She swallowed. “Yeah. It’s worse than I thought.”

“You get used to it. Look, we need to run down this hall toward the ladder and climb up to get outside. There’s going to be dummies swinging at you with red lights over their hearts. Just aim your stake at the light, okay? Think of it like one of those Halloween haunted houses.”

“I hate those,” she said, but sounded annoyed now, not nearly as scared. She scooped up her stake, holding it so tightly her knuckles must have hurt.

“Ready?”

She nodded.

“Go!”

I took the lead so she wouldn’t panic again. The first “vampire” came at me from the left and I aimed for the red light. The second came from the right; the third and fourth dropped from the ceiling together. I let one get away to give Lia a chance to stab at it. It was nothing if not a good way to release frustration. It caught her in the shoulder but she managed to jab the red light.

“I got one!” She squealed. “Did you see?”

“Behind you,” I yelled, throwing my stake to catch the one swinging from behind her. The red light blinked out and the dummy came to a sudden stop, inches away from Lia’s already sore nose.

“Okay, that was cool,” she squeaked, apparently over her little meltdown. The adrenaline was doing its work—I could see it in the tremble of her fingers and the slightly manic gleam in her eyes. It was better than panic.

“Nearly there,” I told her over another recording of a grating shriek. “Go, go, go!”

We ran as fast as we could.

“Jump that one.” I leaped over a dummy crawling out of a trapdoor. The tunnel was empty of other students but I could see a faint light up ahead. “Nearly there.”

When we reached the ladder I pushed her in front of me. She scrambled up like a monkey. She had good balance if nothing else.

I was the last one out.

Two teachers and all of the students waited in a clump, watching for us. Lia’s face was streaked with dirt and dried tears and her lip was swollen, but at least she was smiling.

“Well, well, Miss Wild.” Mr. York held up his stopwatch with the most condescending sneer he could muster. “Apparently you’ve gotten rusty over the summer. What will your grandfather say to hear a Wild came in dead last?” He was enjoying this way too much. It was no secret that Mr. York hated my family, and Grandpa in particular. He’d been on my case since my first day at the academy. Chloe pulled a hideous grimace behind his back.

“It’s my f-fault, sir,” Lia stammered. “Hunter stopped to help me out.”

“Did she now? Well, admirable as that may be, this is a speed test.” He made a mark on his clipboard.

I really wanted to stake that clipboard.

“I hardly think Hunter should be penalized for showing group loyalty,” Ms. Dailey interrupted. “We are teaching them loyalty and courage, aren’t we? As well as speed?”

“Be that as it may, this test is timed. Rules are rules.”

“Her floor monitor should have been looking out for her,” I muttered.

“What was that, Miss Wild?” Mr. York asked.

“Nothing, sir.”

“I distinctly heard something, Miss Wild. Students, quiet down please. Miss Wild is having trouble being heard.”

God, he was a pain in my ass.

“I was only wondering where her floor monitor was.” First day and I was getting reamed out for helping someone. This just sucked.

He frowned at his clipboard. “Courtney Jones.”

I had to stifle a groan. Of course it would be Courtney. We’d been roommates in tenth grade and frankly, I don’t think either of us was over it yet. To say we didn’t get along and had nothing in common was a gross understatement. She was so in league with the nasty swan.

Courtney stepped forward, smiling winningly. “Yes, Mr. York?”

Kiss-ass.

“Is this student on your floor?”

“Yes, Mr. York.”

“And did you leave her behind?”

“No, Mr. York.” She sounded stunned and deeply grieved. Mr. York, of course, totally fell for it. At least Ms. Dailey pursed her lips. It was a small victory but the only one I was probably going to get. “Lia was right behind me, sir. She told me she was fine.”

Lia was blinking like a fish suddenly hauled out of a lake. “I—”

“I see,” Mr. York said, tapping his lips with his pen as if he was deep in thought. I shifted from foot to foot. Spencer shot me a commiserating wince. I winced back.

“Seeing as you are so concerned with the ninth graders’ welfare, you will be Courtney’s assistant. You can be in charge of all their delicate sensibilities and making sure they get through drills.” Which, loosely translated, meant Courtney would get her big single room on the fourth floor and “floor monitor” on her transcripts but I would be doing all the actual work. And she’d get to boss me around. She smirked at me.

“Do you have a problem with that, Miss Wild?” Mr. York snapped.

“No, sir.” I sighed. I refused to slump, even though I really wanted to. I was so not going to let him see how much he’d just screwed up my last year for me. I didn’t know anything about taking care of ninth graders—or Niners, as we called them. And my course load was already approximately the size of an Egyptian pyramid. The big one.

“Good. You’re dismissed,” he barked at everyone before stalking across the lawn toward the teachers’ apartments. Ms. Dailey patted my shoulder before following him. Courtney sneered at me and flounced away.