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Keeping as silent as I could, I swept my gaze back and forth, looking for signs of Lila or Slade. She couldn't be that far ahead now. I stepped off the ridge and headed back east. I knew I closed the distance between us, but by how far? Was it enough to catch her before Slade did? Where was the slippery motherfucker anyway?
And where was Lila?
I caught a glimpse of movement up ahead. Just a flash. I stopped mid-step and watched, but I didn't see anything more.
I held my breath. Wait, there it was again. Something dark moving slowly through the trees. I couldn't tell if it was Lila or Slade. It wasn't both of them, because there were no groans of pleasure yet. Good, he hadn't caught up to her.
I stepped carefully in the direction of the movement, keeping eyes and ears open. If that was Lila, Slade might not be far behind. If it was Slade, I didn't want to catch up to him, in case he decided to pull something. Even though we weren't officially competing, that didn't mean he wouldn't try to psych me out, or slow me down the way Parker was.
I was so busy looking ahead of me, I almost missed the trap in the ground in front of me. A hole carved out by nature, but covered by a person. Presumably left here from the last trial. Maybe to catch Parker and I out. Judging by the dry branches scattered haphazardly across the top of the hole, they were here for a while. Definitely not placed there by someone in advance of this year's trial.
I stepped around the hole, but stopped to crouch down beside it. I peeled off a couple of branches and peered inside.
It was empty. I half expected it to be full of bones from missing students. Every few years or so, one or two would go missing during the trials. The Academy would send out search parties and sniffer dogs, but once in a while they never turned up. I wouldn't like to be on the school board and have to explain that to their parents. Some may insist on the Academy being shut down. Having their children die was one thing, going missing was another.
Whatever, either way the Academy remained open and the trials continued.
I placed the branches back over the hole and stood. If Parker was dumb enough to fall in, he could stay there until I was finished with Lila. Or until he got himself out. The hole was deep enough to break a bone on landing, and the sides were difficult to climb, but a few hours in there wouldn't kill him.
I stepped away carefully, trying to leave no sign I was right there. Parker might be trying to pretend to be the proverbial bull in a china shop, but he wasn't stupid. He knew as well as I did how to look for signs of people passing this way.
We practised before the trials in a bunch of different places. We followed people and had people follow us. We worked through a bunch of different scenarios, some of which were useful on the day. Others not, but they'd come in useful since. It never hurt to add to my skill set.
"Fuck," Parker growled. That was followed by a soft thud and a groan that sounded like he pulled himself back to his feet. I guessed he tripped, but didn't fall through the trap. Not yet anyway.
I smiled to myself as he let out a string of curses before staggering on.
In the corner of my eye, I saw another flash of movement. Closer now. I was almost certain it was Lila. She was so close I could almost taste her. Could almost hear her heart beating as she pushed her way through the trees, trying to keep ahead of us. The sweat would be slick on her body like it was on mine. When I caught her, our skin would slide against each other, slapping wet when I thrust.
I slipped through the trees like a fox, weaving my way through and trying not to make a sound.
There it was again, movement. A flash of long dark hair, tied back in a ponytail.
The finishing line wasn't far ahead either. We made it sound vague, but she’d know when she reached it. That was the point. Everyone who undertook the trials would start to wonder how they were supposed to know when they ended. That little bit of fear, the paranoia, was yet another layer to the challenge.
She slowed to walk around some wattle bushes that grew up in her path.
I smiled to myself and went the other way. I slipped in between two trees and waited.
She cursed under her breath as she reached the boulders I knew she'd find. When she turned around and headed back to go the other way around the wattles, I was waiting for her.
"Caught you."
I spoke at the same time as Slade.
CHAPTER12
HUNTER
I stared at him.
"What the fuck, dude? Where did you come from?" I caught up to Lila and grabbed her arm. She and Slade looked at me like I should know the answer.
"Oh, hey… What?" Parker caught up to us. "Howinhell? Slade started after us."
"Yeah, he was just about to explain." I didn't take my eyes off Slade.
The asshole grinned and jerked his head back behind him. "I drove. The rules were to catch Lila before she got to the road. No one ever said how." He looked even more smug than Parker after we disposed of Scott. Or anyone else we ever killed, for that matter. Rolled into one.
