Fear ran through me. Possible options rolled through my head. But killing him and hiding the body wouldn’t work. Even if the school didn’t care—and that director might not—I knew his daddy would. He clearly had the power to call for a widespread investigation. I wouldn’t have a chance.
The best I could do was plead for mercy.
But before I could, Gregory stepped forward with a photo held high.
“You give her away, and I give you away, old lady lover,” he said, and chucked the picture onto the floor.
It fluttered to the ground, landing picture-side up. Ethan knelt beside an older woman, her hands cradling his face as their lips pressed together for what the angle indicated had been a deep kiss.
“Oh man, that is quite an age gap,” I said without meaning to, grimacing. “She’s old enough to be your grandmother. I’d make a lewd joke, but quite frankly, I don’t want the image it’ll bring.”
“Where the fu—” Ethan bent and snatched up the picture. “It was nothing.” His face turned bright red. “It’s not what it looks like.”
“You know that,” Gregory said in a dangerous hiss. “But will all your elitist buddies know that?”
“It’s my nana,” Ethan spat, his hands balled up. “It was her eightieth birthday. It’s just a bad angle.”
“It sure looks like a bad angle,” I said, doing what I could to hold back a snort.
Ethan scoffed. “That photo is, at best, embarrassing. I’ll get razzed about it for a minute, big deal.” He huffed out a laugh. “There’s not a chance you can make anything out of this. You’re a nobody goblin with nothing. After the next few trials, maybe you’ll be a nobody goblin who has been handed his hat. You can’t take any prize money if you don’t stay in the trials. If you leave, that’s a larger share for me. And let me assure you…I can make you leave.”
“He might be expendable,” Orin said, suddenly in the bathroom doorway. I hadn’t noticed him move. “But the girl is not.”
Ethan startled, and I realized Orin had caught him by surprise too. Ethan backed up a pace so he could see everyone.
“Even cheating, you wouldn’t have finished the trials thus far,” Orin went on, his face slack and hands at his sides, showing no emotion. “Wild has used the assets at her disposal, including you, to make us win. She has played this group like a fiddle, making it stronger than the sum of its parts. She is what they are looking for when they hope magical factions will work together, not you. Without her, you will not win all five trials. With her…we all have a better chance.” He shrugged, unconcerned. “It would be in your best interest to help her keep her secret, to help her stay to the shadows, where her kind belong.”
I shifted in thankful anticipation. Even if he’d jumped the gun a couple of times—I didn’t belong in the shadows; that was where weirdos lurked—that was a really great argument. Better even than the blackmail photo.
Ethan hesitated, a flicker of fear in his eyes. “What’s it to you, vampire? Everyone knows you creatures don’t play well with others. You certainly never did in school.”
Orin’s eyes fluttered to half-mast while still pinning Ethan. “I need to join a faction, and if we win all the trials, I’ll likely be courted by the best. I will have my choice, an enviable position. It will set me up well.”
Ethan stared at Orin for a moment, and he was probably wondering what I was—if Orin felt that way, why had he been so blasé about the trials thus far? Still, the argument Orin had made for me stood.
“The vampires will eat you for lunch when you go through their house,” Pete said, edging closer. “They’re not fond of outsiders cheating in their domain, and trust me, they’ll know. You’ll need Orin, and he won’t give you the time of day without Wild. And me. We haven’t done my house trials yet, either. You don’t stand a chance without me. Not a chance. Think the unicorns they bring in will be the docile creatures you’ve practiced on? They won’t be.”
I felt my mouth drop open, and suddenly I couldn’t focus on anything beyond what Pete had just said. “Unicorns?” I turned toward him with palms out. “Unicorns are real?” Glee and stress made me giddy, and I had to fight to keep myself from clapping my hands together. “Oh my God, are you serious? Do we get to ride unicorns?”
“In the wild, they are ferocious beasts,” Gregory said with distaste. “Even the docile ones have intense attitude.”
I threw up my hands. “Do you honestly think I care? Unicorns, man!”
