Traitor (Creepy Hollow, #3) (3 page)

My thoughts turn immediately to Nate. I still don’t know what to think of him almost blurting out the big-deal L-word last night. How can he think he loves me already? He’s only known me a few weeks. I try to examine my own feelings on the matter. I know I care about Nate, but I’m pretty sure I don’t love him. Not yet. Do I? Maybe I do. Maybe being terrified that I’d lost him in the labyrinth means I love him. Would I do absolutely anything for him, just as he said he would for me? Would I . . . I don’t know,
die
for him?

Ugh!
Feelings suck!

I
stomp to a halt, pull my long-sleeved top off, and stretch my legs a little. I refuse to worry about Nate anymore. I begin running again, ramping up the speed with a flick of my hand. Faster. Faster. Faster still. I push myself until my legs burn and my breath scorches my throat, at which point a tiny voice in the back of my mind reminds me how monumentally stupid I’d look if I tripped right now.
Good point
. I slow down.

I glance over my shoulder to check what’s going on around me.
Aria and Jasmine are now shooting arrows at what looks like a stuffed version of their least favorite mentor; Rush and Asami are racing each other on the running rectangles beside me; the rest of my classmates are spread out doing various training maneuvers around the hall.

I’m about to turn my head back when I notice Ryn striding toward a nearby mat to join his friend Dale. Trying to be subtle about it, I wave my hand past my sound drops, turning the music off in time to hear Dale say, “Dude, you’re late. We’re supposed to be beating each other up with sticks or something.”

Ryn drops his bag beside his friend’s.
“Whatever. I got held up at my father’s.”

Hmm, that’s not what I saw in the foyer.
I slow down a little more so I can hear over the pounding of my feet. I don’t normally listen in on Ryn’s conversations, but I want to know if he’s told his friends he saw me with Nate. I know he hasn’t told Tora; she would have interrogated me immediately.

“
So, did you make an excuse for me?” asks Ryn.

“
Nah. Rowan’s the mentor in charge today. You know how chilled he is; I doubt he even noticed you were late.”

“
So what’s the big deal, then?”

From the corner of my eye, I see Dale shrug. “Nothing. I just don’t like standing alone on this mat looking like an
idiot waiting for my first session partner to show up.”

Ryn shakes his head. “Dude, you need to stop being such a girl.”

“
Hey, I just—”

“
Morning, boys.”
Aria’s sing-song voice interrupts Dale as she and Jasmine saunter over. Jasmine’s already let go of her bow and arrow, but Aria waits until she’s standing beside Ryn and Dale before gracefully stretching her arm out and watching her weapon disappear with a sparkle. Perhaps the boys are meant to find that attractive. I don’t know. She just looks stupid to me.

Ignoring
them both, Ryn sits down on the mat and pulls his shoes off.

“
So you guys missed the party at my house on Saturday,” says Jasmine with a pretend pout. “It was epic. My parents were away on assignment.”

I focus my attention
on the wall in front of me and consider turning my music back on. I’m in danger of falling asleep listening to their inane conversation.

“Some of us had better things to do,” mutters Ryn.

“
Well, well,” says Aria, before Jasmine can respond to Ryn’s taunt. “Look who’s back from the land of the disgraced.” The muscles in my neck stiffen. I know without a doubt she’s talking about me. I concentrate on keeping my head forward and my pace steady. I will not let them know I can hear them.

Ryn snorts
as he stands. “Right. More like the land of Poisyn.”

Silence
follows Ryn’s statement. I flick my eyes to the side; his friends’ mouths are hanging open. Eventually Dale speaks. “She was at Poisyn?”

“
You
were at Poisyn?” demands Aria. “What were you doing Underground, Ryn? You could have been killed if anyone down there had found out you’re with the Guild.”

“
And how exactly would they have found that out, Aria?”

“
I don’t know. Those Undergrounders have their evil ways. And stop avoiding the question. What were you doing down there?”

Ryn steps closer to her, leaning toward her ear as though to share a secret. Gently, he places a hand on her cheek and says,
“It’s funny how you think I’d actually tell you my business.”

She swats his hand away.
“You’re such as ass, Ryn. It’s a wonder there are any people left who like you.”

“
Oh, I don’t think there’s
anyone
left who likes me,” says Ryn. “But being an ass seems, oddly enough, to attract people. Look at you, for example. I’ve been an ass to you for years, and yet here you are. Still hanging around.”

Aria flips her hair over her shoulder
and marches back to the target area. After a moment’s hesitation, Jasmine follows her.

“
I don’t believe you,” says Dale.
He glances over at me, and I quickly point my gaze forward once more. “Little Miss Perfect would never go Underground, especially to a place like Poisyn.”

Ryn laughs as he kicks his bag and shoes off the mat.
“There are many things you don’t know about Miss Perfect Pixie Sticks, Dale. Like the kind of company she keeps, for starters. And her complete disregard for the Law.”

Anger flares
hot within me.

“Come on, let’s fight,” says Ryn before Dale can ask any questions. “This session’s almost over.”

*

I push myself for another furious fifteen minutes before bringing the running rectangle to a stop.
I sit down, pull a towel from my bag, and wipe it across my face and neck. People like Aria and Jasmine use spells to dry themselves off; I don’t see the point in wasting energy.

