Chapter 229: Celebrate With A Stranger

"I can’t promise to adopt you too," Aria was already telling her newly assigned Chibun before the second round began. "But you should know there’s a delicious treat waiting at the end. You missed out the first time, and I’m sure you don’t want that happening again."

The chestnut Chibun stared up at her, its little nose twitching.

People said animals couldn’t understand human language, and perhaps that was true. But after spending so much time working with them at the shelter, Aria had learned that words weren’t always necessary. Animals responded to patience, tone and intention. Sometimes, getting through to them was simply a matter of making them trust you.

"Well, that’s the best argument I’ve got." She scratched gently between its ears. "The rest is up to you."

At Venus’s instruction, Aria lowered the Chibun onto the course and stepped back behind the starting boundary with the other competitors.

The gun went off, and much like the first round, chaos followed.

Several Chibuns scattered in different directions. One remained stubbornly planted where it had been released, while Lucifer had apparently learned nothing from his earlier rejection because he was once again interested in Bunbun than the race.

Unfortunately, Bunbun belonged to Charlotte this time.

"Get your Chibun under control!" Charlotte yelled.

Olivia, who had drawn the short straw of becoming Lucifer’s temporary caretaker, threw her an exasperated look.

"What exactly do you expect me to do?"

Sweat already coated Olivia’s forehead as she called and gestured uselessly from behind the starting boundary. Even Brittney hadn’t managed to tame Lucifer during the first round. What terrible luck had landed her with the horny little menace?

But amid the familiar chaos, one thing was very different. Aria’s chestnut Chibun took off as if his life depended on it.

A ripple of confusion spread among the contestants. But the spectators had a very different reaction.

Cheers rose from the students who had gambled on Aria securing another win, which was practically everyone from Therion and quite a few from the other Houses. After her first victory, plenty had backed her to win again, while others had dismissed it as beginner’s luck.

Those people were beginning to regret their decision.

"Oh my God," Zainab said, staring at the chestnut Chibun racing down the course. "Isn’t that the same one Karen said was rigged?"

Karen heard her. Her face burned.

Karios, the supposed champion she’d been so pleased to receive, hadn’t moved an inch.

"What are you waiting for?!" Karen screamed, pointing toward the finish. "Move!"

Karios didn’t so much as twitch. He sat comfortably where she’d released him, staring ahead like the entire competition had absolutely nothing to do with him.

"Come on!" Karen shrieked. "You did it before!"

Nothing.

For one furious second, Karen actually imagined giving him a kick just to get him moving. The thought disappeared almost as quickly as it came. There were too many people watching, and hurting one of the Chibuns would only turn the entire crowd against her.

Fuck! What kind of bad luck was this?

She hated this stupid game. She hated this school. She hated everyone currently laughing at her. Most of all, she hated Aria.

Her gaze snapped toward the other human.

That bitch had to be doing something. There was no other explanation.

Aria’s Chibun had been useless with her, yet now it was racing like its fluffy little ass was on fire. Meanwhile, the Chibun that had won for Aria was suddenly useless the moment Karen got him.

Somehow, Aria was cheating. She had to be.

And as expected, the chestnut Chibun crossed the finish line and a deafening celebration swept through the arena.

Two straight wins?! That was crazy!

Aria barely had time to celebrate before Maverick reached her, swept her clean off her feet and spun her around.

"We won again!" she laughed, clutching his shoulders.

"You won again," he corrected, pride shining in his eyes.

Aria was still smiling when a small, unwelcome thought crept into the back of her mind.

Twice now, she had come first.

Her smile faltered.

Back at the province, being different had never earned her admiration. It had earned her whispers, cruel looks and one word she’d spent years pretending didn’t hurt.

Freak.

What if people started wondering why the animals behaved differently with her?

Then Maverick grinned at her as if she’d accomplished something extraordinary, and the fear loosened its grip.

Maybe she was overthinking it. This was a Chibun race, for goodness’ sake. She had simply gotten lucky. Twice.

Aria pushed the thought aside and allowed herself to enjoy the moment. Unfortunately, she wasn’t the only one who had noticed the pattern.

Several feet away, Caelis stood perfectly still.

His attention wasn’t on the cheering Therion students or the beasts celebrating their successful wagers. It was on the chestnut Chibun happily eating from the dish beyond the finish line. The same creature that had refused to cooperate with Karen. Then his gaze shifted toward Karios, still sitting exactly where Karen had released him.

Interesting.

One Chibun could be coincidence. Two made coincidence considerably harder to believe.

Caelis slowly returned his attention to Aria Aspen. There was something unusual about that human. He was almost certain of it now. He simply needed one final test.

Meanwhile, Brittney’s new Chibun, the cream-colored one that had belonged to Fatima in the previous round, raced across the finish line and secured another point for Therion.

Brittney lost her mind.

"Yes!" she screamed, jumping into the air.

Perhaps it was the excitement, because for one reckless moment, Brittney completely forgot herself. She rushed toward Venus and began smacking both hands against his chest in celebration.

"I won! I won!"

Venus stared down at her. Then he cleared his throat.

Brittney froze. Her hands were still planted against his chest.

"Oh!"

She sprang away from him with a shriek like she’d just discovered she’d been touching something poisonous.

Fortunately, Therion was too busy celebrating another successful round for the interaction to draw much attention. Those who did notice seemed to think nothing of it. Brittney was hardly known for containing her excitement.

Trisha noticed, though.

Her brows pulled together as she watched Brittney hurriedly put several feet between herself and the serpent.

That was strange.

Brittney could be loud, dramatic and shameless when she wanted to be, but running to celebrate with a complete stranger wasn’t like her. Especially an Ophidian.

Trisha frowned. Something was going on.

And Brittney wasn’t telling her.