As if my thoughts had conjured it, a huge cage sprang up out of the forest floor, catching the chatty trio in its iron teeth.
“Help! Let us out!” a girl with long blue hair screamed, trying to pry apart the iron jaws with her fingers.
I shook my head. She was an idiot if she thoughtanyonewas helping them. Three opponents had just been eliminated from the first exam. Why would their competition put them back in the running?
“Good luck with that!” Tabitha yelled. “Should have been more cautious!”
“Don’t give anyone else ideas,” I hissed.
Phoebe slapped Tabitha on the arm. “Yeah, quiet! The more distracted others are, the better our chances at finishing near the top.”
Tabby made a show of zipping her lips. Satisfied, I did another scan of our surroundings. Most of the competition had chosen to run down the middle of the course. While I saw value in following the crowd, I also didn’t want to risk someone sabotaging or flat out attacking us during the exam to derail us—which, since there were no rules, was fair play.
“Let’s skirt the edges” I pointed to the right.
My friends followed my lead, and we broke apart from the pack. As soon as we got to the far edge of the boundary, a grin bloomed across my face. The blond Ken doll whom my friends had admired earlier was dashing through the trees up ahead.
“Nice, a view.” Tabitha wagged her brows.
“More like a canary,” I said. “This is perfect.”
The only downside to not going through the well-traversed middle of the course was that we’d have to beextracareful scouting for traps and that could slow us down. But with this guy running up ahead, he would hit the traps or dodge them first. As long as we kept an eye on Ken, we’d know what was coming and would reduce the risk of attack from other participants by staying away from them.
Five minutes later, we hadn’t run into a single snag, but somewhere in the middle of the course I’d heard many other people scream, curse, and even seen a few flashes of magic through the trees. I was mentally patting myself on the back for choosing the better path when something caught my attention.
Up ahead, Ken Doll dodged something on the right. I squinted. Nothing had knocked him over or visibly snapped out of the ground, but it was better safe than sorry. I moved left and gestured for my friends to follow, so we could avoid trouble. We were almost even with the spot that he’d darted away from, and I was keeping my eyes peeled for flying objects, when a loudsnapmade me stop in my tracks. At my side, Tabitha let out a loud stream of profanity and fell to the ground.
I looked down at my friend and all my breath left me. A trap, akin to one someone would use to catch a bear but much smaller and less vicious, had clamped down around Tabitha’s calf. Its teeth dug into her skin, making blood ooze out.
My stomach tightened and saliva pooled in my mouth. I wasn’t afraid of blood, but seeing one of my closest friends injured was enough to provoke a gag reflex. I tried to reassure myself that it probably looked worse than it was. Spellcasters wouldn’t injure anyonetoobadly. Enough to halt or slow them, sure—that was fair game because spies had to be agile, athletic, and quick-thinking.
But to cripple a participant? Those who crafted the exams wouldn’t dare. With that in mind, I tore my eyes from Tabby’s leg to catch her gaze.
She choked out a sob.“Just leave me. I’ll get out of here—somehow.”
“How could you even say that, Tabby!” I shook my head at her reaction and dropped to the ground alongside her. “We’re not leaving you here to—”
“Need some help, ladies?” A voice cut me off, and I glanced up to find Ken Doll standing before us and smiling like the devil. “I can see that you weren’t scanning the entire area for traps. Did my feint have anything to do with that?”
My mouth dropped open. This pretty boy had tricked us?
He stuck out his hand. “Hunter Wardwell. What do you say the four of us beat this thing together? Clearly you three are smart for not following the crowds. I have a feeling we’ll be much more adept if we work as a team.”
“Excuse me, but what?!” Phoebe exclaimed. “You just tricked my friend into nearly getting her leg ripped off. Why would we want to—”
I held up a hand, stopping her tirade. This guy was Alex’s cousin. If he had half as much magic and brains as the hot healer, I wanted him on our side. Especially now that I’d need help moving Tabby. We’d already lost a minute standing around and had to get moving. “Deal,” I said. “Help me pry this off her leg.”
By the time we freed Tabby, my hands were covered in blood. I brushed them on my pants as Hunter helped Tabby up. Then Hunter and I shimmied her between our shoulders. “Phoebe, run ahead and keep your eyes open. Tabitha, we’ll carry you, but if at any point you can make it on your own steam, let me know. We all stand a better chance if we’re moving separately.”
“I will,” Tabitha nodded, and actually had the gall to bat her eyelashes at Hunter, who beamed.
I swear, this girl!
“Actually, I might be able to jog soon,” Tabitha said, after a few tentative steps. “The trap surprised the shit out of me and it was painful, but I don’t think the jaws sunk in very deep or damaged my muscles. They were just meant to latch on and immobilize me.”
I had a feeling she was right. The punctures in her legs looked fairly small, but still, she’d need time to readjust.
“Alright, crew,” I said. “We’ve lost enough time. Let’s pick up the pace.”
