“What are you doing, sticky fingers?” Jax asks, appearing out of nowhere. He’s got his arms folded across his chest like he’s just been hanging out, waiting for me to run by him. “You’re supposed to be at your evacuation station—and what’s that you’re hiding?” Jax’s violet eyes look disapproving.
I shove the rings deeper in my pockets. “No one told me what my station was.”
“It’s listed in your welcome pack,” Jax says.
“Yeah, I didn’t read that,” I admit. “What’s everyone so worked up about if it’s just a drill?”
“Sometimes drills aren’t drills here,” Jax says. “Last time the alarm went off, someone thought Gottie had gotten onto school grounds. They said she was looking for that Mr. Harding who just went missing. They never found her, but it shook a lot of kids up. Now when they hear drill, they think we’re being invaded by evil fairies.”
Interesting. I wonder if that’s why Flora wasn’t evacuating. Is she looking to see if we’ve had a break-in, or is she letting someone break in? Hmm…I could use some good intel to my advantage. Two new hallways pop up behind Jax. I need to get down one of them and find Flora.
“I guess I should get to my evacuation station then.” I start to walk away. “See you outside.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. I see that look in your eye.” Jax sizes me up. “You’re not going outside. What are you up to?”
“Nothing,” I lie, holding my hand on one pocket to keep the brass rings from clinking.
“You can tell me,” Jax says, leaning against the door to a room with a sign that says: Archery—Don’t lose an eye! Announce yourself before entering. “I’m trustworthy.”
I snort. Seeing him standing there in his crisply pressed uniform with a dress shirt underneath his vest instead of the usual tee everyone else is wearing, I don’t believe that for a second. He looks too perfect, like he’s hiding something. “You still haven’t told me why you were trying so hard to escape one minute and then seem perfectly at home here the next. You haven’t tried to escape again since I got here,” I accuse him.
Jax raises an eyebrow. “How do you know that for sure?”
“I guess I don’t, but that doesn’t mean I trust you.” I sniff. “I’ve got things to do on my own.”
“You sound like Kayla,” he mumbles. I move to walk away. “Better lose the loot. The noise of those brass rings will give you away before you even get where you’re going. If you get where you’re going.” He stares at the ceiling. “Not many people know how the hallways move like I do.”
I take two of the brass rings out of my pockets. Jax motions for me to take out more. Ugh. I remove the third and leave the fourth safely in my skirt. One can’t do any harm. I drop the three of them in a bin of arrows near the door. Someone is going to be really happy when they score those beauties. “Fine,” I say begrudgingly. “If you really want to know, I’m following Flora, okay? She seems sketchy, if you ask me. First she’s in the woods, and now I’ve caught her going down a hallway instead of evacuating.”
“Being headmistress means she has to make sure all her students are out before she leaves,” Jax says. “You realize that, right?”
“Yes, but it still seems fishy,” I say. “I want to see what she’s up to for myself. If you have a problem with that, you can just go. But don’t tell anyone you saw me.” I point a finger at him. “You still owe me for the other day.”
Jax looks down the hallway. “Fine. I’ll stick with you.” He motions for me to walk. “After you, my lady.”
I don’t like his mocking tone, but I let it slip and head down one of the two hallways still open. We cross to another classroom (Wand training! Who knew?), head out a secret panel in the back, and then walk down another empty hallway. Halfway through, the hallway in front of us disappears.
Instead of being annoyed, Jax breaks into a small smile. “Even better,” I hear him say as he pulls me down the new hallway and through a small door behind a staircase leading to the boys’ dormitories. The new passageway we’re in clearly doesn’t see much foot traffic. Cobwebs brush past my face as we move swiftly downward where the air is much cooler. It’s creepy in here. I don’t like this.
“You want to spy on Flora? Then I know the best way to see her office without actually being seen,” Jax says. “We’re going to come up right underneath it.”
“How’d you find this route?” I ask as Jax covers the only mirror in the hallway so far with his jacket to block Miri.
“Our teachers are former villains,” Jax says. “Don’t think you’re the first person who wanted to check out Flora. I’ve done it too and have never found a thing.”
“There’s always a first time,” I say, unconvinced. Down, down, down we descend to where the walls are mossy and there is a faint odor that my nose is not loving. When we reach the end of a hallway, I see a grate. Jax removes it and hands it to me.