Nate glanced at the towel in his hand. “We don’t need two people to hide this thing.” He stretched his arm out to me. “Eden, you go.”
I reached for it, my fingers brushing Nate’s.
“It’ll go faster if there are two of you to dig,” Bridger insisted. “It’s not like there’s a shovel sitting around here.”
My eyes flicked to Nate. While I agreed with him that this wasn’t a two-person job, sparks skittered along my hand where his skin touched mine. “Bridger’s got a point. We can be back fast.”
A struggle played out across Nate’s features before he sighed. “Okay. But don’t detain them all before we get back.”
Bridger smirked. “I make no promises.”
I followed Nate to the shack’s back door. The shouts outside were growing louder, but they were still a way off. Nate cracked the door and peered out before exiting. When he streaked across the grassy expanse separating the shack from the woods, I chased after him. But even sprinting, I wasn’t fast enough to keep up. Although our trainer, Anders, had insisted over the last few weeks that my run times were improving, I didn’t entirely believe him.
I dared to glance over my shoulder when I finally passed into the trees, but no one was following us. To my relief, the forest slowed Nate’s pace.
“Scan for a fallen log or something. It’ll give us some cover while we dig.”
Sounds of fighting pricked my ears. It was still far off, but part of me wanted to dash into the fray to lend some help. I ignored the urge. Our team would be fine.
“How about over there?” I pointed at a particularly large bush which still clung to most its fiery leaves.
“Looks good.” Nate cut a path toward it, circling so the red and orange foliage obscured us.
I scooped up a thick twig as I followed.
“This seems like a decent spot,” Nate said, crouching. He tried to pry up the earth with his fingers, but I nudged him out of the way and dug the stick into the ground.
He grinned. “Yeah, I was going to do that, too.”
I snorted. “Were you now?”
“Yeah. Just wanted to give you the chance to think you thought of it first.”
I chuckled and kept digging as he skimmed his fingers over the surrounding forest floor for a tool of his own. “Sure.”
He bumped my shoulder, sending a thrill of pleasure through me. After weeks of spending hours with him every day, I kept expecting his effect on me to lessen. It hadn’t yet.
When he finally found a suitable stick, he helped deepen the hole I started. My heart thudded harder each time our knuckles brushed. Too soon, we’d dug out enough soil, and Nate placed the towel-wrapped object into the depression. Together, we covered it with the loose dirt. As we patted it flat, his fingers pressed gently atop mine. I didn’t pull away. Neither did he.
An electric current zipped through the air as we sat there, Nate’s hand partially covering mine. The seconds stretched and the space between breaths lengthened. Everything else melted away, leaving the two of us the only people in the universe.
“Eden,” he breathed.
My skin tingled, and my gaze dipped to his lips. “Yes?”
A sharp whistle blast rent the air. Time collapsed in on itself as Nate pulled his hand away.
I stood, staring back toward where we’d come from. “What was that?”
“It can’t be,” Nate grumbled, jamming his stick back into the loosened earth. Before I could ask what he was doing, the towel-wrapped package was in his hand. He grabbed the loose end and let the object within tumble out.
I blinked. “A candle? I don’t get it. How’d we end up with one of the decoy packages?”
Nate closed his eyes, sighing. “Bridger handed it to us.”
I stifled a groan as we trudged back toward the shack.
By the time we arrived, eighteen other cadets had filled in the narrow lane that stood between three shacks and several edifices meant to represent larger buildings. Professor Brush stood with a small cardboard box in his hands. Beside him stood Bridger, who looked particularly pleased.
Professor Brush wore a smug smirk as he surveyed the class. In his late twenties, he was among the youngest teachers at Blakethorne Academy—a fact that had earned him the nickname “Brofessor Brush.” That and because he liked to pop into the student center in the evenings and challenge cadets to games of pool or ping pong whenever a game was in session. “So,” he asked, shaking the box in his hands, “how is it that I ended up with this?”
“You must’ve gotten it from Bridger,” I said. “I just can’t figure out why he would’ve given it to you.”
“Can’t you?”
My jaw clenched as I turned toward the speaker. Shonda Hailwood stood with her hands planted on her hips, her tawny brown and pale yellow dreads tied back at the base of her neck. Self-satisfaction danced in her eyes.
Since before I ever stepped foot onto Blakethorne’s grounds, Shonda had decided to hate me. Less than a week after my arrival, she challenged me for control of the Aether Blade.
Losing hadn’t made her like me any more.
“I mean, it’s obvious, isn’t it?” she continued. “Bridger was on our team. He was a spy.”
