The Culling Trials (Shadowspell Academy #2)(29)

“You guys should’ve taken a trip to the healer for more energy.” Wally’s mouth stretched with a smile. “I feel great. Excited, even. Which trial do you guys want to do next? By the way, where’s Gregory? You didn’t answer me.”

“House of Claw,” Ethan said, digging through his trunk. He pulled out wads of sweats and threw them onto the ground. His movements turned frantic, crazed almost, until he stood up so fast, I wondered how he didn’t stagger with dizziness. “Where is it?” he demanded, his face red and his eyes ablaze. “What’d you jerk-offs do with it?”

I lifted my eyebrows and glanced at Pete, whose face was screwed up in confusion, nose wrinkled and lips tight. Orin stared out from a shadow in the corner that really shouldn’t have been possible with all the light pouring into the room.

“Where is it?” Ethan demanded again, rushing across the room toward me.

I stepped forward, ready to meet him head-on. I didn’t know why we were fighting, but that had never stopped me before. “Where is what?” I asked.

“You’ll feel really silly if you did make the goblin disappear,” Orin said with a small smile. “Since he was the one who took your…notes.”

Ethan rounded on Orin, but the gesture was somewhat undermined by his unwillingness to get closer to him. “What’d you say?”

“Gregory disappeared?” Wally asked.

“Gregory took your cheat sheets?” Pete said, a smile working up his face, dispelling the confusion.

“Goblins are surprisingly adept at finding hidden treasure,” Orin said, “whether it be gems…or personal items of interest. Such items might fetch a great price from the right bidder.”

The whole room stilled, all of us wondering if Gregory had gone out last night to sell the cheat sheets, and if so, which of our competitors had bought them.

“Let’s go,” Ethan said, grabbing his sweatshirt and heading for the door. “If someone has those notes, I’ll know it. And I’ll take them back.”

“Why would he sell those, though?” I asked, following along. “That puts him at a disadvantage. No, it makes more sense if he was keeping them for collateral. We should look to see if he hid them.”

“He’s a goblin,” Ethan said, as though that explained everything.

My dumb look had Orin explaining, “Unlike a wand waver who thinks he’s better than he is”—he pointedly looked at Ethan—“if a goblin hides something, you’d be hard pressed to find it. He’s a novice, so a good magic user could probably figure out his hiding spot, but none of us are good magic users. We’re all novices too. There’s no point in looking.”

“What happened to Gregory? Would one of you please fill me in?” Wally asked, trailing behind us. She shut the door as if taking ownership of the room.

I explained the situation to Wally as we joined other trial goers pouring out of the mansion. Buses waited for us in the same place as yesterday, and by the time we’d reached the boarding area, Wally was muttering to herself about statistics regarding abducted trial goers. “There have been a number of missing students over the years. First at the academy itself, but the security was improved as more Shades were used to guard the schools. After that, there is a 2 to 3 percent chance of being abducted at the Culling Trials based on past history.”

“How many were found?” I asked.

“None,” she said. “No one abducted was ever seen again.”

The odds weren’t good that we’d see Gregory again.

“Wait,” Ethan said, putting out his hand to stop my progress. Pete bumped into my back and stumbled to the side.

I followed Ethan’s gaze to a cluster of students to our right. A few stood in a huddle, peering at something between them.

“Anyone who has any sort of leg up will pick the House of Claw today, I think,” Ethan said, his gaze shrewd.

"How do you know that’s the right trial to go to?” I got in front of Ethan, stopping his forward momentum.

He lifted an arm to push me away. I glared down at him. “How do you know it’s that trial and not a different one?” I repeated the question, as if he were slow.

Wally once more took the lead. “There is no official route to take—the randomness and our choices of that randomness is part of the testing. To see where our instincts take us.”

Ethan glared up at me, one eyebrow raised. “The shifters announced they’ve upped their prize money today because two of the first trials were won. By upping their prize, they’re trying to lure in the top dogs.”

“Looks like they know their prey well,” Orin drawled. I had to agree.

Ethan’s gaze swept the rest of the crowd, all moving in a steady flow. Only that one group had hesitated for more than a moment, and they were on the move again. One of the guys slipped a square of white into his pocket.

Ethan started forward.

“I still don’t think Gregory would’ve sold the cheat sheet,” I mumbled, though I had to concede I didn’t know Gregory all that well, maybe he had planned on selling the sheets. Hell, I didn’t know any of them that well.

“If he had it on him when he was taken, then someone else could have sold it,” Wally said. “Given the size of the house prizes we’ve seen so far, any help would be worth a pretty penny.”