“If no one knew you were a girl before, you would’ve just outed yourself,” Orin said, his voice dry.
Ethan took a step back, the wheels in his head nearly visible as they cranked and worked over the problem at hand. He knew Pete and Orin were right. Maybe he could have made it through the Shade trial by himself, but without Gregory, no way would he have gotten the gold in the last trial. He wouldn’t have been able to find those gems, even with his maps and instructions.
“Face it, bro,” I said mockingly, in a deeper voice, “you need us. All of us, the dick-less ones included.”
He huffed out a breath, shaking his head, and pushed past me. He took the bed next to the window looking out at the rear grounds. The shoddy portables squatted across the large expanse of lawn, one of them housing a group of five liable to be in a very bad mood.
Thanks for the accommodations, guys.
“One wrong step, Johnson,” Ethan said, pushing open his trunk and rooting around. “One wrong step…”
“And what?” I grinned with all the bravado I had left, trying to ignore the warning crawling up my spine. “You’ll get rid of me and then start losing? Daddy won’t be pleased if his golden son doesn’t come home with the prize.”
He grabbed a set of clean clothes and crossed to the bathroom, clearly intending to take the first shower. No one stopped him.
“Thanks, guys,” I said as I grabbed my own set of clean clothes. Just like I’d figured, they were the right size. “I did not love the idea of begging for mercy from that guy.”
“He’s not capable of mercy,” Pete said, collapsing onto his chosen bed on the other side of the bathroom. “That was bred out of his family generations ago.”
I knew he was right, but I still would’ve tried. I had a way with words—most of my family did—I would’ve ridden that bicycle as hard as I could.
“How’d you get that picture?” I asked Gregory, who was looking out the window at the grounds. People milled around idly, probably to get away from their group mates. I could relate.
He didn’t glance back. “Found the place he hides his phone and wallet. It wasn’t hard. His magic is still rudimentary in many ways, and I’ve always had a gift for sniffing out secrets.”
“You need to watch your back, Wild,” Orin said, back in his corner. The guy was exceptionally weird. When he was older, he’d probably graduate to creepy. “Ethan won’t like admitting that he needs someone. You’re a threat, now.”
Another mark on my head. Awesome.
“Oh shoot.” Pete pushed up onto his elbows. “I probably am, too, then. Like you guys. Because we haven’t done my trial…”
“You are not an alpha, so you are not a threat.” Orin turned his attention to Gregory, ignoring Pete’s sputtering. “Gregory is, though. A threat, I mean. He drew the notice of his house and took the glory today. They have their eye on him now.”
“Yeah, but…” I scratched my nose. “It’s not like Ethan wants the notice of that house.”
“Ethan wants the notice of all houses, or else he wouldn’t be his father’s son.” Orin took a small step back, and shadow draped across his face. Exceptionally weird. “You two need to watch your backs before someone sticks a knife in them.”
Chapter 9
Sleep peeled away slowly, pulling me from a strange yet fantastic dream in which I was riding a sparkly unicorn within a herd of sparkly unicorns, running across the clouds and dodging massive spiked balls swinging at me.
It took me a moment to place what ha
d stirred me. Everything seemed peaceful—stillness covered the room like a blanket, soft moonlight seeped through a crack in the curtains, and the only sound was soft, rhythmic breathing.
Then a prickle of warning ran down my spine.
Alertness chased away lingering sleep. My senses fired up, and I pushed up onto my elbows to take stock of the room. The lump that was Pete lay snugly within his blankets, curled up into a ball revealed by his open privacy curtains. Near the window, Ethan lay flat on his back, his face turned my way, his one visible eye closed. His privacy curtains were open, too, although they hadn’t been when he’d gone to sleep.
Another warning fluttered my stomach, and I swung my legs over the edge of the mattress, bare feet on the cool hardwood floor. Orin lay on his back, too, his curtains open but his covers undisturbed. As if he weren’t creepy enough, his alignment was that of a body in a coffin—arms tucked over his chest, legs pressed together, body straight.
