“While Gregory works, tell me what you know about this school,” I said.
Wally’s eyes widened and the telltale spitting of electricity made me grab Gregory and pull him back as the blue light flickered across the metal gate. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” I let him go but didn’t take my eyes from Wally. “Talk to me, Wally. And not about death.”
She shrugged. “That will be difficult because the Academy of Shadowspell is death incarnate in many ways. There are five houses within the school. From top to bottom in terms of standing amongst the world and magical community, it is the House of Wonder, where magic and power are held as the highest objectives first. The House of Night, where darkness and the undead rule, second. The House of Claw, where animals and their masters stand shoulder to shoulder, third. The House of Shade, where the shadows cover those who deal in death, fourth. And the final house—”
“The House of Unmentionables,” Gregory said as he flourished his hands at the now-open gate. “Of which goblins and other unmentionables are a part.”
I eyed him up. “You don’t look much like a goblin. More like an undersized Justin Bieber.”
Gregory’s lips curled upward. “We get uglier as we get older. And ugliness is prized in our culture. We leave beauty to those who would be blinded by it.”
Pete leaned in to me. “So, you just insulted him.”
I opened my mouth to apologize and then clamped it shut. That was not what a guy would do. No, a guy would rub that insult in.
“Well, Biebs, you’re one cute little runt, aren’t you?”
He opened his mouth, showing off rather sharp teeth and emitting an even sharper hiss, when the sound of voices reached us. The group behind us had almost caught up.
Without a word, the four of us hurried through the open gate and closed it softly behind us. I thought about locking the gate as those ahead of us had, but I wasn’t that much of a jerk. If the others behind us figured out to get into the ditch, I wasn’t going to slow them down. I left the padlock hanging so that it appeared to be locked but wasn’t fully engaged.
I turned away to see Gregory watching me. Pete had his nose in the air as he stepped farther into the underground tunnel.
“This way, I can smell that perfume. It makes me hungry,” he said. Wally was next to him and I thought I heard her say something about death by perfume causing lungs to collapse.
A few steps in and my shoulders itched, right down the middle, a warning if ever I’d felt one. I turned to see Gregory watching me closely.
“What?” I asked.
“You are not…what I expect from a Shade,” he said.
A frown pulled my lips down. “A shade?”
He pointed at my nametag. “They think you’ll end up in the House of Shade based on your ancestry, though no one can be certain until after the sorting at the end of the Culling Trials.” He shrugged. “No one else could have dodged the speed of those golems. Except maybe a vampire, but you’re definitely not one of those.”
There was a scuff behind us and I spun. Nothing but shadows. Still…maybe something was stalking us, even if I wasn’t picking up any danger from that direction.
My frown deepened as I kept pace with Gregory in the rounded-out tunnel. Water sloshed under our feet and the faint scent of crap curled around us. Like we’d stepped into the sewer system under a big city. “The golems weren’t that fast.”
“They were a blur to me.” Gregory said softly. “I could not have avoided them on my own.”
That made no sense. “They were slow as turtles in molasses come February.”
Gregory snorted. “That’s my point. I couldn’t see you either. The ability to move at speeds that can only be matched or beaten by a full vampire is the House of Shade personified.”
I glanced at him then down at the tag on my chest. “And you’re not just saying that because of this?”
Under my name was a single word. Shade.
Gregory looked ahead. “Even without it, I would know what you are. Your kind and mine often work closely, as we are considered…less than those with true magic.”
I shrugged. “And if I am a Shade?”
“Then you are the only reason the other three of us will make it out of this trial alive and with any standing,” he said.
“No pressure at all, right?” A dry laugh escaped me.
A moment later, we caught up with Pete and Wally, who’d stopped walking. It wasn’t hard to see why—the tunnel bucketed out into open space. Wally had pressed herself against the rounded curve of the wall, and Pete leaned out over the opening on his hands and knees. “Holy cats, Wild. Check this out.”
As Gregory and I stepped up to the lip of the tunnel, I got my first look at the next challenge.
“It looks like a video game,” Pete said. “All those platforms, ladders, ropes, and lots and lots of places to fall. And how is it that tall? We aren’t that far underground, are we?”
He wasn’t wrong, but something wasn’t right. “We’ve been walking downhill the last ten minutes, so yeah, it is possible.” I thought for a moment. “Wally or Biebs, either of you get a feel for this place?”
Sure, Gregory thought I was made for this place, but that didn’t mean I believed him. Even if I felt a flash of recognition deep in my belly that he was not wrong. Even if the emotion that coursed through me was nothing short of adrenaline-fueled excitement.
Gregory tipped his head. “Why are you asking me? Us?”
“It’s smarter, that’s why. The group as a whole is greater than its individual parts,” I said. “So you got anything?”
Gregory wiggled his fingers and closed his eyes. Like he was communing with the dead or something, which at this point in my day I would not be surprised about. He gave a full body shiver and then nodded. “There’s gold nearby. It’s…” He pointed upward and vaguely ahead of us. “It’s somewhere…above us. Other than that, I cannot be sure.”