A shiver coursed down my spine.
Nate turned to the professor. “A spy? That wasn’t part of the exercise.”
“It wasn’t something you knew about,” Professor Brush corrected, “but it was part of the exercise.”
“If we had a spy on our team, why didn’t you warn us?” Clio asked.
The professor smiled and nodded like he was hoping someone would pose that question. “When you have a spy in your midst, do you really think they’re going to warn you they’re a double agent? No. That’s why you’ve got to constantly evaluate what your teammates do or say. Because out in the real world—” He tossed the box and caught it. “—you don’t want to trust the wrong person.”
I struggled to swallow. Suddenly the brisk autumn air felt stifling. I kept my eyes trained on the ground, convinced everyone must be staring at me. This whole exercise was just some sick game to reveal the truth—that while I may be the Aether Blade’s Keeper, I wasn’t who they thought I was.
But seconds passed and the only sound was that of feet scuffling the ground as Professor Brush led the way back to the main part of campus.
“Nice going, Bridger,” Thor muttered.
Bridger laughed, but when no one joined in, he held up his hands. “Oh, come on!” Bridger said. “What, are you mad at me? Being the spy was my assignment.”
“And you couldn’t figure out a way to let us in on it?” Thor asked.
Bridger’s nose wrinkled. “I don’t think you understand the concept of a secret agent.”
“I understand what a secret agent is,” Thor grumbled. “But we’re your team. You should’ve figured out a way to let us know that a spy was even a possibility in the exercise.”
“Boys,” Clio chided, linking an arm through each of theirs and tugging them back toward campus. “Class is over. Time to move on.”
“I didn’t ask to be the spy, you know,” Bridger muttered as he trudged away.
“Hey.”
I turned to Nate, who still stood beside me. His eyes were filled with concern.
“You okay?”
I forced a smile. “Yeah, fine. Just… um… So not cool for brofessor to spring that twist on us.”
He held my gaze. “I don’t think that’s what this is about.”
My stomach lurched. He knew. My muscles coiled, ready to run.
“It’s about Shonda, isn’t it?”
The question came as such a surprise, a laugh escaped my lips. “What?”
“Look, I get it. Over the years, there have been plenty of people who thought they deserved the mantle of Keeper more than me.” He slipped his hand into mine and pulsed my fingers before releasing. “Don’t let Shonda—or anyone else—get under your skin. You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.�
�
I felt like my face might crack as I returned his smile. The other Keepers were nearly out of sight, and Nate started after them.
I forced myself to match his pace, gulping back the acrid tang of bile stabbing the back of my throat. None of Nate’s assurances could curb my anxiety. No matter what he said about me belonging here at Blakethorne, there was one inescapable truth: I was the spy.
Also by Madeline Freeman
Blade Keeper Academy
I’m not who they think I am. If they learn the truth, I’ll pay with my life.
Traces of Sulfur
Flickers of Flame
Whispers of Betrayal
Storm of Shadows
Fall of Eden
Rise of Rebellion
Unfortunate Souls Series
A girl with a special ability. A secret mission. A truth that will rock two planets to the core.
Speechless
Fearless
Hopeless
Restless
Clearwater Witches Series
Magic can be as dangerous as fire. Is dealing with witches worth the consequences?
Crystal Magic
Wild Magic
Circle Magic
Moon Magic
Cursed Magic
Dark Magic
Christmas in Clearwater
Fate Bound Series
A werewolf's first instinct is to protect those weaker than himself. But Jack chose to protect the wrong girl.
Fate Bound
Death Marked
Soul Cursed
Destiny Sealed
The Naturals Trilogy
When only some are blessed with psychic abilities, should everyone else be forced to serve them?
Awaking
Seeking
Becoming
Shifted Series
Monsters live among us, and a select few exist to keep the world safe. Leigh Evans’ life is forever shifted when she learns the truth.
Shifted
Tangled
About the Author
Madeline Freeman lives in the metro-Detroit area with her husband, her daughter and son, and her cats. She loves anything to do with outer space, plate tectonics, and dinosaurs, and secretly hopes her kids will become astronomers or paleontologists. She always wants pizza. Her hobbies include filling notebooks with ideas for future books, pretending to be a unicorn for her daughter to ride, trying to figure out if her husband is joking or being serious, and making her son giggle.
Connect with Madeline online
www.madelinefreeman.net
Traces of Sulfur: A Young Adult Urban Fantasy Academy Series (Blade Keeper Academy Book 1) Page 21
