Chapter 19

Barbie

Iknew it would eventually come to this—me versus Medea in a showdown—but I hadn't expected this conflict to rise to be a political issue. And now Medea would use this opportunity to finish me off, a perfect crime, but some might call it making an example of me.

I watched my geek friends' faces go white with shock and fear. This was unprecedented, and who could fight a princess and win? My crowd went quiet, waiting for me to make the next move, which was pivotal to the fate of the underdogs campaign.

If I failed, they'd all suffer. They'd be stomped.

The opposing crowd cheered, shouting Medea's name like religious fanatics, Bellona the loudest. A dozen more demons stalked into the study hall, pushed to the front, and rallied behind Medea.

"I've suffered you long enough, rat," Medea sneered at me. "You think yourself worth two cents since my brother took you in as his new pet?" She kept referring to Killian as her brother, even though he rebuked her for riding his coattails. "No matter how shiny your hide appears, you're nothing but a rat. Soon, you'll be one of Queen Lilith's squeezing toys. Don't you know that my brother shares everything with Her Majesty, the greatest beauty and power in the realm, not just her bed?"

Rage, red and hot, shot to my head. I did not just see red. I saw death! My control slipped, and Sy's rage rose to join mine, urging me to kill Medea brutally.

"You must really be dying for them to share you, Princess Clown," I said viciously. "But from what I see, Prince Killian treats you like dirt even though you're a princess. And I wonder why."

Medea snarled amid the deathly silent hall, dozens of tiny snakes entwined with her hair hissing at me.

"How dare you! You're nobody, and you'll be a dead nobody, or a dead rat, today."

She took a deep, confident breath, ready to jump over to my desk, impatient to end me.

"Hold!" I called. "Let me come to you."

I didn't want to ruin my friends' textbooks that were scattered on the desk. Some of them were from poor supernatural families. They couldn't afford new sets.

I leapt and landed on Medea's desk, facing her. Hooking two fingers, I beckoned her to come swing at me.

Medea lunged, kicking her leg out toward the side of my face, devil's consort style. Shit, she was fast. I ducked, narrowly missing being dented on the cheek. That vicious princess wasn't fooling around. She aimed to kill. She kicked her other foot up as well, going for my soft throat.

I twisted my torso and dropped to a crouch, letting her foot slide past. She wheeled to kick my head. I rolled away. Her stomp shattered part of the wood. Yep, she'd meant to kick me to death. If her boot had landed on a weaker supernatural, their skull would have cracked open.

I could feel my geek friends holding their breath a desk away, but Medea's supporters cheered, even though I'd avoided that lethal kick from their princess.

"Coward Barbie! You're a disgrace!" Bellona shouted in rage, blaming me for not willingly taking the hit.

"Brave Barbie! Go, Underdog Barbie!" Bea shouted back in support of me.

"Go Underdog Barbie!" my supporters bellowed.

I raised a fist into the air. "Oh, yeah! I'm getting there, guys! Thanks."

Medea jabbed a fist toward my eye socket, swinging her other fist in a slashing arc toward my temple. It would be hard to avoid both blows while I rose to my feet. It was too late to stop the momentum.

I pressed my palms together and thrust them up. When they separated from each other, my armguards met Medea's strike. The impact forced her to stumble back. Surprise, pain, and anger flickered in her jade eyes.

I'd been fed well in this realm. I'd even gotten some good shuteye during the daytime when nightmares plagued me less. Being kidnapped and temporarily losing a hand was child's play to me. In the House of Chaos, my strength had grown exponentially.

With a hiss, Medea lunged at me again. Her kicks and fists flew at me faster. I slipped away from her, playing cat and mouse with her, albeit with narrow margins.

Then it occurred to me that Medea seemed able to anticipate my moves as if she could read my mind. I didn't feel her magic brushing my mind, so she probably had an innate ability that I couldn't counter. I could siphon physical magic, like spells, curses, or elemental magic, but not someone's inner gift.

That was why she was so confident in this fight. But even with her advantage, I still stayed one step ahead of her. Surprise, surprise!

Surprise!Sy said viciously.

When I registered that Medea could anticipate me, I no longer formed thoughts on my next moves.

Watch her tell! Pucker shouted. She's got a weakness on the left. Punch her left, Barbie, then drive a fist into her jaw. You can knock her out in one strike, like you did with that ice giant's brat.

