The Culling Trials 3 (Shadowspell Academy #3)(17)

I was warm, safe. I fell asleep in Colt’s arms.

When I came to, we were back in the room, and I was tucked into my bed. My crew was there, talking softly.

“What are we going to do?” Wally asked. “We know someone’s after her, the whole school knows she’s a girl now, but they haven’t kicked her out. Why? That makes no sense.”

“You want her to be kicked out?” Orin countered.

“No, of course not.” Wally huffed. “But they are acting like they don’t know. Why? What do they want with her?”

“She’s strong,” Ethan said. “It’s possible they want her for a specific job. That’s…” he cleared his throat, “that’s what my dad said. That maybe someone wants her specifically. That’s why she’s being tested so hard. Maybe it wasn’t a trial meant to kill her after all.”

Pete paced beside my bed, identifiable by his footsteps. “But for what?”

They were all quiet at that, and I sat up. Colt was there too, surprising me. He gave me a smile and I tried to smile back.

Except that when I looked at him, all I could see was Rory.

I swallowed hard. “I need to shower. Can…I get some privacy?”

“I’ll be just outside,” Wally said. “Pete and I will guard the door.”

Colt grabbed Ethan. “And we’ll get some food.”

Ethan rolled his eyes. “I should never have told you she was a girl.”

They filed out, all of them, except Orin. I looked up at him. “What?”

“We all passed that trial. But we shouldn’t have. You tie us together in a way that is not normal.” He frowned. “I’m not sure how I feel about that. I do not think these ties will be easily broken. I should be bothered by it. Vampires are by nature loners, but…now I don’t want that.”

I stood, hanging on to the bed to make sure I didn’t fall over. I wasn’t hurting anymore, but I felt like I’d been sick for weeks. “That your way of saying we’re friends?”

He tipped his head to the side. “I suppose it is. I’ve never had friends before. Is it normal to want to protect them?”

I wanted to laugh at him, but he was serious. “Yeah. Yeah, it is.”

“I see.” He sighed. “Well, I will guard the door with Wally and Pete then. Because you are my friend.”

He did his float-walk to the door and closed it quietly behind him. Call me crazy, but the doubts that had ghosted through me about Orin slid away with the last of our conversation. He might be weird. He might be bloodthirsty, but I didn’t think he’d turn on us. I headed to the bathroom, peeling off my clothes as I went. The smell of the undead, of sweat and blood and fear, clung to them and I just needed them off.

The water was scalding hot as I stepped into it, but I didn’t care. It rolled off my face and shoulders, mingling with my tears. My body was healed. I could feel every inch of it coming up to full speed even while I stood there, right down to my nose. But I wasn’t sure that the rest of me would ever come back from this. From fighting Tommy. From watching Rory disappear under that wave of zombies.

As angry as I’d been with him, I’d never thought I’d truly lose him. Not Rory.

He’d dodged death so many times even when we were kids. How could this have happened? Sobs ripped out of me and I let them. I wouldn’t get another chance to grieve, not until we made it through the final trial.

I stood there, crying and smacking my hand against the wall, until the water began to cool. I forced myself to scrub off the dirt at that point and wash my hair.

When I stepped out of the shower, a single pulse of warning cut through me. “Are you freaking kidding me?”

Wrapped in a towel, angrier than a hen tossed in the pond, I snatched my knife from my belt and stormed to the bathroom door. Done. I was so damn done with this crap, with the constant warnings and danger.

But that didn’t mean I was going to be stupid. I turned the knob slowly and peeked out.

Colt stood there, his hands under Ethan’s mattress. Looking for the cheat sheets? “Really?”

He spun on his heels, but there was no shame on his face. “He left me behind in that first trial. I broke my leg and he left me.”

I remembered that. The House of Shade challenge had seemed so hard, so treacherous, but now I would have paid to go back to it instead of facing the last house. “And you want to get back at him?”

He shrugged as he stood, the papers in his hands. Rather than pocket the cheat sheets, he took his wand out and waved it over them. Then he pulled a blank sheet out of his pocket and waved his wand over it. The words reappeared on the previously blank sheet, as perfect as a photocopy. He tucked away the copy, then stuffed the originals back in place. “Maybe. Maybe I just want to take what he thinks is his for once.”

His blue eyes were locked on mine and I stared back, forgetting that I was standing there soaking wet in nothing more than a towel.

Colt took two steps, cupped my face and kissed me, gently, as if I would break. “Maybe he doesn’t deserve the best, Wild.”

I put a hand on his chest, pushing him and the confusion away. One thing at a time.

“Ethan is what he is. But you promised me food, and I’m starving. Also, how did you get in past the others?”