by Lanie Jordan
Tasha tossed her hands to her hips. “If you’re going to look at her like that, then you might as well just move on over to Eric’s team.”
And that was one of the many reasons why I loved Tasha—even when I was on the receiving end of that no-nonsense tone.
The undecided looked at each other, shrugged, and all but two—Brian and Natalie—took Tasha’s advice and joined Eric’s side of the room. It left us with a team of three. Natalie stared at us for a few seconds more, looking torn. She sighed and moved to Eric’s team.
Eric grinned maliciously at us—or, probably more accurately, me in particular. “Looks like they want to stick with their own species, too.”
“Keep the species comments to yourself, Mr. Reynolds,” Peter said, a steely edge to his tone.
Eric looked taken back, as did the others standing by him. He’d whispered it to his team, thinking no one’d hear him. His mouth opened and shut a few more times before he turned away.
Mr. Connor glanced at Brian, the only person who had yet to choose a side. “Why don’t you join Jade’s team?”
Brian scowled. “Whatever,” he muttered under his breath. He made his way to our side of the room and stood a few feet behind us, like he didn’t want to be too close.
Linc narrowed his eyes and glared at him. “If he didn’t want on our team, then he should have picked Eric’s,” he whispered.
Since last Phase, Linc hadn’t exactly been Brian’s biggest fan, but over the summer, it’d gotten worse. Brian had made some smart comment to Linc when he’d broken his foot on break. Now there were nearly as many dirty looks between the two of them as there were between me and, well, everyone else.
Peter motioned to Adam. “You’re up. Keep it simple, but not too easy.”
Adam backed away from the wall until he was ten feet from it. My team was on his left and Eric’s was on his right. Adam glanced at both teams, giving us a wicked grin as he started running. He jumped as he reached the wall, ran up four steps, and planted both feet before kicking away. He spiraled in the air and landed gracefully in a crouch.
Whoops and cheers rang out from some of the Prospects on Eric’s team, but they stopped as soon as he glared at them. “Oh, big deal.”
“And we’ve got a volunteer,” Peter said cheerfully. “Your team’s up first. You each get one shot.”
Eric rolled his eyes again and then rolled his shoulders. He made a smug face. “I can do that. Easy.”
“You might want to try—”
“I’ve got it,” Eric said, cutting Adam off.
“Okay.” Adam shoved his hands in his pockets and moved to stand beside me.
Eric studied the wall with a cocky grin on his face. His teammates rooted for him.
Tasha rolled her eyes. Quietly, she mumbled, “If he runs face-first into the wall, I’m laughing. Just sayin’.”
Me and Linc bit back grins.
Eric took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. He ran up the wall and made it up one step before he fell to the ground, landing hard and bouncing off the mat. He slammed his hands down at his sides. “Damnit!”
Tasha laughed under her breath—so did a few members of his own team.
“Not quite as easy as it looks, is it?” Peter asked, his tone neutral. When Eric didn’t comment, Peter motioned for the next on his team to go.
Natalie was next. She made it to the wall, freaked out, and skidded to a stop before she would’ve hit headfirst. Two more people tried and failed. Eric fumed, red-faced and fists curled. He muttered curses under his breath that earned him what-the-hell and you-didn’t-do-it-either looks. By the time the last of his team went, half of them were standing away from him, casting glares in his direction.
Tasha scoffed. “Thinking better now, aren’t they? Well, that’s too damn bad, so sad, not sorry.”
“Tasha?” Peter said. “You’re up.”
“Really?” she squeaked in a high-pitched tone. “Me first?” She turned to us, gave us apologetic looks. “You know I can’t do this, so I’m apologizing ahead of time.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Linc said.
I grinned. “Don’t worry. We won’t laugh if you fall on your face.”
Laughing, she relaxed a little. “Thanks. You’re a true friend, Jade.” She let out a breath. “As long as I make it further than him,” she said, motioning to Eric, “I’ll be happy.”