I shook my head, peering into the other corner of the room at Gregory’s setup. His curtains were still drawn. I tiptoed over, gritting my teeth against the cold floor on my bare feet. On the side of the bed facing the wall, his curtains had been pulled back. No head graced his pillow.
Darkness coated the open doorway of the bathroom, but on the off chance Gregory had dream-walked in to use the toilet, I peeked my head in and made a psst sound. “Girl needs to use the bathroom,” I whispered. “Anyone in there?”
No slide of fabric or swish of movement answered me. I stepped farther in to make sure, relying on my better-than-average night vision. Shadows draped the interior, grays and blacks, and while I was pretty good in the dark, I wasn’t nocturnal. I fumbled in and waved my arms around.
Nope, still empty.
Frowning, I backtracked and looked out the window at the empty expanse of grass, then the still portables beyond. Not a soul to be seen.
The alarm clock on Ethan’s nightstand said eleven fifty-five, five minutes before curfew.
We’d learned of the curfew earlier, at the fabulous buffet dinner in the main cafeteria, a place all the trial-goers could now use. You could stay up as late as you wanted within your room—as long as you were respectful to your roommates—but you were forbidden to traverse the mansion or grounds after midnight, unless it was an emergency. To get caught would mean immediate expulsion from the trials.
The feeling of warning wiggled through my middle, demanding I take notice. But what could I do? I had no idea where Gregory might’ve gone, and I couldn’t risk getting caught wandering around.
Then again, I could always say I was worried about Gregory. His disappearance had to count as an emergency.
Of course, if he was sneaking around, he wouldn’t appreciate me ratting him out.
I chewed on my bottom lip, antsy to get moving. To go looking. Something within me said he was in trouble. Orin’s earlier words seemed to echo in my ears.
Watch your backs before someone sticks a knife in them.
I spun, my eyes narrowing. Ethan had connections. If he wanted someone to disappear, I had no doubt that he could make it happen, and Gregory had pissed him off with that photo. Not to mention the fact that Ethan’s curtains were disturbed, too. Had he gotten up to do something—
No. Orin and Gregory could cross a floor without making a sound. Ethan thumped and tramped about, every move a call for attention. Stealth wasn’t his style.
I put my boots on, telling myself I still hadn’t decided. That maybe I was only putting them on for warmth. But by the time I finished, I knew better.
When it came down to it, Gregory had tried to save my ass. He’d fought to keep me in the game. It was my duty to do all I could to make sure he stayed in it too. I didn’t know what his deal was, but I knew better than to ignore my gut. He was in trouble.
I rooted around in my trunk until I found a black sweat set, equipped with a black beanie. They were basically encouraging us to create mischief. Ready to go, I gently grabbed the door handle, being as quiet as I could.
“Where are you going?”
I jumped at Orin’s whisper. He hadn’t risen from his bed.
“Did you see Gregory leave?” I asked quietly. Pete shifted, rolled over, and sucked in a snore.
“Yes. About an hour ago. He probably couldn’t sleep with your and Pete’s chorus of snores.”
I rolled my eyes. “Did he say where he was going?”
“No, because I didn’t ask. I don’t have that mothering gene you appear to have. But he did have his phone with him.”
“I’m getting a bad feeling. It’s almost curfew. This place seems pretty intolerant of wandering around when you’re not supposed to.”
“You’re probably right in your bad feeling, but that was the chance he took. Now he is meat for the monsters.”
I clutched the handle. “What monsters? What’s out there?”
He chuckled softly and turned his gaze to the ceiling. “Just a figure of speech. They aren’t monsters, they are simply highly-experienced authority figures who patrol the grounds looking for miscreants. I’m sure he’s fine, though I doubt we’ll ever see him again.”
“These trials have turned you crazy,” I said.
“No. I’m just now exposing this part of myself to you.”
“Fabulous,” I grumbled before taking a deep breath and turning the handle. Clearly Orin wasn’t going to help, and though Pete would absolutely go with me, steadfast and loyal as he was, I didn’t want to get him in trouble. No, I needed to do this alone or go down trying.
