Page 44 of The Wrong Quarterback

“You know what I was just thinking to myself?” Jace whispered.

I glanced at him over my shoulder.

“I was just thinking that we were missing mist…that this place didn’t look nearly creepy enough. And now look around us. Mist.”

“So, I guess I should blame you for the fact that Matty’s about to pass out?” I asked, nodding my head to where Matty was pale-faced as he walked, his shovel out in front of him like he was preparing himself for something to jump out of the shadows.

Jace grinned like I’d said something funny.

We got to a sort of crossroads, two gravel paths going out in opposite directions. I pulled the paper that had been left on my doorstep out of my pocket and examined the map that was included.

“Alright, this way," I told them. “We’re almost there.”

“Do we even want to be Sphinx people? I mean, I’m not sure that any of us are the kind of psycho that would make someone dig up a grave,” commented Jace. Matty jumped at the sound of his voice, like it had surprised him.

I cocked my head as I considered his point. I hadn’t exactly told them about my plans for how to get Casey. Thosemighthave qualified me as a psycho. I’d have to consult them about that…sometime…maybe.

“Of course we want to be Sphinx members. Think about all the access we’ll get,” said Matty grumpily. Jace and I shot each other looks. Matty’s family was poor—the kind of poor where there wasn’t any food, and he’d had to spend the nights out on the streets more than a few times growing up. He took every endorsement deal he was offered, no matter what it was, because it meant money he could send to his family. Unfortunately, his dad had a gambling addiction, and that money never seemed to go very far. Matty had four younger siblings, and he was always worried about them.

“Okay, so we’re going to be Sphinx psychos now. Noted,” Jace said supportively, and a shadow of a smile slipped across Matty’s lips.

“Where are you, Eleanor?” I muttered scanning the headstones until my light landed on the name we were looking for. The grave was the only fresh one in the area, a neat mound of dirt heaped over it, flowers wilted and browning at the edges.

“Eleanor Cross,” I whispered. According to what we’d been told, her husband had been a higher-up in the Sphinx before betraying them, stealing a ring that held more significance than any of us understood. It had been a symbol of power, something sacred, and Eleanor had worn it even to her grave. Now, it was our task to ensure that the Sphinx reclaimed what was theirs.

Hooray for us.

I dropped my flashlight to the ground and gripped the shovel.

“Holy shit, we’re about to become grave robbers,” Jace muttered as my shovel sank into the earth with a dullthwack, the sound somehow muffled by the oppressive silence of the graveyard. I gripped the handle harder, my palms already sweating despite the cool night air.

“Was that a creak?” Matty asked in a panicked voice, looking around like he half-expected a zombie to rise from one of the graves.

“Don’t back out now, Mr. ‘Of Course We Want To Be Sphinx Psychos,’” drawled Jace.

I shot them both a look. “Are you going to help me or not?”

“We’re probably getting the raw end of this deal,” Jace scowled as he stuck his shovel in the ground. “They definitely would have made it harder for you. We’ll probably just be asked to steal, like, a car or something. You know, normal stuff.”

“I’d even rob a bank if it meant I didn’t have to be out here in a cemetery, digging up someone’s grandma,” Matty added, looking around again fearfully.

“I’m pretty sure robbing a bank gets you more jail time than grave robbing,” I told them.

Jace scoffed. “You would know that, Big Brain.”

“Plus, there’s adrenaline in bank robbing, you know?Excitement. All we get here is the chance of a haunted curse.”

Jace and I both gaped at Matty.

“You kind of sound like you might have personal experience with that, buddy. Anything you want to share?” I asked.

Matty rolled his eyes. “All I’m saying is that there better actually be a ring at the end of this little expedition. If all we get is a decomposing corpse, I’m not going to be happy about that.”

“You mean a skeleton,” Jace corrected as he threw some dirt into the pile we were making next to the grave.

Now it was Matty and I exchanging looks.

“You remember she’s only been buried for a week, right?” Matty said slowly.

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