Flunked (Fairy Tale Reform School, #1)(32)

“Fencers, please get in position,” Azalea interrupts, handing us each a sword.

The cold handle of the silver sword gives me an instant feeling of calm. No wonder the Evil Queen fences. I wish she didn’t coach the team because I would actually try out to be on it. I bet I’d win my matches too. That’s what I always want: to win. I still don’t know what the future holds for me, but I know I’m not meant to be a cobbler. I want a job that I’m in control of. Not one that is handed to me by the royals.

Jocelyn walks by me, swinging her sword at her side, and I slide out of the way before she can “accidentally” pierce my gym shorts. The two of us glare at each other as we walk into the center of the room. I hear the gym doors swing open and Kayla runs inside. She’s wearing her gym uniform, but her hair is noticeably wet and there is a pink stain on her arm. Her skin is whiter than usual and her wings are not fluttering. She takes a sword from a less-than-pleased Azalea and races over to Jax and me.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

Kayla wipes sweat from her brow. “The hallways weren’t working right, and I couldn’t find my way to the gym. It’s no big deal.” She sounds testy again, so I let it drop.

Harlow adjusts the tiara on her head as she walks our way. “Sorry to interrupt your tea party, ladies, but I’m speaking,” she whispers. “Students, please turn to the person to your left and prepare for an assault.” I look at her blankly. “Jocelyn?” Harlow says, sounding bored.

Jocelyn sighs. “That’s fencing speak for a friendly battle, Cobbler.”

“Sweet! I love friendly battles!” Ollie turns to Jax at the same time I do. “Aww, dude. Tell me I turned right instead of left?”

“You turned right instead of left,” we say and he turns the other way.

Jax grins like he’s won our duel before he’s even lifted a sword.

“Nice try, but you’re going down.” I rest my hand on my sword.

“You don’t even know how to use that thing,” Jax says.

“And you do?” I joke. He probably does. He’s been here longer than me.

“We’re going to start with a balestra followed by a lunge and then—” Harlow is cut off by the sound of a crash from above that sends glass raining down on the room. Jax and I put our hands over our heads and duck for cover, and that’s when I hear the screeching.

Gargoyles. My stomach lurches as my classmates begin to scream and run in different directions. A few are pulled into the air by the beasties and I hear the red-alert siren sound just like it did that day in Wolfington’s class.

This time it’s definitely not a drill.

I immediately start to cough as a thick purple fog fills the room.

We’re done for.





CHAPTER 13


    Sword Play


I’ll never see my siblings again.

I’ll never get to say I’m sorry to Anna for stealing that clip on her birthday.

I’ll never get to make Mother and Father proud of me.

The last thought startles me. I didn’t even know I cared what Father thought of me. I need to find a way to still make that happen. I can’t worry about what’s going on with Flora or Madame Cleo’s prediction. I have to get out of here and get home.

I take a deep breath and cover my nose with my shirt in case the gas is poisonous. Then I feel someone grab my hand and I see Jax through the haze. He shoves me into a corner as Ollie crawls over to us, along with Maxine and some Royal Ladies-in-Waiting who are crying. I can’t see Jocelyn anywhere in this fog. All I hear is screeching and screaming.

An exit. I need to find an exit. And Kayla. I look around frantically for my roommate and see her stumbling toward us. I reach out and yank her into our little cluster. “Are you okay?”

Kayla covers her face with her hands and starts to mumble strangely. “I didn’t do it. I swear! I am nothing. She’s right. I’m nothing. I’m sorry. So sorry.” She dissolves into tears and rocks back and forth on the floor. Maxine puts an arm around her, and Jax and I look at each other worriedly. Once this fog fades, the gargoyles will have us.

“Dude, what the heck is happening? Wait, is that…is that a gargoyle?” Ollie manages to get out in between hacking fits. We all dive to the floor when we see wings appear out of the fog above. A gargoyle grabs hold of one of the Ladies-in-Waiting and takes off again. She screams and kicks, but it’s no use. She’s a goner. “I thought gargoyles were statues,” Ollie says, his eyes widening. “Those nasty beasties are real?”

I hear a loud slurp and assume someone has just magically sealed the gym doors like they do in Madame Cleo’s detention room. I can hear Pete shouting orders to Olaf, and then in the next moment, the room is quiet. As the fog begins to lift, I can see that the gargoyles have rounded up the princesses and placed them in a corner of the room in some sort of glowing bubble, along with a few unlucky students. The dwarf squad is tied up in its own bubble nearby. A lot of help they were. One of the gargoyles drops Azalea onto the royals’ bubble, and I watch as it sucks her in and drops her to the floor.

Okay, if I hang on to my sword, maybe I can fight my way to a gym door and pick a lock. I’m not waiting around any longer. I start to get up and prepare to run.

“What are you doing?” Jax hisses. “Stay down!”