The Nightmare Dilemma

11 Need Not Apply

Fortunately, there was little opportunity to continue my argument with Eli in our next class. Math was one of the few classes at Arkwell that was more or less the same as in ordinary high school. It seemed math was a universal idea. And there weren’t any algebraic functions that could calculate the magical intensity of spells or anything. It was completely boring and easily my second-worst subject.

Alchemy and science afterward was my absolute worst subject, and with Britney absent, I stood no chance of changing that. She was half the reason I’d managed to scrape a C last semester. I wondered if she was doing any better, and I resolved to go visit her at Vejovis this weekend if I could get a pass.

Finally, the beaker and Bunsen burner hell that was alchemy ended, and I made my way to gym class. At least Selene seemed more awake as we changed into our gym clothes.

“You think I’m doing the right thing, don’t you?” I asked after I finished telling her about Eli’s reaction.

Selene considered the question long enough that I knew I wouldn’t like her answer. “I don’t know, Dusty.”

I stood up from the bench and shut my locker. Then I turned to face her, trying not to sound as upset as I felt. “How can you say that? Don’t you think Paul should be stopped before he hurts more people?”

Selene ran a finger over the scar on her face. “Yes, but…”

“But what? Come on, for all we know Marrow has already risen from the ashes and is just waiting for his faithful servant to return.”

Selene snorted. “I’m sure if Marrow is alive again that he’s not waiting around for Paul Kirkwood. We know he’s got more important servants out there than a seventeen-year-old boy.”

I tapped my toe. “How do you figure?”

“Well, somebody let him out of his tomb over in England, right?”

I exhaled, some of my annoyance evaporating. “Good point.” I shrugged. “But still, it’s not like letting Paul run around unwatched is a good idea.”

“You’re right,” Selene said, her tone placating.

Even still, I heard the “but” in it again. “But…?”

Selene fixed her gaze on me. “I don’t think blindly trusting Lady Elaine and the sheriff is a good idea. They’re government officials same as the people responsible for letting Paul go.”

Her bitter tone took me by surprise. It was one she reserved for subjects she cared about deeply, like the sexual objectification of sirens and her disdain for all things Lance Rathbone. “What do you mean by that?”

Selene bit her lip and waited as a girl walked past, heading for the exit. “Just that the government isn’t always right, you know? Those people don’t always make the best choices. Some of their decisions are stupid and unfair. But come on, we’re going to be late.”

She turned toward the door. I fell in step beside her, trying to make sense of her sudden antigovernment sentiments. It wasn’t that she was a big fan of the government before, but she seemed downright hostile now. I glanced sideways at her. “Something you want to talk about?”

Selene pushed her long black braid over her shoulder. “I just think they shouldn’t be able to force you to do something you don’t want to do. And they shouldn’t be able to keep you from doing what you do want to do. Especially if it’s in your nature.”

“Huh?” I said, not understanding her vague generalities. But she didn’t get a chance to explain further as we emerged on the gym floor and were immediately beckoned forward by Coach Fritz.

“Come on, girls.” He waved his clipboard at us. “Hurry up and get out here already.”

I quickened my pace, leery of pissing off Fritz. He still hadn’t gotten over me hitting him with a stumbler curse last semester, never mind the hours of toilet-cleaning detention I’d endured as punishment for it. If I gave him so much as half a reason, I’d end up doing push-ups for the entire class period. Fritz was a fairy with typical fairy vindictiveness. He’d tried making me run laps the first couple of times, but running was one of my hobbies so it wasn’t very effective. Push-ups, however, left me feeling like I’d been dragged around by the arms for an hour by a herd of elephants.

Selene and I sat down with the rest of our classmates, congregated around the coach. Behind him, a giant tentlike structure was stretched across the length of the gym floor. It looked a bit like one of those tunnels people trained dogs to run through in agility competitions. No prizes for guessing who the dogs would be in this scenario. I took one look at the pitch-black, yawning entrance into the thing and shuddered.

“Your goal,” Fritz was explaining, “is to make it through the Gauntlet.”

That’s all? I wondered what would happen if we didn’t make it through.

