Cursed by the Gods

Chapter 7

I walked out of the classroom in a daze after class ended. Not even paying attention to where I was going as two dwellers jostled my shoulders from either side. I was shocked when they quickly dashed away from me.

"Abcurse brothers," someone muttered, right before the hall completely cleared of people.

I blinked, still a little dazed, and found myself face-to-face with the triplets. Siret jumped forward, snatching the timetable out of my hand.

"Oi give it back," I said as I reached for it but they easily kept me at bay. Dammit, and I couldn't expose myself either.

"She's in 2213 next," he told Yael. Who stepped forward, grabbed the timetable, stuffed it into his pocket. Then bent until he was on eye-level with me, his hands on his knees.

"Hey there, Speedy." He was grinning, the deep green hue of his eyes pulling me in, and in ... until the world was suddenly fuzzy and nothing existed beyond him. "You're going to skip your next class and come with us."

Of course, I was. Why would I do anything else? I nodded.

His smile deepened and he turned suddenly, striding off with the other two. As soon as he broke eye-contact with me, I snapped back to myself, as though a frigid bucket of water had been tossed over my head.

"What the hell was that?" I snapped, even though my legs were carrying me obediently after them. Asshole using his persuasion before I had a chance to block it.

One of them laughed, and Siret turned on his heel, walking backward while I still walked forwards. "Aren't dirt-dwellers supposed to be silent?" he asked me, his expression painted in mocking question.

"If we were always silent, how would we be able to say yes master, no master, everything you need master, every time one of you sols—." I cut myself off, hearing a gasp to my left.

It was another of the dweller recruits. She had been scurrying along the corridor toward us, but now she was turning and going in the opposite direction. Apparently, she was so desperate not to be associated with me that she was willing to be late. All to feel the wrath of whatever teacher was in charge of her next classroom.

"Our new dweller is gonna die," Siret announced, snapping back around to walk normally. He sounded highly entertained. "I give her seven sun-cycles."

They were discussing me like I wasn't even there. And they were predicting my death. Lovely.

"Let's see how far we can push her first," replied Yael, a laugh in his voice. "I give her three sun-cycles."

"One sun-cycle!" Siret shot back.

"One rotation," Aros teased, glancing at me over his shoulder. "Teacher Christin is pretty lenient, so let's see which one of us can push enough of her buttons to get the dweller sacrificed by the end of this next lesson. It has to be a death sentence, too. Whoever manages it first will win a single favor from each of the rest of us."

Holy shit. "What if I win?" I quickened my steps, trying to walk right behind them.

I was pandering to their obviously competitive nature, and hoping that I lasted longer than a single rotation in the process. It was a dangerous game, but dangerous games were pretty much the only games I knew how to play, so at least I was in familiar territory.

"Well, then I guess you win the favors," Siret returned thoughtfully. "Should we let her play?" he asked the others.

"She doesn't have a gift," Yael pointed out. "She's way out of her league."

They definitely underestimated this dweller. They had no idea who they were playing with.

"So, there's no harm in letting me play," I added gently. I was attempting to be coaxing. Siret snorted—he clearly wasn't buying it.