maybe a few of the teachers would have, but just like the students who didn’t want to rock the boat, they’d keep silent while the bullies lived on to torment another day.
This time, they’d picked the wrong target.
“What’s wrong?” Dionysus asked, eyeing me warily. “I know that look. It never means anything good.”
“What look?”
“Come on,” he said flatly. “It’s me you’re talking to.”
“Okay, fine. I’m plotting revenge.”
“Kory, I told you --”
