It’s not fair, I tell him. It isn’t fair what they’re going to do to you.

His laugh, when it comes, is straight out of a tragedy. “Life isn’t fair, Grace. I thought you’d know that better than most.”

I’m sorry, I tell him as tears slide down my cheeks.

“Don’t be,” he answers. “None of this is your fault.”

The fact that he’s right doesn’t make me feel better. In fact, it only makes me feel worse, even as I reach up and cup Jaxon’s face so he knows that I understand. So he knows that I feel the weight of the world he carries on his shoulders and that I won’t add to it. Not right now. Not over this.

“Fine,” I whisper, even though I know, deep down, that it’s the wrong thing to do. “I’ll go with you. But you have to promise me something in return.”

“Anything,” he answers as his hands tighten on my own.

“If we actually manage to get the heartstone—and survive—you have to promise me that we’ll have this conversation again before we use it. You have to promise me that you’ll give me one more chance to change your mind.”

“You can have as many chances as you want,” Jaxon answers me as he brings my hand to his lips. “I won’t change my mind, but I’ll listen to what you have to say. I’ll always at least listen, Grace.”

It’s not enough. Not close to enough. But it’s all he can give me. So I’ll take it for now and hope for a miracle.

94

Some Days the Glass

Really Is Half

Empty

“I’ve got bad news and more bad news. Which do you want first?” Xavier says the following night as soon as he enters Jaxon’s tower where the rest of us have gathered. Unfortunately, there’s absolutely no levity in his face as he asks.

“Is that even a real question?” Macy rolls her eyes. “If things are that bad, just tell us.”

“Okay, bad news it is, then.” He runs a hand over his face, as if bracing himself to deliver the worst. “I was just making the rounds, checking things out. And there’s absolutely no way we’re getting off campus tonight.”

“What do you mean?” Jaxon demands. “We have to get off campus. We need to find the heartstone tonight, or we won’t be able to free Hudson before the Trials.”

“Yeah, no shit,” Xavier answers. “That’s why I called it bad news.”

“There has to be a way,” Flint says. “The tunnels—”

“I was just down there,” Xavier answers. “They’ve got them closed off, with armed fucking guards standing at every single exit.”

“Armed?” I ask, startled at the image of weapons here at Katmere. “Armed with what?”

“Magic,” Jaxon answers quietly. “It’s all they need.”

“What about the battlements?” Macy asks. “The dragons—and Grace—can fly off the towers—”

“Yeah, they’ve got people up there, too. A lot of them.” Xavier slumps down against the wall and says, “We’re fucked.”

“We can’t be fucked,” Flint says. “We have to do this, so let’s figure it out and get it done.”

“That’s what we’re trying to do, dragon. Do you have any more suggestions, or do you just want to bitch about it?” Mekhi asks.

“I don’t see you with any better suggestions, vampire. And I was just trying to make a point.”

Mekhi snorts. “The point has already been made. So either put up or shut up. We don’t have time for any more shit.”

Flint holds a hand to his ear, pretends to listen really hard. “And what’s your plan again?”

“Can you give us the rest of the bad news?” I ask, hoping to break up the insult trading before we have an all-out brawl on Jaxon’s floor.

“What do you mean?” asks Eden from where she’s sprawled across the end of the couch.

“Xavier said he had bad news and more bad news.” The room goes silent as we all look at him. “So what other bad news is there?” I ask a second time.

“Oh, I heard the Circle called for champions to play in their stead, some of the fiercest warriors in the world, but your uncle Finn threw down. Said if Cyrus had the balls to accept a challenge, then he could damn well fight himself.”

The churning in my stomach rises tenfold. I groan. “That’s not just more bad news. That’s awful, horrible, we’re-all-gonna-die news.”

Xavier grins now. “Oh, sorry, no, that’s not the bad news. Apparently the king is scared shitless to meet Jaxon on the field—for good reason—so he still insisted on champions. And your uncle agreed…but they have to be Katmere students.”

Okay, yeah, that’s pretty bad news. I don’t want to fight for my life against other teens. But at least we won’t be facing off against Jaxon’s parents. Or Flint’s mom, who is a complete badass.

“So who did he pick?” Jaxon asks, and he sounds as grim as I feel.