Fritz slid the clipboard under his arms and put his fisted hands on his waist. “Now before you start complaining, I promise you won’t face anything in there that you’re not equipped to deal with, and there’s nothing that will do you serious harm. Just keep a sharp lookout and react with what comes natural.” Fritz’s eyes shifted to my face. “Most of you shouldn’t have any trouble at all.”

I swallowed and dropped my gaze, pretending to be completely absorbed by the fine cracks in the polished wood floor.

“And you might as well get used to it,” Fritz went on. “The Gauntlet will be a new regular feature in this class. Nothing will be timed or scored for now, but that will change as the semester goes on.”

I groaned inwardly, resisting the urge to roll my eyes, a surefire method of provoking Fritz’s anger.

He blew the whistle. “All right. Get into your safety suits and line up.”

Everybody responded to this command with varying degrees of enthusiasm. I took my time, crossing to the wall where the safety suits hung from pegs. I selected one in my size and pulled it on. It resembled a wet suit, but the material was surprisingly supple and easy to get on, even with the hard, plasticlike shielding on the arms, chest, back, and thigh areas. All too soon I was ready to go.

Lance and Eli were close to the front of the line, the latter wearing a suit for the first time ever with his new wand clutched in his hand. He looked even better than I’d imagined in the snug-fitting getup.

As Eli approached the entrance, Coach Fritz shook his head. “Not this time, Booker.” He eyed the wand with a blatant smirk. “I doubt you’ve got enough juice in that thing to handle the Gauntlet. You can wait out class over there.” He pointed to the benches.

Eli’s body went rigid. Outrage coursed through me. It wasn’t fair. Fritz had no right to deny him the chance to participate. I braced for Eli’s response, expecting him to argue, but he only turned around and replaced his suit on the wall. Then he stalked off toward the benches. But instead of sitting, he raised the wand and started practicing some of the defensive moves we regularly studied in class. Well, at least he would get to do something. Maybe with enough time Fritz would change his mind.

Yeah right, I thought as I took a second look at the coach and saw the smirk still on his face. I turned toward Selene, wanting to complain about Fritz, but I froze when I caught sight of Oliver Cork pulling on his helmet a few feet in front of me.

“Catch you later,” I whispered to Selene, then I darted toward Oliver, falling in place right behind him. I accidently kicked him in the back of the shoe, and he turned around, startled.

“Whoops.” I flashed my cutest smile and pointed at myself with both thumbs. “Clumsy. Did I break your foot or anything?”

Oliver surprised me when he smiled back. Maybe I was getting better at this whole flirty thing. “S’okay. I’m pretty tough.”

I laughed. “Tough like a tree, right?”

The smile vanished from Oliver’s face.

Crap. Open mouth. Insert foot. Swallow.

“Are you making fun of me for being a dryad?” His dark eyes hardened.

My eyebrows shot up my forehead. “What? No way. I think it’s cool. I love trees and nature.”

Oliver scowled. “Whatever.” He started to turn back, but I grabbed his arm. It did feel surprisingly like a tree limb, strong but sort of bendy.

I let go at once. “Wait a sec. I wanted to ask you something.”

He faced me, looking cautious but not hostile. Thank goodness dryads were known to be extremely patient and slow tempered, an effect of the bond they shared with their respective trees. “Yeah?”

“Um.” I bit my lip, wishing I’d planned this out a little better. “I want to know about the Terra Tribe.”

His eyes narrowed beneath the crest of his helmet. He crossed his arms, the gesture made awkward by the strips of shielding on the safety suit’s sleeve. He looked like an overgrown beetle. So did I, for that matter.

“What for?”

I frowned. This wasn’t the answer I’d been expecting. It was a student organization, after all, and I was a student. “I just want to know more about it.”

The suspicion in his gaze increased, and I had a feeling he was connecting the dots back to his interrogation by Sheriff Brackenberry and my conspicuous presence right outside.

Thinking fast, I added, “Britney told me a little already.”

Oliver chuckled. “I doubt it.”

Again, this wasn’t the reply I expected. “Sure she did. And I want to join.”

Now Oliver laughed outright, sounding genuinely amused.

