“Why didn’t you try out?” I ask. “You’re both really good too.”
“I prefer watching,” Gertrude tells me. “It’s fun having something to cheer for.”
“That makes sense, though I was never into sports before. I lacked pretty much any and all athletic ability before. I would have embarrassed myself if I tried back in my human life,” I say.
“I prefer to watch too,” Kaia says. “It’s fun cheering our house on. And I get a little too competitive. I’d drive the team crazy if I was on it. If we lost…I’d be blaming everyone else.” She laughs. “I know this about myself so it’s best I remain a spectator. Though you’d be good at it, Addy.”
“It does sound fun.”
“It really is,” Kaia says. “We play mini-versions just for fun toward the end of the year. You’re not supposed to keep score but of course we do.” She laughs. “If you had come at the beginning of this year, I’m sure you would have been asked to try out and then made the team.”
“Well, I’ll happily settle with playing for fun at the end of this year. Can the three of us be on a team?”
“Oh hell yeah,” Gertrude says. “And we’ll win for sure then!” She sneaks another swing of whiskey and passes the bottle to Kaia. She gets it to her lips right as Cass materializes in front of us.
“Did you find anything out?” I ask, but the look on her face says it all: she did…and it’s not good news.
She inhales, not because she needs to breathe but because she’s trying to mentally prepare for what she has to say. “They haven’t started because one of the team members is missing.”
“Oh my God,” I say, hand flying to my mouth. “Who?”
Cass pinches her lips together, almost as if she can’t bear to say the name aloud. “It’s Blaze.”
16
“What do you mean, missing?” Kaia asks, her face growing white.
“They can’t find him,” Cass says. “He never showed up for practice this morning, and when they went looking for him, it was as if he had disappeared.”
My hands fly to my face and tears sting the corners of my eyes. No. He’s not missing. He’s fine. Probably sleeping in or…or…my throat starts to tighten. I know how much he was looking forward to this game. He wouldn’t miss it for the world.
A sinking feeling forms in the pit of my stomach. Hewouldn’tmiss this game for the world. Nerves prickle down my back and I wish I could brush this off. To believe that he ran away too.
But I know Blaze. He would never do that. He loves Reaper Academy.
Cass meets my eye, and I give her a tiny nod. I lean in, hands shaking, ready to confess to my friends what Cass had overheard not that long ago. But right before I can, Professor Messor comes out onto the field.
“Attention, please.” Her voice is loud, echoing through the bleachers. “Due to unforeseen circumstances, today’s game has been canceled. Please head back to your house immediately and await further instruction.”
Silence falls over the entire stadium. The wind rustles the house flags, and the sound echoes through the quiet crowd. And then chaos breaks out all at once as students frantically clamor to get back into the academy.
Professor Messor didn’t give us a warning. Didn’t hint that anything is wrong. Only my friends and I know what really happened, yet everyone can feel it.
Something dark is lurking the halls of Reaper Academy, and it’s going after students.
“What the fuck is going on?” Gertrude clutches my hand. She had the most to drink out of all of us and is a little wobbly on her feet. “And what happened to Bla—”
“We’re not supposed to know,” Kaia hisses, and I can see the stress on her face. “If others hear, it’ll create a panic.”
“Oh, right.” Gertrude’s eyes are a little glazed over. We’re at the very top of the bleachers and hang back for a few minutes to let those in front of us go down first.
“Cass?” I ask, heart racing, as I refuse to give up hope that my friend is okay.
“You want me to try to find out more? To see if it’s like the other one?”
I quickly nod. “Thank you.”
“The other one?” Kaia echoes in a trembling voice. “Who else?”
