“What next?” I asked.
He smiled, his face beaming with excitement. “We start investigating, check out offices, dorm rooms, houses, everything.”
“You mean we snoop,” I said.
“That’s right.”
Selene frowned. “But what exactly are we looking for?”
“That’s easy,” I said. “Rosemary’s ring.”
* * *
We started with Coach Fritz. My bet was still on Culpepper, but Eli and Selene agreed we needed to proceed with caution concerning him, given what happened last time. They were probably right. Besides, Coach Fritz should be easy.
Monday’s gym class was combative magic training again, which meant Fritz would be completely focused on teaching. The plan was for Eli to sneak into his office during class and take a look. I would’ve liked to have gone, too, but since Eli was already sitting on the bench, he was in the best position for getting in and out unnoticed. Plus, he had experience with this sort of thing.
Selene and I exchanged a grin when we walked into the gymnasium and saw the game field packed full of barricades, climbing towers, and shelters. The sheer amount of structures indicated we were playing elimination today and not capture the flag or king of the hill. That was good. Selene and I could find a place to hole up and keep an eye on the coach, making sure the coast remained clear for Eli. Defending a structure was a common tactic in elimination so none of our classmates would notice our lack of true participation in the game.
Neither of us considered the idea of getting tagged out right away. Our performance was being graded, after all, and it was too close to midterms to purposely earn a low mark.
“All right, grunts,” Coach Fritz said, calling us to attention. He had a narrow, lean face and wavy auburn hair. His large eyes were as green and sparkly as emeralds, and even though he was old, he still looked fit. I supposed Rosemary might’ve been attracted to him in that hot-for-teacher kind of way. Gross.
Fritz pointed to the game field. “You know the drill. Last man standing wins. You’ve got one minute for the starting bell.”
The class rushed en masse onto the field. With everyone in matching black protective gear, we must’ve looked like a swarm of beetles. The suits covered all the vital parts, including head, torso, and legs. Although the strength of the spells was heavily dampened inside the game field, they could still do a lot of damage if not for the protection charms imbedded in the suits. They were made out of some kind of flexible plastic/rubber and fit like wet suits. The suit’s secondary purpose was to let you know when you were out. If an opponent hit you with a critical spell, the kind that would’ve incapacitated you in the real word, it lit up and ordered you off the game field.
“There,” Selene said, pointing at one of the barricades. It was shaped like a triangle, but only one of the three sides was connected, leaving two person-sized holes in the corners. It was perfect for a two-man defense and gave us a clear view of Coach Fritz.
Selene and I dashed inside and took up position at each entrance. My heart began to pound in anticipation, bringing me fully awake for the first time all day. I’d stayed up half the night on the phone with Paul. He thought what we were doing was a good idea, but he’d cautioned me about how nasty Fritz could be when crossed. It made me worried for Eli—he was taking the biggest risk by far.
The buzzer rang, and the game field exploded with the sounds and sights of spells flying out from wands and fingertips, colliding with barricades and people. I watched Lance take someone out with his signature move, a dazing-jab combo. He was a regular fixture in the winner’s circle. For a second I thought he spotted me, but he wheeled around in pursuit of his next victim.
I turned my attention back to Fritz in time to see Eli slip off the bench behind him and head for the coach’s office door. He walked without any particular stealth at all, moving as confidently as if he had every right to do what he was doing. I had to admire his brazenness. He disappeared inside the office a moment later, and I breathed a sigh of relief. First hurdle down.
“Did you set the timer?” I asked Selene over my shoulder.
“Yeah,” she shouted. Then I heard her cast the jab jinx followed by the sound of someone cursing.
“Nice one,” I said.
She didn’t answer, but I didn’t have time to make sure she was okay as an opponent came running toward me, wand up.
“Ceno-crani,” I shouted, arm raised. The befuddlement jinx hit my attacker, and he swerved sideways, crashing headfirst into another barricade. I followed up with a daze that sent the person reeling backward, his suit lighting up. One down. There was no denying I was getting better at using magic. I hadn’t set anybody’s hair on fire in weeks.
Two more kills later, I asked Selene, “How long?”
“Seven minutes.”
Halfway. Eli had sworn he’d be fifteen minutes, no longer. I glanced at Coach Fritz, making sure I could still see him. His gaze was fixed on the game field like always, but I could tell he wasn’t paying nearly the amount of attention to the game he usually did.
And that was odd. Fritz loved fighting in all its forms. Rumor had it he was once an up-and-coming gladiator himself before he got caught taking a payoff to throw a fight and received a lifelong ban. As coach of the Arkwell gladiator team, he was always on the lookout for talent in his classes, kids good enough to turn pro and allow him to live vicariously.
Not today though. He seemed distracted. He kept checking his watch and looking around as if he couldn’t wait for class to end.