“Where’s Ethan?” I asked as I shut the door.
“Where have you been?” Pete asked from the bed. “Did you go to the healers?”
I hadn’t but felt remarkably okay. I’d take it as a win.
“Where is he?” I asked again, and Orin shook his head.
“He didn’t want to wait for you. Said he had things to do.”
I retrieved the sheets from Gregory’s mattress and held them out to the others. “First thing’s first. Wally and I found the cheat sheets.”
Pete jumped up and I held them above his head. “Hey, let me see!”
When Orin took a step toward me, I pointed a finger at him. “Hear me out. If we got caught with these, what would happen?”
“Expelled,” Wally said, her voice solemn. “It would be instant, there would be no recourse.”
I took the papers and shoved them under Ethan’s mattress. “He might be part of our crew, but if anyone is getting expelled, it can be him.”
Pete grinned and spread his hands wide. “But can’t we just look?”
“You want Ethan to—” I cut off as the door opened and Wonder Bread himself walked in. And he was not alone.
“You want Ethan to what?” Ethan put his hands on his hips. Colt stood to his left, a loose ease to his body. He was fit like Ethan, only not so bulky. Colt’s body was leaner as if he’d actually trained for the physical strain of the trials and not just lifted weight to gain mass.
He held a hand up in a half wave. “Hey.”
“What’s he doing here?” Pete spluttered. “He’s not part of our crew.”
“Relax, he’s here to help us find Gregory. Seeing as Wild here is afraid to be alone.” The flash of heat that coursed through my cheeks was surely visible. The way that Colt was watching me was so not helping.
Pete nudged me. “Hey, does he know—”
“Yeah,” I muttered. “Wonder Bread told him.”
Pete let out a snarl. “What the hell, man? How are you going to pass the final tests if you can’t keep a secret?”
It was Ethan’s turn to flush. “Look, people are talking. You aren’t hiding it as well as you think, Wild. I mean, look at you. You’re huge for a ‘fifteen-year-old boy.’”
I took a step, fists clenched, and Ethan took a step back. “Not my fault you can’t keep it under your hat.”
A strained silence hung in the room for a few beats before Ethan broke it.
“We have half a day.” He shrugged. “If there is any chance of finding the goblin or the others, we need more help. Colt will help. I trust him.”
He wasn’t wrong, but he wasn’t right either.
It struck me that Ethan shouldn’t care enough to bring in outside help. He didn’t even like Gregory. Orin ghosted up behind me, just the slightest change in air pressure tipping me off. Low and quiet, he whispered in my ear, “He thinks Gregory has the cheat sheets.”
Bingo. Then we’d use Ethan, just like he planned to use us.
I made myself smile. “Well, let’s get going then. Wally, you and Pete find out about the girl, Lisa the snake shifter. Ethan, you go with Colt—”
“No,” Orin said, “I will go with Ethan.”
Ethan spluttered, obviously not thrilled with that prospect.
I shot a look at Orin. “We need to keep an eye on him,” he whispered, his mouth barely moving.
Again, a good point. But for good or for ill, that left me with Colt. “Fine. Check out the House of Shade. Colt and I will see what we can discover about Mason.”
When we left the room, Colt quickly fell into step beside me, a few inches taller, broader across the shoulders. Next to a big guy, I didn’t look so masculine, even I could see that. Damn it. A few more days, that was all I needed.
“Mason was roomed down this way, with another guy I know,” Colt said, pointing to the third floor.
I nodded and let him lead.
“Where are you from?” Colt led the way through the mansion toward where Mason had roomed.
“Texas,” I said. Was he flirting with me? How would I know? Me and flirting were no bueno. He blew out a big breath, drew another in, but said nothing else.
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one not sure what to say.
We reached Mason’s room and I knocked on the door. A young guy with shockingly bright red hair opened the door. He wasn’t much of a looker, but his eyes were as green as spring grass, and something about him, his stature and the way he held himself, reminded me of Gregory.
