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“Really?” I scoff. “I am not going to kill you in your sleep.”
She lifts one nonchalant shoulder.
I narrow my eyes. “Do you have some sort of magical recording device in this room? I’m convinced you do.”
“Maybe.”
Yet again, I have no idea if she’s lying or telling the truth. “You are one tricksy little witcheroo. Seriously. How do I never know if you’re kidding or not?”
“It’s a gift,” she says, her lips stretching into a sinister smile.
The rest of the day goes by without incident. Laila and I put in our earbuds, and while she works on assignments I haven’t been set yet, I go over the kiss with Cyrus. And I mean,I go over it,reliving it again and again and again. Even my dreams take me back to that moment. Then there’s the sinking of his fangs and the sensationof weightlessness and euphoria that I can’t get enough of.
Unfortunately, classes resume the next day, and I find myself back in another defence lesson. Apollo Finn makes us all line up again. I take my place quickly, not wanting to be singled out like last time.
Laila stands beside me, her back straight and her feet shoulder-width apart. I imitate her stance, placing my hands behind my back while keeping my eyes trained forward.
“Now, many of you are from Reaver-hunting families. You know how dangerous it is to be a Guardian. You understand why we exist to keep the world safe. Why we are given special powers. But some of you—many of you, in fact—have never actually seen a Reaver.” Apollo grins, and it’s a wicked one, spreading slowly across his face. “Until today.”
I catch the excitement rippling down the line in murmurs and whispers and quiet celebrations, but only dread lurks in the pit of my stomach.
Apollo moves to one side, but there’s nothing else in the courtyard, which stretches across to the other side of the castle. I can’t understand what he’s moving away from or what we’re supposed to be looking at.
Then the ground trembles. There’s the sound of stone grinding against stone.
In the centre of the courtyard, a large square of stone lifts upwards, as though something large is pushing it out of the flagstones. My eyes widen, staring as part of the ground suddenly opens up, and from it emerges the iron bars of a cage. There is a creature inside the cage.
Behind my back, I tense my hands, screwing them up into tight fists, not wanting to show how terrified I currentlyam.
The creature’s shrieks pierce the air, turning my skin icy cold with fear. They are inhuman but also like no animal’s I’ve ever heard. The closest would be the horrifying shrieks of a fox at night but amplified, and these are miles creepier. I instinctively want to step back, but I force myself to stay exactly where I am, not moving a muscle.
When the cage is fully out of the ground, I get my first glimpse of the Reaver inside. It’s big, twice the size of a large dog, and it crouches on its haunches. Talons dig into the floor beneath its feet. Its neck is long, leading into a face that is part dog, part dragon. It has horns, and large, bloodred wings sprout from its bony back.
“Cool,” Laila whispers.
I can think of many other ways to describe what I’m seeing.Terrifying. Horrifying.All the words meant for monsters. And yet I can’t help feeling sorry for this thing encased in an iron cage.
“A Dragon Reaver,” Apollo says. “Not a dragon but an abomination of one. It has no soul. No conscience. No awareness. Its only drive is to kill or be killed, and humans are its prey. There aren’t many of these in the world, so our job is to track them and kill them.”
A hand goes up, and I crane my neck to see who it belongs to. Nathan. “How do we kill them?” he asks.
“Beheading is the easiest.” Apollo points to the beast. “The neck is a weakness.”
Another hand flies up, and someone asks, “Does it breathe fire?”
“Some do. This one does not. This one is old and has lost its ability to breathe fire,” Apollo says.
Ifind myself blurting out, “What are you going to do with it?”
Apollo’s gaze zeroes in on me. “Why do you want to know?”
“I… Well, I suppose it seems a bit… uncivilised to keep a living creature like this.”
He steps towards me, and I try not to shrink away. “Uncivilised? Do you think I have a puppy in there? A baby kitten?”
“No.” I keep my voice steady. “But it’s still alive, isn’t it? What, do you roll the thing out with every new school year? Then shove it back down there in the hole?”
Apollo’s voice turns deadly low. “No. We caught it yesterday, while you lot were all living happy and safe inside the castle walls. I was out there doing my job, catching the Reavers who want to attack the school.”
