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Wonderful.

“You have ninety minutes to follow the instructions you’ve been given,” Hunter called out. “If you’re not back in that time, you’ll have failed your task.”

“What do we do if that happens?” Alex asked.

Hunter looked at her as if the answer was obvious. “You keep going until you’re done. Only when you’ve completed your assignment will you be dismissed.”

Alex had to hold back a groan. She was going to be stuck out there all night, she just knew it. Maybe even longer.

“Off you go,” Hunter said. “And new students, remember what class this is. You won’t have an easy journey.”

As much as she wished it wasn’t true, Alex presumed that was Hunter-code for, ‘I’ve rigged more traps and you’re all going to die’.

Cue: sigh.

“Let’s go, Skyla,” she said, taking charge and heading deeper into the forest.

“Where are you leading us?” Skyla asked, trailing along behind Alex.

“The clue mentions following mushrooms,” Alex said, “so that’s where I say we should start. Unless you have any better ideas?”

“Nope,” Skyla said, too busy inspecting a tendril of her hair to even watch where she stepped.

“I didn’t think so,” Alex muttered, too low for the other girl to hear.

Ten minutes later and she wondered if she was developing a nervous tick. While Alex wasn’t the quietest person in theworld, she might as well have been in comparison to the racket Skyla was making as they walked through the forest.

“You know,” Alex couldn’t help but say, “I’m pretty sure it’s called Stealth and Subterfuge for a reason. Emphasis onstealth. Do you mind picking your feet up when you walk?”

Okay, so that was kind of snarky. But she was anxious to get out of the forest, and so far they hadn’t seen any mushrooms, let alone ones that led to places unknown.

“You think you’re so special, don’t you?” Skyla said.

“Not really,” Alex answered, though she figured the question was supposed to be rhetorical.

“Good,” Skyla said. “Because let me tell you, you’re not. Special, I mean. You’re not special at all.”

“Thanks for clarifying,” Alex said, her tone dry. “I wasn’t sure what you were talking about for a moment there. But now I know, I’m not special.”

“That’s right,” Skyla said victoriously. “It’s good you can agree. But you should also know that unlike you,Iam special. And that’s just the way it is.”

She’s special, all right, Alex thought. During their walk, she had come to the conclusion that Skyla wasn’t really the uncaring snob she came across as; she was just shallow, but in a harmless way. While that was better than her being an utter cow, it didn’t help their current situation, nor did it explain how Skyla was accepted into Hunter’s class to begin with.

“Can I ask you something?” Alex asked, ducking under a low-hanging branch. “Don’t take this the wrong way or anything, but how did you get into SAS?”

Hopefully Skyla wouldn’t read the obvious message in her words—the ‘what the hell was Hunter thinking?’ implication.

“It’s because I’m special, remember?” Skyla said. “I just told you that. Weren’t you listening to me?”

“Of course I was,” Alex answered quickly, wanting to avoid the impending hissy fit she sensed was coming. “What I meant was, what is it exactly that makes you so, uh, special?”

“Oh,” Skyla said. “Well, that’s all right, I guess. I hate it when people don’t listen when I talk.”

Alex didn’t say anything, figuring it was best to keep her thoughts to herself.

“Other than my obvious appeal,” Skyla continued, and Alex had to fight back a snort of derision, “Hunter recruited me because of my gift. It’s very handy in stealthy and subterfuging situations.”

Alex knew that ‘subterfuge-y’ wasn’t a word, but at least it made more sense. Skyla’s ‘subterfuging’ sounded like some kind of nasty chemical reaction.