“Goblin?” I blurted out. His face fell into a snarl.
Colt snickered. “Jesus, that was badly done.”
“I am,” the red head snapped, long fingers curling around the door.
I held up both hands, palms out. “Sorry. Gregory is a friend of mine. Do you know him?”
“I thought we were here for Mason?” Colt asked.
“Mason is missing,” the goblin snapped, showing sharp teeth. “And Gregory got what was coming to him.”
A chill zipped down my spine. “Why would you say that?”
The door slammed in my face. Or would have had I not stuck my foot into the opening. I pushed my way into the room while Colt said something behind me along the lines of “this is not a good idea.”
But he followed me in. I booted the door shut and grabbed the red-headed goblin by one arm. “What do you mean Gregory got what was coming to him?”
“He thought he was better than us. Because he looks so human. His mom was half human.” He spat the words at me. “He’s a damn pretty boy.”
I frowned. “You could pass for an ugly human. You know that, right?”
“Don’t flatter him,” Colt said. “It won’t work.”
“I wasn’t,” I growled. “Tell me what you know about Gregory.”
The goblin tried to pull away from me, but I tightened my hold on him and locked eyes with him. There was darkness in me, I knew that, and I felt it uncoil like a beast coming awake. It surged up slowly, spreading through my limbs, spilling up into my eyes until everything around me grew still, right down to the pulse of my heart.
The goblin’s eyes widened and he gulped. “I overheard one of the vamps say that they needed to speak to Gregory. That he was doing so well, he wouldn’t have to finish the trials. That he could just skip the rest. Lucky bastard.”
I frowned and the darkness I’d felt leeched out of me like a puff of smoke on the wind. I let go of the goblin and stepped back, shaken by what I’d felt as much as what I’d heard. Like I was a stranger to myself.
Colt gave a low whistle. “I’ve heard about Shades being able to pull the truth from someone, but I’ve never seen it. That is seriously badass.”
The goblin curled around himself. “Get out of my room, Shade.”
I made myself ask one more question. “Was it the same way with Mason? He was told that he was able to skip ahead?”
He bobbed his head once. “Yes.”
“You just follow people around? Creepy, dude, seriously creepy,” Colt said, and the goblin took a swipe at him. Colt was fast, I’d give him that. He danced back and pulled his wand in the space of a heartbeat, pointing the weapon at the goblin.
“I think not. This isn’t my first time facing one of your kind.”
I headed to the door. “We’re done here,” I said letting myself out. Colt could follow or not. My mind was whirling.
Someone—no, not just someone, a vampire—had offered Gregory and Mason a way to skip ahead. Because they were doing so well in the trials. Gregory I could believe. Despite the bind he’d been in when I met him, he was smart, wily. “Did you know Mason?”
Colt hurried to catch up to me as I strode through the mansion, heading outside. I needed to breathe the fresh air. I needed to be out of this place so I could think straight.
“I knew him a little. Are you asking me if he was good enough to be called up?”
“Called up, that’s what it is?”
Colt shrugged as we pushed the main d
oors open and walked across the wide lawn. “If you’re good enough, you might get asked to skip. Or at least that’s the rumor. I’ve never actually known anyone who was pulled out and given a pass.”
“So it’s a valid thing. Something the kids might believe?” I drew a breath of the air and let it out slowly.
“Valid, but unlikely. Mason was not the top of his class. Middle or lower would be my guess based on who he hung with. The status of your friends usually indicates where you lie within your group.” We’d reached the edge of the trees and I stepped under the cover and kept walking, taking us deeper into the forest.
“He’d go with someone he trusted, someone he thought was actually able to enforce a rule like that. At least in the beginning. Gregory was fighting to get away when I found him,” I said, more to myself than to Colt. “He was smart. He figured out pretty quickly that something was wrong.”
“What do you mean?” Colt asked.
“I saw him being taken. I tried to stop the people who had him, and he called to me for help.” It was only then I realized that was why I’d headed out this way. To look for clues. “They dragged him out here.”
