Atlas
The squeak of rubber soles echoed down the hallway, the late afternoon sun casting long stripes of gold across the marble floor. I spun my basketball between my palms, needing the burn in my muscles and the smack of the ball against the court to shut out the static in my head.
But then I heard it.
“…Zara Blackwood. What’s her record before Blackwood Academy?”
I slowed, one foot dragging, the ball stopping in my hand mid-spin.
That was Jace.
I tucked myself behind the wall near the staff corridor, peering just enough to see the shapes, Jace, all calculated stillness, speaking to Professor Delrin who clutched a folder close like it might shield him from whatever question came next.
“She was transferred after that Mira girl’s disappearance, right?” Jace pressed, voice mild but l
