The Tracker Hive Academy Year One - Avery Song Page 0,91
me. Unless we were making out, he didn't see the need to shut the lights off.
Then the fire alarm went off.
"Is the school ending?" Zeke pondered.
"Maybe it’s a prank," I groaned. "What’s the likelihood of a blackout and a fire? Something is up. I wonder what the assembly was supposed to be about?"
We hadn't had any incidents since last semester, and even if there had been, we wouldn’t have had an assembly about it.
Dad and the others wanted to keep the incidents on the down low. The more people who knew about them, the trickier things would become. As Trackers, we didn't want to give our next set of moves away.
We had to be just as sneaky and tricky as our enemy.
"What shall we do then?" I questioned, turning my attention to Zeke, whose hands were in his pockets. He turned around, his back facing me as he took a deep breath.
"I actually wanted to ask you something."
"What? If this is about you forgetting to bring Shadow Jade and me a cookie today like you were supposed to, it's fine. Zeus will most likely bring it...whenever we have this assembly."
Zeus was still honoring his cookie promise, but Zeke was purposely teasing him by taking our cookie share and not delivering it until Zeus nagged him.
I thought for sure Zeus would have sniped him with thunderbolt already, but he was still here, obviously.
"No." He sounded amused but continued. "How long were you going to keep it a secret?"
"What a secret?" I questioned.
"That you killed your family."
I stood completely still, not expecting him to ask that. When I didn't answer, he turned around to face me, his eyes locking onto mine.
His black orbs showed no emotion, and the silver ring that usually surrounded his irises was gone, making his eyes even duller.
"What...are you talking about, Zeke?"
"You said a person killed your family. That a man killed them because he was after you."
I held my tongue, unsure when I’d told him that. I was sure it wasn't during the night at the hotel, or the countless times he'd slept over or I'd stayed with him.
He could be just testing me. Like Tracker Hive protocol.
The silence between us grew, while the fire alarm continued to ring. There must have not been an alarm in the actual gym because it was nowhere near as loud as it would have been in the hall.
We both stood there, and he took a long inhale.
"Why did you lie?"
"I never lied," I honestly replied.
"Why don't I reword this," he countered. "Did the man you said killed your family really kill them with his own hands?"
I bit my lip and slid my hands into my pockets.
"You put your hands in your pockets because they shake a lot," he commented. "Is that due to your PTSD caused by killing your family?"
"I didn't kill them." I narrowed my eyes at him.
"Right. So you keep saying." He bobbed his head and pulled out his left hand. "Does Shadow Jade have something do with all of this?"
"Leave her out of it," I barked back.
"Guilty." He smirked as a ball of black magic formed in his hand. He tossed it up like a baseball, catching it and looking back at me.
"Let me guess. Shadow Jade had a little tantrum and ended up killing everyone? Was this man who is now considered a criminal just in the wrong place at the wrong time?"
"It's none of your business, Zeke." I turned around, but he was right there and the shadow ball in his hand was now a gun pressed to my forehead.
"You manipulated me. You used my brothers, and now you're trying to tell me that all of this isn't my business. Pretty two-faced, if you ask me."
"Move your gun from my head," I muttered.
"And what?” he prompted. "You'll tell me the truth? Tell my brothers the truth? No...tell all the world the truth of what you, or should I say, Shadow Jade, really did."
I pulled my right hand out of my pocket, pointing the burning red gun to his forehead.
"You're not Zeke," I whispered.
"Says who? You, the traitor?" He stared at me in defiance. "I hate dirty liars like you. Would have been better if you’d remained on the streets where you belong. Actually, you should have just been killed by those people who desperately wanted you."
My hand shook uncontrollably and my eyes grew glassy, but I fought to keep my calm.
"Are you the one telling people to kill themselves?" I whispered.