The Culling Trials 3 (Shadowspell Academy #3)(35)

Liar, liar, pants on fire.

“Give me that back!” She flopped, trying to turn over and stand, but wasn’t able to push through the pain. “That’s mine!” Her voice was weak.

I frowned at the vehemence of her reaction. It struck me, again, that this was the second wand I’d handled without any serious injury. Maybe the danger of stealing someone’s wand was a myth magic users drummed up to deter theft.

“I need to get out of here. What’s a spell I can do on you?” I asked, flicking the wand like she’d done. Red sparkles flew from the end and cracked all around us.

“No! How?” Her eyes widened as she looked at me. “How are you doing that?”

“Presto change-o,” I said, flicking the wand again. This time blue sparks curled into the air. “What if I just…” I did the same again, but right next to her leg so the sparks would hit her.

“Ah!” Surprise lit her features and she scooted away. Mud spread across her light pink robe.

“I bet you hope that’s mud, at any rate,” I said, remembering how I’d wrestled with Bluebell the day before I left the farm. Not allowing myself to dwell, I bent and did the swooping move again. Then a third time.

The scene wobbled. She disappeared. My farm melted around me. Ethan, his wand freshly stowed in his stupid holster, pulled out his sheet of paper ten feet away, back on the open plains that we’d started with.

There was no sign of the others.

I walked over and punched him in the face.

“You lying piece of crap!” I yelled, waiting for him to sprawl out before kicking him in the side. “You were setting us up the whole time!” I bent over and blasted some wand sparks at him.

“What in the—” His hand shot out and he gripped my wrist, his eyes pinned to the wand.

I grabbed his wrist with my other hand, twisted so he’d have to turn onto his belly, then pushed up, keeping him in place. “Not wise,” I ground out.

“Whose wand is that?” he asked, his voice high pitched in pain.

“Don’t ask stupid questions.” I dropped the wand since the sparks didn’t seem to have an effect, then punched him in the ribs. He grunted and tried to move away. I did it again, but his thick slab of muscle shielded him from my blows.

“Stop,” he said, his body tensed. “Stop!”

I picked up the wand again. The annoying vibrating feeling ran up my arm, so I stuffed it into my back pocket.

“Trust me, huh?” I said, my hands on my hips. “We’ll see?” It was my turn for high pitched. “Now the other two are lost in limbo!”

“All they had to do was hang on, like I said,” Ethan shouted back at me, his face red and dirt smeared across his cheek. “Who do you think got you out?”

“I did.” I pulled out the wand for emphasis. “With this.”

“With what, a few sparks? That wasn’t a spell! It wouldn’t trigger your win.” He jabbed his chest. “I won. I shut everything down.”

Breathing heavily, I stowed my stolen wand. The timing was close enough that he could be right, especially since he hadn’t reacted to the sparks I’d made with the wand. They’d surprised the wand owner, but they hadn’t really hurt her. Still, it was possible the bit of magic I’d done had been enough. Either way, Wally and Pete hadn’t been so lucky.

“This challenge would be impossible for anyone but a wand wielder.” I stalled, waiting just a bit longer to make sure Wally or Pete wouldn’t materialize near us. “It’s not fair.”

Ethan painfully rose to his feet and dusted himself off. “Everyone is supposed to be in groups. All a group needs is one wielder.”

“Well, clearly that isn’t the case, since the one wielder was the only one to make it through. Where are Pete and Wally? They should be here too if you’re right.”

“What about you?”

“I don’t count. I cheated.”

He made a disgusted sound and snatched his fallen paper up off the ground. “I don’t get you, Wild. You didn’t know anything about magic, yet you made it through to the gold on the Shade trial. It’s in your nature, so okay, I guess. But you practically led the Claw and Unmentionables trials, and you saved our asses in the Night trial by speaking to ghosts. Now here you are, probably the first trial goer in history to steal an instructor’s wand, and you’re yelling about the fairness of things. No one should be this good at everything. No one. And that’s coming from someone who is expected to be this good at everything.” He shook his head and took off walking. “Something isn’t right with you. I mean, you’ve got people trying to kill you for Christ’s sake. You! A girl!”

“Girls aren’t good enough to be targeted, is that what you’re saying?”

He shot me a narrowed-eyed glare. “You’re supposed to be a fifteen-year-old boy, aren’t you? Well, that cover has been blown, and yet people are still after you. Doesn’t that seem odd to you?”

My step hitched, because I’d never thought of it like that. Yes, as a matter of fact, it kind of did.

He threw up his hands. “This whole thing is messed up. All of it. And I hate that I’ve been dragged into it. I don’t want anything to do with the Sandman. My father can rein in most people, but the Sandman isn’t one of them. I’ve got no protection from him. None of us do. I don’t need any part of—”