The Nightmare Charade by Mindee Arnett

Author:Mindee Arnett
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 9781466800700
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

16

Here Be Dragons

I held off telling Eli about my decision until lunch the next day. He did not take it well.

“Please tell me you’re joking, Dusty,” he said, a fork gripped tight in his hand. I had a feeling he was thinking about stabbing someone with it. Thank goodness Paul wasn’t around.

I took a deep breath, trying not to overreact. I knew he would see reason, once he got past his worry for me. “I’m not. It’s a good plan. And we don’t have a lot of options with the Will Guard breathing down our necks. Sneaking off campus would be impossible without a shape-change necklace.”

“We could get a weekend pass.”

I offered him a patient smile. “We don’t have time. They don’t start approving those until next month.”

“What about the tunnels? Isn’t that how your mom got on campus?” Eli pressed.

“Well, yeah, but we don’t know the way, we don’t have a boat, and even if we managed to get out onto the lake, how do we get to Corvus’s house without a car? It could be miles and miles, and it’s not like there’re cabs on every corner. This is Chickery not New York.”

Eli’s jaw worked back and forth, muscles quivering in his temple, cheek, and neck. “Fine. Then he can give me the shape-change necklace, and I’ll go with Paul to investigate Corvus.”

I shook my head. “Paul already said no to that.”

“He what?” Eli’s expression darkened even more.

I shifted in my seat, completely understanding his reaction but being powerless to change anything. “He doesn’t think it would be a good idea for it to be you and him. You don’t play nice together.”

Eli snorted, the sound dangerous, akin to a wild animal growling. “Just because I don’t like him doesn’t mean I would do something stupid and get us caught.”

“I know that, but I can’t make Paul do something he doesn’t want to.”

Eli grunted. “He’s just looking for an excuse to be alone with you.”

I sighed. “Maybe, but he’s the one taking the biggest risk in all of this. If I get caught it’ll be a slap on the wrist. If he does…”

“I get it.” A grim expression crossed his face. Eli glanced to his right, where Lance was listening in on our argument with palpable interest. Next to me, I suspected the same from Selene, although she was doing a better job at hiding it.

Eli ran a hand over his head. “Can we talk about this outside?” He smiled at the others. “No offense, guys.”

Lance slapped him on the back. “None taken. Wish I could keep every argument private, too. Makes for better making up options afterward.”

Selene shot him a dirty look, but Eli was already standing up, motioning for me to follow.

We dumped our trays and then headed out into the hallway. It was mostly empty, except for a Will Guard standing at the juncture of the nearest hallway. Eli took me by the arm and guided me in the opposite direction, just far enough to

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