I pointed at a small spot at the center of three trees. To the right was a bigger tree and I laid my hand on the wide trunk. This was where Rory had dragged me down and hidden me from the assassin.
A slow turn and the heel of my boot dug into the soil, leaving a distinct mark. There had to be tracks. And tracks never lied.
I crouched by the tree and tried to put my body into the same position it had been in that night. Colt crouched with me, close enough that I could smell the cologne he wore. I couldn’t help it, I took a deep breath. Spicy and a little bit sweet.
“What do you smell?” he asked.
I laughed. “Just your perfume.”
He laughed right back at me. “Gotta keep the ladies happy.”
I rolled my eyes and focused on what was in front of me. This was where I’d seen the tip of the assassin’s boot. I had to work to suppress the fear that rose in me. Not a warning, just a true fear of how close I’d come to biting it that night.
I closed my eyes, recalling the direction of Gregory’s final shout. Opening them, I pointed in that general direction. “Gregory and his captors, they were out there.”
“How do you know?”
“I just do.” I wasn’t about to tell him all my secrets.
He grabbed my arm as we stood, and then he wobbled and fell against me. I caught him, and he slowly stood, far, far too close. “And here I thought you didn’t like me.”
Part of me wanted to pull away, the other part thought oh hell, why not? For all I knew, I could die tomorrow in the next trial.
The “oh hell” part won. Colt cupped my face, bent his head and brushed his lips against mine. Nice, sweet…safe. He tasted like his cologne, a little bit spicy, a little bit sweet, maybe even a little bit magical.
“What the hell is going on here?”
The words cut through the air like a blade as sharp as the one I carried. Worse, Rory was the one who yelled them.
Copyright © 2019 by K.F. Breene & Shannon Mayer
All rights reserved. The people, places and situations contained in this ebook are figments of the author’s insane imagination and in no way reflect real or true events.
Chapter 1
Being caught kissing a boy in a forest by Rory shouldn’t have bothered me. After all, I’d seen him kissing Missy—a bleach blonde I know for a fact stuffed her bra with her socks—behind the five and dime—twice. The first time, I’d run back the way I’d come, embarrassed and not sure why. The second time, he’d seen me before I could react. Rather than stop, he’d turned so his back was to me, then continued to kiss pretty, girly, hair always perfect, makeup always on straight, stuffed boobs Missy.
I pulled back from Colt, just enough so that I could turn and arch an eyebrow at Rory even though my face was about to combust if the heat rushing to my cheeks was any indication. Before I could form an answer with my tingling, kiss-stung lips, Colt did a very dumb, very male thing.
He stepped between me and Rory.
“Who the hell do you think—”
And that’s where the question ended.
I stepped to the side to avoid the sharp right hook I saw coming about three miles off, in time to see Rory’s fist connect with the side of Colt’s head. Colt’s eyes rolled back, and his body went limp like Rory had pulled every pin in every joint of a marionette.
“I told you to stay safe.” Rory stepped around the still falling Colt and clamped a hand on my wrist.
My jaw dropped, and heat snapped through me again, although this time it was purely anger. “I am safe, you idiot. You said to stay in groups. Two is a group. Or was, until you knocked him out. What’s wrong with you?”
I yanked my arm, but his strength topped mine and then some. His fingers didn’t budge and the dark glower in his eyes deepened until I wasn’t sure if I was looking at the boy I’d grown up with, or a man I didn’t know at all.
Excited anticipation fluttered in my stomach and electricity sizzled across my skin, but I didn’t have time to wonder at the strange reaction.
He leaned closer and lowered his voice, rough with a warning. “You’ve never been a stupid girl, Belle, don’t start now. He’s not the sort that’ll keep you safe from what’s hunting you. You know that.”
A memory of the other night flashed through my head. Uncomfortable heat wormed under my collar.
I shook it off. Sure, it would have been dangerous to be out here alone, or with Colt, in the middle of the night. But it was broad daylight, and Rory was just being an overprotective douche. The man needed to be reminded of boundaries.
