The Culling Trials (Shadowspell Academy #2)(10)

Figures gathered at the bottom of the tower caught my gaze. I didn’t know how a team had gotten ahead of us, but clearly one had. Maybe the troll bridge they’d crossed was easier. Maybe they hadn’t faced a troll at all. Regardless, this was an opportunity that we hadn’t had yet, to see how another team fared at a challenge.

Ethan and Gregory made to pass in front of me and I grabbed them both, one in each hand. “Watch.”

Ethan and Gregory both went still as the scene played out in front of us.

There was a moment of silence as the kids started to climb the tower. They’d made it twenty feet up when a sudden movement caught my notice. A creature—a gargoyle—I hadn’t seen, stretched to life, much smaller than those perched higher and nearly matching the color of the stone under its feet. It shot down, moving like a spider on a wall, heading straight for the kids.

“It’ll be like this all the way around,” Ethan said, stepping to the side as if that would get him a better look.

A sudden high-pitched scream cut the air, and a winged gargoyle flew straight into the air behind the tower. As it rose, it circled closer to us, clutching a student in its talons. The kid’s legs kicked in panic.

I grabbed Ethan’s shoulder. “Save him!”

Ethan huffed. He didn’t move a muscle.

“Ethan, save—” The screaming kid’s flailing body disappeared from the sky.

“If they killed everyone, there would be no one left for the academy,” Ethan said dryly. I caught a whiff of you’re an idiot in his tone.

“No time like the present.” Ethan shoved Gregory in front of him. “Go.”

“You’re a real class act, Wonder Bread. A real stand-up guy,” I said, stepping forward with Gregory.

“And you’re white trash,” he replied, following behind us. “Just be glad you’re not also useless.”

Any other time, he’d be flat on his back with a split lip. This time, though, I figured we needed his wand. Assuming, of course, he’d actually use it.

I directed the others. “Gregory, stick close to me. Orin and Wally, you take the rear. These suckers move fast—yell out if they get in behind us.”

I was at the base of the tower and Pete was still beside me.

“You, my fat little friend, are getting a boost.”

He chattered his sharp teeth. Can’t climb. I could hook my claws in, but I can’t—

I grabbed him around the belly and tossed him against the wall as high as I could. “Then hook in, buddy. I have a feeling we’re going to need some honey badger badassery.”

He screeched until he hit the wall and his claws dug in. He glanced down at me, teeth chattering rapidly.

“Rude, so rude.” I grinned up at him. “Now, move your furry little butt. We have a tower to climb.”

And another token to find. I was sure there’d be treasure here, just like the ruby we’d found at the troll’s bridge. Call it intuition, or maybe just plain logic, but each challenge would have a talisman.

He curled his lips up and snapped his teeth once more, but then he did start climbing, contrary to what he’d said about his capabilities. Given that his claws were scraping against stone, and the divots had been designed for hands, I was mighty impressed.

Magic.

I took a deep breath. I’d need to get used to this new reality that defied the logic with which I’d lived my life, and soon.

I jumped up, catching a handhold just above my head, and hung there a moment while I searched for another. “Come on, everybody, this will be easy. Ethan said so.”

“Any idiot can climb a wall,” Ethan said as he started up to my right.

“You’ll be proof,” I bit out with a grin.

“Incoming!” Wally shouted, and I looked up as one of the wingless gargoyles skittered down the wall at us like a lizard.

It blinked rapidly a few times, swaying from side to side, a long tongue flicking out to taste the air.

“It can’t see,” Gregory whispered. “But it can feel us move.”

I lifted a foot and dug it into another hold, a few rocks falling.

I grimaced and looked up as the gargoyle came straight at me.





Chapter 5





“Crap stains on white jeans,” I spat out, my heart rate ramping up. “How the hell am I supposed to fight a freaking nightmare?”

The gargoyle was coming straight for me as I hung by my fingers and toes on the side of a stone block tower. This did not bode well.

I scanned the immediate area for all available divots and handholds, lodging them into my brain. I needed a strategy. If these suckers were made of stone, jabbing them with a knife wouldn’t do me a whole lotta good.

“You better react, or you’ll go flying,” Ethan warned.

“Very helpful,” I grunted.

The gargoyle closed the distance with lightning speed, shimmying down the flat surface as though its feet had suction cups on them. Rather than strike out, I let the stone creature keep its momentum. When it was just two feet away, I threw myself sideways, heart in my throat, and grabbed a new handhold with my right hand.

The fingers on my left hand just barely scraped against the other hold I’d targeted, but my own momentum swung my body past it and to the right, leaving all my weight pulling on one precarious hold. My jaw clenched and I let out a groan as my fingertips tore into the stone, one nail bending back. That was going to hurt later.