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Oh, they were insomuch trouble.

Twelve

Fear quickly overtook Alex whenshe saw the Hunter man standing near the door and staring straight at their ‘invisible’ faces.

“I believe it’s time for you three to return to your class,” he said, before he opened the door to the headmaster’s office and slipped quietly inside.

Alex didn’t know if her knees would be able to hold her up much longer, shaking as much as they were. She had only a second to take in her friends’ equally shocked expressions before Jordan yanked on her hand, pulling her forcefully after him. She barely felt the sucking sensation as they moved through the wall, and then they were sprinting off down the staircase, intent on getting as far away as possible.

The Lockdown must have deactivated while they’d been snooping, since the corridor outside the antechamber was no longer filled with darkness. Knowing that all the teaching staff were in conference upstairs, Alex let go of Jordan’s hand so they could move easier and faster down the Tower staircase.

Only when all three of them had sprinted the entire way back to Gen-Sec did they stop and gasp for breath.

“That was intense!” Jordan said, exhaling with a laugh.

“Whowasthat man?” Alex asked, panting. “And how did he know we were there? He was staring at us practically the whole time!”

“That was Hunter,” Bear said, also trying to catch his breath. “Some people call him ‘Ghost’ since you never know where he is or what he’s doing unless he wants you to know.”

“He’s brilliant,” Jordan added. “We’ll hopefully have him next year for Stealth and Subterfuge. I can’t wait. Bear and I have been counting down ever since we first heard about his class.”

Alex shuddered at the idea of having that man as a teacher. “Why next year?”

“SAS is restricted to fourth years and up,” Jordan explained. “Even then it’s very exclusive, since Hunter only picks a handful of students who he thinks will be worth his time.”

That was good news for Alex. It was unlikely she would still be in Medora for the next school year, but even if she was, she couldn’t think of any reason why Hunter would consider her to be ‘worth his time’.

“But how did he know we were there?”

“Not much gets past Hunter,” Jordan said. “He probably heard us breathing or something.”

“From across the room?” Alex asked in disbelief.

“If there’s one thing you need to remember about Hunter,” Bear said, “it’s this: never underestimate him.”

“Is that so,Barnold?” Alex couldn’t help it. Despite the seriousness of their conversation, teasing Bear about his name was just too good of an opportunity to pass up.

“Uh, yeah, about that…” He pulled the collar of his shirt awkwardly. “I really do prefer Bear.”

Jordan snorted. “So would anyone whose parents had named them Barnold.”

Bear didn’t seem bothered by the ribbing. “At least I came with a ready-made nickname.”

“What do you mean?” Alex asked.

“My full name is Barnold Eustace Arthur Ronnigan,” he explained. “B-E-A-R.”

Alex cocked her head to the side. “That works well.”

“I don’t know about you guys,” Jordan interjected, “but I think we should take Hunter’s advice and get inside before Luranda comes back.”

Alex and Bear agreed, knowing that with the professor at the meeting, the danger of being caught had lessened significantly. Well, caught again. Alex still wasn’t sure why Hunter hadn’t punished them when they had to have broken a heap of school rules.

As she followed her friends up the now lit but still empty corridors, Alex was painfully reminded of her aching chest. During the adrenaline-filled Lockdown she’d managed to forget all about her near-drowning in the lake, but now her body was screaming in discomfort. She hadn’t exactly been taking it easy, what with falling out of a building and running all over the campus. If anything, she’d probably done more damage to herself.

By the time they reached their lab room, Alex was taking shallow breaths and trying to resist the urge to cough. While she wanted to ease the pain, she knew coughing would only make it worse; especially now that her sore throat had also returned with a vengeance.

“How do we get back in there?” she asked, wincing as her voice caught on the words.