“Cole was the first to agree,” he answers, “and he’s out for blood…of course.”

My stomach drops. Why is it always Cole? I’ve never done anything to that jerk, at least not intentionally, and he’s been gunning for me from the moment I got here. I’ve never really wished ill on anyone before—except Lia when she was trying to murder me—but I am really sad I stopped Jaxon from finishing Cole off when he had the chance.

Jaxon shakes his head and looks disgusted, and I’m about 99 percent positive he’s having the exact same thoughts I am.

But all he asks is, “Who else?”

“He’s picked Marc and Quinn as his additional wolves. And—”

“That’s three wolves,” Mekhi interrupts. “Why does he get three of them on the team?”

Xavier looks at him like he’s not paying attention. “Do you know any vamps in the school who think it’s a good idea to be on a team whose sole purpose is to let the king take Grace back to his dungeon, thereby separating Jaxon Vega and his mate?”

“Fair point,” Mekhi agrees.

“What about the witches?” Macy asks, fingers nervously twisting the bottom of her sweater.

“From what I hear, it’s going to be Simone and Cam, for sure. No one knows if it’s going to be the witches or the dragons who have a third player, too, so the rumors are flying.”

“I knew it!” Macy throws out a hand, and an entire row of books falls off the nearest bookshelf. “The traitor! When I get through with him, he’s going to have lice and acne and a serious case of the bubonic plague! He’s such a douche. I knew he was pissed when we broke up, but this is seriously gross behavior.”

“The dragons are just as bad,” Xavier continues. “The two definites are Joaquin and Delphina.”

“Delphina, really?” Flint looks a little sick at the thought, which makes my already shaky stomach just flat-out revolt. If it does one more somersault, I swear I’m going to throw up, right here in the middle of our meeting. I don’t know who Delphina is, but if she can make Flint look like that, I’m perfectly happy never meeting her.

“And the hits just keep on coming,” Eden growls. “Can we get back to the more pressing issue at hand, though? How on earth are we going to get out of Katmere if they have all the exits blocked?”

“There has to be a way out they don’t have covered,” I say. “There has to be.”

“If so, I don’t know what it is,” Xavier answers.

“Well then, what’s even the point of going to school in a magic castle?” I complain, throwing up my hands.

“There’s nothing actually ‘magic’ about the castle itself,” Jaxon says in a voice meant to calm me down. “Just the people in—”

“Actually, that’s not technically true right now,” Macy says, sitting up like her hair is suddenly on fire. “Oh my God, I think I know what to do!”

95

Second Star to the

Right and Straight

On Till Siberia

“We’re almost there,” Macy says as we walk single file down the dorm hallway. Flint, Jaxon, and Xavier are talking loudly and joking around, trying to act like it’s totally normal for us to all be wandering the halls together at eleven at night, half of us with backpacks over our shoulders.

It’s a good effort, but the truth is, I think anyone from the Circle who sees the eight of us together is going to know there’s a problem. Which is probably why the rest of us are walking around like we’re scared of our own shadow.

Well, not Eden. She looks like she’s ready to punch anyone who glances at us twice. Then again, the more I’m around her, the more I’m beginning to realize that’s her normal modus operandi.

My stomach is churning, partly from the fear of getting caught, partly from nervousness over the Unkillable Beast, and partly because Hudson has gone radio silent. He’s never quiet, and I know his nerves must be triple mine, ’cause we’re either both going to die or half of who he is will no longer exist after today. I refuse to focus on either outcome.

Still, I’m trying not to show how anxious I am, and I think I must be doing an okay job of it, because Jaxon doesn’t seem any more concerned than usual—and neither does Macy.

“Okay, we’re here,” my cousin says as we stop in front of the yellow door leading to her secret passage. She waves her hand in front of the door and whispers the same spell as last time, and then we’re inside.

It’s just as cool as I remember, with stickers and jewels and scented candles to lead the way. Everyone else seems to think so, too, because—despite the circumstances—there are a lot of oohs and aahs going on.

“I can’t believe you kept this place a secret,” Eden tells her as she stops to examine a sticker that reads, Life’s a Witch, Then You Fly. “It’s amazing.”