Page 45 of Shattered Stars
Rhi
It takessome convincing before Winnie agrees to the plan. Despite being desperate to go, she’s wary about the cloaker and whether it will work, especially as it’s the first time we’ve used it. I realize that if Winnie is nervous about me going to the Warehouse, the man in black and Stone will be positively neurotic. There’s no way they’d agree to letting me go. But like Ellie said, this is a rite of passage. I’m not going to let assholes like the chancellor and Renzo Barone stop me from living my life.
I study the instructions Ellie’s sent me on my cell and with Winnie, practice using the cloaker. It takes us a few attempts to nail the spell that ignites the charm, but once we do we see just how powerful it is, Winnie disappearing in front of my eyes, even though I can still hear her breathing – and I definitely feel her when she pinches my arm.
“Hey,” I say.
She giggles, coming back into view as she takes the necklace off and hangs it around my neck.
“I wonder if the person who attacked me in the woods, who fought the werebeast off, was wearing one of these,” I say, fiddling with the locket.
“Perhaps,” Winnie says.
I look up at her. “So you’re happy for us to go?”
She chews on her lip. “I still have a bad feeling about this …”
“What’s the worst that can happen?” I say, grinning.
She gives me a hard stare. “Don’t even … but yeah, let’s go. My curiosity is totally trumping my caution.”
“Mine too,” I say.
We spend the next few minutes getting ready, although, as no one is actually going to see me apart from Winnie, Trent and possibly Ellie, I don’t put in an amazing amount of effort with my hair and makeup. I braid my hair over my shoulder, add a little mascara and pull on some of the new clothes from the man in black.
Trent knocks soon after and we explain to him about the cloaker and how it works.
“So to everyone else,” he says, scratching his head through his beanie, “it’s going to look like just me and Winnie out on a date. They won’t be able to see Rhi.”
“That’s right.”
“You realize it’s going to be packed?” he says. “You might end up trodden on, or squashed or something.”
“I’ll be fine.”
Trent shrugs and we walk across campus, waiting at the bus stop for a ride. There’s already a long line and we don’t make it onto the first rammed bus, having to wait for the next one.
“What time is the fight?” I whisper into Winnie’s ear as we squeeze onto the next bus and Winnie and Trent grab seats. This bus is as rammed as the last, and standing around invisible has everyone barging into me. To save myself from being squashed to death, I sit on Winnie’s lap.
“It’s not like that,” she says, as if talking to Trent. “There is no fixed time.”
The bus ride into town is incredibly uncomfortable, although more so for poor Winnie than me, and I wonder if Trent was right about the practicalities of this. I consider catching the bus back to the academy but the buzz of conversation around me is infectious. I start to feel excited and even more curious. I’ve seen just how good a fighter Spencer is out there on the dueling pitch. There he was restricted by rules and regulations. What will he be like when he’s completely unbound? Free to fight as he wants?
However, when the bus pulls up in the docklands and everyone piles off, I’m hit by my first serious case of nerves. This was the place Andrew led me to. Where Barone nearly killed me. Where I nearly died. Even surrounded by people, all jabbering away, laughing and shouting, there’s an eerie feel to the place – sea mist hovering above the sidewalk and the distant ships groaning on the water.
I take Winnie’s hand in mine. I don’t want to be separated from her, not here.
“Are you all right, Rhi?” she whispers, probably feeling the way my arm is shaking.
“Yeah, this place just gives me the creeps.”
“Really? I love it.”
That’s because as well as all those sappy romcoms Winnie enjoys watching, she also has a weird penchant for horrors.
We follow the crowd, arriving outside a large warehouse, black against the city’s glow. There’s a line to get in and I scan the people, looking for Ellie. She isn’t there and neither is Spencer, Tristan or any of the bouncing bunnies. They either got here early or their VIP status allows them to bypass the line. Probably the latter. I huff and pull my jacket more tightly around me. The weather has turned nippy, especially out herenear the water, the salty air cold against my face. Winnie leans into Trent’s embrace and we wait as the line shuffles forward.
The entrance is flanked by five large, armed men who glare at Winnie and Trent and insist on patting them down and asking for their names. I hold my breath, especially when one of the men looks right at me, his brow crinkling. He takes a step forward, eyes scanning in my direction, and I begin to feel light-headed.