I drove my forehead forward, intent on a headbutt. He jerked to the side, missing it. I twisted my arm and yanked at the weak part of his grip, the break between his fingers and thumb. My arm slipped, but he bore down, keeping hold of me. I used his distraction to quickly step to the side and upper cut with my other hand, connecting with his jaw, hard.
He grunted and his head snapped back. His weight followed, forcing him to stagger backward. His hand tightened on my arm for a moment, as if he planned to use me to brace himself. It surely would’ve worked, dragging me with him, but I was banking on the fact that he didn’t want to hurt me. Sure enough, he released his grip, putting him at the mercy of his momentum. First one heel caught on the grass, then the other. He couldn’t get his footing and went down hard, his butt slamming into the grass.
I didn’t hide my grin, standing over both downed guys. Rory’s eyes came up, slowly, and a sparkle of fire lit in their depths. The strange surge and sizzle from a moment ago blasted through me again.
Not surprisingly, given our history, a smile flitted across Rory’s full lips. “I see you haven’t changed one bit. Same old fire. Same hard head.”
I snorted and rolled my eyes. “Like you can talk.” I stalked past him, leaving Colt alone in the grass. He could take care of himself and he was already groaning, sitting up, as I took off.
I hit the double door of the mansion hard enough that both sides flung open and banged against the back wall, startling several of the kids, making them leap back, raise their hands and wands lifted in defense. I ignored them, taking the stairs to my dorm.
Wally and Pete startled when I pushed inside, Pete sitting on his bed and Wally leaning against the wall. Her dark brown hair spilled over her shoulder as she tilted her head to the side. “Where are the others? Did you find out anything?”
I pushed past her, out of breath from the stairs, and headed into the bathroom.
“Well, when you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go,” Wally said. “You know, your chances of damaging your kidneys and colon go up by one-point-five percent every time you hold it in.”
“Gross,” Pete said.
Their voices droned on, blending together as I leaned over the sink and splashed water over my face. I felt bad about Colt. He’d had no chance a
gainst Rory’s fist— I didn’t know anyone who could stay standing after a full-on punch from Rory. But that strange surge of excitement I’d felt with Rory had my heart pounding. I felt ready to run full speed into trouble. Or sneak into danger and work out a way to get back out again.
Ready to pick up right where we’d left off.
But this wasn’t the farm. This game had life-and-death stakes. Which meant I needed to rein in this sensation, no matter how good it felt.
A few splashes of water on my face, and I headed out the door. “I’ll be back, you two. I’m going to grab some food,” I called over my shoulder, “then you can tell me what you learned.”
Wally gave me a salute, and Pete nodded as I strode out of the room. I loaded up two to-go containers of food in the mess hall, barely looking at what I was piling on, only knowing I was starving and needed fuel.
Back in the room, Wally and Pete filled me in on what they’d learned about the missing snake shifter.
“Lisa told her friends that someone higher up suggested she’d get to skip the rest of the trials because she was doing so well.” Wally said and shot Pete a look. I stuffed a chunk of potato slathered in cream cheese, bacon, and chives into my mouth.
“Lemme guess,” I swallowed my mouthful and jammed in a roast beef chaser. “She wasn’t, was she?”
Pete shook his head. “Her friends felt bad talking about her, but they said she was middle of the pack at best. Not even an alpha personality. They weren’t surprised that she’d accepted an offer like that. They figured it was the only guarantee she’d get.”
A moment later, Ethan and Orin stepped into the room, eyes shooting daggers at one another. Or maybe wands and fangs.
Ethan puffed out his chest. “We got some good info. The ones we talked to thought—”
“That he was going to be moved through the trial?” I offered as I stuck my fork into another potato chunk, this one covered in some sort of gravy and hunks of cheese. If nothing else, the food here was spectacular.
Ethan frowned, and we filled him and Orin in on our findings.
“Where is Colt?” Ethan looked around as if the other boy could be hiding under one of the beds.
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