“You make it further than he did, I’ll train with you if you need help. And I won’t even complain if you hit me.”
“Good deal.” Her smile had a vindictive edge to it. “Now I’ve gotta do it.”
“We don’t have all day,” Eric shouted across the room.
Tasha rolled her eyes. “Oh, get over yourself. Waiting ten seconds isn’t going to kill you.” Giving us an another apologetic smile, she moved to take position.
I gave a preemptive wince as she ran and hoped she didn’t hurt herself. I didn’t care if she made it or not, but she was a danger to herself, especially with other people watching. Alone, she was grand. With an audience…well, it didn’t end well usually.
When she hit the wall, she actually made it up two steps. She probably would’ve managed the move without a problem, but she tensed, like she realized what she’d done, and then…she fell.
Chris, Linc, and I ran to her side. “You okay?” I asked, grabbing one of her hands while Linc grabbed the other. We pulled her to her feet.
She shook her head for a minute, as if dazed, then barked out a laugh. She looked at Eric. “Take that!”
I shook my head and rested it on her shoulder. “You’re crazy, but I love you.”
“Well done,” Peter told her. “Closest so far. Linc, your turn.”
“Do it,” Tasha said.
Linc nodded, shooting me a quick wink as he moved to the start position. He ran at the wall and made it up three steps before he lost momentum. He didn’t fall as hard as Tasha though, because he twisted as he fell and ended up in a semi-crouch. “Damn!”
“Good try,” Tasha said. “You beat me, you show-off.”
Peter motioned to Brian. “You’re up.”
Brian sauntered to the starting point, looking annoyed. He ran to the wall. A foot before he reached it, he stopped dead and shrugged.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Linc shoot him a glare. “He didn’t even try.”
Adam eyed Brian as he walked away. “And last but not least…Jade.”
Linc and Tasha both patted me on the back. In a whisper, Tasha added, “It’s up to you, so please do better than Brian and Eric. If you do, I’ll do your homework.”
“I’m not the one who needs homework help.”
“Fine.” She smiled sweetly at me. “Beat him and I’ll let you do my homework.”
I laughed.
“Hey,” she started with a shrug, “it was worth a shot. You’re about nerdy enough to like the idea.”
I shook my head, fighting another laugh. Before I managed to move forward, Linc stepped in my way. He gave my hand a quick squeeze. “You’ve got this, Hall,” he whispered near my ear. He stepped back, his steely blue eyes locked with mine. The sides of his mouth lifted in his trademark smirk.
My heart fluttered a little, like it usually did whenever he smiled at me, and I just stared at him.
Someone cleared their throat and I heard Adam say, “Ready?”
I fought a blush, nodded, and all but tripped as I moved to take my position. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Eric. He was, unsurprisingly, glaring at me, probably silently hoping I’d run into the wall face-first.
I took a deep, not-so-steadying breath. I could do this. I’d done it before, hadn’t I? Of course, I’d had a demon on my ass, so it’d been a little more motivating.
Eric muttered something under his breath that had my hands curling into fists and my eyes narrowing. Then again, what was more motivating than showing up a dozen jerks who hated you? Demons were awful, but at least they didn’t mock you.
I
let out another breath and tried ignoring the dirty looks coming from Eric. It didn’t really work, but I ran anyway. Right before I made it to the wall, Eric stepped out in front of me. Without time to slow down, I swerved away from him, jumped, pounded my feet up the wall three steps, and then pushed away. I did a back-flip in the air, considered—briefly—kicking Eric in the head, but I didn’t, and instead landed behind him in a crouch.
He spun around, facing me as I slowly rose. The blood in my veins pumped loudly, so loudly I swore I could hear the anger in it like it had its own voice. I narrowed my eyes, staring into Eric’s. They were wide, both with fear and anger. He took a step back, bumping into the wall. He winced.
