Shadowspell Academy: The Culling Trials, Book 3

by Breene, K. F.

  Strength is Life. Honor is Life. Loyalty is Life. Death is Life.

  I knew without understanding how that I was for the first time seeing the creed of Shadowspell Academy.

  A wave of pain washed through my head that drew a groan out of me. I must be in the medic rooms inside the mansion, or at least that was my best guess based on the ache in my head and the astringent smell that curled up my nose.

  Darkness pressed against the windows. What had happened to the day? Had the zombie poisoning somehow returned? I remembered the trial, remembered coming out of it, and then…nothing.

  I winced, curling my fingers around my forehead, and struggled to remember what had landed me in with the healers.

  Adam. Ethan and I had been following Adam, and he’d caught us. He’d grabbed Ethan around the neck and I’d rushed in to help. Had Adam done this to me?

  A familiar face approached the bed as a fuzzy recollection took shape of dark eyes staring at me through a mess of long brunette curls.

  “Are you okay?” Wally asked, her face somber. “The nurse said she healed what she could of the concussion so you could sleep, but your head will likely be sore for a while. Is it sore?”

  I squinted, letting Wally’s words drift around me, trying to remember beyond that encounter with Adam. I’d grabbed his neck and whipped him around. I’d…

  I dug my fingertips into my skin, willing the throbbing pain to cease. My memories frayed at the edges and drifted away. There was still half a day unaccounted for.

  “What happened?” I asked, dropping my head back onto the pillow. Some pain relief would sure be great. Where was a bottle of Tylenol when you needed it?

  “You got into a fight with Ethan,” Wally said, anger lighting up her eyes. “He dragged you in here, unconscious, with a broken nose and two knives sticking out of you.”

  I frowned up at her and shook my head, the movement sending waves of agony pinging through my skull. “Ethan? No, that can’t be right. Knives? He doesn’t even carry knives.”

  “He got the drop on you, didn’t he?” she asked, searching my eyes for answers to questions that didn’t make any sense. “Why did he slash your ear? Was he actually trying to kill you? I mean, you stabbed him, so all wasn’t lost, but Pete said—”

  “So.” A slick voice filled the room, velvety and decadent. Jared drifted closer, his attractive face hard and eyes glimmering with suspicion. He didn’t glance at Wally when he stopped next to my bed. “It seems you provoked another student of reputable standing. It is becoming clear that your goal is to get kicked out of this establishment. Luckily for you, Master Helix has decided not to press charges. I cannot think as to why.”

  “Probably because I wasn’t fighting with him. I was following—”

  The words died on my lips. Adam stood behind and a little to the side of Jared, the sound of his approach hidden by the pounding of my cranium. His eyes shot sparks of warning at me. Tingles of it stopped my tongue.

  “You were following Ethan, yes, he mentioned that,” Jared said, his mouth twisted in distaste. He turned slightly, glancing over his shoulder at Adam, before his expression darkened. “Ah. Lovely. I see the director’s minion has arrived. Another reason to leave the office unattended, Adam?”

  “Thank you, Jared, you can go,” Adam said, his eyes not leaving mine, his voice steel.

  Jared made a frustrated sound. “Surely Madam Director sees that this…creature should be kicked out. Her presence waters down the prestige of the whole school. Attacking a fellow student? A Helix, no less? She amused me in the beginning—thinking to take on three vampires—but that has faded. It is clear she is a danger to everyone here.”

  “I didn’t attack him,” I said, pounding my stare into Adam as hard as the pain pounded into me.

  “How many more will she attack before your office actually does something?” Jared said.

  “Thank you, Jared,” Adam said again, his tone icy and his gaze spitting fire. He chewed off each word. “You. May. Go.”

  Jared’s eyes narrowed as they surveyed me. “I will get to the bottom of this. Something isn’t adding up. A full report should be made, regardless of the Helix boy’s decision not to press charges. If it were up to me—”

  Adam leaned forward, a small movement. Pressure increased in the room. He didn’t have to say a word.

