Page 63 of Jinxed

He’s gone.

THE OTHER BAKUS LEAP INTO ACTION around me. But it barely lasts a moment before a whistle blows, and everything comes to a grinding halt.

The teacher who blows the whistle isn’t Mr Baird, but DrGrant. ‘BATTLERS, HALT!’ she cries out to us. The other participants look at each other in confusion, their bakus frozen in place, while the crowd’s mood shifts from frenzied to annoyed.

Tobias is first to realize the problem. ‘Where’s Jinx, Lacey?’ he calls out to me from his spot.

The place where Jinx is supposed to be is empty. My heartbeat pounds in my ears. ‘I... I don’t know.’

Dr Grant’svoice rises above the crowd. ‘Miss Chu, your baku needs to be in play, or else we will have to suspend the entire tournament. All bakus must be present and accounted for, and all teams must have at least one baku in the arena.’ I don’t know where Jinx is.

I don’t know what could have happened to him.And where’s Mr Baird?This was a mistake. I should never have left Jinx alone. Panic rises inmy chest, but I also see an opportunity. ‘Disqualify me, then,’ I say quickly. My eyes scan the crowd and I see Jake’s face fall at my words, then cloud over with annoyance. I’m going to lose yet another friend, but in this moment, I don’t care. ‘I forfeit my points and my place in the competition. The other teams can battle for the internship.’ I hate how squeaky and desperate my voice sounds, butI’ve seen a way to end this agony and I’m going to take it.

‘Yeah, let her quit!’ says Gemma from her teambox, gleeful in witnessing what she thinks might end up being my downfall. I wince at the word ‘quit’, but it’s true – I want out. I want out and to go back to being the freshman, a teammate, the mechanic behind the scenes. Not a captain.

And I want to find Jinx.

Then I want to go homeand explain everything to Mom and Zora. They will help me figure out a solution.

Dr Grant shakes her head. ‘There won’t be any quitting. The rules are clear. Captains must participate once they’ve signed up. The battle will resume tomorrow. If your baku does not appear again, then the punishment will be a week-long suspension from school – and we will be forced to review your place at Profectus.’

Tears prick my eyes. Suspension, and possible expulsion.

But it’s not the dread of being kicked out of school that’s worrying me.Where are you, Jinx?

I scan the remaining players, all glaring at me – except Tobias, who refuses to make eye contact – but I can barely see straight. The floor beneath my feet vibrates, and one by one we’re taken back down into the holding pit. The groans and boosfrom the crowd – who were expecting an exciting battle – follow me down. I think I even get hit with someone’s balled up popcorn wrapper.

My mind is racing too fast to care.What has happened to Jinx?I hope that he’s run off and hidden somewhere. But my gut is telling me that something else has happened.

As soon as my feet touch the ground, Tobias shoulders past me. ‘Great, now we have to dothis whole charade over again. Come on, Aero,’ he mutters to his baku. ‘Let’s go train. Might as well do something productive out of this wasted evening.’

‘Thanks, Lacey,’ says Gemma, who bursts into the team room to meet Kayla, sarcasm dripping off her every word. ‘Why are you just trying to drag out the inevitable? You’re going to lose, that little machine you love so much is going to get destroyed,and that’s it. Game over.’

‘There’s more to life than just Baku Battles, Gemma,’ I snap back.

She stares at me, then shakes her head. ‘You had so much potential. I thought you were going to be one of the good ones, one of the ones who didn’t get swept away by sentimentality. Looks like you’re the same as everyone else.’

She and Kayla leave the room, and I’m alone.

Jinx?

There’s no response.Nothing from him whatsoever. I touch the spot on the stand where I last placed Jinx. There are no clues as to where he might have gone.

The panic that I had been suppressing rises now. I’d been relying on the fact that this is something Jinx sometimes does. He runs away. He disappears on me. But he always comes back.

What if this time he doesn’t?

What if now you are alone?

That can’t be thecase.

There’s only one thing that could have happened.He’s been taken.

I run from the room, straight into the back of Dr Grant. ‘Where is Mr Baird?’ I ask.

She frowns and clucks her tongue against the roof of her mouth. ‘He’s been fired.’

The colour drains from my face. ‘What?’

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