Page 57 of Sweet Nightmare

“Keep it up and you can die just as dangerously,” she snarks as we come to a stop at the admin building’s front steps.

“So what’s the plan?” I jump in, hoping to distract Izzy enough to keep Remy’s fingers—and all the rest of him—in one piece. “Jude and I are taking the menagerie, so I guess you guys just need to divide up the different parts of the admin building, right?”

“Actually, I vote we split up,” Simon backs me up as he shoves the instructions into his pocket. “Half of us take the windows while the other half do the food and water. You’ll get done with the menagerie quicker that way.”

“That’s actually a pretty good idea,” Mozart agrees, stepping back to take a look at all the huge windows that line the outside of the bottom floors of the admin building. “There’s a lot to do—”

“I call windows!” Eva interrupts.

“Me too.” Luis throws both of his hands up for emphasis.

I roll my eyes at him in response, but he just grins toothily. “Once a day is enough for anyone. If you had any sense, you’d stay out here, too.”

I don’t bother to answer him. But then I don’t have to, because we both know that’s not going to happen. I may be pissed as shit at Jude right now, but I don’t actually want him to die at the hands of some pissed-off hydra wannabe. Someone who actually knows what they’re doing—and is also a Calder—has to lead the way through the dungeon. I’m pretty sure that’s why my mom gave me this assignment.

Either way, there’s no way I’m going to send people down there to get hurt while I stay safely up here. Not when I know exactly what’s waiting for them down there.

“I’m going into the dungeon,” I say. “And Jude’s coming with me. That’s our side of the plan.”

“I’m coming, too,” Izzy volunteers. “I want to see this not so petting zoo.”

“Me too,” Mozart agrees.

Remy steps forward. “I can go or I can stay here—whatever you think will be most helpful.”

“Why don’t you stay with us?” Eva tells him. “You’re so tall, I bet we could get a lot of these windows done in no time.”

“I’ll do my best,” Remy answers with a smiling glance toward Izzy. But the vampire has already turned around, having lost interest in his teasing.

“I think everybody should stay up here. Jude and I can handle this.”

I wait for Jude to say something—or at least step forward—but he doesn’t say a word. When I glance toward him, I realize that’s because I’ve been doing such a good job not looking at him that I totally missed something really important.

Namely, that he’s already gone.

I whirl around just in time to see the main door of the admin building closing behind the big, overly heroic jerk.

Too bad he doesn’t have a clue what he’s getting himself into.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

LET’S NOT DO THE

MONSTER MASH

“Where’s he going so fast?” Izzy asks. Again, she doesn’t sound concerned, just mildly curious.

“To get himself in trouble,” I answer as I take off toward the same door Jude disappeared through. I’m vaguely aware of Izzy and Mozart following me at a more sedate pace, but I don’t pay a lot of attention to them. I’m too worried about what trouble Jude’s going to get himself into before I can reach him.

The fact that one of the others is blasting The Weeknd’s “Save Your Tears” from their phone as they get down to work isn’t lost on me, either. I’m pretty sure it should be the theme song of our friendship—or lack thereof, considering it feels like I’ve spent the entire day chasing after the jerk.

What the hell is he even thinking? I know he keeps saying he can handle things, but he doesn’t have a clue what he’s supposed to handle. I mean, what does the guy actually think he’s going to do all alone against a bunch of pissed-off monsters with attitude problems? They hate rain almost as much as ghosts do. I learned that last year…the hard way.

My stomach clenches at the thought of what I’m about to walk into—monster and spirit wise—but I ignore it. Nothing I can do about it at this point besides hope for the best.

Not that the best is ever an option here at Calder Academy. The most we can usually hope for is not the worst. Not only can you count on the worst possible thing to happen here at the worst possible moment, but you can also expect that worst thing to be murderous…or at least dangerous as all fuck. On the plus side, when you go into a situation with expectations that low, anything that isn’t a total shit show feels like a success story.

I make the turn into the stairwell that leads to the dungeon, and my stomach sinks even more. I wasn’t fast enough. Jude has already made his way down the steps into the bowels of the building.

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