  Jared’s body tensed, and he drew himself up straighter and lifted his chin. “Very well.” He glided out, indignation covering him like a cloak. “This is not forgotten. You can rest assured of that.”

  A hard look from Adam sent Wally scurrying from the room, as well. “I’ll just be outside,” she said over her shoulder, clearly not wanting to leave.

  “What do you remember?” Adam said, his voice deep and low, sending tremors over my limbs.

  “Everything,” I bluffed, looking at him through narrowed eyes.

  “That right?” He studied me. “Ethan did this to you, then?”

  “There is no way Ethan could stab me. Twice. He’s not fast enough, and you know it.”

  “Then who did?” His blank face didn’t give anything away.

  I hesitated in naming him, suddenly unsure of my own hazy memories. Besides, at the moment, I had no proof.

  “Where’s Ethan?” I asked.

  “In your dorm, healed up and preening over his victory against a woman with the potential to be the best Shade the house has seen in years.” Adam’s face gave nothing away.

  I shook my head slowly, the effort costing me. What was the point in arguing when I didn’t have the knowledge to do it successfully?

  He must’ve realized that from my silence.

  “You can’t be the best Shade dead, Wild,” he said, his voice low and rough. “I’d really think about your options if I were you. I’d think about leaving.” Without another word, Adam took a step back, turned, and stalked from the room.

  A memory flitted through my mind: Your number is up, and your protection is dead. Best thing you can do is run. Get out of the trials and don’t come back. Run.

  I’d been walking away from Adam, I remembered that now. We’d fought, but we’d walked away. He hadn’t done this to me. But then who had? Not Ethan. I was sure of it.

  I took a deep breath and palmed my head again. “Healer! I need aspirin! Or a lobotomy.”

  I also needed to get to Ethan and compare stories. I needed this gap in my memory filled.

  Unfortunately, it quickly became clear I wouldn’t get that opportunity. The director’s office had reached a compromise with Jared, who wanted me gone now seeing as I was such a danger. I wondered though what had turned him suddenly against me, because before he had seemed more amused than anything. What had changed? Was it because he’d noticed the others following him? Or was it more than that?

  The healer, Mara, mentioned she’d keep me under surveillance, monitoring the concussion to make sure it really had healed. If I was in good enough health by morning, I could continue on in the trials. If she deemed it a health risk, I’d be kicked out with a standing invitation to return next year.

  No way in hell was I getting kicked out. I doubted they’d have me back. And what would happen to Billy in that case? Would he be forced to come with me? The idea of going through the trials, trying to protect Billy at the same time, made my skin crawl and my stomach roll.

  The next morning came slowly between fits of pain and nightmares I couldn’t escape no matter how far I ran in my dreams.

  Shaky and determined, I boarded the last bus in the row, the one I’d been told my crew would be riding. There in the back, where Ethan normally claimed space for us, sat a hard-faced crew behind a douche who had either lied or kicked me when I was down. Because there was no way in hell he’d beat me fair and square. If he had, I’d never forgive myself.

  Smirks and snickers followed me down the aisle, and if not for my headache and Jared’s threat, I would’ve distributed a dozen knuckle sandwiches.

  Ethan glanced up as I made my appr
oach, the seat next to him vacant, and a shadow crossed his deep blue eyes. His gaze hit my arm, then my thigh, before he glanced out the window.

  “Well. Hello, master-at-arms,” I sat down beside him.

  “Wild!” Pete pushed up in the seat behind me, concerned. “Are you okay? What really happened? Because no way could—”

  I held up a hand to stop him. “Great question, Pete. Because the last memory I have is jumping to Ethan’s aid.”

  It was a small lie, but I was going to roll with it.

  Ethan’s face swung around, confusion marring his features.

  “Jumping to my aid?” he said. “He wasn’t after me, he—” That shadow passed over his eyes again, something unsettled moving in their depths, before he turned away. “You shouldn’t try to pick fights with your betters, Wild. Now you know why.”

  “Them’s fightin’ words,” Wally said in her deep Walter Cronkite voice.

