Alex had only a single moment of warning to note Hunter’s amused expression, and from it a very strong feeling of dread swept through her.
“I’m not here for your friends, Alex,” he said with a smirk. “Congratulations on passing your trial yesterday. You’re officially accepted into my Stealth and Subterfuge class.”
Um… What?
Alex wondered if she looked as confused as she felt. “I think there must be some kind of mistake.”
Hunter tilted his head, his smirk deepening. “It’s not often that I’m wrong.”
“Then this is your lucky day,” Alex said. “I didn’t try out for your class, so there’s no way I could’ve passed whatever your trial was. You have the wrong person.”
His dark eyes glittered with humour. “Is that so?”
“Yep,” Alex said confidently. “Sorry you wasted your time.”
She reached for the door, intent on closing it to end the conversation and not caring how rude the gesture might seem. But Hunter moved to lean against it, blocking her dismissal.
“Tell me, Alex,” he said, as relaxed as if he was lounging on a beach somewhere. “Did you or did you not venture into the forest at some point yesterday afternoon?”
Not by choice, Alex thought, but she didn’t say that out loud. “Yes, I was there for a few hours. So?”
His lips curled knowingly, and Alex felt her sense of dread rise up again.
“Then you entered the trial zone,” he said. “Despite the fact that you didn’t sign up for testing, your participation confirmed your entry to my class.”
“W—What?” Alex spluttered. “I didn’t participate! I didn’t even know where the trial was being held!”
“Intentional or not, you actively took part in the exercise, regardless of whether you were aware of it at the time,” Hunter said. “And out of all your classmates, you were the only one to succeed.”
No, no, no! This was all wrong. Hunter was wrong. This was a prank, right?
Alex backed away from the door and slumped down on the edge of her bed, too overwhelmed to stay on her feet.
“You should feel proud,” Hunter continued, still standing in the doorway. “Never before has a student slipped by me as expertly as you did.”
Alex rubbed her temples. “I don’t understand.”
“Should I spell it out for you?” Hunter asked, a hint of mockery in his voice. “It’s as I said: you’re now a student in my Stealth and Subterfuge class.”
She jerked her head from side to side. “No.”
“Yes.”
“No,” she repeated firmly. “I, uh, thank you for your offer, but I’m afraid I have to decline.”
There. That should do it. Despite her confusion about whatever trial he was talking about, at least she could decide yay or nay. And for her, it was a definite nay.
“I’m afraid you have little choice in the matter,” Hunter said, unconcerned by her growing frustration.
“It’s my life,” Alex argued.
“Remember the meeting on your first evening back at the academy?” Hunter asked. “Didn’t I say that any student who attended Saturday’s trial and was granted a position would find themselves mandatorily required to attend classes?”
Alex couldn’t recall his exact wording, but she did have a vague memory of him saying something along those lines. But she hadn’t attended the trial, let alone succeeded in it—whatever ‘it’ was.
“Yes, but—”
“What’s that around your neck, Alex?” Hunter interrupted.
Feeling off-balance from the abrupt change in topic, she looked down at the shimmery Myrox glinting in the light. “It’s a necklace. I found it in the…”
Alex groaned as everything fell into place. No flipping way.
Hunter actually had the nerve to chuckle at her reaction. “You can keep it as a token prize. No one has ever recovered the target before in all my years of teaching the class, so it only seems fitting considering your exemplary performance. And it may come in handy, especially with the trials you’ll be facing in the future
Alex chose to ignore the implication in his last statement— and the question of how the necklace would ‘come in handy’— and she addressed the rest of his words. “You can’t do this, Hunter. It was an accident! I wasn’t even meant to be out there. Things just… happened that way.”
With an uncaring shrug, he said, “That’s not my problem.”
“I’ll be terrible at your class!” Alex tried, hoping a different angle might work. “I’m not stealthy or subterfuge-y. And I… um… I don’t like spiders!”
Not her best argument, but she would just have to roll with it.
Hunter arched an eyebrow. “Your point?”
“Not just spiders—all bugs. We don’t get along,” Alex said. “And I’m sure your class will spend time in the forest and, well, you don’t need me squealing every time I feel something crawling up my arm. That would totally ruin the, uh, stealthy atmosphere.”
Hunter regarded her for a moment and then pushed off the door, losing his casual appearance.
“Listen to me, Alex,” he said with a quiet intensity. It was the first time he’d dissolved his politely official demeanour and she could see he meant business. “Part of my gifting involves perception. It allows me to be aware of the people around me at any given time. Right now I can tell you that there are currently fifteen people on this floor alone. Six of them are asleep, four are catching up on homework, two are gossiping about boys and two more are bouncing around in their room as if drunk on dillyberry juice.”
He paused and added, “Coincidentally, those last two happen to be your friends, and the next time you see them, you might want to let them know that their mattresses aren’t intended to be used as trampolines.”
Alex wished she was with Jordan and Bear right now, not sitting and waiting for Hunter’s other shoe to drop. Because she was sure it was about to happen.
“The final person is standing right here: me,” Hunter continued. “If you have any basic mathematical skills, you’ll have worked out that there’s one person missing from my count: you. I can’t read you—not at all. Not where you are, not what you’re doing. I believe this is because of your own gift and the protection it affords you; an invaluable asset, in my opinion. But that alone isn’t enough to warrant your enrolment in my class. I had no idea you were in those trees yesterday afternoon, and not just because my gift didn’t sense your presence. Your technique—intentional or not—was nearly flawless.”
“But, I—” Alex tried to speak but Hunter continued, not letting her cut in.
“Firstly, you weren’t supposed to be out there, so my SAS spotters didn’t know to look out for you. That was an example of subterfuge at its finest—strategic deceit.”
“No, I—”