Poseidon's Academy

Chapter 8. Weekend

'What do you mean it's me?'

Alec glanced down the hallway. 'You might want to keep it down.'

'Sorry, you took me by surprise,' she said in a quieter voice. 'Now tell me why you think Nemertes was talking about me?'

'Well, it sounds as though Nemertes hates humans because our ancestors killed the gods and absorbed their powers. It's possible they think the gods will return, which means there'd be one human they hate more than anyone else.'

'And you think it's me?'

Alec paled. He looked as if he'd rather be anywhere else, which made Hailey think he was about to say something she wouldn't like, and she had a pretty good idea what it was. 'Yes, because you're a Zeus, and the prophecy says-'

'I know what the prophecy says,' she snapped, making Alec flinch. 'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell.'

'I wasn't going to tell you, but I thought you should know in case you run into Nemertes again.'

Great, now Hailey would have to worry about a nereid sneaking into her dorm during the night to suffocate her with a pillow. And the list of reasons to hate being a Zeus just keeps growing. Why, why, why did Hailey have to be the Zeus? 'Thanks for telling me, Alec, but I don't think we should tell the others.'

'I agree. That's why I didn't say anything before. I know if Aaron knew-'

'Knew what?' Aaron asked, coming into the hallway.

'Um... that you... that I...' Alec fumbled.

'That Alec hates how messy you keep your side of the dorm.' Hailey didn't like lying to her friends, but in this instance it was necessary, because it meant protecting them from doing something stupid-like going after Nemertes.

'You're more than welcome to clean it,' he told Alec before looking at Hailey. 'You better get back to your dorm before someone sees you.'

'I was just leaving. See you at breakfast.'

She slipped back into the common room, where three more students had joined the early study session. They barely raised their eyes from their textbooks as she closed the door behind her, which made her think sneaking into the dormitories wasn't an unusual occurrence.

***

Hailey reclined under a pearl tree, its coral roots stretching into the water beneath the diamond floor, where a couple of clownfish were peeking from an anemone growing on a reef. Around sixty other students sat scattered around the grounds. Everyone else was either sleeping-in or lounging in their common rooms, taking full advantage of it being Saturday.

Sleeping away the day didn't appeal to Hailey. She wanted a few hours to herself so she could attempt to relax after an intense second week. She started by penning another letter to her mum-a task that proved stressful rather than relaxing.

Hailey couldn't tell her anything she wanted to. Every time she tried to write about the palace her hand spasmed. And if she told her about the nereid threat, Hailey's mum would pull her out of Poseidon's Academy quicker than she could say memory ball.

Despite being on Nemertes's kill list, Hailey didn't want to be anywhere else. Psycho nymphs didn't change how extraordinary the palace was. She'd much rather risk her life here than be safe in a school that taught Ancient History from a textbook, and where PE actually meant physical education.

She'd also had a couple of nights to calm down from her initial shock of overhearing Amathia and Nemertes's conversation, and the more she thought about it, the more Jayden's theory about it being a bluff made sense. If Nemertes was serious, she would have jumped straight to the killing rather than asking Amathia to get rid of everyone first. And Hailey doubted a few nereids could kill 500 power-equipped students and teachers.