Breed of Havoc (The Breed Chronicles #3) (20 page)

To my surprise, everyone actually did stay quiet. A few people whispered, but I think the majority were too busy imagining what kind of course we were actually going to be running.

It took twenty minutes for the first groups to finish, then another twenty for the second two pairs. To my disappointment, Linc was paired with someone else. I couldn’t fight the frown or the sinking sensation in my stomach. That meant I’d probably get stuck with someone who didn’t like me. My odds hadn’t been great before Linc’d been called, but at least until the moment his name left Mrs. Fletcher’s lips, I’d had at least
some
hope.

Tasha and Chris were up next. I tried not to be bitter that they were together, since it was safer for everyone that way. She still looked sick, but at least she wasn’t hyperventilating anymore. But she still mouthed ‘blindfolded’ again as she walked by me. I fought a smile.

When she and Chris came back down after their twenty-minute run, they walked over. “So,” I said, “any deaths to report?”

“She was magnificent,” Chris said, grinning ear-to-ear. “She—”

Mrs. Fletcher fixed him with a hard look. “Mr. Stevens?”

“Sorry. I wasn’t telling her about the course.”

She nodded, then called four more names. One of those names was mine. Another was Eric’s. I cringed inwardly—and probably outwardly, too. She didn’t explain things there, like she had with the others. Instead, she had us follow her up a bit, until we were between the first and second floors. “Go on. Wait for me up there,” she told the other two, staying behind with me and Eric. When the others were out of earshot, she turned back to us with a stern look on her face. “I know there’s animosity between you two.”

“She’s—”

Mrs. Fletcher held up her hand. “What she is, Mr. Reynolds, is a Prospect, just like you. The bottom line is this: yes, I’m pairing you together intentionally.”

“Why?” Eric bit out.

“Because your other teachers asked me to since you seem to have issues with each other. And because I’ve seen it for myself, though from what I’ve gathered it’s not as bad here. They—and I—want to see that you
can
work together, even if it’s on opposite sides. This might be just a training exercise to you, but working with people you don’t like is sometimes inevitable. As hunters, it’s bound to happen, even if it is rare. You need to work through your issues now, before someone’s—or multiple someone’s—life is on the line.”

“But—”

“It’s not open for debate. I’m not asking you to like each other, Mr. Reynolds,” she snapped. “I’m asking you to act like adults who can function in the same room together. If you can’t, I might just pair you two together for the rest of the Phase. I’m pretty sure your other teachers would follow suit without a problem. In fact, I think they’re already considering it, so maybe that’s something you can take into consideration today.”

My eyes widened at that. They were thinking of putting us together permanently? Did my teachers hate me? I almost asked but didn’t. What I wanted to do was argue and shout at Eric, because this was his fault. I’d never done anything to him. Ever. Hell, I hardly ever said a word to him unless I was forced to (well, that was mostly true). I’d even tried being nice on Halloween, hadn’t I? And what had that gotten me? Nada. Zip. Unless more attitude counted as something.

Instead of arguing or cursing the injustice of it all, I snapped my mouth shut, grit my teeth together, and nodded.

She laid out our plan, then added, “I want a safe run. You both know what you’re supposed to do and what you cannot do. There are cameras recording everything and Agent Burk will be watching over you. This is a serious obstacle course, and it can be dangerous, especially for Jade since she’ll be blindfolded. I don’t want any mistakes and I don’t want any problems. Understood?”

I’d never seen Mrs. Fletcher like this before. She wasn’t nearly as easy-going as Mr. Sheldon (who I suspected was her boyfriend), but she’d always been nice and soft-spoken.

I nodded again. “Got it.” I didn’t like Eric—everyone knew that. But even disliking him didn’t mean I’d do anything to get him hurt or in trouble.

Eric shrugged. “Okay.” He shot me a dirty look as he said it.

She motioned us forward. “Have a good run. You’ve got twenty minutes to accomplish your objective, Jade—or, in your case, Eric, to keep her from accomplishing it.”