The urge to hit him struck fast. Before I decided whether to act on that, Mr. Connor yanked him to the side and yelled at him. I stood there, staring at the spot Eric had been standing, and wishing he was in front of me still, so I could—
Linc dragged me away and physically turned my head toward him. “You okay?”
“What?”
His eyebrows scrunched together and he frowned at me. “Are you okay? You’re shaking.”
“I am?” I looked down at the hand he was holding. It wasn’t a lot, but I could see it shaking slighting in his. “Oh.” I forced myself to focus on things that didn’t include maiming Eric. It worked. A little. “Yeah. I’m fine.”
It wasn’t a lie, not exactly. I was fine. But I was angry, angrier than I could remember being in a long time. Apparently angry enough to be shaking. And then, like a switch flipped, it was gone.
Tasha stormed over to me. “I can’t believe he did that,” she bit out. Her eyes were on Eric. “What an A-class ass—”
Adam coughed.
“Well, he is,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
Mr. Connor walked over. “You alright, Jade?”
I nodded. “I’m good.” Especially now that I wasn’t shaking anymore.
“Good.” He nodded to me.
Peter clapped. “Seeing as Jade here was the only one to complete the move, her team will get the extra training.”
Eric’s team groaned.
Peter chuckled. “I told you guys to pick your teams carefully.”
“What?” Eric shouted, pushing his way back through the crowd. “She only made it up three steps!”
“So?” Peter said. “You tried sabotaging her, so she had to improvise.” He shrugged. “Regardless, she did the move—give or take a step—and she and her team have earned the training.”
“Consider yourself lucky you’re not suspended for that stunt,” Mr. Connor said.
“But—”
“But nothing.” Mr. Connor looked to the rest of the class. “Demonstration is over. Pair up in your usual groupings.” His tone was brisk now. “You’ll all get a chance to work with a hunter, but until you do, work on what you learned last Phase.”
One of the girls from Eric’s team raised her hand. “I have a question.”
“Yes?”
“Is—well—” She cleared her throat. “We all know you, Jade, and the hunters are…different,” she said carefully, casting looks to me, the hunters, and Mr. Connor. “Is that why the moves are easier for you, or is it mostly training?”
Mr. Connor simply raised an eyebrow at Adam. “You want to take that one?”
Adam nodded. “It’s some of both. Things are easier with the treatments, definitely, but it still takes a lot of training. It helps if you’re an athlete, and reaching for the TV remote doesn’t count. The treatments give you more strength, balance, agility, and enhance your senses, but you’ve still got to do the work.”
Peter’s gaze flickered to me for a second. “Of course, there are exceptions. Some people are simply born good. Like me, naturally.” That earned him a laugh from most of the class. “Truthfully, the genetic treatments have a lot of good benefits.”
“But?” someone else asked, their tone wary.
“It’s a lot of responsibility. If you mess up, you don’t get to come back tomorrow or next week and try again. There are no do-overs. When you’re hunting, it’s not just your life on the line. All of your teachers tell you to take care of yourselves, to make sure you stay safe, but you also have to worry about your teammates and civilians. Their lives are in your hands, too. One mistake—that’s all it takes to cost someone their life.”
Daniel—the guy who knocked himself out with a punching bag last Phase—glanced at his friends. “We know that.”
“The question is, do you really understand it? Do you realize that one mistake today can screw up tomorrow for you or someone else?”
“How?”
“You want an example?” Peter nodded to himself, then paced a short circle. “A few years ago, around the time you guys joined—a group of hunters were out, searching for a nest of demons that had been reported. Everything was going according to plan and we managed to catch all the vamps. Or so we thought. You see, one of the hunters was in a hurry and didn’t search his area completely.”
“Did he die?” Natalie asked.
Peter shook his head. “No. He didn’t get a scratch on him. None of us did.”
Her eyebrows scrunched together in a frown. “What are we missing then?”
“A vampire escaped. We got a call about it again the following week.”
“How’d you know it was the same one?” Daniel asked.
“It’s not hard to differentiate one from another. You guys should know that by now. It’s even easier when one of the hunters wounded it.”
