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“Wait,” Emma interrupted.
I was on instant alert. A tide of Acari was headed toward us on the path. It was time for class, and yet they were headed back to the dorms, away from the academic buildings. “What’s up with that?”
“Class is canceled,” said one of the older girls as she walked by. I recognized her as the first-floor Proctor. “Everyone is ordered back to the dorms. ”
“Why would they cancel class?” asked Mei.
She and I shared a weighty look. That was a very good question.
Then weird got weirder. As the students passed, we spotted a vampire standing off the path in the distance. A cluster of Trainees stood behind him, like a bunch of glowering pups.
My gaze was drawn to one in particular—Rob, staring the hell out of me. I glanced away, unsure how to play it. If I stared him down, he’d see it as a challenge, and I had quite enough of those at the moment.
Yasuo’s attention went to the group instantly, as though summoned. “I’ve gotta roll, guys. ”
“Should we—”
“Like now,” he said, cutting Emma off. He broke into a jog, headed away from the path.
I frowned, watching his long, loping stride. Unlike the girls, Trainees were sometimes allowed off the path. “That’s such bullshit. ”
Emma grabbed my arm, pulling me close. “Watch your language, Drew. ”
“I know, I know. But”—I lowered my voice—“I don’t get why the guys are allowed to do more than we are. Am I the only one who has a problem with that?”
There was a lot on this island we had to put up with. Every girl’s seemingly imminent and likely death was at the top of the list.
But the thing was, that made a sick sort of sense. If the vampires were training us to be an elite corps of agents, then obviously our training would be ruthless. Only the strongest, the most clever, survived to ascend to Watcher status.
But going off the island had given me a new perspective. Looking around and picking it all apart, some of these rules struck me as pure whimsy. “It seems pretty arbitrary, if you ask me. And in a totally sexist kinda way. ”
When Emma and Mei-Ling didn’t answer, I looked from one to the other, giving them probing looks. I could see by their furrowed brows that if they hadn’t considered it before, they were now.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Wow,” I said. “Grab it. ”
One end of the corduroy couch was miraculously free, and Emma dove for it, claiming space enough for the three of us.
I plopped down, then smooshed closer to Emma to make space for my roommate. “What do you think is going on?”
Girls were trickling into the common area. Our entire floor was jammed in, Acari leaning against walls, draped on couch arms, sitting in chairs. Some of the girls didn’t take a seat; they just stood rigidly, as if they were waiting to be taken to the firing squad. Those were mostly the new Acari.
Mei-Ling wasn’t the only new girl, not by a long shot—a whole new crop of Acari had arrived, and new Trainees, too. There were no surprises—it was the usual gaggle of outcasts. I did my best to ignore the lot of them.
Gooseflesh crept up my arms. More than half of these girls would be gone by December.
Emma leaned close. “What’s she looking at?” We dared not use any names. One thing the blood was good for was amplified hearing.
I tracked Emma’s line of sight till it landed on our Proctor, Kenzie, who stood staring out the window. I shrugged. Every Proctor was holding her own meeting on her own floor. As ours waited for people to arrive, she looked pretty checked out. “Who knows? I make it a point not to think too much about Kenzie. ”
In fact, I purposely steered clear of our Proctor. For all I knew, she might’ve been the nicest person on the island, which was all the more reason to steer clear. I’d lost one friendly Proctor already. Losing another would be harder even than dealing with yet another cruel Initiate.
My weight was jostled as someone else dropped onto the couch. I felt all expression fall from my face. Masha. She wedged herself next to Emma, then caught my eye. “Sad,” she said, shaking her head with mock grief.
“I’ll bite. ” I crossed my arms, bracing for it. “What’s sad, Guidon Masha?”