  I clenched my fist and leaned into him, so angry I could spit, no matter how disgusting it was. “You just corroborated my story in one sentence, then changed it to a bullcrap story in the next. Which is it?”

  Ethan’s jaw clenched and he waved his hand, annoyed and frustrated. That made two of us.

  “Just forget anything happened, Wild,” he said softly, for my ears alone. “Forget it, okay? This is bigger than us. Some people you just can’t mess with. I believe that. Just forget it, and we’ll get through the trials. That’s all we need to do right now. Everything else will work itself out.”

  “Are you kidding me right now?” The bus shimmied to a start and the chatter around us raised in volume to compete with the motor. Our crew leaned in closer to hear Ethan and me arguing. “Those kids are still missing, and we were—are clearly on the right track. We can free them, I know it. Or at least find out who’s responsible for their disappearance.” Free them? Why had I said that? My head throbbed and I pinched the bridge of my nose, breathing through the pain.

  Ethan’s face closed down again. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

  I told him slowly, clutching at the foggy memories like a man with arthritis would a small gold coin. When I hit the part where Adam had told me to run, Wally sucked in a breath.

  “That’s a threat, right?” she asked. “Is he behind all of this? We got nothing by following Jared, literally not a single clue. He just sat in the cafeteria reading a book.”

  Ethan’s lips tightened and he minutely shook his head, looking away again. “Adam had Ethel’s memory ball. That’s it.”

  More flutters of memory surfaced, about a conversation I’d had with Ethan. Something about an eyeball to open it… Next of kin…

  “What’s the last thing you remember?” I asked him, the black hole in my memory scaring me a little, but more than the fear, it frustrated me to the point of tears. I had the key to unlock all of these mysteries, I could feel it, only it was lost in the swamp of blackness that was a time lapse.

  …swamp of blackness crawling up his legs…

  Ethan spoke over the flutter of memory, crushing it.

  “I remember kicking your ass and stabbing you with Shade knives I could never have acquired on my own,” he murmured, so softly I wondered if I was half making up the words. The bus came to a stop and he shoved me out of the seat, something he could only do because I’d grabbed my head to stop the dull pounding. It didn’t work. “Let it go, Wild. Keep your eyes open and your ass down, or you’ll get everyone killed. That’s a warning from a friend.”

  “Oh yeah, a friend?” I jabbed him in the ribs, following close behind him. “Since when are we friends?”

  “Since never.” He hopped off the bus and walked toward the fifth and final gate. The House of Wonder. The magical house. Just like the House of Night, this gate clearly belonged to the House of Wonder. The metal was a brilliant silver accented with gold down long curving spindles that resembled a climbing rose that had been set in with cut red glass or rubies. I was suspecting those of his house wouldn’t allow mere glass to be used. But even the beauty and craftsmanship of the gate couldn’t detract from the situation at hand. Namely my memory loss.

  “What’s going on with you two?” Orin said as he drifted to my side. “Things aren’t adding up. And Ethan is lying. I can smell it all over him.” Pete nodded and added a me too.

  “I know. But I can’t…” I gritted my teeth. “There is a hole in my memory.”

  “But he knows? Ethan knows you can’t remember?”

  “Yeah. He knows, but he’s not talking.”

  Orin stared at the ornate gate in front of us. He nodded silently as Pete dropped in on my other side, and Wally stepped up beside him. “We’ll just have to get the truth out of him.”

  “Yes,” I said, cracking my knuckles. “We will.”

  “But after the trial. We’ll need him for this trial,” Pete said. Orin and Wally bobbed their heads in agreement. They weren’t wrong.

  I took a deep breath, calming the frustration and the anger and the fear of what had happened in that black space in my memory. “Right. After this trial.” I palmed my head as we caught up with Ethan. “We need to check with Colt, too. See if there was anything else missing from Ethel’s room.” I glanced around, looking for his crew.

  The others exchanged pointed looks. It was Ethan who broke it to me.

