I lifted a hand when I saw a familiar set of ears and blond hair on a goblin about four feet tall. He was far too pretty for the goblins and stood out from the others in his house with his good looks. To be honest, he looked a little bit like a miniature Justin Bieber. Hence the nickname. “Beebs! Over here!” I called.
The last of our crew, he hurried over to our group, his lips almost smiling. Almost. He was a hard one to read, but he was wickedly clever and his logic was always spot on. “You heard? Every other house was, for all intents and purposes, destroyed,” he said. “Rumors are already flying about how it happened.”
We all nodded, and before anyone could ask another question, a chime sounded, cutting off all discussions.
A slender trio, who looked like they could be and likely were triplets, stood on the top of the stairs, which led to balconies above and to either side of them. The woman was familiar. She was the one who’d made the House of Wonder announcements at the trials.
And on those balconies to either side were some of the other trainers I recognized from the Culling Trials.
The shifter group that had met us at the end of the trial for the House of Claw stood to the left of the triplets. I felt like waving and reminding them that they owed me and my crew a favor of some sort for riding alicorns to the end of our challenge. We’d been told there would be a bonus, but nothing had ever materialized.
House of Unmentionables was represented by three goblins and a gargoyle, all standing on the edge of the railing as if balancing two stories above us was nothing to them. My feet itched to try it.
House of Night had three mentors as well, but I didn’t know any of them. Didn’t matter. The pale skin of two pegged them as vampires, and the third I’d guess was a necromancer by the way her eyes rested on Wally. She wore deep purple robes and had long black hair that was braided back over one shoulder. Surprisingly, the vampires seemed to lean away from her ever so slightly, as if they weren’t the top dogs in that house after all.
House of Shade was represented by a single person. The Sandman. He’d joined the other house directors on the balcony. Even with the aviators on, he was watching me. I could feel the weight of his stare the same as anyone with any sense could feel when they were being stalked by a predator. We weren’t friends, he and I. But I had to trust him for now. I had no choice.
House of Wonder was, of course, represented by the triplets on the stairs. Nobody needed to explicitly tell me that. Each lifted a hand, one at a time, like they were doing their version of the wave.
“Welcome to the House of Wonder,” the woman in the middle intoned. “As most of you have realized, should you have used any of your skills, the buildings that represent the houses of Shade, Night, Claw, and Unmentionables have been destroyed, and those who remained within them were killed. Our new director over all the houses was also killed en route. A new director will be called by the first set of games at the end of the month.”
A gasp rippled through the room that told me clearly not everyone was as good as snooping as me and my crew. She waited for the gasps to fade before she went on.
“I am Daniella, the curator here at the House of Wonder. My brothers, Dartanion and Dallin, are the head trainers and enforcers for our house.”
There was a smattering of applause from the House of Wonder, and the two men beamed. They wore matching dark blue outfits with thick silver medallions in a sunburst pattern around their necks. Idiots, both of them, if the dull gaze in their eyes was truth.
Daniella continued to smile, though there was no warmth to it and no dullness like her brothers. “While we,” her hand swept upward again to take in the other trainers, “work to bring to task that person responsible for this heinous crime against our world, you all will remain here. In safety. As per your signed contracts, you will train with your year assigned as many of the classes are transferable. House-specific training will also be on a year by year basis. A schedule will be delivered to each of your rooms along with schedules for your permitted use of the training rooms and other facilities. Otherwise, you will remain in your dormitories at all times. There will be no wandering the halls. There will be no fraternizing with the students from other houses outside of classes.”
She paused and smiled, although it wasn’t the smile of someone who cared about what happened to the rest of us out here. I wanted to bare my teeth at her and found my lips curling up. Strange, because nothing she had said was all that terrible, but it was the tone she delivered it in, and the unspoken meanings behind the words.
She was in charge and her word was law here. The rest of us were just . . . in the way.
Next to me, Gregory, a.k.a. Beebs, gave a small growl. “Witch,” he whispered.
I dropped a hand to his shoulder, quieting him. But he was not the only one in our crew who had their feathers ruffled.
Orin tucked in close behind me, his voice pitched low. “She’s talking like we’re going to be here for a long time. Is that what this is about?”
“Control,” I whispered back. That was the only word that fit with what she was doing. A good number of the students had been in mixed crews in the Culling Trials. Maybe not quite as diverse as our group, but there had been some splits for sure along house lines.
She was worried about those ties growing stronger. She didn’t want the crews to remain close for whatever reason.
Something in me said this was not going to go well.
I forced my hand into the air like a good little student.
Daniella’s eyes drifted to me. “A well-behaved Shade? The world will never cease to amaze me.”
A low rumble of laughter pitched through parts of the crowd, but it didn’t travel widely. The Sandman’s expression didn’t flicker, yet I’d like to think he was irritated.
“Can we see our friends from the other houses outside of training, or are you forbidding that too?” I asked. “You know, at meals and that sort of thing.”
Her smile was wider yet. “You are mistaken, little Shade. There are no friendships between students of different houses.” Her eyes flicked over me and my crew before resting on Ethan. “Despite what some might say to get what they want. They’d best remember their place in our world and the consequences of stepping out of line.”
Ethan stiffened like she’d smacked him right on the ass.
Other hands went up, and she fielded the questions while my group huddled together.
“She’s wrong,” Pete said.
Gregory looked up at me. “Agreed. It’s that simple. We aren’t like the others.”
I gave a quick nod. That warning system of mine was giving off a low buzzing like a wasp nest just out of sight. A few steps in the wrong direction, and I’d end up stepping on it. But I wasn’t worried about the state of our friendships as much as I was the possibility we’d be forced apart. Because right then, I wasn’t sure I trusted anyone other than my group. “Ethan,” I whispered his name, “you with us?”
He didn’t step back, but instead stepped a little away from us. I looked up to see Daniella staring at him, a knowing smile on her lips.
Damn, was it going to go like that already? I didn’t like the flare of hurt rising through me. “Ethan.”
“Just shut it, Wild,” he snapped but never looked at me. “For two damn seconds while she’s staring me down, would you?”