I headed up the ramp, keeping a few steps behind Eric. Agent Burk was waiting for us on the third level. He took Eric aside and said something that had Eric’s eyes widening. He glanced at me as Agent Burk handed him a pair of goggles and a shirt. We’d used both before, so I knew the goggles would impair his vision slightly. The shirt was made from some weird material that was supposed to simulate a certain demon’s skin texture and scent. The agent directed Eric away, and as he moved to the opposite side of the room, Agent Burk came back to me.

“Your objective is to find the victim—a mannequin—and avoid the demon. Understood?”

“Got it.”

He tied the blindfold snuggly over my eyes, careful not to yank on my hair. “Ready?”

I nodded and tried not gulping. “Yup.”

“Ready, Eric?”

“Yeah,” came Eric’s echoed reply.

I listened as Agent Burk’s footsteps wandered away and then stopped. I hadn’t been nervous before, but now, blindfolded and in the complete darkness, my heart picked up pace. It wasn’t the obstacle course that worried me so much—it was who I was teamed with. He wouldn’t do anything too stupid, I was sure, because he had to know Greene wouldn’t be happy about it.

But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t do something sneaky.

Cautiously, I put my hands in front of me and stepped forward. I knew the layout of the room because we’d been studying it for the last few months, familiarizing ourselves with it. I basically had a map of it in my mind, but that didn’t help me when I couldn’t
see
anything. I knew where things should be, but still. Knowing a big box was on my left didn’t tell me
how far
to my left. I hadn’t thought to run the course before or count steps, something that might’ve actually helped me.

I cursed when my knee collided with something hard. The darn box, I decided, reaching out and feeling along the lines of it with my hands.

Technically, my objective was pretty simple: get to the ‘victim’ and don’t get caught. Of course, when you added in being blindfolded, having to avoid a ‘demon’ and trying to find said victim, simple turned into difficult. And that was before you brought in the CMs that were scattered around, programmed to attack anything within three feet of it.

Basically, it was the demony equivalent of capture the flag…only in a minefield while blindfolded.

Once I passed the box, I took three more steps before one of the CMs hit me in the shoulder. I jumped to the side and got hit by another CM, this time on the leg.

I muttered, “For crying out loud,” under my breath and paused, letting out a deep breath. Despite having my eyes covered, I closed them anyway and tried focusing on my other senses. If you lost one, your others were supposed to kick into overdrive to compensate, right? I sniffed the air and could smell hints of the demon scent and plastic. In my mind, I could almost picture Eric—and the others—walking this way, leaving behind a trail of the scent.

I concentrated on sounds next. There was a soft hum coming from my left. Slowly, I reached out toward the sound—or where I thought it was coming from—trying to figure out how far it actually was. My fingers brushed against plastic. A CM. I ducked quickly, hoping to avoid another punch, but instead got kicked in the head. I shook it, frowned.
Great, so now I know how to find them, but I can’t predict where they move. That’s…almost helpful.

Eric, if he followed the instructions, would be waiting for me on the opposite side of the floor. His only purpose was to guard the victim, not try to seek me out. He wasn’t as blind as I was, but his vision was still obstructed from the goggles. If I stayed quiet and low to the ground, I had a good chance of avoiding him. Okay, I probably had a good chance of avoiding him until I was near him, but still. I’d take what I could get.

Moving again, I listened for the hum of the CMs so I didn’t get kicked/punched again. They weren’t on full attack mode, so they pulled their punches and kicks a little. Unfortunately, they still made sounds when they moved. Pausing again, I brought up the image of the floor in my head, trying to figure out what I’d run into next and where I had to go. I needed to go straight and to my far left to get to the victim. As I made my way in that direction, I heard the hum again, this time coming from multiple directions. I calculated the CMs distance from one another, their distance from me, and, keeping my hands down at my sides, maneuvered around them. I had to zig, then zag, so by the time I was clear of that round of CMs, I was pretty sure I wasn’t where I needed to be.

The hum was a constant sound in my ears now, but the closest CM was probably at least five feet away. I could smell the demon scent stronger now, closer. And if I listened really closely, I thought I could hear…breathing?

Quietly, I kept moving to my left, ducking or dodging more CMs, trash, and other objects. After another twenty feet, I realized the humming from the CMs was off in the distance.