  “He’s gone. Missing. He never met us in our dorm, and he didn’t show up to his.” He didn’t look at me as he said it. “There’s nothing we can do about it. We need to get through this trial and get on with our lives.”

  Chapter 12

  I wondered if I’d have a stress fracture in my jaw from clenching my teeth so hard. Something was seriously wrong with Ethan. He seemed...defeated, somehow. Like the wind had been stolen from his sails. His pompous arrogance was gone, replaced with hollow indifference. Whatever had him spooked, he didn’t plan to fight back. And that dug into me almost more than the missing memories. It wasn’t like him.

  “What happened?” I asked softly, needing more info so I could fight back for him. I wasn’t the type to say die, even when I was obviously being thrown into the deep end with weights around my ankles. “And why would Colt get taken while we ended up in the infirmary with knives sticking out of us? Shade knives, did you say?”

  The beautiful woman strode along the top of the gates, just as she’d done with the first three trials. I wondered if her failure to appear the other day had anything to do with how badly our trip through the House of Night had gone. She waved a hand forward as she stood to the side of the gates. “Good luck to you all. Have fun.”

  Fun.

  We walked through the gates, Ethan leading the way, and a shiver cascaded over me as a magical wall slid behind us, closing us off from turning around and running for the exit. The timing was not surprising. A roar boomed through the air as soon as the wall descended, the sound vibrating through my body. I remembered it from that first day, when Wally had spouted off T-rex statistics, and everyone around us shifted and practically danced in fearful anticipation.

  Thoughts of the day before fled. I was sure blood left my face in a rapid flood, if the numbing of my lips was any indication.

  “Is there a reason the only magical worker among us waited to do this trial last?” My boot crunched against the brittle grass one moment and thudded against the rustic wooden floor of a saloon the next. Wooden walls had sprung up around us. An old-timey piano played in the corner, the keys pressing down and lifting again in a creepy mime without fingers to propel them. A long bar sat in front of us with a bartender behind it, one hand wrapped around the neck of a bottle of whiskey, and the other resting behind five shot glasses.

  The man grinned from under his long gray mustache that curled up at the corners in twin perfect swoops. His leather vest hung flat on his stomach and his long, pointed wizard hat indicated he wasn’t great at putting together a costume.

  “Welcome,” the man said, his voice gruff, like I’d expect, but with a lilting sort o
f accent that spoke of posh England, which I wouldn’t expect. “Pick your poison, my young friends.”

  “Should be pick yer poison, if you’re going for the Old West vibe,” I glanced around at the establishment we’d found ourselves in. Card tables filled the space, each partially occupied. Men hunched over their cards with drinks by their elbows and ladies in fancy dresses and corsets by their sides. The dealers opposite them wore pointed wizard hats, like the bartender, and each had a little chest of gold by his stack of cards.

  We were the only crew present.

  “This is the most important trial for him,” Orin said, at my elbow, looking around as I was doing. “He’ll need to impress daddy and all his peers to make it in his world. A failure here could mean his entire future comes crashing down. Society gives guys like him a lot of leeway, except when it comes to living up to expectations. I would go so far as to say that he will have the hardest trial of all of us. For us, there were no expectations, per se. For him…all of them.”

  “Shut up,” Ethan said, the truth of what Orin was saying evident in the tightness of his voice.

  “That’s good.” I blew out a breath, trying to ignore the throbbing of my head and the warning shivers coating my body. “I was worried it would be harder, somehow.”

  “That, too,” Orin said.

  A shadow zipped by in my peripheral vision and I swung my gaze that way. My vision dizzied for a moment before I saw a group of women in the corner, their breasts heaving out of the tops of their gowns to the point where I struggled to understand how their nipples stayed covered. Poofy skirts flared out from their corseted waists. They stared at me, one and all, some with knowing looks, others with expectant expressions. One laughed suggestively.

  “What is the deal with this trial?” I asked as Ethan chose a table to his right and sat in the single empty chair. A distant roar permeated the walls and shook the bottles against the mirror behind the bar. That creature did not belong in the Old West. I knew that much.