“What does that mean?” Kallie blinked.
“He likes it, I’m sure,” I said. Both Charlie and I let out a snicker.
“How?” Kallie began rambling. “I mean, I get we have thisdynamic, but maybe he doesn’t know I’m just playing around? I don’t want to hurt his feelings. He just ran off a minute ago. I’m worried he’s taking my teasing too hard.”
“Something’s hard, I’ll bet!” I added, and Charlie howled.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with you two.” Kallie’s eyes narrowed. “This is serious.”
“Don’t think too much about it,” I said casually. “I’m sure he knows you’re just playing around.”
Kallie took a bite and said, “Okay.”
Marcus sulked for the next hour. I kept looking for openings where we could slip away, but this field trip was far too organized. There were guards everywhere, circling the group and preventing us from sneaking out. I was wondering if we’d ever get our shot to take off.
We’d been shuffled along to a museum in the middle of town, which was run by angels. I usuallylovedhistorical stuff like this, but it was clear the guides running the museum were trying to convert us to the angel religion instead of teaching us about their culture as they rambled on about religious stories of their golden idols. I was sure this was a mandated part of the trip, ordered by the Warden. The four of us stood at the back of the group and hushed whispers to each other as the sermon went on.
“This isn’t working. We need a distraction,” Kallie insisted. “There’s only a couple of hours left in the trip. If we don’t go now, we won’t be able to leave and come back without them noticing we’re gone.”
“Maybe one of us should stay behind, to cause a diversion?” Marcus asked.
His words were cut off by a crashing sound at the front. Mad Dog was wrestling with a plethora of guards. He’d tried to steal one of the gold idols on display, and now, all the guards were trying to restrain him. Even with the noxite cuff, Mad Dog still appeared pretty strong. The rest of the guards ran forward, to help the others attempting to put him in handcuffs. All the other inmates were watching the fight with interest.
“That’s our cue,” Charlie said.
While the guards were busy trying to control Mad Dog, we ran off. We left the museum and dipped into a back alley of Shade Hills. We ripped off our ID tags, shoving them into our pockets. We took off into the woods at a run. I grabbed Charlie’s hand and hauled him behind me, to lead him around trees.
We ran until we could no longer hear the noises of the town. We stopped to gather our breath, and Kallie said, “Do you guys know the way?”
“I don’t,” Charlie said. “I couldn’t lead you to it if I tried.”
“I wasn’t expecting you to get us there, Charlie. You can’t see where we are,” I said. “I’m sure I can find it. Follow me.”
We wound our way through the woods in the direction of the gate— at least, what Ithoughtwas the direction of the gate. We walked for a half hour, and didn’t get anywhere. I turned in place, wondering why we hadn’t found it by now.
“Ava, do you know where this place is?” Marcus asked scathingly.
“Of course I do,” I snapped. “It’s just… hard to find.”
“Darke Island is pretty big,” Charlie said. “I don’t think we covered it all during the Darke Games. We could be wasting our time out here.”
Frustration rolled inside of me. What waswithhim? He wanted to give up so easily. He was supposed to be helping me out, not throwing in the towel.
Kallie changed into a wolf and put her nose to the ground, like she could smell it out. The attempt must’ve been unsuccessful, because she changed back. “I have no idea,” she said, throwing her hands up.
My stomach rolled nervously. “Let’s walk this way,” I suggested. “I’m sure it’s close.”
I wasn’t sure if I was leading us in the right direction or not. I hoped I wasn’t getting us lost, because if we couldn’t find our way back to Shade Hills, we’d be in real trouble.
“What’s that itching?” Marcus asked, and he scratched at his arms like he had a rash.
“I don’t feel anything,” Charlie said crossly.
“It’s bad!” Marcus insisted. “There’s something crawling across my skin! And there’s thisbuzzingtoo. Can’t you hear it?”
“No,” Charlie snapped. I could feel his grumpiness through our bond. He’d crossed into a bad mood.
“Wait a minute,” Kallie said. “I can feel it, too.”
