“No.” Emma put down her spoon with a clatter. “I do not. What’s going on?”
“Nothing.” Her friend shook her head. “Honestly, Emma, you’re getting very suspicious in your old age.”
“I’m fifteen.”
“Yes, well, you were a lot more trusting when you were fourteen,” Loni replied.
“Maybe my friends didn’t act all weird when I was fourteen?” Emma countered. “Now please, Loni, tell me what’s going on.”
Loni looked at Emma and sighed. “Fine,” she said, reluctantly reaching out for the heavy bag that was now sitting on one of the spare chairs. “At our Sunday afternoon meeting, instead of just recapping how our Saturday patrols had gone, Kessler gave out our new assignments for Alternative Slaying Practices. I was going to bring it over to your dorm room last night, but I ended up slaying until midnight.”
“Since when do goblins stay up so late? And when did you start slaying on a Sunday?” Emma lifted an eyebrow in surprise since, as a rule, goblins were like fairies and tended to go out during the day. That, however, was where the similarities ended since everyone knew goblins were ruthless killers who didn’t think twice about murdering humans and causing all kinds of havoc. Loni was so lucky.
“It wasn’t goblins.” Loni reached over and plucked a yellow folder off the top of the pile and handed it to Emma. “Kessler decided that we should team up with another slayer and study their techniques for the next month. And not just going out on Saturday patrols with each other. We need to shadow them, and there are all kinds of questionnaires and reports we have to do. Trust me—you haven’t suffered until you’ve had Brenda Vance trailing around after you.”
You got stuck with Brenda?” Emma shuddered, almost pleased she’d spent the whole day in the medical wing. Almost. She tentatively touched the eye patch.
“You have no idea. And then when I went out with her last night, it took her so long to mark out and scout the perimeter that by the time she deemed it okay for us to approach enemy territory, the demons had gone,” Loni complained. “They could’ve rolled out on their bellies and Brenda would’ve been too busy filling in her paperwork and fiddling with her wards to even notice. I’d been hoping to test out my new laser too.”
“So, did Kessler tell you who I was going to be paired with?” Emma asked, and Loni suddenly became very interested in her piece of toast. That couldn’t be a good sign. “It’s not one of the Lewis twins, right?”
“Okay, so the important thing is that you don’t freak out.” Her friend finally looked up. “This assignment is worth twenty percent of our grade, and—”
“Loni, just tell me who it is and put me out of my misery,” Emma repeated as an uneasy feeling started to snake its way through her stomach.
Loni let out a reluctant sigh. “It’s Curtis Green.”
The breakfast cereal that Emma had been attempting to eat turned to cardboard in her throat while the loud drone of the other students faded away until all she was conscious of was the name that her friend had just said.
“You know, it makes sense when you think about it,” Loni said in a rush, as if aware that she had to be quick before Emma’s brain had a chance to digest the news. “He was off yesterday with an injury and so were you. And don’t forget that you both like granola and are astrologically compatible. Honestly, once you spend time with him, I’m sure you’ll have a great time.”
Emma hardly heard. Instead, she forced herself to count her breaths until the jerky rhythm of her pounding heart finally started to return to normal and a wave of Zen-like calm washed over her.
She shook her head. This was a mistake.
All of it. Her mom dying. Principal Kessler thinking that she should be a fairy slayer, and in the process turning her into the laughingstock of Burtonwood. And now being told she needed to pair up with the guy who’d ruined her life? No, this was definitely all a big mistake. And she was going to fix it. Without a word, Emma got to her feet and scooped up the yellow folder as Loni looked at her in alarm.
“Where are you going? Why aren’t you talking? It makes me nervous when you don’t talk. Emma, say something.”
“I’m going to see Principal Kessler,” Emma said in a remarkably calm voice.