“My mother said that only the House of Shade people go for the gold,” Pete said, shaking his head. “It’s really hard to get. She said just to get through as fast as possible without taking any detours, but…I don’t see a set path, do you?”
“What do you mean gold? The lady in the beginning said it was a bonus. Is it…like a medal?” I stared up at the oversized death trap, a plethora of circular platforms separated by empty space, connected by ropes or ladders here and there, although not enough of them.
“No, in each trial there is the opportunity to set yourself apart from the others,” Gregory said. “You can complete the trial, or you can test yourself against a harder challenge and be rewarded financially. There is only one chance at the bonus per trial, so if one group gets it now, no one else will today. Then they ante-up another trunk of gold for the next run-through, so for each run, everyone has a chance. The actual amount of the bonus is determined by the house and can change. The shifters tend to put up more gold to encourage people, for example.”
My eyes tracked along the bits and pieces as I considered what he was saying.
“Would the gold be on the way out, do you think?” I asked.
“It should be,” Wally answered, “But it’s got to be protected by something. They won’t just hand you gold to keep. We’d have to fight for it.”
“They handed us a bunch of cash to come here,” I said.
“Yeah…but you had to come here,” Pete said.
Touché.
A flash of movement up on the course caught my attention.
One of the ladies in black who’d entered the trial ahead of us leapt from one platform to another, her long blonde hair floating behind her. She was aiming for a smaller platform diagonally right, in the general direction Gregory had pointed.
“How would she know where the gold is?” I said softly, scanning the course again, trying to discern any identifying markers. Because it was clear she was purposefully heading to a rope leading into the mists. She didn’t have a goblin on her back, so somet
hing in the course must’ve clued her in.
“You get more points if you get the gold,” Wally said.
“Wait.” I held up my hand. “There’s a point system for the trials?”
“Yes,” she answered like I was dense.
I grinned. “So if we get all the gold, and those ladies in black don’t, we win?”
“Well, yes…or we die trying. Which isn’t a great option,” Pete said.
“We also get to keep the gold,” Gregory said with a hunger in his voice that I understood. Growing up poor, the pull of money was strong. The ability to send it home to my dad and the twins was worth the chance.
“No one outside of the House of Shade has ever walked away with the gold,” Wally said. “Those that try usually fail the whole course.”
I rubbed my hands together, something in me feeling the challenge and wanting to meet it head on. Percentages meant nothing to me. “First time for everything, Wally. First time for everything. Besides, it’s a sure way out.”
Pete sighed like a man completely spent. “I should’ve never followed you in here. It’s going to get me killed.”
Why I grinned, I couldn’t say.
I leapt out from the lip of the tunnel onto the floating platform closest to me.
Chapter 12
I have to admit, there was a large part of me that was worried about this next part of the trial. What if I was leading the others the wrong way? What if I was wrong? It would not be the first time I’d led others into danger—I’d done it before with Tommy and Rory. Anxiety rocketed through me, but it was too late, I was already in the air.
The platform swayed under my feet, jarred from my sudden transfer of weight. I moved to the edge and turned, bracing as Wally jumped after me. The woman had no fear, though muttering to herself was certainly an issue. She was probably recounting the likelihood of her imminent death.
“Running, jumping, math—this has become my personal Vietnam,” Pete said before gearing up and taking a running start. When his jump peaked too far away from the platform, his eyes rounded.
He wasn’t going to make it.
“Hold my legs, Wally.” I pushed forward and stretched out a hand.
Pete’s arms windmilled like he was a cartoon character. “I’m going to die!” he screeched.
“Reach out, you blockhead,” I hollered, straining forward.
The fingers on his right hand brushed mine. His left hand swung around as he lost altitude. “I’M FALLING! I’M FALLING!”
Adrenaline and fear dumped into my body, the space below us sucking up my focus. If he missed, he’d have a long fall before he went splat.
His palm slapped my wrist and slid. I curled my fingers, dimpling his skin so I wouldn’t lose hold of him, and slammed my other hand down on his forearm.
“Don’t…go into…hysterics, just hang on,” I said in a series of grunts, my body sliding toward the edge with the weight.
Wally’s fingers, stronger than I would’ve expected, tightened on my ankles and anchored me to the platform. My forward progress halted, but Pete’s weight tore at me and I fought to hang on to him. He swung under the platform before slamming into something solid.
“Ow,” he said.
“You would not believe the amount of deaths that occur each year from blunt force trauma,” Wally mumbled. I needed to find her off switch.
“Hang on, buddy,” I said, pulling on his arm with all my strength. “I got you.”
“Don’t drop me.” Pete reached up with his other arm, grasping both of mine.
Gregory flew through the air, his feet thunking down next to me, too close for comfort. He dropped and rolled past before springing up and crawling back.
“I guess if you’re hellbent on saving him, I can help,” Gregory drawled before crowding in.
“Yes. Please. Be hellbent on saving me. Please,” Pete said in a high-pitched, terrified voice. He wasn’t great at staying calm in near-death situations.
Gregory reached down over the platform and took hold of Pete’s arms. He pulled with me, our combined strength enough to drag Pete over the lip of the platform.
“Holy cats,” Pete said as he scrambled up. “That was close.”
