Rooming with the Wicked

24 | the exception

"Are you sure about that?"

"Why, yes, I am." I gripped the vial tighter and turned to face the skeptic, who eyed the inconspicuous pale orange liquid with arched brows and what could only be an unconvinced frown. "But if you want to be extra certain, we could test it on your face right here."

Haze raised both hands in surrender, a playful smile on his lips. "I've had enough for one day, thanks very much."

The five of us were huddled around the most isolated stone table in the courtyard, as far from the other groups as possible. Various opened bags of chips and sour candies, as well as hand-drawn maps and lists, littered the space between us. At least half of them were total nonsense, but since most of the teams used the last couple of days to do their planning outside to snoop around the other teams—according to Jaydis anyway—he wanted to lay a couple of false trails for any that came to close to our table.

"What... What is that supposed to mean?" Jaydis asked, looking up from his notebook with a pen in hand. When neither of us answered, he turned to me, seemingly deciding that I was more likely to answer than Haze. "What does he mean by that?"

I shrugged and went back to properly sealing the flask. If this accidentally came undone anytime during our trip, it would be us they had to come collect after the game was over.

Jaydis set the pen down. "What exactly happened in that room today?"

Haze's grin widened as he leaned back. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Three different sets of eyes landed on me and Red over there just laughed. When he saw my glare, he laughed even harder. Jerk.

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, whatever you're thinking, that's not what happened."

"Hypothetically speaking," Jaydis said, "if there was something happening here between you two—"

"Never in a million—"

"Fine!" He waved his hands. "Save that hostile energy for the game."

Once the others had returned to listen to Jaydis go about explaining the terrain and what areas to watch out for, Syn nudged me with his elbow. With one arched brow, he said in a low voice, "That was awfully defensive."

"Shut up," I mumbled, focusing once more on the potion. Not quite able to rid myself of the feeling of being watched, I looked up to tell him off, only to find that his white eyes weren't on me at all. Nope. Instead, a pair of crimson ones were focused on my face from across the table.

I quickly averted my gaze, not wanting to give anyone any ideas, least of all myself because the only reason he could be watching me was because he was afraid that potion would explode in all our faces, right? Right.

"Heads up," Jaydis said, quickly flipping one of the papers around and pulling it closer to his chest.

After slipping the potion into my backpack between my legs, I looked up at a group of five shifters that gave Syn a run for his money in terms of grouchiness. One glance to my right confirmed that he still looked grumpier though. Jaw ticking and arms crossed in front of his chest, he stared them down with an intensity that left no room for interpretation. He did not like them.

The tallest of the shifters stepped forward with an unfriendly smile. As he opened his mouth to speak, Haze turned to the side and said, "Aidan, always a pleasure."

Aidan frowned, flexing his hands, clearly put off by Haze's borderline friendly greeting. "Can't say I feel the same," he replied after a moment.

"Yet, it's always you coming to see us," he drawled. "Interesting."