Page 18 of Cry of the Damned
“Don’tmakeanysuddenmoves,” I said to Ila and Bethel.
Sitting under the shade of the big oak tree and being a distance away from them had kept Zoe and the apprentice from noticing us.
“What is it?” Bethel hissed under her breath.
“That girl, Zoe,” I whispered. “She’s here, and you won’t believe this, but she’s meeting someone from the Academy.”
They both turned to look very slowly as Zoe dropped her backpack at the foot of a tree and furtively made her way into the alley. As she got there, she went straight into the apprentice’s arms.
“Love will break all barriers,” Bethel said as Zoe and the apprentice began to kiss.
As they pulled apart, the lovers spoke animatedly, gesturing with their hands and looking as if they were discussing something important.
“I need to hear what they’re saying,” I said, feeling I might be able to learn something important. “Wait here.”
Slowly, I rose to my feet and walked around the oak tree. From there, I hurried along the edge of the park, staying out of Zoe and the apprentice’s line of sight. A moment later, I was edging along the wall of one of the buildings that made up the alley. I moved as close as I dared and tuned in my sharp ears to their conversation.
“… can’t keep going like this,” Zoe was saying.
“I know,” the apprentice responded, his voice sounding familiar to me.
“Let’s leave now, Rob. Please,” she pleaded.
Rob!
This was Rob Arcanus. I knew him. He had been my peer and was selected to be an apprentice the night my eyes were opened to the horrors of the Lux Academy.
“I can’t. Something’s going on, and I need to learn more.”
“But it’s too dangerous. You said one of your friends is dead. What if you’re next?”
Dead?!
Who were they talking about? Very possibly Val. I had killed him. My heart still shriveled every time I thought about it, but he’d left me no other choice.
“I know,” Rob said, “but this is big, Zoe. Too big to ignore, and whatever else is wrong with the Academy, they didn’t raise me to be a coward.”
Zoe sighed. It seemed clear to me that they’d had a similar conversation before, and she was tired of begging him to be sensible.
As they talked about how much they’d missed each other and how empty their days had felt during the past week, I stood with my back pressed against the wall, my mind whirling with possibilities. Across the park, Ila and Bethel still sat by the oak tree, well hidden under the shadows of its thick branches. They kept glancing in my direction, and I could feel Ila’s anxiety even from this distance.
It wasn’t long before Rob said, “I have to go.”
“I know,” Zoe replied.
There were kissing noises, then Zoe’s steps as she exited the alley. She walked out without noticing me. I silently prayed for her to keep going and not glance back. I was lucky. Before she reached her backpack, I rushed into the alley ready to face Rob, but he had walked away and was about to exit through the other end.
I ran on the tips of my toes, moving as silently as I could.
When I was almost there, Rob stopped and began to turn, but I was there before he could. Swiftly, I wrapped an arm around his neck, pressed a hand to his mouth, and dragged him back into the depths of the alley. He struggled, kicking and making muffled sounds under my hand.
“Don’t fight me,” I hissed in his ear. “It’s me. Jaz!”
I hated to use that name again, but I hoped it would be enough to get Rob to settle down. At first, he kept struggling, but as my words seemed to sink in, he offered less opposition.
Arms burning from strain, I dropped him on his ass, walked around, and got right in his face. “See, it’s me Jazmin Bronte.”
His brown eyes went so wide that white showed all around them. They appeared stark against his mahogany skin.