“One of many close calls to come,” Wally said. I sure hoped that wasn’t her idea of comfort.
Breathing heavily, confident that Pete would be fine, I dusted myself off and turned to survey the way ahead. In the distance, four lithe shapes, dressed in black, climbed a rope from the target platform before disappearing into the swirling mists above.
“One is missing,” I said quietly, searching the platforms for any other movement. “Five set out, but only four are up there.” The Bro Pack was nowhere to be seen. Across from us was an opening in the wall, and I suspected they’d taken the easy way out.
“Maybe she fell,” Pete said, stepping up beside me. “Though the rest of them are getting up that rope really fast.”
“Forget them, how are we going to get to that platform?” Gregory said, his tone dubious. “It’s a maze, only instead of walls, it has huge gaps. We can’t jump a ton of those.”
I turned my focus to the course, taking stock of the layout, the various sized platforms, and most importantly, the gaps. Almost immediately, it became apparent that there was only one manageable path to the target platform and it was long, complex, and windy. More than one jump gave me pause, a few platforms looked like they might not be stationary, and the swinging rope near the end almost made me throw in the towel and aim for the easier exit point.
But those girls had made it. Clearly, it was possible.
“I can get us there,” I said confidently.
“Are you sure?” Pete said. “Every path I pick out ends in a ginormous gap.”
“He’s a Shade,” Wally replied. “He’s good at strategy and puzzles and stuff. We follow him, and we’ll make it.”
It’s true. I was good at puzzles. The best in my family actually. No one would play chess with me anymore.
“I can get us there, but there will be a couple hairy spots.” I chewed my lip, cutting my eyes to Pete. “This will need to be a group effort. I need you all to commit.”
Wally and Gregory joined me in looking at Pete, clearly the weak link when it came to jumping the gaps. Pete nodded, either not catching our dubious looks or finding his courage within them.
“I can do it,” Pete said, determination overshadowing the uncertainty in his voice.
I nodded once, no more than a jerk of my head, and jogged forward before leaping to the next platform. Once I touched down, I turned and pointed. “Wally, you next. Then Gregory. Brace yourself near the edge and wait for Pete. Good?”
“Okay,” Wally called mid-jump, landing in the center of the platform and bumping into me. Gregory landed without a hitch this time, careful not to touch us, before Pete flung himself in with wide eyes and wildly swinging arms.
Thankfully, Pete did get better as we made our way, and amazingly, handled the swinging rope like a champ, only bungling his landing on the small platform.
All of us breathing heavy, we congregated two platforms away from the target, the others quietly letting me assess where to go next. They’d only questioned me once on the way up, Gregory thinking one of the chosen platforms would lead us to a dead end. My explanation had been quick and distracted as I recalled the way forward, but strangely, it had been enough to appease them all. After that, they’d followed blindly. We were making good time, so I wasn’t complaining.
A strange feeling washed over me. Shivers of warning coated my skin and cold crept up my spine. I glanced around, trying to pierce the darkening haze suddenly pressing in on us with my gaze. Something was out there, waiting. Watching. It wasn’t the something that had been dogging me either. Whatever this was, it meant us harm.
A new urgency pushing me on, I leapt to the next platform. The wood under my feet swung forward with my weight. I windmilled my arms with the sudden shift in balance and barely kept from topplin
g backward into open air. This hadn’t looked like a swinging platform.
“Careful on this one,” I said with a shaking voice, crouching to stabilize.
“Wow.” Wally let out a breath and clutched her chest. “That was a close one. I thought you were going over.”
So had I.
“It’s too far now,” Pete called as I surveyed the swirling mists rolling and drifting above the knotted rope hanging down to the target platform.
A glance back said he was right. The platform wasn’t a swinging platform after all. It had shifted under my weight, and it hadn’t drifted back. Which meant…
“You’re all on your own on this one,” I said, making the easy leap to the target platform. As expected, the platform I’d been on drifted back to its default position, close enough for one of the others to jump. “There is no safety net.”
“It’s like watching a master at work,” Wally said, a cockeyed grin on her face. “Isn’t it? I mean, wow.”
“That’s why the Sandman was escorting him, I told you,” Pete replied. “I really hope I don’t fall. My worst fear is falling like this. I thought I was a goner when I fell out of the chopper earlier. That was a mean trick to just let students slide out.”
My talent with strategy and life-sized puzzle games wasn’t why the Sandman had taken an interest in me, but I let it lie. The less they knew about why I was there, the better.
The warning from a moment ago intensified until a feeling of dread seeped into my bones. My chest tightened and heart sped up. Something was coming. Something dangerous to all of us.
I shifted my weight back and forth, needing to move. To run or fight. But I didn’t know what form the threat would take. And there was nowhere to run to.
“Let’s get going,” I called out as Wally made the jump. “Fast as we can.”
Pete rolled his shoulders and looked around him, standing next to Gregory. “Do you feel that?” he asked Gregory as an itch manifested right between my shoulder blades.
Gregory ignored him, watching as Wally made the final leap to me and the target platform, graceful now that she knew the platform moved. Moments later, she landed next to me.
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