All That Lives Must Die - Eric Nylund [207]
Fiona had to do something to motivate her team, though.
“We should look at the new parts of the course,” she said, “see if we can figure out what tricks Mr. Ma has planned.”
“Wouldn’t that be breaking your sacred rules?” Robert said, arching one eyebrow.
“They’re not my rules,” she replied. “They are the rules—and those signs up there just say ‘off-limits,’ not ‘don’t peek.’ Besides, I’m willing to test the boundaries of the rules if it means saving the necks of my teammates.”
Amanda shook out her hair and closed her book. “Sure—let’s go,” she murmured. “I can’t wait to see if we’re going to get frozen solid next time or chopped into bits.”
Jeremy smirked. “A tad dark for you, lass, no?”
Amanda turned and held Jeremy’s gaze until he looked away.
Robert jumped off the bleacher suddenly, startled, and reached into his pocket. He pulled out his phone.
“You brought that to practice?” Fiona asked.
Robert shrugged. “I have people that need to get ahold of me.”
Fiona didn’t like that. Who needed to stay in touch with Robert so desperately that he couldn’t leave his phone in his locker for one hour? Was he still spying for Uncle Henry? Or maybe it was as simple as him having other friends she didn’t know about. Perhaps a girlfriend? Well, he was certainly entitled to have a life outside school—the only reason it irritated her was that it was cutting into their practice time.
Robert pressed the phone to his ear.
Amanda moved closer to Robert. “Is it Mitch?”
Robert held up a finger and shook his head. “Geez,” he said into the phone. “I can barely hear you. Speak up.”
He then looked at the phone’s screen, started to close it, then paused. “Not Mitch,” he told them. Robert texted whoever it was, waited, texted again—then snapped the phone shut.
He looked at Fiona and pursed his lips. “I’ve got to go. Sorry.”
“What!” Fiona said. “We’ve got the course for thirty more minutes. You can’t leave.”
Robert squinted at her, and his face flushed. In a low voice, he said, “I don’t work for the League anymore. You can’t order me around.”
It felt like he’d slapped her in the face.
She wasn’t ordering anyone around. She was just trying to win—so they could all graduate.
But before she could say any of this, Robert walked away.
She watched him go. Furious. Helpless.
Jeremy came to her side. “Let him go, lassie. There be no point in practicing today with so many missing, anyway.”
He stood so close, Fiona felt his body heat, too near for comfort. She took a step away.
“Whatever . . . ,” she muttered, trying as hard as she could to sound like she didn’t care.
“It only goes to show how unreliable some members of this team are.” Jeremy tapped his notebook. “I’ve been so bold as to prepare a list of suitable alternatives.”
“Alternates?” Amanda jumped up and came over. One of her tiny hands had balled into a fist. “You can’t just kick people off the team.”
“Don’t interrupt me,” Jeremy told her.
Fiona made a calm down gesture at Amanda. “It’s okay,” she said. “I think I know what he means. Planning ahead, right?”
Something had happened to Amanda over the break. She would’ve never stood up to Jeremy Covington like that before. Was it that dorm fire Fiona had heard about? Three people got hurt. Maybe Amanda had rescued them, and that had boosted her self-esteem. Fiona should’ve hung out with her more to find out . . . but oddly, Amanda hadn’t even tried to speak with her since the start of the new semester.
“Precisely,” Jeremy replied. “Planning ahead. What shall we do if our esteemed Infernal teammate never returns? Or Mitch? What if he has met some unpleasant fate? Or Robert . . . what if he just rides off one day?”
Now it was Fiona’s turn to glower at him. Mitch had not met some unpleasant fate. And Robert wouldn’t just ride off and leave them. But he did have a point about Jezebel.
Jeremy leaned closer and his silky blond hair fell into his face in a distractingly attractive way. He touched one finger to his lips, trying to hide the smile growing there. “Just in case . . . ,” he whispered.
Fiona glanced