Gideon nods miserably.
‘Thisis the group that the boy who attacked Ruth was from?’ says Marquis.
Freddie’s eyes light up when they land on Marquis. ‘Look at you!’ he says. ‘You’re even prettier than the girls are.’
He looks around and is rewarded by a few laughs, then turns back and punches Marquis in the stomach. Marquis drops face first in the dirt, wheezing as he clutches his sides.
‘Marquis!’ I shout.
I fly at Freddie, escaping the grip of the boy holding me, and when my nails meet with the back of his neck I dig them in hard. He screams and twists arounds, catching me by the collar of my coat and flinging me away so that I land next to my cousin. Freddie breathes heavily as he stares at me in astonishment. His hand goes to his neck and when it comes away it’s smeared in blood. A slow grin spreads across his face.
‘Maybe they are rebels, after all.’
I reach over to Marquis and pull him into a seated position. Our eyes meet.
‘Are you all right?’
He’s gasping for breath, his lungs, still struggling from the poisonous gas, desperately drawing in air. But he manages to nod.
‘Now,’ Freddie says. ‘Who’s Ruth?’
‘The one that offed my cousin Sinclair,’ says another boy, pulling his camouflage away. He has a shaved head and small, sharp teeth. ‘His frigid girlfriend. Perhaps I should pay her a visit. Show her a good time.’
‘I’d like to see you try,’ Marquis croaks.
‘Shut up, Roy,’ Freddie says. He turns to me. ‘You’ll have to excuse Roy. Living out here has caused him to lose his manners.’
‘And you yours,’ Serena spits.
His lip curls. ‘We’ll finish this back at camp,’ he says. ‘It’s almost feeding time and that Bulgarian ain’t caught anyone in weeks.’
The boys haul us to our feet.
‘What do you want with us?’ I say as they push us deeper into the forest.
‘Speerspitzes, mostly,’ Freddie replies. ‘But we’ll take what we can get.’
The boy pinning my arms to my sides grips them tighter, as if my question might allow me to escape again. I twist around and look him in the face. He’s skinny with brown hair and huge, dark eyes.
‘What’s your name?’ I ask.
He blushes and pushes me onwards. ‘Pascal.’
‘What’s a Speerspitze, Pascal?’
We reach the edge of the forest and through the trees I see an old stone church. Its spire is blackened and falling apart. In the place of the door is a dirty curtain, blowing in the wind.
‘The Speerspitze is the key to our hunt,’ Freddie says. ‘We had pretty much mitigated the threat of death by dragon until these Bulgarians came along. They hunt in packs, appearing out of nowhere so we don’t even have time to use those.’ He nods at the poison pouch around my neck. ‘Since the start of spring, we’ve lost a third of our number. The Speerspitzes’ll change that.’
‘Jasper’s group has barely lost anyone,’ Serena says as we reach the church. ‘So perhaps you’re just slow.’
‘It’s because the Bulgarians prefer to hunt on this side of the island, smart arse,’ says Roy. His fingers dig into Serena’s shoulder. ‘We must taste sweeter.’
‘Ain’t nothing sweet about you, Roy.’
Freddie and Roy snicker and when I catch Serena’s eye I feel a sense of unease.
‘So . . . what?’ I say. ‘You think you’re going to hunt Bulgarian dragons?’
