I stared astonished into the inky depths of the warphole, now large enough for us to step through.
“Yo, Dane. A little help?” Hunter pushed up from where he lay on the ground covered in demon goop, and even though it was disgusting, I grabbed his slime-covered hand and pulled him up.
“I can’t walk on this leg,” Hunter admitted once he was up.
“I was afraid of that.” Shimmying my shoulder beneath his, I took most of his weight, and got covered in slime in the process. “So you know, Wardwell, I don’t touch demon goop for just anyone. I must really love you.”
Hunter grinned, and together, we took a step forward through the blackness, toward home.
Cheers filled my ears as we stepped out of the swirling vortex into Merlin Amphitheater.
I scanned the seats before me, taking in my classmates. Amethyst gave me a thumbs-up, and Mina was clapping her hands together high above her head. Even though they couldn’t see what had happened, they were proud. We’d all gotten through the Samhain Trial. No one had surrendered. Our entire class passed, and only Efraim had been sent to the infirmary.
“Eva isn’t here,” Hunter said, and although we’d just returned victorious, his tone dripped with worry.
I tensed, understanding his reasoning. In the Samhain Trial, Eva and Alex were the strongest duo. Alex was the top of our class, and Eva was nearly as good as Hunter. If Spellcasters had deemed the individual challenges equal, and we were back, they should have returned forever ago.
“I wonder—”
The words died in my mouth as I caught sight of people in the crowd leaping to their feet and pointing. Around the warphole that Eva and Alex had walked through to begin their trial, professors burst into arguments, and Headmistress Wake wrung her hands as she peered into the darkness.
What the hell is going on in there?
“Someone needs to go through! Who cares if it’s against Samhain Trial regulations? Initiates can’t handlethaton their own!” Professor Umbra screeched, her mop of graying hair flying everywhere as she whipped her head around frantically.
A group of spymasters from the crowd joined the professors and added their support to Umbra’s opinion. Thrax, with his red plait flying behind him, barreled into the group and voiced his opinion. De Spina appeared at the warphole a moment later, tension lining his normally cool facade. The arguments continued, and all the while, most of the professors couldn’t take their eyes off the warphole.
I took in the stadium again. Most people were standing and trying their best to peer around those in front of them. All wore a look of shocked fascination mixed with horror.
Wrenching my shoulder out from under Hunter, I stepped forward. Hunter faltered and whimpered, but I didn’t care. He was here and safe, but something was happening to Eva, my best friend, and if anyone had a right to know what the hell was happening, it was me.
Screw protocol.
I pushed past the spymasters and professors who were still squabbling so much they didn’t even notice, and stood directly in front of the warphole. I sucked in a shocked breath as my hand flew to my mouth.
Fire ravaged what looked to be the interior of a decrepit house. It looked like I was peering into hell itself.
“Where are they?!” I screamed.
A dozen pairs of hands grasped me, and I swore. Why had I been so dramatic? I should have just jumped through and seen for myself.
“Portland, they’re—” Headmistress Wake’s clipped tone filled my ears, but fell silent just as a vision of Alex, glasses-less, covered in ash, and carrying a lifeless Eva, filled the warphole.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Odette? Are you awake?”
A smooth baritone cut through my dreams, and my eyes snapped open. I shot up from where my head had been resting on the book I was supposed to be reading. The page ripped a little in the process, and I swore.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” the voice—Alex’s—said, sending shivers up my spine.
I brushed the sleep from my eyes. “It’s okay. I need to wake up anyway and get some studying done.” I tried to gaze out the window of the infirmary, but it was all the way on the other side of the room, and someone had drawn the curtains. How long had I been out?
“It’s after dinner,” Alex replied. “As a matter of fact, I brought you some food. I noticed you haven’t been eating in the cafeteria.”
“Err . . .” I blinked, unable to form words.
Alex Wardwell was bringing me dinner? The fact that he wastalkingto me was a shock.