We need to humiliate the princess first to let everyone see who's superior,Sy argued. Claw her face bloody!

Two backseat drivers argued in my head as if it were their forum. While I was distracted, Medea rammed her knee into my gut.

Fuck, that hurt! I nearly doubled over. Bitch was so mean!

Bitch's so mean!Sy pouted, her lower lip quivering in rage.

Shut up, everyone!I yelled at them. I can't think, let alone land a hit on my foe, when you two use my headspace like it's your own Facebook page.

What's face book?Pucker asked.

But the two quieted after that. Sy took the pain into her, dulling the ache in me.

Medea's army gave cheers. Bellona jumped up and down, which lifted her shirt up and exposed her middle.

I dodged to the side when Medea swung at me. Her fingernails glanced off the top of my ear while I slowed down to shout, "Stop jumping up and down, Bellona dude! Your belly button is showing, and it has long, thick hair sprouting out. It's disgusting! I need to go home to wash my eyes."

Bellona stopped cold, and many students winced at the disturbing image as well.

As I stepped left and right to avoid being smacking by Medea again, my crowd shouted, "Fight back, Barbie! Fight back!"

"I'm trying!" I barked back, a bit annoyed. "You think I'm sleeping or eating cakes? I can't believe you guys are so aggressive!"

I jabbed my knuckles into Medea's kidney under the peer pressure, and the princess hissed in pain. I allowed her to leap back to nurse her wound. I'd given only half of my strength, since I didn't want to punch a hole in her kidney.

Why not? Sy demanded.

We don't want to kill her, unless she tries to kill us,I said.

She aims to kill each time! Sy said. I'm going to eat her.

A lot of supernaturals were on her to-eat list.

Medea did a wheelhouse-style kick and swung her leg toward my head.

I dodged it. "You try to be fancy, but you're lacking creativity. You aim for brilliance, but you often come up short." I tilted my head and smiled at the pure hatred in her eyes. "Despite your royal title, you aren't even good enough to live in Prince Killian's shadow. No wonder he doesn't want you to call him brother."

I kicked my leg out in a feint. Medea sidestepped to the left, just as I'd expected. Before she could counterattack, I dropped low, hooking my foot around her ankle, lightning fast, and then slammed her in the knee hard with my other foot.

She went down, and I pressed the advantage and landed on her, pushing my left foot down on her heaving chest.

"Hello, princess." I smirked at her. "How are we doing so far?"

My crowd went wild.

A group of Medea's goons tried to jump on the desk to fight me off, but my team moved forward as one and blocked them.

"This is a one-on-one duel!" Bea shouted. My meek friend was turning into a bulldog. "Princess Medea started it!"

Medea snarled, whipping her head around, and a dozen snakes emerged from her hair.

"Don't let them bite you!" Jinx shouted. "Those snakes are her power. They're poisonous. Their venom can?—"

Three snakes led the attack and shot toward me. I quickly grabbed the necks of all three snakes and tossed them away with a groan of disgust. Their cold skin made my skin crawl.

Then dozens of snakes swarmed me. I looked on in horror, frozen for a long beat, before jumping off Medea and scrambling back. Anyone would freeze if their father had tossed them into a pit of snakes as a child. You didn't just get over the fear overnight.

A snake sank its fangs into the corner of my left eye. Pain pierced me. I cried, snatching that snake and smashing its head into the edge of the desk.

I shall get Prince Killian!Pucker said, and then he was gone.

"Healers!" Bea screamed in panic. "We need healers! Barbie was bitten by Princess Medea's snakes!"

My friends rushed toward me, but the demons blocked them from reaching me.

Swaying on my feet, I stared at Medea in a dreadful realization.

The old Greek gods might've gone from our realm, but they'd left their hybrid offspring on Earth. Medea was Medusa's descendant. If she'd inherited Medusa's full power, I wondered if she could turn me to stone when I stared back at her face.

Her snake had bitten me.

That was why Killian hadn't allowed Medea to challenge me when I first entered his house. If she'd fought me back then, while I was shaken from being stripped in front of thousands, I might've been defeated and denied entrance to the House of Chaos, even if I survived.

And Killian wouldn't be able to shield me if I wasn't in his house. Well, he had to let me go now. I'd been bitten by the most venomous snake. I could feel the magical poison flowing in my veins.

