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A few minutes later, Alex found herself staring in awe at the intimidating structure in front of her. The aptly named Arena was a mammoth colosseum-like construction that looked as if it was straight out of the gladiator era.

Seriously, what was with this school?

Jordan and Bear had to physically pull her forward as they rounded the hill leading to the magnificent site. Alex couldn’t deny that the view was spectacular, but she wasn’t able to appreciate it fully since she was too distracted by her fear of what went on inside those sandstone walls.

“You’ll be okay,” Bear said, seeing the queasy look on her face. “Karter might be a piece of work, but he knows what he’s doing. He won’t let you die, not on your first day.”

Jordan nodded his agreement. For some reason they both seemed to think those were reassuring words.

“Thanks, guys,” she said, to keep them from saying anything else ‘encouraging’. “I’ll—uh—hopefully see you later.”

She tried to muster up a smile, but it probably looked more like a grimace.

Jordan clapped her on the shoulder and Bear gave her the thumbs-up, then they both took off for their Delta Archery class.

Alex forced herself to move forward and she soon discovered that the inside of the Arena was almost as magnificent as the outside. There was no roof, instead the thick walls stretched straight up to the sky. Dotted around the sandstone perimeter were archways that led into large, sheltered rooms. For some reason, Alex doubted they were used for wet-weather classes.

“You lost, Jennings?”

Karter was scowling at her from halfway across the Arena. Once again he was dressed in his weird leather ensemble, the sword still belted to his waist.

Alex counted five other students stretching on the ground near him, all of them male. She held her head high as she walked over to the small group, trying to ignore the feeling of her feet sinking into the dark, sand-like powder that covered the entire floor of the Arena.

“No, sir,” she said as she approached. “I’m in this class.”

Karter looked at her incredulously before he threw his head back and burst out laughing. A few of the others in the class also snickered at her words. She frowned and dug her timetable out of her pocket, shoving it under Karter’s nose. His eyes widened as he read the slip of paper and his laughter ceased.

“This is a joke, right? There’s no wayyou”—he made it sound like there was something wrong with her—“could be in this class.”

Alex just shrugged. She wasn’t about to argue with him since she felt the same way. Stupid lollipop.

“What an…interestingturn of events,” Karter hissed. His formidable arm muscles were flexed in tension and the veins in his neck looked like they were about to pop right out of his skin.

Alex swallowed nervously but held her ground.

“All right, then,” he said, eyeing her thoughtfully. There was a dangerous glint in his icy gaze. “Let’s see how this plays out.”

Seven

Alex woke a few hourslater to the sound of drums banging inside her head. She winced as she reached back and felt the egg-shaped bump just behind her ear.

“Twice in one day,” came a familiar voice. “Lucky me.”

“Fletcher?” she asked, confused. She tried to sit up but the room swam around her and she was forced to lie back down again. “Eugh,” she groaned.

“Easy there, Alex. You’ve got quite the concussion.” Fletcher walked into view, clipboard in hand once more. He pulled out his flashlight and aimed it into her eyes, just like he had earlier in the day. She ducked away from the beam, squinting from the pain caused by the bright light.

“Sorry about that.” He scribbled onto his clipboard. “Just had to check.”

She started to nod but stopped when it felt like a knife was stabbing into her brain.

“What happened?” she asked, trying to ignore the throbbing.

“Why don’t you tell me what you remember?”

Alex thought back over the afternoon’s events. After Karter had agreed to let her stay in the class, he’d ordered her to stretch before pairing everyone up. She’d been partnered with Declan Stirling, a hulk of a boy easily twice her size.

Karter had instructed them to spar with each other, practising ‘easy’ hand-to-hand combat and progressing to harder levels of difficulty.