The Culling Trials 3 (Shadowspell Academy #3)(15)

My footsteps echoed loudly on the wooden planks, and as soon as my boots reached cobblestone, I stopped. The world around me swam, sweat dribbling off my face and onto the stone.

“Is this real?” I asked, my words still thick and slurred. The castle around us was massive, and even in my very addled state I could appreciate the scope of it. My heart skipped a beat.

“How are you even standing?” Wally asked softly. “A few minutes ago, your heart was faltering, even Orin felt it.”

“The ghosts,” Ethan said. “They can give energy. She must have known one of them. That’s why they let us through. Damn it, even when she’s out of it she’s getting us through this.” He shook his head, and I just kind of rolled with it.

“My mom,” I said. “She gave me energy.”

“Yes,” Orin said. “This part, this castle is real. This is where the council of the undead oversee their portion of the magical world.” He paused. “They allow us to use it for the purpose of the Culling Trials as they want a chance to view the contestants in person.”

Pete grumbled under his breath and hitched at his sweatpants. “Contestants or new play toys?”

Orin didn’t so much as miss a beat. “Either. You, though, they’d likely put on a spit and slow roast for their next gathering.”

I wasn’t sure if he was joking or not and didn’t have the energy to tell him not to be a dick.

Apparently, Pete wasn’t sure if it was a joke either. He dropped back next to Wally, grumbling, “What a jerk. He’s lucky I don’t mind him so much now.”

“Statistically speaking, he’s not wrong,” she said. “Four to six percent of the trial entrants fall under the spell of one of the vampires and chose to stay here as servants. They aren’t strong enough to live in the magical world anyway if they can be taken that easily, but the statistics don’t lie.”

“Wish they would once in a while,” Pete said.

Orin and Ethan led the way, and warning tingles danced up and down my spine with each step. I let out a low groan as my stomach rolled with nausea. The vampires had better hurry the hell up, or I was going to be flat on my back again before I could be of any help to my crew.

The two guys approached the center of the courtyard, Ethan with his wand raised and Orin with his hands clasped at his back as he float-walked along. One day he’d make a fine Dracula. I grinned at the thought, feeling the crazy that came with a high fever and infection. Then another warning blared through all that crazy, demanding my attention.

I pushed Wally and Pete ahead of me, still trying to guard the rear. “Eyes open.”

“As if I’d close them now,” Pete muttered.

“It’s a saying, Pete,” Wally said, “and as she is our resident Shade, we should listen to her. As I mentioned before, she has a highly tuned inner warning system.” Wally continued on in that thread, giving stats about how many Shades made it through the trials versus the rest of the blood lines.

That warning system was ringing a thousand bells at once, my adrenaline pulsing so fast, it pushed back the fog of the infection, clearing my mind. I struggled to keep my breathing normal, slow and even. Ethan and Orin stopped in the center of the courtyard.

“Which way?” Ethan did a slow turn, pointing at each of the four doors leading out of the castle. Four doors, none of which we needed to go through.

This was the wrong way.

“Stop!” I whisper-yelled the word.

Ethan and Orin slowed, and I motioned for them to come back to us. Ethan took a step, but Orin didn’t.

“I think I would know my own house,” he said, turning away from us.

Ethan looked between me and Orin. “Yeah, he should.”

Wally and Pete backed up until they were beside me. “Listen to her,” Wally said. “If she’s picking up on something, then we need to—”

The slightest creak of hinges squeaked through the air, and four figures emerged from the four doors.

I grabbed Wally and Pete and dragged them farther back. Maybe it was because I had missing stamped on my file. Maybe it was because of Rory’s warning about the vampires. Maybe it was because I was so close to death. But this was bad, beyond bad.

“This will be worse than dealing with the necromancer,” I said.

Please, God, let me be wrong for once.





Chapter 6





The four vampires rushed out at us from the doorways in the castle, their speed blinding. There was no way I could fight, no way any of us could physically best them. We had to outsmart them instead.

“PARLAY!” I screamed the word and the vampires came to a dead stop.

“We are vampires, not pirates, you stupid girl.” The one to the left of us laughed, and the other three joined in, their laughter rolling around us, amplified by the stone walls until it felt like a hundred vampires were laughing at us.

“And if we have a necromancer who can control vampires? How much would that be worth to you?” Ethan asked, taking over.

“Necromancers can’t control vampires,” one of them said. “That is an old myth to scare the young ones into being obedient.”

Orin shrunk where he stood, just a little, but I saw it. “It is true.” He shook the necromancer at his feet and the vampires seemed to really see him for the first time. With his heavily lined face and thick beard, he was for sure no kid.