I couldn’t believe that it was only the second week of school. Zeran, Eleni, and I met up with Eli and Frankie on the way to Jackson Middle. Zeran was nervous about starting school with a bunch of strangers, but it didn’t seem to bother Eleni. Also, to our horror, our parents had worked it out so that we could do catch-up work on the weekend at school. Meh.
Ms. Vanderbilt found it in her heart to give me another week to finish my math workbook. She thought I had taken sick, and that was why I had missed so many days in tutoring already. The Johnston twins made sure the human teachers and students had no clue about the godlings, but I didn’t think that would work forever. Someone was going to slip up and get caught.
As we crossed Ashland Avenue, I looked up at the sky and saw thin vapors of gray smoke seeping through to our world. I tried not to worry, but I couldn’t help it. Eleni saw it too, and she squeezed my hand as if to say that things would be okay. No, things wouldn’t be okay—not for a long time.
“I’ve missed a year of school,” Zeran said, pulling my attention back to the conversation.
“That’s nothing,” Eleni retorted. “I’ve been asleep for a thousand years, so I’m sure that I’ve forgotten everything.”
“I can tell you that the way we do math changes about every two months,” I grumbled.
“I can tutor you.” Zeran clutched the straps of his backpack. “I’m pretty good at math.”
Eli and Frankie exchanged a look, and Eleni laughed for no good reason. I frowned. “Why are you guys acting so weird?”
“Oh, no reason,” Eli said. “Something’s in the air.”
The first day back at school passed in a flash. Kids came in groups to introduce themselves to Eleni and Zeran. They were instant hits, but we weren’t the same dorks like Winston said we’d be. People were talking to us, too. They pitched their voices low so the human teachers wouldn’t hear them asking about the Dark.
“Zeran, I really like your horns,” said one boy.
“And your tail,” added the girl with him.
“Um, thank you,” he replied. “I like your . . . um . . . shoes.”
He didn’t specify which shoes he liked, but both kids blushed. I grabbed Zeran by his arm and pulled him away. “I’m sorry people are such a pain,” I said. “They’ve never seen anyone like you before, but soon you’ll be old news.”
Zeran grinned. “I don’t know if I want to be old news.”
A lot of things still bothered me. Especially the last words the Lord of Shadows said: I’ll be seeing you soon, Maya. The fact that there were darkbringer spies already in the human world. I couldn’t help but think that I was missing something else.
We stopped in front of Zeran’s locker, except Eleni got swept away by a group of godling girls admiring her wings. Miss Mae had glamoured her so that humans would see a normal girl, no wings, shimmering golden skin, or pointed ears. But godlings would see her true form.
There was a note crammed into Zeran’s locker. Probably a love letter from one of his new admirers. Half the school wanted to be friends with him and Eleni. I shuddered at the thought.
Zeran read the message, and his jaw went slack.
“What does it say?” I teased. “Who’s confessing their love for you?”
“It’s nothing,” Zeran said as he balled up the paper and tossed it into his locker. He slammed the door shut. But I could tell by the way he tried to play it off that whatever was in that letter was not good.
Winston stepped in our path with his friends at his side. Sparks of fire lit up on his arms. Candace grew to pro-wrestler size. Tay cracked his knuckles, and the floor shook beneath our feet. He’d finally found his godling power. Why did the universe have to be so unfair? I slapped my forehead. “Don’t think because you have a new freak friend,” Winston said, “you’re not still number one on my hit list.”
“News flash, Winston,” I said, waving my arms, “we’re on the same side.”
Winston jabbed his finger into my chest. “We are not on the same side.”
Zeran grabbed his hand and twisted. Winston fell to his knees, and Tay sprang into action. Frankie flung out an energy lasso that smacked Tay on his nose. He winced as he grabbed his face, looking annoyed. Candace tripped over Eli’s invisible foot again, but this time she kept her balance. With the bullies disarmed, Zeran let go of Winston and shoved him back.
Principal Ollie bustled into the hallway. “My office, now! The whole lot of you.”
“But Winston and his cronies started it again,” I protested.
“March,” they said, straightening their tie. “You know the rules . . . no um . . . horse-playing in front of the other students.” Translation: No using magic around humans. But the kids who weren’t godlings didn’t seem to notice anything amiss. They walked down the hall, chatting with their friends on the way to class. It wasn’t like a few days ago when I opened a gateway at school. Some of the human students saw that, but Miss Ida and Miss Lucille had erased their memories.
We passed by Tisha Thomas, who leaned her back against a locker with her books hugged to her chest. She had an empty look in her eyes. “So many secrets and so many lies,” she hissed. “He will betray you.”
I followed her gaze to Zeran. He didn’t seem to notice her as he strolled down the hall with the others. She couldn’t have meant what I thought—that Zeran would betray me. I remembered when his father, Commander Rovey, told him to stop me from escaping. There was a moment that he had looked like he almost would. I realized something then that I hadn’t put together before now. Captain Nulan. Commander Rovey. The darkbringer who could make illusions. The ones who’d snuck into the human world in disguises. The Lord of Shadows’ real strength lay with the people who carried out his orders. Without them, he’d be powerless.
Zeran glanced back and smiled, and I could’ve sworn he had a dark gleam in his eyes. I pushed the thought out of my head. Tisha Thomas was wrong, wasn’t she? Zeran wouldn’t betray us, unless that was the plan from the moment we entered the Dark. Win our trust and undermine our efforts to stop the veil from failing. Distract and divide.
The Lord of Shadows was always two steps ahead of us, but had I unknowingly brought back a spy to our neighborhood? One who would do anything to help start a war? I cracked my knuckles as I trailed behind Zeran. I knew one thing for sure: the battle to stop the Lord of Shadows and save the human world was far from over.