Madison exhales in a short huff. “I guess we’d better get moving. Classes’ll be starting soon.”
We hustle out one of the side doors and over to Anpao Hall, the other senior building. I catch a glimpse of Byron slipping inside ahead of us and sense Salvatore and Asher coming up behind.
The gymnasium is just down the hall from the front doors. We join the growing crowd of special trainees. Captain Ross and Professor Jovak are already standing in the middle of the room, waiting for us to finish assembling.
Ross waves to the stragglers. “Come in, come in. We’re going to make this quick. I wanted to go over a few things in person, because our next training session is going to be particularly intense.”
Apprehension prickles over my skin. I ease closer to the front of the group so I can hear every word.
The gymnasium door thumps shut behind the last arrival, and Captain Ross rubs his hands. “We’ll be getting together for another late session—but not here. Tomorrow night, I expect you to meet Professor Jovak and me at ten pm at the northeast corner of High Park.”
Murmurs pass between the students around me. My uneasiness deepens.
High Park is one of the biggest park areas in the city. It sprawls hundreds of acres, many of those wilder than the terrain along the river where Kenneth attacked me.
And it’s completely isolated from the rest of the city if you venture deep enough.
“This will be the culmination of your training so far,” Ross goes on. “Everyone should bring a flashlight that doesn’t rely on your phone, sturdy shoes, and honed reflexes.”
“But there won’t be any significant danger,” Jovak puts in. “We’ll have the area completely under control and nurses standing by for any minor injuries.”
Ross nods. “We’ll be sending the details to your parents today so they’re already informed, and so they can give theirpermission for those of you under eighteen. You’ll want to be well-rested and alert. Any questions?”
As a few of our schoolmates speak up with concerns and confusion, I exchange a glance with Stella. Her mouth slants in a partial grimace, but she doesn’t look worried, only displeased.
It’ll be an inconvenience to her, and maybe unpleasant. Are our instructors planning more than that for me?
They’re hardly going to admit to murderous intentions if I ask.
When Ross shoos us off to class, I leave the room with unnerving possibilities spinning through my head. If Professor Jovak was going to make a move to hurt me, this would be the perfect setting…
My foot skids on a puddle on the floor, and a figure I hadn’t noticed gives a yelp of warning.
A splatter of cleaning fluid sloshes across my Mary Janes from the bottle the woman is holding.
“Sorry, sorry,” she mutters in a hoarse voice. “Here.”
As she shoves a rag into my hand and bends her broad shoulders to dab at one of my shoes with a cloth of her own, I recognize her as the frizzy-haired maintenance worker who distracted Ross when he confronted me last week. I freeze for a second before sinking down to swipe at my other shoe.
The moment I’m crouched across from her, our heads well below the level of my passing classmates, she speaks under her breath. “Don’t go tomorrow night. It won’t be good for you.”
My hand stalls over my shoe. “What? What do you know?”
“Not much. Just heard the way they were talking. Please trust me.”
Then she’s pulling away, yanking her rolling cart along. When I start to push after her, she shakes her head vehemently without looking my way.
I pause, my pulse stuttering.
Is she afraid just giving me that brief warning will have endangered her too? It didn’t sound as if she had any details anyway.
She’s simply confirmed the threat I could already feel looming over me.
Forty-Two
Elodie
When Maurice pulls the car into our drive, a trim black sports car is parked farther along the arc. I ease out of the back seat into the warm spring sun, studying it.
