MAYA
The hallway smelled like floor wax and cafeteria grease, but underneath it all was something metallic, like blood just under the skin. I spun the combination lock on my locker, and the click sounded too loud, like a gunshot in my skull.
Again. The dream again.
Last night I’d been a man on a battlefield that didn’t exist, with a heavy sword in my grip, and lungs full of smoke and screaming. I’d died three times before I woke up gasping.
Nanny said it was trauma, the trauma that Kael gave me. But I’d cut him out like a tumor. The only thing that still made my stomach flutter was Xander Dupree leaning against the vending machine, pretending not to watch me.
I shoved textbooks into my bag. Focus Maya. History quiz was tomorrow, and Xander’s tutoring session was at four. My palms we