I blushed, the unpleasant awareness of being the butt of some inside joke making my eyes burn with tears coming to the ready. I fought them back. “What’s so funny?”

“It’s impossible for you to join the Terra Tribe.”

“Why?”

“No darkkinds allowed.”

His words hit me like a bucket of ice water to the face. “What … what … why?”

“It’s for naturekinds only. Which you would’ve known if you really had talked to Britney about it.” He swung around in a clear dismissal.

I stood there, reeling from shock and indignation.

Tears threatened again and I resisted a strong desire to punch him in the back of the head. I contemplated returning to Selene, but I didn’t want to give Oliver the satisfaction of seeing me retreat.

Not that it mattered. Oliver kept his back to me the whole time, talking and laughing with one of his friends. I told myself it wasn’t about me, although I suspected it was—the darkkind who dared to mingle with naturekinds. A blush of shame blossomed over my skin, and I was glad for the helmet covering my face.

When it was my turn to enter the Gauntlet, I went in without hesitating, grateful for the chance to escape the crowd. I had a feeling my conversation with Oliver had been overheard and that everyone in the class knew about it by now. All I wanted was to be by myself.

Two steps into the Gauntlet though, and I knew I wasn’t alone. Not by a long shot. A murky, uneven light illuminated the tunnel in places, casting long, dark shadows. Some of the shadows were moving, writhing like something alive. I couldn’t see the walls or ceiling of the Gauntlet. It might’ve been five miles long or only a couple of feet. I took a deep breath and walked on, braced for whatever.

A few steps in, a portion of the floor sunk beneath my right foot like a lever depressing. There was a loud pop and a hiss. I froze as the stench of sulfur burned my nostrils.

Something flashed, and I jumped back as a wall of flames burst up in front of me.

“Crap.” I stared at it, trying to calm my racing heart, which proved difficult as I caught a whiff of something burning. I ran my hands over my helmet and down the front of my suit, checking for fire as I tried to decide what to do next.

Then I remembered my simple goal—get to the other side. I pointed my hand at the flames. “Hydro-rhe.” A jet of blue light shot out from my fingertips. The flames sizzled and hissed then disappeared. That was one spell I didn’t struggle with anymore.

I moved on. Several more obstacles rose up to block my way, but I took care of them easily, relying on spells and techniques we’d learned in class.

After a while the obstacles began incorporating a more physical element. This was gym class after all. A magically propelled tire rolled out of the darkness, barreling right toward me. I jumped left, dodging it, but then I had to twist to the right to avoid the next one that came quick on the heels of the first. The third, I hit with a deflector spell. It careened sideways, out of my path and was swallowed by the shadows once more.

Next, I had to vanish a creek of boiling green liquid, probably some kind of acid. The fumes made my eyes water, and the stench of it lingered in my nose long afterward.

But really, the Gauntlet was proving to be pretty tame for gym class, full of obstacles a blind person could see coming. My mind soon began to wander. I found myself thinking about what Oliver had said, the shame and embarrassment coming over me as strongly as before. It was so unfair. Like there was anything wrong with darkkinds. We were all more or less the same, right?

Whack.

I reeled backward, clutching my pounding face. What the…? I turned in a circle, searching for whatever had hit me.

Whack.

This time the something struck me in the back of the head. I dropped to my knees on instinct. A wooden bat swung through the air above me. It was moving comically slow. A baby could’ve dodged it—if they’d been paying attention. I cast a restraining spell at it, and the bat stopped midair, giving a slight tremble as it fought to get free of the magic.

I stood and walked past it, my head back in the game as I strained to see more obstacles. I shouldn’t have let myself get distracted. Always a bad idea in gym class. With my right eye watering, seeing grew harder and harder. The skin where the bat had struck felt tight and puffy. But somehow I managed to get through the rest of it with only a couple of minor scratches and a bruised shin to add to my injuries.

By the time I emerged from the end of the Gauntlet, my eye had almost swollen shut.

Coach Fritz grinned when he spotted me. “Run into trouble, did you?”

