‘You’re crazy,’ he spits, wiping the small amount of blood in between his fingers on his pants.
‘And you’d do well to remember that.’
Someone suddenly coughs loudly behind me. It’s wet and rattly. I glace over my shoulder to find the student who stole my coffee holding his throat. His eyes are bloodshot, and his lips look almost swollen as he erupts into a violent coughing fit, mouthing words that have no sound. The cup slips from his hand, the remaining contents spilling on the floor, splattering all over his black shoes.
‘Jamie?’ Helena shouts, rushing forward. Her entire gang moves as one, surrounding him as he suddenly drops to the ground, gasping for air that he seemingly cannot get.
What the hell?Xavier and I leap away from the table, moving off to the side as Helena starts screaming for a healer. The entire dining hall erupts into chaos.
Tilly joins Xavier and me, her eyes dancing along the floor until she finds what she’s looking for. ‘Move,’ she demands, pushing past one of the girls that stalked over with Helena to pick up the coffee cup. She tilts the empty cup to peer inside. What she sees has her face turning pale. Slowly, she looks back our way, horror darkening her eyes.
‘Poisoned,’ she mouths, her hand starting to shake.
My stomach plummets.
Poison? I look down through the swarm of bodies that surround Jamie, only to find his lifeless eyes staring at the ceiling. Blood and spit pool out of his mouth, spilling down his cheek.
Dead. He’s dead. From drinkingmycoffee.
TWENTY-THREE
Jamie Fallows, a third-year student from Agate, is dead. I was brought to the headmaster’s office and interrogated, but yet again they couldn’t pin this on me. I wouldn’t poison my own cup of coffee. Neither could I have predicted that Jamie would steal the cup from my tray and drink it. Which only meant one thing. I was the target. It should have been me.
According to Tilly, Jamie’s body is being prepared beneath the Opal tower to be sent home to his family. All units have been notified of what happened and everyone seems to be on edge. First Harley, now Jamie.
It should have beenme.
Nicks is furious. He pulled me out of Bartollo’s office and escorted me to the Training Centre himself, where I’m now stood beside Moira and the other first years. Apparently even though a student died this morning, I still have combat class.
‘War doesn’t wait for anyone, Miss Nocthare,’ Nicks informs me, leaving to stalk to the front of the class and stand beside our combat leaders.
It’s bizarre to me how cold and callous this world can be when it comes to death. Apparently, it seems Nicks only cares when it’s a student from his unit. When it comes to anyone else, it’s back to business.
The first-year students give me a wide berth, while also shooting quick glances my way that range from curious and wary to downrightfurious. Someone tried to poison me, and somehow that’smyfault. And nobody knows who did it or how.
‘Attention!’ Nicks shouts. My gaze snaps up. ‘Today’s lesson will be a bit different. You’ll notice an array of resources at your combat leaders’ feet. In a moment you will have the chance to grab what you can and be taken outside to the forest.’
I quickly scan the floor. Knives, scissors, bundles of rope, water canisters, a camouflage blanket embedded with leaves and sticks, an axe, a looking glass – the list goes on.
‘Your goal today is to hide and stay hidden. You’ll be given a twenty-minute head start. Your combat leaders will then comb through the forest to find you. If they do, you will be marked as dead and ultimately will have failed the test. The test is over when you hear the sound of a horn.
‘If you have remained hidden after the horn blows, you have passed. You will also fail the test if you use your element to help you hide. This test is about thinking on your feet in a high pressure, time-constrained situation.’
I feel Sebastian’s eyes boring into the side of my face. Unable to help myself, I turn to look over at him. There’s a small lift to the corner of his mouth that seems to say,I can’t wait to watch you fail.
My teeth grind together as determination ignites through me like a flame. I look back to the contents on the floor and start to make plans with what’s available.
Nicks calls for us to choose our resources, and everyone surges forward in a collision of brutal shoves, elbows and curses, as each student dives for the array of treasure at our combat leaders’ feet. I get pushed to the back quickly, Moira shoving me hard to get in front, making me curse. I press forward, only for someone else to grab the back of my shirt and haul me to the floor.
My ass hits the hard ground with a thud. A low growl slips out of me as I leap to my feet, feeling royally pissed off. By the time I make it to the front, everyone has taken their loot. Only one other student, Cillian, is left, grabbing a thick pile of rope and looping it over his shoulder.A knife is fisted in his hand already. No one fucked with him. No one probably could, he’s the largest of our group.
He strides back to the line-up of students, shooting me a wink as he rejoins the pack.
I stand and stare. All they left me with is a water canteen and one coil of rope. Seriously? Fucking assholes!
I hear a few chuckles behind me, followed by a catcall as I bend over and pick them both up. Following Cillian, I loop the rope over my shoulder and across my torso, so I have a free hand.
‘Hope you can run fast, Nocthare.’ Marcus Long chuckles behind me. ‘That water won’t do much to help you hide.’