Sharp shadows sliced the hall. I drifted into it and hurried forward, using my intuition like I did when I went after predators on the farm. No sound of footsteps reached my ears, and no feeling of being watched tickled my shoulder blades. I was alone, for the moment.
I paused at the rear staircase, then turned to go down. Gregory wasn’t a people person—if he’d wandered away on his own free will, I suspected he’d stayed to the sidelines.
Voices drifted through the air as I reached the first-floor landing. I slipped to the side into a pool of shadow.
“He’s going to win every one, just you watch,” a woman said, somewhere down the corridor. “His father told my father that he was confident Ethan would break the school record. All five hasn’t been done before, you know.”
“Yes, it has,” another said, the voices not getting louder. They must’ve been stationary, somewhere down around the middle of the hall. “The Shadow Killer did it first, about twenty-five years ago.”
The first sucked in a breath. “Don’t talk about him here,” she said, her volume dropping. “You don’t know who could be listening.”
“Who cares? I’m just stating a fact. He was the first ever to claim all five house prizes.”
“That doesn’t count. He’s a…you know. Freak of nature. Ethan will be the first normal person to complete all five—”
I pushed off from the wall and hurried down the stairs. No way would Ethan be the first of anything. Somehow, I’d make sure of it.
The second my foot hit the ground floor, a huge gong reverberated through the floor and the walls, the sound pressurizing the air all around me. I paused, stricken, as the gong died away. Had I set off some alarm? The sound immediately repeated, and I realized it was issuing from the largest, loudest, most intense cuckoo clock I’d ever encountered. But no sooner had I realized that than I noticed a rhythmic tapping between each bong of the clock.
Footsteps.
I dashed behind a moving plant—though I wasn’t sure what had moved it—before slipping behind a couple chairs farther down the way. The footsteps drew closer, the sound distinguishable over the deafening chimes in a way I didn’t fully understand but greatly appreciated. The bottom half of a figure wearing tight black spandex came into view. A prominent hip suggested a female, and her wand stuck out from a cool leather holster with intricate stitching on it. Ethan needed to up his holster game.
The middle-aged woman who was clearly looki
ng for delinquents started upstairs, footsteps increasing in speed. She’d probably heard the chatter of the other women in the hallway. Hopefully she had, at any rate.
As the lights around me dimmed, I popped out of my hiding place like a groundhog. Coast was clear, time to move.
Putting on speed and staying to the shadows, I turned a corner, intent on finding a back door. Loud shoe scuffling caught my attention as the hallway opened up. A muffled yell stopped my heart.
I slipped in beside a coat of arms that had clearly seen more polishing than an expensive car and peered around its arm.
Down the way, heading for a dimly lit double door leading out into the night, three figures dressed in dark clothes wrestled with a thin, bucking figure dressed in trial grays.
The expectation of danger flared up through me and adrenaline dumped into my bloodstream. I couldn’t tell if that was Gregory from here, but whoever it was, they needed help.
Another muffled scream sent me out into the open.
“Help!” I yelled, sprinting down the corridor, hoping one of the security guards would hear me. If they cared so much about curfew, surely someone would be out enforcing it.
Two of the figures jerked, looking in my direction. One whipped out a wand as they neared the door. A blast of red zipped through the air, and I dove to the side, hitting one of those waving plants and sending it clattering across the floor.
“Wild! Help!”
My blood ran cold. I knew that voice. It was Gregory. They, whoever they were, were trying to take him.
“I’m coming,” I yelled, climbing quickly to my feet and dodging another blast of magic.
Hands slapped the long metal handles on the double-door, shoving them down and the door open. Gregory tried to rip his arms free and spin away, but he was too small and they were too many. They held him fast and marshaled him through, aiming another blast at me.
I jumped to the side, kicked the plant, and plowed into an armchair. The door swung shut, but I was up and running again.
Shadowspell Academy: The Culling Trials, Book 2 Page 7