“So what happened?” Natalie asked, her tone wary.
“It nearly killed an entire family—three generations of one.”
“Three generations?”
He nodded solemnly. “A couple had just had a baby girl, so they were having a family reunion of sorts to celebrate.”
“But it didn’t get everyone?”
“No. The baby was the sole survivor.”
No one said anything. Everyone just lowered their heads, staring at the ground or had their eyes closed. Peter’s story was something we could all relate to, one thing that would anger or sadden us all equally. I knew half of the others were probably thinking the baby was lucky to be alive, and I knew the other half were probably thinking the opposite. Sometimes, it was hard to feel lucky when the rest of your family was gone and you were alone. I’d gone through my share of survivor’s guilt before, but now it crept its way back in. I sighed and closed my eyes.
One hand closed around mine and then another. I opened my eyes and looked down to find Linc holding one hand and Tasha clutching the other. On her left, Chris held her other hand.
I let out a long breath as the guilt in my stomach finally eased off. My family may have been gone, but maybe I wasn’t as alone as I’d always thought, because now I had a different family. They didn’t—couldn’t—replace my mom and brother, but they weren’t supposed to. They didn’t have to. One family didn’t replace another. They added to it. I squeezed their hands.
Peter waited another minute before he said anything. “You’ll all make mistakes—everyone does—and you’ll have to live with the consequences of them. That’s not easy to do. That story is why we train. It’s why we hunt.” He turned a slow circle to look at everyone. “As hunters, you can’t afford bad days. You can’t bring your bad moods to work with you.” He paused for a beat. “By now, I think you all know what happened at the end of your first Phase. That’s a good example of why it’s important to work in teams.”
“It’s a good example of why we shouldn’t trust the demon whisperer,” Eric muttered under his breath, earning some laughs and nods of agreement from those around him.
“You’re excused, Mr. Reynolds,” Mr. Connor said. “Go back to your room and think over what I said at the start of class. And consider this your first warning. The rest of you,” he said, turning away and staring at everyone, “might want to remember this, in case you weren’t sure how serious I was about this.”
“W
hatever,” Eric snapped.
“And Mr. Reynolds? Come back at the end of class. We’re going to have a long discussion afterward, and I think I’m going to enjoy giving out my first detention of the Phase. Record timing, I think, too.”
Eric had stopped to hear what Mr. Connor had said, but then he stormed out, muttering angry things under his breath.
“And that,” Peter continued smoothly, “is why we can’t afford biases or grudges against those we work with. What happened during your first Phase is why we work in teams when possible. If you’re alone and taken out of action, that’s it. If you’re a team, you have a chance. Teams work for a reason, because they operate together as a whole. A great team isn’t born or made—they train together, they work together, and most importantly, they trust each other. If you don’t have trust for your team, then it’s useless.”
Everyone from Eric’s side of the room (including Brian) glared at me. I just laughed. I didn’t even have to speak or do anything to get the blame for someone else’s problems.
Mr. Connor crossed his arms over his chest. “The next person who gives Jade that look is going to join Eric.”
With that, they all looked away. Linc, Tasha, and even Chris glared at them. Tasha rolled her eyes.
I didn’t say anything, because Peter was right: Me, Linc, Tasha, and Chris worked well together because we liked and trusted each other. I’d do anything I could to keep them safe, to make sure they were okay, and I was pretty sure they’d do the same for me. But outside my small circle of friends, I wasn’t sure about anyone would.
In fact, I was pretty sure they wouldn’t.
*~*~*
After the small competition, Mr. Connor had us pair up as usual while we waited for a hunter to work with us. Despite his absence, Mr. Connor said Eric and Brian would be working together for the rest of the Phase. At first, I figured they deserved each other because they were both jerks. After I thought about it some more, I wasn’t convinced having two of my biggest…problems teamed together was a good thing. But since there wasn’t anything I could do about it, I decided not to worry about it much.