“
Vi, you’re back!” I look up to see Honey limping across the hall toward me. Honey and I might actually be called friends if it wasn’t for the fact that I’m always too busy with extra assignments, and she’s always too busy with her Seer-in-training boyfriend.

“
Yeah, my return couldn’t come fast enough.” I remove my sound drops and gesture toward her leg. “What happened to you?”

She lets her bag slip off her shoulder and onto the floor.
“Ugh, I tripped over Nigel.”

“Nigel?”

“Yeah, you know, the stray vine that always sneaks down the second floor corridor?”

I raise both eyebrows. “You named the vine?”

“
I
didn’t. It was that guy who visited last week, the one from the London Guild Council.” She sits down, loops her straight blonde and blue hair behind her ears, and pulls the shoe off her injured foot. “Anyway, the name seems to have stuck.”

“
Great,” I mutter as I search inside my bag for a bottle of water. “Not only did I miss a week of assignments, I also missed the visit of some important Council person.”

“
He was boring,” says Honey. “And what are you worried about missing assignments for? You’re probably still miles ahead of everyone else in the rankings.”

“
Not Ryn.”

“
You can’t know that for sure.”
Frost appears on her fingers, and she wraps her ice-cold hands carefully around her ankle. “The rankings are secret from now until graduation. And we’ve still got a few more assignments—plus the big final—before then. I’m sure you’ll still come top.”

“
Thanks, Honey.” It seems weird to me that she doesn’t really care where
she
stands in the rankings. But Honey’s always been like that, not really bothered by points. I look down at her hands; the layer of frost is thick now. “How’s your ankle doing?”

She rotates it.
“I can feel it healing, but it’ll take about another half hour.” She hesitates. “So, uh, I spoke to Rowan when I came in. He asked me to swap with Dale for the second session.” She makes a face. “Sorry about that.”

Great. A one-on-one in the Fish Bowl with the biggest guy in our class.
But all I say is, “No problem. I can take him.”

C
HAPTER
T
HREE

The Fish Bowl is an enormous orb that shimmers in the far corner of the Training Center. It had another name once, but it’s been called the Fish Bowl for so long that not even the mentors can remember the original name. Several trainees have already gathered at the edges of the opaque orb, waiting to stick their heads inside to watch my session with Dale. They’re supposed to be doing their own training, of course, but mentors always seem to turn a blind eye when it comes to fifth years.

On either side of
the orb is a tower that stretches almost to the ceiling. I head for the tower on the right. Two figures sit at the very top, their legs dangling over the side. I recognize them from their hair color: blue and blonde is Hank, one of the Training Center designers; pink and brown is Tina, a mentor.

“
So you’re today’s setting designer?” I call up to Hank.

He leans over and looks down.
“Sure am.” He winks. “Hope you enjoy it.”

“Enjoy it?” I cross my arms. “The last setting you designed gave me a broken arm.”

Even from down here, I can see the mischief in his eyes. “It’s not my fault you fell off the swinging trapeze.”

The swinging trapeze. Now
that
was fun.

“
You nearly ready?” Tina asks. I nod and step onto the starting plate. Tina gets up and walks across the beam that joins the two towers, presumably to check whether Dale is waiting on the other side. I look around. It could be my imagination, but every trainee I make eye contact with seems to give me some kind of self-satisfied smirk. I bet they all love the fact that I, the supposedly perfect trainee, was suspended for a week.

Well, I’ll just have to show them I still plan to be number one. I close my eyes and rub my hands together.
I can do this.
Breathe in.
I can take down a guy more than double my size.
Breathe out.

“
Opponents ready?” My eyelids spring apart at the sound of Tina’s shout. She stands in the center of the beam, her legs slightly apart. She raises her stylus above her head. I tense. Sparks explode from the tip, and “Go!”

I run at
the shimmering wall of the orb. It gives way, ghostly white tendrils wrapping around me as I pass through—and then I’m inside. I stop and look around, taking it all in as quickly as I can. An abandoned warehouse. Scaffolding to climb. Bars to swing from. Planks to balance on.

A roar from the other side of the warehouse attracts my attention. It’s Dale, barreling straight toward me without bothering to take a look at his surroundings. It’s remarkable how much he reminds me of the goblin I fought last night. I stand still, waiting for him to get closer. And closer. At the last second, I jump aside and grab hold of a metal chain. I scramble up it. Dale tugs the chain to the side, and I almost lose my grip as it swings wildly about.

I keep climbing. As soon as I’m level with a wooden platform, I jump onto it. The whole thing shudders as Dale throws his weight at it. I lose my balance. I fall, but manage to catch onto a metal bar. I swing, let go, and land on Dale’s shoulders. He topples to the ground, taking me with him. His breath escapes him in a grunt as he hits the ground. My head smacks concrete, and for a second I feel dazed. The transparent top of the Fish Bowl swims before my eyes.

I blink and sit up. I twist Dale’s head sharply to the side with my knees, but he’s too strong for me to do any real damage. I kick his face as he lashes out with a broken pipe. The sharp end slices across my arm.