The Tracker Hive Academy Year One - Avery Song Page 0,46

move, in my opinion. They must have not researched which elements he carries, or they would have set up a different trap."

"Or they could have known and wanted to see if he'd get the two of you out on his own," Zion reasoned. "Or whether you two would have to work together."

Tanner and Alaric exchanged a look, the action drawing my attention.

"You two know something," I announced. The five us looked at them, and Alaric cleared his throat.

"We think whoever they are don't want the five of you near one another."

"Why?" I questioned. "Last time I checked, we'd only just met. We had no connection prior to this school. The culprit must have found out we're all attending, but even that doesn’t explain why they attacked only Zackery and me. Why not wait for a mandatory class and go for all of us at one? We're missing the primary motive."

Zion laid his hand on mine, catching my attention. I glanced over to him as he analyzed me carefully, only now realizing he'd put on those glasses he'd pulled out beforehand.

"Jade. Can you try something real quick?"

I stared at him for ten seconds. "You look innocent enough. Better than when Zackery asks the question," I muttered.

"Jade," Zackery whined. "You're hurting my pride."

"I'm impressed you still have some," Zeus concluded.

Zeke chuckled. "What are you thinking, Zion? Your thought process just went into overdrive."

"Overdrive?" I interrupted.

"That’s the term we use to label Zion's more extreme thought processes. He's the smartest out of the four of us, and once he starts putting the clues together, he gets all scientific with it and basically forgets we exist for a few minutes," Zeke explained.

"I don't forget," Zion grumbled, but he lifted my hand. "Shadow Jade? Can you go sit with Alaric for a moment?"

"Me?" Shadow Jade blinked and looked over to Alaric. "Daddy!"

She let go of me without another question, skipping over to him.

"Do you and your twin have different levels of intellect?" Zeus questioned.

"Are you calling Shadow Jade stupid?" I questioned back.

"If he did, might as well dig his grave now. We'll miss you, brother," Zeke teased.

"Right. Zeus, apologize. You don't say that to a girl!" Zackery stressed.

"That was mean, brother," Zion mumbled, adjusting his glasses on his nose.

"Seriously? It's just a question," Zeus grumbled.

"A mean question," Zackery corrected.

"Shadow Jade doesn't care," Tanner barged in.

I smirked. "Shadow Jade," I sweetly declared. "Tanner just called you stupid."

"Hey!" Tanner exclaimed. "I did not!"

He then looked at Shadow Jade, who was sitting next to Alaric.

"Me?" Shadow Jade pointed to herself. "No stupid." She blinked her eyes.

"I know, Shadow Jade. Tanner is just a big bully. You should kill him," I suggested. "We need less of him in the world."

"Dammit! Shut up, Jade." Tanner was off the couch and near the door. "Alaric! Interfere."

Alaric was calmly cleaning his glasses. "Hmm?"

"I love how your dad doesn't even care," Zeke praised.

"I know. Isn't he awesome? No wonder I never get in trouble with Tanner," I concluded.

"Kill!" Shadow Jade stood up, a large scythe forming in her hands. She grinned happily. "Shadow Jade hurt! Kill!"

She was right in Tanner's face in less than a blink; Tanner was already summoning his sword and blocking the attack.

"Alaric!" Tanner said through gritted teeth. "Really?"

"Did you want me to do something?" Alaric questioned. The four of us snickered while Zeus shook his head.

"I don't understand the logistics of all this. Just apologize."

"You're the one who insulted her!" Tanner declared.

There was a knock on the glass, and all of us turned our gazes to see Bianca holding a tray of cookies. "I brought cookies."

"Cookie?" Shadow Jade paused in her quest to kill Tanner, looking over to me. "Jade! Cookie! Me?"

"Yes, Shadow Jade. You can move Tanner out of the way and get some cookies from Bianca," I instructed with an evil smile.

"Yeah!" Shadow Jade cheered, literally picking Tanner up like he weighed nothing and throwing him over to Alaric's couch.

Alaric rose and moved out of the way a second before Tanner crashed into the couch, which fell over. We all burst into laughter while Shadow Jade opened the door and gestured for Bianca to come in.

"That was the best shit I've ever seen." Zackery laughed.

"Why didn't we record it?" Zeke whined. "It was a golden moment."

"Blackmail at its finest," Zeus chuckled.

"Whenever we see Tanner in class, that's what we'll envision." Zion grinned.

"We went far off topic, but for that Kodak moment, I'd ask Shadow Jade to do it all over again," I concluded, using my free hand