We’re just crossing the street when I sense another of my matches trailing behind us. I take a surreptitious peek over my shoulder but don’t see anyone on the path over the hill.
It’s not another group simply heading in a similar direction, then. He’s split off from whoever he’s meant to be working with, wrapped in some kind of concealing spell.
My first thought is Salvatore. It’d be just like the mafia heir to give this assignment the middle finger and stick close to me instead. But my awareness of the presence heightens as he draws closer, with a more measured vibe than Salvatore ever gives off.
Byron has stealthily followed me.
I barely have time to absorb that realization before a blare of ephemera rocks me on my feet.
As my nerves jangle with the piercing pain, one of theyounger girls yelps. The guy next to her wraps his arms across his chest.
Captain Ross must have set up some of his shocker machines in the areas he sent us into.
I pull deep and center myself as well as I can, sinking into the strategies that got me through our first training session.
The blast tapers off with no chiding comment from Professor Jovak, so I guess we’ve all performed adequately—and Byron didn’t give himself away. I resist the urge to glance over my shoulder again.
Is the Worth heir simply being extra protective now that he knows my enemies have succeeded in killing one Elodie already? Did he see a reason to be concerned for my immediate safety, clear enough that it was worth the risk of ducking out on his assigned group?
We proceed across the uneven terrain of Beacon Prep’s main yard with more trepidation than at first. The younger students’ gazes dart this way and that as if they expect a horde of werewolves and vampires to emerge from the gloom.
All of the windows on the school buildings are dark. No one stays at Beacon this late. All we’ve got for illumination are the intermittent security lights and the glowing squares dotted along the twin apartment towers the next block over.
The cool breeze lifts, licking through my hair, and I shiver. With even breaths, I tune the chill out like I did the shocker’s effects.
I have all I need. I have all I need.
Our feet rustle over the scruffy grass. One of the boys squints through the dusk and makes a face. “What are we even supposed to be doing? Just wandering aimlessly? I?—”
He takes one more step forward, and the ground erupts beneath him.
More yelps ring out as the boy and the girl closest to himteeter and tumble with the lurching of the earth. Ridges jut to waist height around a crumbling chasm.
With a hitch of my pulse, I scramble forward automatically. Asher’s already leaping in too, calling out suggestions for them to steady themselves.
A waft of affection slips through my distress.
My once-best friend might not have been able to heal me from fatal stab wounds, but Ross won’t throw anything too vicious at us. Any bumps and bruises the two younger students have sustained, he’ll easily soothe. Asher has always studied healing magic nearly as avidly as void defense strategies.
Let’s see if I can give him a lighter workload.
I fling a wave of ephemera ahead of me to smack into the enchanted stretch of soil, willing the energies gripping the earth there to settle. A tingle races up my arms when Asher’s magic joins mine.
As the ground stops shuddering, our other teammates rush forward to help their classmates out of the impromptu ditch. The two teens scramble over the ridges, brushing dirt off their clothes but not looking too worse for wear.
“What the fuck was that?” mutters the boy who was complaining before. Apparently being challenged annoys him just as much as boredom.
I study the broken earth and propel some more ephemera at it to smooth the ridges back into the chasm. I don’t know if our instructor expects us to tidy up as well as survive the trials he set up, but it can’t hurt.
And I’m not convinced Ross or Jovak would care enough to put Beacon’s grounds back to rights.
Asher straightens up from helping the girl whose ankle twisted as she fell and shoots me a grateful smile.
A wobble runs through my pulse—delight that he noticed, that I made him happy, and worry that even that small sign of warmth between us will give away our bond.
The girl tests her ankle and looks steady enough. She lifts her chin. “Okay, where to next?”
The disgruntled guy waves toward the nearest structure. “Let’s stick closer to the buildings. That’s better than being out in the open if you’re in hostile territory, right?”
