Chapter 46
forty-six
. . .
raea
I’m sweaty and tired, and my whole body hurts. I know why we’re out here with Recon, but still. The afternoon sun beats down on us relentlessly, the black material of my uniform making me wish I’d gone with the standard-issue dress. At least then I’d get some air flow.
Our dorm has been divided into groups of six, comprising a mix of juniors and seniors, as well as a blend of all three divisions.
Leading my group are Trysten, Cas, another senior in Intel, and Knox, the senior Recon representative.
Ciara and Tate are also in my group since they’re part of my flight team.
Ashton, a senior girl who is part of Ryker’s flight team, is also here.
We were pulled from bed for an early training exercise—a surprise to all of us.
Well, not Ryker. No, he was fully aware and decided to hide this little exercise from me.
Last I saw, he was with the other two dorm leaders talking with Professors Ainslyn and Brendn this morning.
Once we find our flag, our flight team, including Trysten, along with Freya, a girl from Intel, is supposed to rush back to the launch pad to start searching for the other flags, while our Intel counterpart decodes the coordinates.
It’s a game of capture the flag and a race against the other teams and dorms. Since Ezra needs a seat in my transport, we don’t have the extra space for Recon, so Trysten will double as our Recon expert.
The ground crunches under my boots as Trysten and Knox discuss the route on the map we’ve been given.
“It’s hotter than Mori’s asshole out here,” Tate groans. “When is our little march through this forest over?”
I snicker when Knox shoots a glare over his shoulder.
“You okay?” Ciara asks quietly, slowing her steps to walk beside me.
I offer a small smile to my best friend and bump her shoulder.
“I’m okay. Just thinking.” We both fall into silence for a moment.
With a grin, she asks, “About a certain prince?”
I can’t hide my own as it spreads across my face.
Last night I had been practicing with my magic in his room, and when I could barely keep my eyes open, he asked me to stay.
He gave me another one of his shirts to sleep in.
I woke this morning, tangled in his arms, mortified by our compromising position.
Yet, all I could think about was spending every morning like that.
We stayed like that for another hour, reluctantly rising, knowing I’d have to sneak back to my own room. Blessedly, Ezra said nothing when I slipped into my clothes and showered. I spent the morning berating myself for putting us back in the “not-so-safe zone.”
By the time I dressed in clean clothes, Ry knocked on my door with a smirk, announcing a surprise training session. If Professor Brendn wasn’t part of the entourage, I’d have given Ryker a piece of my mind for not warning me.
“Things are…complicated.” I hike my backpack higher. It holds pre-packed meals, water, a notebook, and a pen (our tablets were temporarily confiscated so nobody cheats), and our tracker jewelry.
“When have they not been?” she asks, wiping sweat from her bubble-braid crown. “You two are the epitome of complicated.”
She’s right, and I hate it. I wish this were easier.
I still need to talk with him about Sienna.
She’s gone. Not just skipping classes—gone.
Her room’s been emptied out, and no one knows exactly why.
The rumors claim she was expelled, suspended, or exiled to one of the outer moons.
No one says it outright, but it’s because of what she did to me.
Apparently, she moved out the same night as the paint incident.
My guess—it was Ryker. Or Kuron.
Ciara pauses, halting me as well. “Look, Rae, I know you love Kellan, but you have to let him go. He’s really hurting right now and you owe it to him.
And with Ryker, there’s literally a prophecy about you two.
We only have a few months left of school, so just enjoy it.
Besides,” she grins, “I know where you’ve been sleeping.
Came to check on you after Sienna’s paint show and Aolyn said you were in Ryker’s room and he had just left after grabbing your clothes. ”
I roll my eyes. “It was two times.” She squeals and heads turn.
“Shh…” I warn, slamming my palm over her mouth. I feel her smile and lower my hand. “And you’re right. I need to let Kellan go, but I don’t know how to. I don’t love him like he loves me, but he’s my best friend, and I’m scared this will ruin us.”
Ciara offers me a sad, knowing smile.
Ahead, Trysten turns to tell us we’re almost there, so the sixteen of us in this group fall silent, knowing that any of the other dorm teams could be around.