Asher was assigned to shadow me for the day, but he didn't follow me to class. He had other errands to run. And a fight had never broken out in the study hall of Clockwork before.

Pain burned in me from the poison in my bloodstream, and Sy gasped as she took it into her, absorbing the venom as much as she could. I didn't even have the strength to thank her, as nausea filled my head.

You have my strength!Sy hissed in pain. Take the bitch down!

I growled, my hands turning to claws, partially shifting. But I wouldn't dare to go for a full transformation. I lashed out, lightning fast, and my blade claws beheaded several snakes at once. Their severed heads rained down around me.

Medea widened her eyes, fury and hatred burning in them. Shocked gasps spread across the hall, and the shouting increased. The crowd hadn't been so stunned when I was bitten, but they appeared uneasy at seeing my hands turn into blade claws.

Medea shouted, raising her hands to summon more snakes, as if she had an endless supply of them. I stood my ground for the coming snake attack.

"Stop!" a harsh voice boomed from the far entrance of the study hall.

Clockwork rumbled, and the students shrank from the raw power of that voice.

Killian had come.

Then I sensed more powers rippling in the air behind him. The other princes had also arrived. A heartbeat, and they all zoomed to our desk where I still faced off with Medea.

Shit!

They'd seen me get bitten by a mystical snake. And they'd seen my claws as well. But I couldn't dwell on it while facing a vicious foe who was hellbent on putting me down.

"Medea, cease!" Killian ordered her as he concealed his fear for me, but his pale face betrayed his emotion.

"Stop it, Princess Medea! Barbie needs treatment as soon as possible after your snake bite!" Silas shouted, his amber eyes glowing with rage and worry.

Ever since my kidnapping, the heir of the House of Shifters had made sure my wellbeing was also his business.

Medea tilted her head to the side, a cruel smile tugging up a corner of her lips. She ignored Silas and focused on Killian. "You want me to spare your pet, brother? Will you say please? She has already been bitten by my snake, but she still has one more minute to sink into a coma, a suitable punishment for this low commoner who doesn't know her place."

"A weaker supernatural would've perished by now at such a bite from Princess Medea's snake," Cade said. "Barbie is strong, but she still needs immediate care!"

The other princes had called for the healers, and they were coming. I was touched, even though I knew their former plan of taming me.

"Thank you for your concerns, high sirs, but I'm fine," I said, trying not to sit down at the dizziness. "I can handle it. I have experience. I got lots of bites from snakes when I was a kid."

"Medea's snakes aren't the ordinary kind," Louis said, worry in his pale blue eyes.

"Even if Medusa had come herself, her power wouldn't work on me," I said, letting the fact that I knew about Medea's heritage sink in while trying not to wince at the leftover pain. Sy had taken most of the burning agony from the venom into herself. My heart was full of love and gratitude for her. Without Sy, I wouldn't be standing here today.

"I'm good, sirs!" I had to calm Killian as I watched him fight back his panic at seeing me bitten. I couldn't let anyone know the depths of how much he truly cared about me. I could tell from the cold, murderous rage in his storm-blue eyes that he was set to kill Medea. One more push and he'd lose it and do it, and the consequences would be dire, even for the heir of the House of Chaos.

I needed to do all I could to protect him back.

"I'm good." I repeated my lie. "But I need to sit down for a minute, since it's been a long day."

Before I could sit down, I spotted Headmistress Ethel pushing to the front of the crowd, her eyes widening in surprise at my resilience before she quickly schooled her expression to her usual stern and haughty look.

"I knew it would be you who made headlines again!" she snapped, carrying the rigid winter wind in her voice.

"Uh?" I darted a nervous look at the headmistress and the sentinels who flanked her. "What headlines, Madam Headmistress Ethel?"

I smiled at her when I didn't spot that awful druid and his crystal ball.

She didn't care for my smile and speared me with a disdainful look before turning to Killian. "You can't interfere, Prince Killian. This is a duel between two bride candidates, though one is lowborn."

Lowborn?Pucker sneered. He'd returned with Killian. That old crone isn't worthy to lick the bottom of your butt. If only she knew you're a goddess!

"A new member of my house is wounded!" Killian growled.

"As long as Princess Medea doesn't kill Barbie, at least not intentionally," Ethel declared, "it's within Her Highness's rights to continue the duel and teach a lowborn a lesson, one that other lowborn should also learn from. If it was Barbie who started this fight to challenge a royal, she'll be punished according to the laws of the five kingdoms, starting with detention and solitary under my authority."

