The Curse of Betrayal by Taylor Lavati Read Free Book Online

tests and see where everyone is at. Then we’ll break up into groups based on skill and go from there. Mag will start with the sprinting, and I’ll start with strength. Then we’ll go into coordination and flexibility.” Mag—he calls her Mag, really?
    “I’m Professor Magdelina.” She has a sweet, southern charm to her voice but it doesn’t fool me. She’s pure evil from the gleam shining in her dim eyes. “You guys can call me Magdelina or Mag, like dear Aristeus here.” I swear she meets my stare as if daring me to do something. How does she even know who I am? I keep my cool—more so thanks to Mikey’s arm tightly wound around me, grounding me onto the bleacher seat than anything else.  
    “Let’s get started!” Ari barks, breaking up the little powwow and moving towards the weight room located off the gym. Magdelina saunters off towards the lines on the floor with a flock of puppy dog eyed boys behind her. I hope they keep her interest so she doesn’t focus on what’s mine.  
    My first stop is the weight area. Magdelina separates us based on where we’re sitting so I’m stuck in the second half, who all head over to Ari. Luckily, Kara and Mikey are both in my group since they’re sitting on either side of me so I’m not completely alone. In fact, I’m happy we’re not with Lisa since god knows what crude remarks she’d be saying about Ari right about now and her best friend Magdelina.  
    I can’t handle another girl ogling him in my presence. This year is going to be extremely testing of my temper, and already, I can feel myself teetering on edge. I need Ollie to cool me down like only he knows how.  
    “Do you have any powers yet?” Kara leans over towards me, whispering in my ear as we walk to the other room.
    “I don’t know. It’s sporadic, but I’ve broken stuff by accident.” I explain to her, not knowing if I can even do anything.  
    “You’re farther along than me,” she mutters, taking my arm in hers.  
    The room is scary looking with metal tools all over the place. There’s some familiar weight equipment, like barbells and free weights, but for the most part, it looks medieval. In front of me is a large rope dangling down from the ceiling with Ari standing directly below it and Cristos to his left.  
    First up to bat is a slightly overweight girl with pixie cut hair and electric pink eyes. She steps up to the rope and grabs onto a knot about a foot above her head. She starts working her way up, her legs never even touching the rope.  
    “We have to do that?” I angrily whisper to Kara, not believing it’s even possible. My eyes swell until they’re large puddles of disbelief.
    “Yup. Pure torture.”  
    We wait until it’s our turn and Kara gets up first, after a shove from me towards the rope. I could swear Ari laughs from his position as he calls her name. My eyes find him as he stands below the rope with his little clipboard in hand looking all professional.  
    Kara glances back towards me for a second before starting her way up the rope. She climbs that thing using her arms only. She makes it about half way up before she starts to sway, and the rope swings side-to-side. She uses her feet to propel her up towards the ceiling the rest of the way. She gets to the top, rings the bell, and then floats down to the ground effortlessly.  
    She rubs her arms as she jumps the final foot or so, and I smile over at her, proud. I rush to her side and give her a big hug. “You were great!” I praise her job well done.  
    “Eurydice Mason,” Ari signals my turn. I gawk at him since he used my full name but focus on the activity at hand. I rub my hands together, trying to give myself a mental pep talk. It’s not working since I’m going berserk, but oh well.  
    I stand underneath the way too thin rope and grasp onto the knot above my head which is probably only around five and a half feet. I try to pull myself up, but I don’t have any upper body strength at