“Nope. I’m just trying to start a new fashion trend—black-eye foundation,” I said, cupping a hand over my eye. The pain made me forget the dangers of mouthing off, but to my shock, Fritz chuckled.

“Well, then, I’d say you’re off to a great start.”

Asshole.

But Fritz’s sudden receptiveness to my sarcasm put me on edge, and I dropped all the snark from my voice as I said, “Um, can I go to the infirmary?”

Fritz’s grin widened. “I don’t think that’s necessary. A little bruising never hurt anyone. You can wait until after class.”

“But I have detention after class.”

Fritz’s shoulders rose and fell in an exaggerated shrug. “Not my problem. But I’m sure the teacher will understand if you’re late.” Something about Fritz’s triumphant tone told me that he knew very well who my detention was with and that Corvus would be about as understanding as a swarm of pissed-off killer bees.

Resigning myself to the overall injustice in the world, I walked to the back of the line. I kept my head down, hoping nobody would give me crap about my face.

Once again, I was stuck behind Oliver. This time I seriously contemplated punching him in the back of the head. It was his fault I’d gotten hit by that bat. If I hadn’t been so distracted by his idiotic naturekinds-only club, I would’ve been paying better attention.

But once again, I managed to restrain myself. I even got lucky as class ended before I had to go through the Gauntlet again. I quickly changed out of my gym clothes, doing my best to dodge Selene’s probing questions into my bad mood.

“Come on, Dusty,” she said, hands on hips. “What’s bothering you? You must be really upset to have gotten hit by that bat. You haven’t done anything that clumsy in a long time. You’ve gotten really good.”

I tried to roll my eyes, then wished I hadn’t as a fresh spurt of pain shot down the right side of my face. “You’re wrong there. I’m as bad as ever at this magic business.”

“Yeah, right. So what’s up?”

I could tell by the firmness in Selene’s tone that she wasn’t going to drop it.

“Okay,” I said, gingerly pulling my shirt down over my head. And then I told her what had happened with Oliver. I braced for an explosion. She was darkkind, too, and bound to be just as upset about the discrimination.

But Selene didn’t explode. Instead a sad, almost haunted look rose to her face, and she sat down on the bench across from me with an audible sigh. “That really sucks. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t seem surprised.”

She sighed again. “Well, stuff like that’s been happening for ages among magickind.”

I swallowed, knowing she was right but hating it just the same. It was so stupid—excluding people just because they were different.

“But don’t let it bother you,” Selene said. “For what it’s worth I doubt it’s personal to you, and really, who cares what they think? We both know you’re awesome.” She beamed at me, and I felt a flush of gratitude, lifting my spirits.

Selene and I finished getting dressed in silence then I headed off to detention.

Despite Selene’s pep talk, my thoughts remained unpleasant company as I climbed the winding staircase to the third floor. The door into Room 337 stood open, and I went in, forgetting to knock. I froze at the sight of the familiar room. I hadn’t recognized the number, but of course it made sense. There was the large desk, cluttered with books and papers. There were the shelves full of strange items, the spyglass and the wooden compass with the endlessly spinning needle. Even the smell was the same, something spicy, like an old man’s cologne.

This had been Marrow’s office. But all of his things should’ve been removed. What was the senate playing at, leaving this stuff here? It could be dangerous. It could be connected to him.

My pulse quickened, and I contemplated making a mad dash out of here, but the room was empty and curiosity got the best of me. With my imagination working on overdrive, I stepped into the office and started pulling the books back on the shelf one by one, checking for a latch to a secret chamber. It might’ve seemed stupid, a cliché right out of a B horror movie, but it was definitely possible. Especially here. At Arkwell. During my detention with Ms. Hardwick, I’d learned the location of several secret passageways and hidden rooms on campus.

As I moved along, checking book after book, I realized that this was Monmouth Tower. A tower like the one in my dreams. What if there was a connection?

You’re being paranoid, Dusty.

Better paranoid than taken by surprise like last time.

A familiar, gravel-filled voice spoke from behind me. “Just what are you doing, Miss Everhart?”

I spun around so hard that I knocked a row of books from the shelf. The loud crash as they fell made me jump. Then I let out a scream.

Marrow stood in the doorway.