“This is like walking on a rainbow,” Gen whispered as she stood next to me. “Maybe we could find another pot of gold for you to steal while we’re here.”
I nodded, only half listening to her. “Yeah, sure.” Above us, the chandeliers that hung every twenty feet or so in every direction had my attention now. Bright gold, lit with real candles that were brighter than any flame had a right to be. Woven through with silver vines that had gemstone flowers hanging from the tips. Rubies dominated the lot, but there were emeralds and sapphires, too, and even some clear diamonds.
“I would like to lift me just one of those,” someone whispered behind us.
Yeah, I wouldn’t mind taking a gem or two. That would be enough to keep my family fed for years.
But I had no doubt that lifting something from the House of Wonder would get me more than a slap on the wrist. I kept my hands in my pockets, clutching the key, running my thumb over the skull.
Footsteps echoed through the large open room, and we all turned to see the Sandman striding toward us. For a guy who could make grown men pee just by looking at them sideways, he wasn’t a big man. He wore his usual dark clothes, the Web of Wyrd patch on his shirt, and his standard aviator glasses that kept him even more of a mystery. Of course, his mouth didn’t so much as crack a smile. Which was how he’d gotten his nickname from me.
Sunshine.
I just had to remember not to say it in front of him.
Before he could say anything, the doors behind us burst open, and a cool wind blew in. I twisted around, my hand going for the knife that wasn’t there, until I saw who’d arrived.
The House of Night.
“Wally!” I saw her at the front, and her eyes whipped to me. Her hair was wild, her untamed curls flying in every direction as she sprinted to my side, a wide grin on her face.
Though we’d only been apart for a few hours, it felt longer. She gave me a quick hug, her big eyes wider than usual.
“It took the House of Wonder fifty-one years, four months, seven days, and sixteen hours to complete this place. Surprisingly, they only lost fourteen workers, though the last was a rather gruesome death as he fell from the top of the elevator shaft all the way to the basement level.” She drew a breath. “Not bad odds, I’d say.”
Gen took a step back, her nose wrinkling as if she smelled something bad. “Oh, I remember you too.”
I draped an arm over Wally’s shoulder. “You dissing my girl?”
Gen shook her head. “Just not sure of her. She’s . . . odd.”
Wally grinned up at me, though I could see a tremor behind it. “She’s a badass,” I said to Gen. “You’d better remember that if you want to hang with me. Ever.”
I felt Wally breathe out, her relief obvious. Had she thought I’d turn on her and side with another Shade?
Maybe that was how this world worked, but loyalty was everything to me.
A moment later, Orin, our crew’s not-dead-yet vampire, floated close, his dark eyes and pale skin standing out even among the other vampires. “We heard there were attacks on the other houses. That cannot bode well for any of us.”
A gasp rippled through the kids around us. I nodded and pulled Wally and Orin a bit away from the others. I could feel Rory’s eyes following me, but he couldn’t bark at me for touching or lifting anything. I wasn’t leaving the room, just putting distance between me and the people I didn’t know. And, quite frankly, the people I didn’t trust.
Bowing my head and lowering my voice, I spoke to Wally and Orin. “Do you think the attacks have anything to do with Frost?”
Orin shook his head. “No, it looks like it is worse than that.”
Wally swallowed hard. “The House of Night director was speaking to one of the trainers, Orin snuck close to listen in.” She paused as if she didn’t want to say the words, then finally spat them out. “They think there is another Chameleon—like Frost—out there, making this happen.”
As if I didn’t think my day could get worse, there it was. The cow shit on my boots.
3
The Sandman snapped his fingers, and everyone went silent in the foyer of the House of Wonder. “Keep it down. An announcement will be made once everyone is here.”
Of course, Wally ignored him and whispered to Orin and me, her voice low enough that ol’ Sunshine didn’t so much as glance our way.
“The statistical probability is low.” Wally shook her head, curls brushing against my face. “But that’s what Orin heard. Whoever the Chameleon is, he’s hit every one of the academy houses except this one. The other houses are mostly rubble, but the House of Wonder didn’t get so much as a single detonation. It was lucky the majority of the kids were at the graduation ceremony last night to celebrate, and not waiting back at the houses for . . . death.” She lowered her voice even further on the last word, and waved her hand to encompass the stunning room around us.
Orin stared hard at me, unblinking, and for the first time in a long while, his gaze unnerved me—as if he could see into my mind. I wasn’t sure if that was a vampire power, but it sure felt like it. He spoke slowly. “The director said that it’s like this Chameleon is looking for something. Or, more accurately, looking for someone. And when he didn’t find it . . . boom.”
I stared right back at him, and knew in that moment that Orin hadn’t left the final testing room when I’d thrown my five tokens into the cauldron to be placed in a house. Being the creeper he was, he had to have hidden himself to watch what happened to me in the sorting.
He’d seen all five of my tokens go in, and he’d seen all five come out, clearly showing anyone who was watching exactly what I was.
A Chameleon.
Just like Frost.
Just like whoever was attacking the houses now.
“You know?” Just two words, but he gave me the slightest of blinks for yes. He did know I belonged to all five houses. Damn vampire and his sneaking sneaker ways. Yet a part of me was relieved. I didn’t really want to keep this secret from my friends, not after all we’d been through. I wanted to tell them. I just didn’t know how, when being a Chameleon was one of the worst things I could possibly be. What if they hated me? What if . . . what if they abandoned me?
Wally leaned in closer, her wild hair brushing against my face, a waft of her coconut shampoo going up my nose. “Know what?”
I grabbed her arm, not ungently, and tugged her farther from the crowd, Orin trailing behind. “Not the place to discuss. Okay? We’ll slip away tonight, and I’ll tell you everything.”
“You say that like we’re not going to separate again.” A familiar better-than-you voice cut into our conversation.
The three of us turned to see Ethan striding toward us. His blond hair was slicked back, and his clothes were impeccable, covering a body that was as cut as it could be for an eighteen-year-old guy. Nice to look at, and not a bad kisser, I supposed, if our one kiss was any indication. He was an asset, but a dangerous one. “Wonder Bread,” I greeted him, “funny meeting you here.”
“Johnson.” His eyes swept over me in a way I wasn’t sure I liked. Or maybe I did and that was the issue. Nope, nope, that was a terrible idea.