We all tuck into our food, and the conversation turns to this afternoon’s Captura practice, and the upcoming match. “Do you have cheerleaders here?” I ask, sticking my fork into a butter-soaked potato wedge.
“What’s a cheerleader?” Blaze asks, using any excuse he can get to lean in closer to me. He props his elbow up on the table, waiting for me to explain.
“They’re usually girls who cheer for a team.”
Blaze looks at his friends. “Yeah, I guess we have that. Girls cheer for their team. Everyone cheers for their house team.”
“It’s not just fans,” I go on. “Cheerleaders are on a team themselves, and the purpose of their team is to get the crowd excited.”
“How would they do that?” Kaia asks.
“Typically, they wear very tight skirts or booty shorts and crop tops.” I think of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders. “They’re usually really pretty too.”
“What are booty shorts?” Silas asks, and I wince.
“Er…really short. Tight shorts,” I say, and blush when the guys grin.
Silas turns to the other guys and raises his eyebrows. “We need to talk with Professor Messor about getting us some cheerleaders.”
“Addy can put the teams together.” Blaze flashes a cocky smile. “And can show us exactly what those uniforms are supposed to look like.”
I just shake my head and get back to my food. After dinner, I join my friends in the common room for the first time. Usually, I’m whisked away to study or take a quiz, but with Maxon nowhere to be seen, I’m free tonight. We stay in the common room until curfew, just talking and laughing as we work on a puzzle. It’s nothing special, yet just hanging out and chatting is so freaking nice.
I go up to the dorm with a smile on my face. Once my roommates and I are changed and ready for bed, Gertrude pulls a bottle of whiskey from her bag.
“Look what I brought back from town.” She shakes the bottle.
“No way!” Kaia laughs. “How the hell did you do that? I didn’t even see you buy it.”
“I’m sneaky.” Gertrude unscrews the lid. “Want some?”
“Of course!” Kaia jumps out of her bed and grabs the three water glasses that are sitting on the table. Gertrude pours a liberal amount in each glass and hands one to me.
“Let’s have a toast!” Kaia exclaims, and waves both me and Cass over. “To old friends, new friends, and dead friends.”
We all laugh, clink our glasses together, and down the whiskey. I shudder from the taste, and vaguely remember someone back at Columbia saying whiskey is meant to be sipped, not chugged like a tequila shot.
They were right.
We stay up chatting for a bit and then crash around the same time. I climb into bed, mind peacefully floating on whiskey. Though because of that, random thoughts are entering my head. None of them seem very important…except one.
Terrence isn’t the only reaper to go missing. Maxon’s best friend, Dorian, went out on a hunt and never came back. They assumed he’d been devoured by a demon.
Could that demon be here?
14
The next evening, I head down to the basement for my first training session with Blaze. As instructed, I’m wearing comfortable workout clothes, and my hair is pulled back into a high ponytail reminiscent of Cass, who is floating down the hall beside me.
“You know, it’s so unfair that you get to be a reaper and I don’t,” she says as we descend a spiral staircase. “You’ve got Maxon, Blaze,andProfessor Dal fawning over you. If I were in your shoes…”
“Shhh!” I hiss as we pass a group of fourth years. “Someone could have heard you! Besides,” I mutter darkly, “Maxon hardly counts. He’s not fawning over me.”
“Yeah, but from what you said he seemed pretty jealous when you told him Blaze was giving you lessons?”
“Jealous?” I laugh. “Please. He’s just pissed that our own study sessions are getting extended—he said so himself.”
“Well hewouldsay that,” Cass muses thoughtfully, now floating on her back so she can gaze up at the ceiling. “He’s not going to admit that he’s jealous, is he? But you have to acknowledge it’s a little weird how fired up he gets about Blaze. He refused to let him help out with your tutoring, remember?”
