Page 2 of Wild Hunt
He just smirked, his hands in his pockets as he watched me. “We’ll see.”
Irritation bubbled up in my chest like heartburn, but it was going to take a hell of a lot more than a chalky tablet to be rid of the nuisance that was Hades.
I made it through the rest of my day relatively unscathed, and even managed to get through Artemis’ training session without killing anyone. Of course, my fellow classmates were even less eager to team up with me than usual, but that was to be expected.
I was on my way back to the dorm when I saw the crowd formed in the hall that led to the men’s wing.
“What the hell?” I muttered, straining to get a better look. I turned to the girl next to me and asked, “What’s going on?”
She gave me a disgusted look, like something off the bottom of her shoe was talking to her. “I don’t know, some dude’s fighting with his roommate,” she said before turning back to try and get a better look.
The way the crowd was pressing in, I was starting to feel claustrophobic. I finally managed to edge my way through the crowd enough to see it break up ahead. Right outside Dionysus’ door.
Dread welled up within me even before I saw him on the floor, holding the right side of his face like it hurt. Atlas was standing over him looking like an angry bull with his fists clenched.
“Hey!” I bellowed, pushing my way to the front. I put myself between Atlas and Dionysus instinctively, even though I knew that was probably the last thing he wanted. “What the hell is going on here?”
Atlas narrowed his eyes at me, but I was used to being unwelcome. Might as well be for a good reason. “Stay out of this,” he growled. “This doesn't concern you.”
“The hell it doesn't,” I snapped. Dionysus was my friend and the one person who'd been decent to me. Even though I probably wasn't doing him any favors by intervening publicly, I wasn't thinking about that right now. I just saw someone I cared about in trouble, and I never had been good at standing down.
“Kore,” Dionysus said wearily, looking up at me. When I saw the dark red mark forming around his right eye, rage burned in my chest.
“Did you do this?” I demanded, turning back to Atlas. Fuck getting expelled, there was about to be another murder at the Academy and this time, there would be plenty of witnesses.
“So?” he scoffed, folding his arms. “The little creep deserves it.”
I didn't care what Dionysus had done, he didn’t deserve to be taken down by someone twice his size. Besides, I highly doubted Atlas and I had the same standards for what was worthy of physical violence. “You're the creep,” I spat. Everyone was staring at me now, but at least the focus was off Dionysus.
For an Academy full of Olympians, there were surprisingly few people willing to stand up and do what was right. Then again, their parents weren't much better.
“You were the one on my phone,” Dionysus hissed, getting to his feet.
Sure enough, I recognized the rose gold device in Atlas’ grasp. Definitely not his style.
I snatched the phone from him while I had the chance, but the display came on before I could stop it, revealing a picture of a very naked dude I’d never seen before. Probably a model, given his good looks and washboard abs. My face warmed as I clicked the phone shut and handed it to Dionysus before Atlas could reach for it back.
“Missing the part where his phone is any of your business,” I said flatly, folding my arms.
Atlas looked between me and Dionysus, rage burning in his eyes. I could tell he was calculating whether or not he wanted to push past me to get to his roommate but the audience made things too complicated for his meathead brain to process.
“Just take your shit and get out,” he snarled, stalking into the room only to return a moment later with an armful of Dionysus’ clothes. He tossed them on the floor along with a bag.
“That’s my laptop, you oaf,” Dionysus snapped, reaching for the bag. At least it had landed on the pile of clothes.
“I’m not gonna room with a weirdo like you for another second,” Atlas growled, looking back at the other students. “Don’t need you perving on me while I’m getting dressed.”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Dionysus muttered, gathering his things.
I stooped to help him, since I needed something to do with my hands other than wrapping them around that thick throat of Atlas’. “You’re one to talk about being a perv,” I sneered. “I heard you fucked your cousin over summer break.”
His nostrils flared and for a moment, I was sure he really was going to charge me, girl or not. One of his friends reached out to grab him even though he was more than a little bit late collecting his trash.
“Come on, bro, they’re not worth it.”
Atlas was still seething, but his ire turned to cruel satisfaction as he looked me over. “I hope Hades fucking buries you, you little bitch.” He spat at me and as soon as I felt a vine coiling around my wrist, Dionysus’ hand wrapped around it, too.
“He’s the one who’s not worth it,” he said in a low tone. “Don’t get yourself expelled over me.”
