Victories Read Free Page A

Shadow Knights were hunting them, and they were here because they were trusting someone Spirit had met in a secret chat room. And the worst part was, there wasn’t anything else they could do.
    She was dozing on Burke’s shoulder when the sound of the door opening brought her joltingly awake. Loch was already on his feet, and as Spirit rubbed her face with her hands—she and Addie had washed off their makeup as soon as possible—Burke stood as well.
    If the woman in the doorway was the rescue party, her looks didn’t inspire confidence. She was stray-cat skinny, her frayed jeans and worn parka looked like dumpster treasures, and her brown hair was short and unkempt. Her expression when she looked at them seemed to say she’d expected to see anyone else here but them, but she covered it quickly.
    “I’m Vivian,” she said. “I’m here to take you to the one you know as Quercus. Let’s go.”
    “Of course,” Loch said fulsomely. “Because we’re so willing to leave with the first person who shows up with the secret password?”
    “That’s right,” Vivian said evenly. “What choice do you have?”
    “Well,” Loch said, as if he was considering the matter, “we could stay here. Or you could tell us why we should trust you.”
    Vivian huffed in exasperation. “Because no matter what you think you know, rich boy, some kids did escape from Oakhurst. I did—twenty years ago. Your parents did, too,” she added, looking at Burke.
    “My parents were murdered by Mordred’s Mafya hitman,” Burke said, taking a step away from Spirit and toward Vivian.
    “By Agravaine. Yes,” Vivian said, nodding. “But I’m talking about your birth parents, the people who left you in a church, hoping that holy place would protect you, and went willingly to their deaths, knowing they were leading the hunters away from you.”
    “You knew my parents?” Burke demanded. “My other parents?”
    “No,” Vivian said. “But Quercus did.”
    “That’s disturbing,” Loch said after a moment. “Considering he apparently couldn’t protect them.”
    “You’re a chess player,” Vivian shot back. “You’re aware of the concept of sacrificing a piece to gain the victory.”
    “Funny,” Loch said. “On my planet we call it ‘hanging your friends out to dry.’ And we’ve seen a lot of it from the Shadow Knights lately.”
    “Good for you,” Vivian said, sounding even more irritated. “But I don’t intend to stand around here all day dispelling your ignorance. I’m here to take you to Quercus. Now get moving. Or don’t, and wait for them to catch up with you. Your choice.”
    Addie glanced from Loch to Vivian, her mouth set in a thin line of resentment. Spirit looked up at Burke. He was frowning, but he looked more confused than angry.
    “Come on,” Spirit said with a resigned sigh. “We don’t have a lot of choices. If she was a Shadow Knight, she’d already have tried to kill us. Or something.”
    “If—” Addie began. “I—”
    “Move it,” Vivian said. “If you want to hang around outside here like idiot bait, I don’t.” She turned around and walked out, leaving the door open.
    “Nice lady,” Loch said, but he was already reaching for his coat.
    When they got to the van, Vivian was already in the driver’s seat. “Back’s open,” she said.
    They looked at each other. “I’ll ride up front,” Loch said. “That way we can find our way back here if we have to.” Loch’s primary Gift was Shadewalking—the ability to move silently and undetected—but he had a secondary Gift of Pathfinding: the ability to always know exactly where he was, and to find his way unerringly from place to place. He climbed into the van on the passenger side, and the rest of them went around to the back. Burke helped Spirit and Addie up into the van and closed the door.
    “This is our only vehicle,” Vivian said, over the sound of the engine. “I’ve been in the area since last night. I wanted to make sure