Which meant that she and her druid would finally get their hands on me, since I'd be out of Killian's reach and protection.

"You're not taking her anywhere," Killian said coldly, and the rest of the princes rallied behind him.

"I know it's hard to believe, but I didn't start the fight," I said, my voice bright and clear. "We geeks, outcasts, and the underserved were studying quietly and diligently and devotedly for the midterm. Then the three demon boys, who are Princess Medea's new best friends"—I thrust two fingers to point them out—"jumped us. The hell boys were very aggressive. They tossed hellfire at me to toast me but failed, because I don't back down from any fire." Killian sent them a chilling, murderous look, and the demons averted their gazes. "And I, one of the underdog bride candidates, had to fight back to show all the nasty bullies that we aren't weak." I pumped a fist into the air and roared, "Team Underdogs!"

My geek friends behind me bellowed with our supporters on the left side of the hall, all pumping their fists into the air. "Team Underdogs!"

I cupped my ear to encourage them, and my crowd thundered, "Team Underdogs!"

The princes started, stared at me, then darted their puzzled glances at the divided crowds. The right side of the crowd booed against the left side that now stomped the ground while chanting, "Team Underdogs!"

The two sides were ready to come to blows with their fists and magic.

"Hear us roar! Don't forget to add the hashtags, peeps!" I shouted with my crowd, kicking the desk hard in a tap dance to add some spice.

"Silence! Stop this madness now!" Headmistress Ethel shrieked, her power lashing out and beating the masses to silence.

I smirked at her with an innocent expression. "Are you against FOS, freedom of speech, Headmistress Ethel?"

"You shall be expelled for causing a disturbance!" Headmistress Ethel called.

"Expel Barbie," Killian said lazily, "and I'll just pardon her and take her out of the pool of the Brides Selection."

"Unacceptable!" Silas barked. "It's not for you to say who can stay out of the Brides Selection."

Louis narrowed his eyes at Killian. "Every eligible female should be included in the Brides Selection."

"You won't get our votes," Rowan said, "and it'll be your one vote against our four, Killian."

They didn't want Killian to have exclusive rights to me.

Headmistress Ethel darted her glances between the princes. "Then let Barbie concede her defeat and beg the forgiveness of Princess Medea."

"I can't surrender, though, ma'am," I said. "It's against the order of nature, since I'm a lot stronger than Princess Medea. The strong rule the weak; this is the foundation of our society, isn't it?"

"How dare you?" Headmistress Ethel scolded. "Not in a million years can you be stronger than a royal!"

"You aren't happy that I'm still standing tall instead of collapsing like Princess Medea's other victims after being bitten by her snakes," I pointed out. "You're worried since you don't know what to do with me, aren't you, Headmistress Ethel? So you keep barking, but you're barking up the wrong tree."

The princes chuckled, settling in to watch the show.

"Watch your mouth, or I'll send you packing!" Headmistress Ethel snapped.

"Barbie is absolutely right about being superior to Medea," Silas said, still supporting me. "Nobody strong shall surrender to the weak."

"It's common knowledge that Medusa's power runs in Princess Medea's veins," Rowan chimed in, "but even Medusa's poison couldn't subdue Barbie."

Medea flashed a vile smile at me, not concerned about my claws that had beheaded a group of her snakes. I'd retracted them as soon as I spotted the princes heading my way. Now an unnerving confidence glinted in the princess's eyes, as if she knew she could still bring me down, as if she had an ace that no one had discovered up her sleeve.

"A rat thinks she can usurp me," she sneered, and lunged at me.

I acted too, no longer concerned about revealing my strength and top speed in front of everyone. It was time for me to step up and make a statement for all the underdogs in front of the top dogs. It was time to make a difference in Mist of Cinder.

I punched Medea straight in the face, shattering her cheekbone before she could get to me. The sickening crack fell on the silent hall.

Medea yowled in pain and stumbled back, and I pursued her mercilessly, driving my fist into her neck in a flash. Another kick, and she tumbled and fell onto the desk.

With her venom flowing in my veins, I could still take her down in one bout.

That was my fucking message.

"What is Barbie?" I heard whispers rise across the hall.

"I'm one of you!" I roared, my foot on Medea's chest, my fists on my hips. "I'm an underdog like you!"