School of the Crown Assassins

03

I pushed through the crowd, trying to make my way to the front for easier access to the stage. They always made the top twelve, the Beta and Alpha teams, get on the stage when they presented their ranks.

I wished I had my pin, which was taken away for reassessment before the games. Different ranks had different colors and designs on their pins. Had I been wearing my pin, the other students would've parted instantaneously. Still, a few people recognized me and moved out of the way.

Finally, I made it to the front and made my way to Axe's side. Most of the other students typically avoided being in the very front out of fear. They didn't want to accidentally piss off the Crown Assassins. But today, a group of people were edging closer, probably expecting to get onto the Beta team. The reality was, they were never getting on any time soon. We held onto our ranks too strong to let that happen.

Axe and I faced the front, standing side by side, Chance standing on Axe's other side despite not being one of the top twelve. He never cared about pissing off any high-ranking assassins, just about being by his best friend's side. I wondered if the two knew each other from before Chance was adopted by the Dayholts.

I gave Chance a small smile and turned to Axe. "How are the standings?"

Axe shook his head and I could see him making quick calculations behind his brown eyes. "Not sure. There are so many ways this could go, especially since we both died during the game today... it's hard to tell. If someone, like Trinity Vega, increased their number of kills significantly in the time that we were dead, they could have easily passed us and taken rank 6."

Those were my thoughts exactly, and the fact that Axe had confirmed this did nothing to calm the butterflies in my stomach. Still, I pretended to keep a positive outlook.

"And if no one else managed to surpass us?"

Axe turned, studying my face as he tried to gauge my reaction. "If I got more kills than you, I might get rank 6, but there's a high possibility you would get rank 6 since you killed me."

I nodded and turned back to the front. "Good."

I felt his eyes still on me as he tried to read my movements and reactions, trying to figure out where this new ambition came from. I gave him nothing. Eventually, he turned back to Chance and the two of them started talking in whispers, which I ignored.

We were all standing on the third floor, where the main tower connected to the circular base's top level. Large screens hung across the front wall, above the metal and glass stage. Geometric glass shapes cut across the wall, obscuring our view of the night outside. My mind drifted back to the boy I had seen only minutes earlier. I turned back to Axe and Chance.

"Do you guys know anyone with white eyes?"

Chance looked at me with concern.

"White... eyes?" Axe raised an eyebrow. "Like the whites of our eyes?"

"No, I meant white in the spot where ours are brown."

"You mean the iris?"

I nodded.

"Indigo, it's impossible to have white irises."

"Not completely white. It was really light grey that looked almost white."

Axe furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head. "I don't know anyone like that. Why?"

I shrugged. "Just asking."

I knew it was a crappy response, but I wanted to see what their reaction would be in case they were withholding information.

Axe gave me a dubious look and turned back to the front. Chance, however, kept his eyes on me, eyebrows furrowed, head tilted. I watched him from the corner of my eye. Chance was always a worrier, but his behavior was odd, as if he was trying to calculate my moves. Chance never did that. It was always Axe. His eyes flicked to the Crown Assassins who were standing ten feet away, conversing in low voices. His eyes flicked back to me. What the hell was he thinking?