Page 58 of The Tribes of Magic
“Uhhhhh-NO. But I would never cheat if it meant I was helping you too.”
“Helping me? How does Bronte’s plight help me?” I said, exasperated.
“Because you moved up one spot on the Scoreboard.”
“So did everyone else! Bronte was at the top.”
“Exactly.”
“This doesn’t make any sense at all.”
“Then let me spell it out for you, Savannah, clear and simple. I wouldnever,everdo anything to give you even theteeniest,tiniestadvantage, even if it meant getting rid of that insufferable know-it-all Bronte Vance.” Zoe shot me a look of pure loathing.
I held her stare for a few more moments, then turned to Dutch. “I think we’re done here.”
“Yeah, you are!” Zoe shouted and plunked back down onto the screechy swing.
As I walked off with Dutch, I couldn’t help but wonder what I’d ever done to make Zoe hate me so much.
CHAPTER 6
DIGGING DEEPER
“So, do you believe her?”
I was impressed Dutch wasn’t offering his opinion on the matter, given that Zoe was his friend.
“I’m not sure, actually.”
I definitely believed her when she’d told me how much she despised me, but that had nothing to do with Bronte. Maybe Zoe was innocent, maybe she wasn’t.
And where did that leave us?
Nowhere. That’s where. I really hated being nowhere.
I glanced at the Scoreboard that stood between the ruins of the playground and the Oval. The answers I sought were hidden somewhere inside that list of Apprentices. They had to be.
“Rhett. We need to talk to Rhett,” I decided. “Both Zoe’s team and Rhett’s team were working at the Black Obelisk yesterday.”
“Alchemy training,” Dutch said. “They helped the Alchemist Knights install magical upgrades to the Black Obelisk’s defenses.”
Conner had said the Black Obelisk was vulnerable to magical attacks. I guess Kato had advised the General to install those magical upgrades. It was a good idea. Not all supernaturals in the Many Realms were friendly.
“Zoe and Rhett were in the Black Obelisk yesterday,” I said. “They could have gotten into the Watchers’ security system and planted the fake video of Bronte.”
“You’re assuming the videoisfake.”
“Of course I’m assuming it’s fake. Because otherwise what are we even doing?”
“So you want to interrogate Rhett.”
“Talkto him. And yes. We need to dig deeper.”
“Fine, but a word of warning, Savannah. Rhett can be a bit abrasive, even hot-tempered.”
I snorted. “Oh, really? I hadn’t noticed.”
“Rhett is especially hot-tempered when you tell him something he really doesn’t want to hear. Which you’re about to do.”