The air around me shifted. Though I had no idea why, I ducked, and heard Eric swear under his breath. I jumped back, heard him swear again as his feet shuffled on the ground. The hair on my right arm stood on end, so I raised it up in a blocking motion. Half a beat later, I felt Eric’s arm hit mine. I lifted my left arm, then my right leg, as Eric punched and kicked at me. Each time I managed to block a hit.

“How the hell are you doing that?” His breathing was rapid, but I had a feeling it was out of frustration more than from being winded.

“I can…feel you moving,” I answered, though I had no idea if his question had been serious or not. What I’d said hadn’t exactly been the truth, either. At first, I
could
feel his movement, but the longer I focused, the more I could…see him, like a strange shadow of him, though I had no idea how.

He circled around me now, so I did the same, holding up my arms in defense. The demon scent was really strong now, close by. When he didn’t try for another attack, I moved to my left three feet. I could almost
see
the scent in my head, like a glowing spot of purple on a black canvas.

I shuffled to the left, then the right, avoiding more attacks from Eric. Stepping forward again, I laid my hand on the mannequin.

“What the hell are you?” His voice was nearly a whisper, like he was asking himself and not me, so this time I didn’t bother responding.

I was used to him saying crap to me, about being part demon or being a freak, but this was different. His tone sounded confused more than angry or mocking, and that wasn’t normal for him. He sounded scared. He’d tell whoever was listening (as long as there were no teachers or agents around usually) that I was a freak, that I was more demon than human. But this quietness worried me.

Another set of footsteps approached. “What’s going on?” Agent Burk asked.

“She’s doing something weird!”

“I’m not doing anything! You’re trying to hit me! I’m just avoiding it.”

“She’s—I don’t know! Just watch!”

When I felt him move, I dodged to the side, ducked, then jumped up.

“See!” Eric’s voice was almost shrilly now.

“Oh, for crying out loud. I’m sorry if I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing by avoiding being hit!” Though it was more than that—a lot more. “Are we finished? I found the mannequin, so can I take off this blindfold now?” I wanted out of here. Away from Agent Burke and Eric. Away from the looks I knew Eric would be giving me, the looks I wasn’t in the mood to see.

There was a click. “Sure,” Agent Burk said.

I untied the blindfold and held it in my hand as I opened my eyes slowly. Eric and Agent Burk were both looking in my direction, though Eric was the only one gaping, his eyes wide as saucers.

Agent Burk cleared his throat and hurriedly glanced at his watch, like he didn’t want to look at me. “Course completed in… thirteen minutes, twenty-three seconds.”

Eric, still watching me cautiously, flicked a glance at the agent. “What now?”

“Follow me. And stay quiet.”

We did as he asked and followed him back down. Eric may not have said anything verbally, but his looks said plenty without words. I slowed my pace, trying to get behind them to avoid Eric’s stares. It might have worked, but Eric just stared at me over his shoulders, nearly walking into a wall.

We waited away from the others who’d yet to run the course. When Mrs. Fletcher made her way back down with her team, she shot me and Eric both angry stares. She marched up to us. “Problem?”

Agent Burk shook his head. “They completed the course.” But then he pulled her aside and they started talking.

I would have listened in, but now
everyone
was staring at me. Sighing, I shoved my hands in my pockets and tried not looking guilty of…anything. I was pretty sure I failed when Tasha and Linc marched over.

“What’s going on?” Linc asked.

I shrugged helplessly. I had no idea myself. “Don’t know, but I’m pretty sure I just made things worse.”

“Worse? Between you and Eric, you mean?” Tasha shot me a raised-eyebrow you’ve-got-to-be-kidding look. “He’s already a jerk—how much worse can he get?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced in Eric’s direction. Almost immediately, he turned to face me, like he’d sensed we were talking about him or something. He didn’t glare like I expected. Just eyed me weird, which made me feel worse.

“You were saying?” I murmured.

She and Linc both looked his way. “Okay,” Tasha said, nodding, “that is kind of weird.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “What’d you do?”

“Why is it that anytime something goes wrong, someone thinks I’m to blame? I didn’t do anything except what I was supposed to do, which was capture the flag. Or the mannequin. Whatever.” Now they both eyed me with we’re-waiting looks, like they knew there was more to the story. “Oh, fine! He tried to hit me, I ducked. He tried to kick me, I jumped. That’s it.”