“Ava…” she whispered.
I shook my head, knowing she’d get the message.He can’t find it.
Opal floated for a moment, before she bit her lip and turned away. Her tail flicked upward as she dove to the bottom, swimming to the other side of the lake and taking the merfolk key far away.
A great splash came as I was hauled ashore with Oberi. I sputtered as I choked up water. Guards had their hands all over me as they yanked the net off. Before I could so much as summon a fireball, they’d locked two inferichite bracelets on my wrist— one on each arm.
Oberi yelped as he changed back into a husky, but the guards fitted an inferichite muzzle over his snout before shoving him into a tiny cage.
I can’t change,Oberi whimpered.I can do nothing.
I couldn’t either. These inferichite bracelets were heavy, weighed down with massive crystals that were at least five times bigger than the crystals in the cuffs we’d been fitted with before. With so much inferichite running through my system, I wasn’t able to summon any magic at all, not even the powers that weren’t connected to my demigod blood.
Footsteps approached through the sand. I sneered as I slowly raised my head to meet the eyes of the Warden.
He didn’t appear to be gloating, as I figured he would. Rather, he almost looked worried. And even in the worst of moments, that gave me a sly satisfaction I didn’t bother to deny myself.
Behind him were a host of guards. Kallie, Charlie, and Marcus were already cuffed, wearing bracelets that were identical to mine, and stronger than the ones we’d been fitted with at the start of the semester. We’d been right. The Warden had been replenishing his supply of inferichite, and had saved it up all semester for us.
I didn’t see Ez or Alistair. Ancestors, I hoped they got away.
The Warden’s chest heaved. “Where is it?” he hissed. “Where is the merfolk key?”
“I don’t have it, dickhead,” I spat. “Clearly, we didn’t find it.”
“You’relying!” The Warden bellowed. “Guards, search them! Search all of them!”
Aclangsounded as my wheelchair fell out of Marcus’ stash. Warlock guards used a powerful spell to force Marcus to reveal his belongings. Rugged hands fell upon me again, and my wet clothes tore as the guards roughly searched me for the key. I cringed away from their touch, absolutely hating this. I wanted to curl up in a ball of humiliation. The only thing that kept me from doing so was the rage that continued to mount in the Warden’s eyes as the guards searched.
“This seems important, Warden,” a guard said. My heart fell as he handed over my journal, along with the compass. The Warden rifled through the pages before a wicked smile crossed his face.
“Excellent,” he said as he pocketed the journal inside of his suit jacket, then tossed the compass aside to a guard. “This will be of use to me.”
“You aren’t going to understand shit about that journal,” I spat.
“I’m sure I’ll gain something useful from the information inside,” he replied snidely.
“The rest of them are clean, Warden,” the guard stated. “No keys here.”
I couldn’t help but let out a twisted giggle.Take that, you sick fuck.
“Wipe that smirk off your face!” the Warden barked at me. “There’s no reason to smile, not where you’re going!”
“Go fuck yourself. We beat you again. Wealwaysbeat you,” I hissed. “You still haven’t learned that I never lose.”
“You think this is a game?” the Warden seethed.
“I do. This is a game we play, you and I, and I’m tired of pretending it’s not,” I replied. “So what’s your next move, Ophio? Because I’m already getting bored.”
“Fine. It’s a game, but I assure you, it’s not a very funny one, at least not for you,” the Warden threatened. “Let’s see how long you’ll be laughing.”
The Warden grabbed me by my hair, then shoved me down into the sand. I landed face-first, but didn’t cry out in pain. I refused. Instead, I let out another insane snicker. The Warden didn’t realize that after the fear came the fun. I excelled in this kind of environment, where my back was against the wall and I had nothing to lose. Try and scare me now.
One of the guards yanked me upright by the back of my shirt. My partial hilarity became obscured as I watched Chancey and Ivy be hauled out of the woods beside Marcus, bound in handcuffs. Both of them were bleeding and bruised, like they’d put up a fight but had failed to get free.
“Running an illegal nightclub on school grounds is an instant termination of graduation rights,” the Warden told Chancey and Ivy.
“You always knew about The Devil’s Playground,” I seethed. With a jolt of clarity, I realized the holding cell they’d taken us to earlier hadbeenThe Devil’s Playground. The Warden had destroyed the stage, turning it into the observation room, and renovated the place in order to keep students in there for his ridiculous conversion practices.