Baedyn’s energy pulses softly around me and beneath me, grounding me in a way that I don’t understand.
Ever since I got back from Sgya, it’s like the further from Sgya, the weaker the energy.
Maybe that’s why the veil is so weak? The further out, the less power?
I know I need to go back to Sgya for answers, but every time I think about it, my pulse races, and I feel like I can’t breathe.
I can swallow down gulps of air, and still, I find myself gripping my center, waiting for the panic to pass.
Trysten holds up a hand, halting all of us as we come around a turn in the path. Ahead, there are two flags. One for Taeolyn, one for Veker. I thought they would all be spread out. I wonder what happened to Bragr. Did they already come and claim theirs? And if so, why did they leave ours?
“It might be a trap,” one of the men from Intel whispers to Knox.
Trysten and Knox nod to each other, spreading out on either side, looking up and down for any traps that might be set. Trysten crouches low and makes a bird call, which gets Knox’s attention.
Together, they clear the pile of leaves to find a cord that is attached to an animal trap. Gods. I haven’t seen one in person before, but it’s barbaric. The two metal rings are lined with large iron spikes waiting to be spring so they can close over someone’s leg.
“Is that even allowed?” Freya gasps, covering her mouth a little late. All eyes shoot to her, and she winces.
It takes us a few more minutes that we don’t have to spring the trap and check for more, finding none, before we tuck both flags into Ashton’s bag.
She’ll be taking them back to our meeting spot located in the AerBall arena.
Some of the Intel seniors claimed it as our home base since setting foot back in the Executive dorm yard is forbidden until the games are over.
Our Intel team makes quick work of decoding the complicated message, which has been scrambled up and uses code words in place of names and locations.
While they finish decoding the last of the locations for us to go find, Ciara, Tate, and I eat a quick lunch, knowing there may not be time once we reach space for part two of our little exercise.
“Got it,” Trysten says, heading to us. “Let’s go.”
He takes one step, and the scream that pierces the air steals the breath from my lungs.
Trysten falls to his knee, gripping the sides of the trap as rivulets of crimson trickle down his leg, pooling in his boot and staining the ground around him.
It takes two heartbeats before I’m in front of him, my fingers interlacing with the spikes as I assist, trying to pull it back.
Others surround us, gasping and calling for help.
Annika, one of the girls from Recon division who’s on my running team, stabs a branch between one of the spikes, using it as leverage. Knox is next to Trysten, pulling as the three of us work to free Trysten’s leg. Trysten screams again, the sound piercing my chest.
There’s no way this is part of the games, right? I don’t think our parents would approve of this, but then again, they did say it was supposed to be a real-world experience. We get the trap open enough so that he can escape, while Tate and one of the other men assist him.
“On three,” Knox says, looking at me.
I nod as he counts, both of us letting go at the same time, and the branch that Annika was holding smashes into the trap. That could have been any of us. Why is there a trap like this hidden for a bunch of students?
“Don’t move,” I shout, looking around at the sixteen of us who are scattered about. “There could be more.”
Carefully, I stand, wiping my hands on my pants and ignoring the blood staining them and now the tips of my hair where it sopped it up from the ground. First red paint, now blood. Maybe I should just dye my hair.
Trysten groans as he bites down on a strip of leather given to him by Knox.
We all have medical training, but not enough to handle this.
My thoughts spin quickly, but I inhale, finding my center, reminding myself not to let my emotions and thoughts control me.
“Okay, I’m going to run back to command.
Knox, Tate, you both start carrying him in that direction.
Annika, you’re with me.” I look around, finding pale faces, and one girl is puking in the bushes.
“Ciara, you got her?” My other best friend nods.
“The rest of you, get back on the trail we got here on and tread carefully, but hurry.”
I drop my pack, grabbing my water from it.
Annika does the same as we both turn, sprinting for control, Ezra staying silent behind us.
He’s not allowed to intervene unless it’s me in danger.
We run, knowing the healers won’t find them unless we bring them back.
I set an urgent pace but keep my reserves, knowing it’s a long run.
We’ve been hiking for two hours or so, and we are definitely off campus.