Page 98 of Knight Moves

“I’m glad to hear that.” He crossed his arms and regarded me. “Would you mind if I asked you what the hardest part of the trial was for you yesterday?”

“The hardest part…for me?”

He nodded. “Yes, for you.”

The entire challenge had been hard, but when I thought about it, one part stood out as particularly difficult. “I guess I’d have to say the hardest part for me was guiding seven blind people in separate tasks to do their individual jobs and then get them to work all together to finish it off, all while being extremely pressured in terms of time. It was crazy complicated. I mean, how unlucky did I have to be to get my name drawn for that task?”

Mr. Donovan smiled. “There’s no luck involved when your name is the only one in the hat.” He patted me on the shoulder and walked away, leaving me standing there with my mouth open.

What did that even mean? They’d intended for me to be the Eyes all along? Why?

I barely had time to think about it as Kira, Hala, and Frankie joined me, jostling and laughing. I considered telling them what Mr. Donovan had said but didn’t see why it would matter at this point.

All the boys showed for the trip into town, as well. Wally looked happy, too. He was laughing and clowning around with the other guys. For once, he was clearly comfortable, looking like he belonged. How would we deal with that loss if we had to return to Excalibur? It hit me hard that I was really going to miss the camaraderie I’d formed with this group.

We climbed onto the bus. Today everyone wanted to stick together instead of going off to do their own thing. It was like we knew the end was coming soon for all but two of us, so we wanted to spend as much time as we could together. I’d planned to call my mom as usual, but opted to postpone since we’d decided to go to the café for hot chocolate and snacks as a group.

We piled into the bookstore, chatting as we got in line to get our snacks. I looked around the bookstore café, but didn’t see the elderly gentleman who’d bought me the hot chocolate. His chair was empty. This could be the last time I was in this café, and I hadn’t had a chance to say goodbye to him.

Hala sat down while Jax and Frankie pushed a couple of tables together. The rest of us brought the food and drink over and sat down. As we nibbled on éclairs, scones, and other pastries and drank our hot beverages, we began to discuss what we’d tell our families if we were sent home.

“I guess I’d just tell my parents I didn’t like it,” Mike said. “I mean, what else could I say?”

“You could tell them the food was gross,” Frankie said. “My parents would believe that one from me.”

We laughed, but the mood was turning somber as reality sank in. Six of us would be going home tomorrow. Wally starting talking about what he would say to his folks when my phone vibrated in my lap. I held it up, expecting it to be my mother wondering why I hadn’t called, but I didn’t recognize the number. I almost put the phone back in my pocket, but I suddenly got this feeling like Ihadto answer it.

I angled my chair away from the table and accepted the call. “Hello?”

A strange male voice said, “Angel?”

For a moment, I wondered if it were my dad. Maybe he was trying to reach me and would confirm he was still alive. “Who’s this?” I asked, my voice shaking.

“Angel?” A burst of static sounded through my phone and the signal dropped to one bar. I stood and moved around to try and get a better spot for reception, but it didn’t work.

“Angel, is everything okay?” Frankie stood and came to stand beside me, apparently concerned by the look on my face.

I plastered a smile on my face. “Sure. I’m just going to step outside for a minute and take this.”

I brushed past her and left the café, the phone still spitting static. “Hold on,” I said to whoever was on the phone.

I got another bar once outside the cafe, and the farther I moved away, the more bars I got. “Are you still there?” I asked.

I didn’t have a chance to hear an answer, because a black sedan screeched to a halt in front of me. A man jumped out the back seat of the car and grabbed me, trying to drag me inside.

I dropped my phone and screamed, kicking and scratching. But he was huge and easily hauled me under his arm like a sack of potatoes, pulling me toward the car. I managed to grab the door rim, slowing our progress, and held on for life. He cursed and starting prying at my fingers. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kira throw open the café door and hurtle toward us with Mike close behind her. But at this point, we were mostly in the car, and it had started to pull away.

They were going to be too late.

Boom!

The grind and screech of bending metal rent the air as another car plowed into the back of us. The collision threw me halfway out of the car. Screaming, I tried get away, but the guy who’d grabbed me was leaning out of the car, still clutching the back of my sweater.

I looked up just as Kira executed a perfect kick over my head and directly onto the guy’s wrist where he held my sweater. He howled in pain, releasing me. I scrambled away, but he got out of the car to come after me.

To my surprise, Mike blocked his way, coming between us. Apparently thinking Mike couldn’t stop him, the guy lifted his hand to knock him aside. Instead, Mike adeptly jumped toward the car, using the vehicle as a platform to leap through the air. He twisted his body around while his legs whirled and scissored through the air. One of his feet hit my attacker squarely in the jaw, the force of Mike’s body slamming his head backward into the car. While the guy was reeling, Kira spun around, delivering a final, brutal kick to his temple. He grunted once as his eyes rolled back in his head before sliding down the car and onto the sidewalk in a crumpled heap. Jax and Bo jumped him, making sure he stayed down. The driver of the damaged getaway car floored it, leaving his conspirator behind in a squeal of tires.

“I’ve got the license plate,” Frankie shouted into her cell, and I hoped she was talking to the police.

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