Page 122 of Class Studies

Professor Garnet kissed me hard. “It feels so good, I know. I saw the euphoria in your eyes. There’s nothing wrong with that, but you’ve got to control it.”

I turned and looked at Officer Keres. He’d stopped struggling. One lock of his hair stood out, bright white, against the rest of his black crewcut. The color had drained out of his left eye, leaving a dull white behind.

Conflict tried to pull me apart as half of me cowered with guilt, and the other half demanded I stand and finish what I started. I didn’t do either. Instead, I held my breath, waiting for him to fall to the floor and seize as Ram had.

Instead, his head snapped up, and his nostrils flared. He tried to speak through the gag, but only garbled consonants came out. Ashe grunted, before stepping forward and tearing away the cloth..

Officer Kere’s gasped and licked his lips. “You must stop Tederwinkle.”

I released my breath. I hadn’t made a second zombie.

Ashe stepped into his ex-boss’s face. “What’s his plan?”

Officer Keres struggled slightly in his bindings but quickly stopped as if realizing they were the reason he couldn’t move. “I don’t know. He…” Officer Keres' eyes unfocused, and his head tilted forward. “I was leaving the Director's office, and he appeared with something glowing in his hands.” Officer Keres burped. “The next thing I remember, I’d been arrested by my men. But that couldn’t be right, so I fought free of them and found the Director—only she’s struggling like me—but couldn’t break away. So, I came here. And now.” The sheets tented where his hands would’ve been. “I feel like I’m floating.” A beaming smile relaxed his face. “Everything sparkles.”

A little line of drool dripped out of his mouth, and I looked away. He might not be a zombie, but I’d not done good things to him.

Ashe grabbed his commanding officer's chin and shook him. “Can you describe what was in his hands?”

Officer Keres turned and focused on me. “A diamond dragon scale.”

Chapter 22

Leaving Officer Keres trapped in bedsheets, we ran down the stairs of my tower.

We couldn’t sit and wait for Tederwinkle’s plan to come to pass. Whatever it was, it wasn't good. In addition, we had a half-zombie half-officer of the law tied up in my tower. Our options were very limited.

“Whoever started the rumors has to be close to us,” Saffron said as we came to the main foyers of the Institute. We slowed, and he checked my tablet. “Aphy’s scale’s in the Arena now.”

Ashe punched his fist into his palm. “Who the fuck has it?”

“Maybe whoever started the rumors about Saffron?” I said, not looking up from the floor, so I didn’t trip on it. “None of this can be a coincidence. I think Damon sold all my scales to the same person.”

Ashe snapped to face me. “Fuck, I knew we should have spent more time figuring those tomes out.”

I put my hands behind my back, unsure how to respond. It was something I should’ve probably already figured out, but I never thought to look.

Professor Garnet slowed. “You don’t know who that person is?”

I shook my head. “He gave all the buyers numbers, and I don’t think anyone but him knew what those numbers meant.”

Ashe’s phone chimed, and he fished it out of his pocket. “Roisin’s in the Arena,” he said after reading his text. “She’s not alone, but Mercedes didn’t stick around to investigate.”

I wasn’t surprised Mercedes bailed. The fact she helped us at all came as an utter shock, though maybe it shouldn’t. She’d been in for years now and cared for her friends whether she wanted to or not.

“So your scale and your brainwashed friend are both in the Arena.” Tanwyn rubbed his chin. “I mean, that screams come and get me, doesn’t it? We must have tipped someone off with our calls.”

Ashe grunted. “You and I didn’t make any calls.”

Tanwyn scratched his neck. “I was trying to be friendly."

Beryl grunted as if he’d been punched. Our run came to a stop. He pulled out his phone, crushing it in his fist. “It’s Nitis.” Beryl’s rough voice filled with pain. “It’s been Nitis this entire time. He was there when Boy Scout explained his Golem. I’d bet money Tederwinkle’s got your scale.” He flung the remainder of his phone at the floor with so much force that bits buried themselves into the stone. “They must’ve found each other and orchestrated all of this. With enough chaos, they could slip out with Dot.”

I shifted from foot to foot, pulling on my braid before playing with the tip and tugging on it more.

Ashe growled. “The fucking reenactment.”

“I trusted him.” Beryl yanked on his hair. “I’ve trusted him for years. How could he do this to me?”

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