All That Lives Must Die

“Team Scarab is down its strongest fighter.” She turned on the dryer and preened in front of a mirror.

Sarah was coldheartedly pragmatic, but correct.

If Jezebel never came back, Fiona better think up new strategies for how to win matches. By the rules, they had to get half the team to their flag to win. With seven on their team, was half three or four people, then? She bet Mr. Ma would round up to four.

And what about Eliot? It wasn’t exaggerating to say he might have a “fatal” crush on the Infernal. Would he get over her? Or would his darkening mood just get worse? Or maybe, if Jezebel never came back, it’d be the best thing for him.

Fiona glanced at Amanda and wondered if she’d ever tell Eliot she liked him. It was so obvious. . even to Fiona, who-let’s face it-was no expert in boy-girl relationships.

On the other hand, if Amanda told him, and then Jezebel came back. . who knows what the Infernal might do to her. Probably laugh. Or kill her.

Poor Amanda. Poor Eliot.

She had a feeling that no matter what, they were going to get hurt.

It was the same with Robert. Sometimes she wished he’d just go away. That sounded cruel, but it was true.

Anyway, she had Mitch now.

Sarah finished her hair: it shone and curled with expert precision in a completely relaxed and natural-looking way. She looked over at Amanda and her tangles, frowning, but not offering any advice.

“How do you know a boy likes you?” Fiona asked Sarah.

Sarah blinked. “With your looks and social connections, I wouldn’t worry. All the boys like you.”

Fiona blushed and started to get dressed, suddenly feeling a little too exposed.

“I mean,” Fiona continued, “say a boy likes you, you think, but you’re not sure how much. . or what exactly his intentions are.”

“Oh. .,” Sarah said, “a coy one, then, is it? They’re the most dangerous of all.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Fiona noted that Amanda eagerly listened, soaking up any boy advice that might accidentally drift her way.

“We are talking about Mitch, then?” Sarah asked.

Fiona’s blush deepened.

“Well, he likes you. It’s obvious. Don’t be so thick.”

“He smiles at everyone,” Amanda added, “but the way he smiles at you. . no one but you gets that.”

“Really?” Fiona suddenly felt out of breath.

“But that’s a problem,” Sarah said as she tied her hair up with a royal blue velvet ribbon. “You hinted there was something between you and Robert last summer?”

“That’s none of your business,” Fiona snapped.

“Don’t get your feathers ruffled.” Sarah patted the bench next to her. “It is my business. All of ours, in fact.”

Fiona sat.

“Mitch is a wonderful lad, and so is Robert,” Sarah said, “but if you pick one over the other, then what happens to the team? Would Robert want to get even with Mitch? At the very least, they wouldn’t be working together when we needed them to in a match, would they?”

Fiona wasn’t sure. Robert was above that sort of thing, wasn’t he?

And Mitch? He’d acted like nothing but a gentleman (which was part of the problem).

Fiona had a vision of the two of them dueling with sabers on campus. She shook her head to clear it.

“I’d never tell you how to run your personal affairs,” Sarah whispered. “Just be careful. We have three more matches to get our rank high enough to graduate. You might want to be nice to both of them. For a bit longer?”

Fiona didn’t know. That wouldn’t be fair to Robert; it might actually be dangerous for him. And it certainly wouldn’t be fair to Mitch. Or her.

“Let’s get some coffee,” Amanda suggested. “We can figure it all out together.”

“Coffee?” Fiona stood bolt upright. “I was supposed to meet Mitch at Cafe Eridanus half an hour ago!”

Fiona grabbed her Paxington jacket, hesitated, and then told Sarah, “Don’t worry. It’s just coffee.”

Sarah nodded, although she did not look at all convinced.

“See you!” Fiona waved to Sarah and Amanda and ran out of the locker room.

She burst out of the Ludus Magnus and almost ran over Mitch in the bone-encrusted entrance tunnel.

“Whoa!” He dodged her-without dropping the take-out coffee cups in his hands.

“I’m so sorry,” Fiona said.

“No harm.” He flashed his smile-that special smile that he had only for her (or so Amanda thought).

True or not, that grin warmed her more than any run around the coliseum or hot coffee ever could.

“I thought we were meeting at the cafe?”

“I was going to suggest we take another walk,” he said. “The cafe’s too crowded.”

“A ‘walk’ like last time?”

Mitch handed her one of the coffees and then offered her his free hand. “A walk better than last time. I’ve got a few surprises scouted out.” His smile intensified.

Fiona almost dropped the coffee. Her legs wobbled, but he didn’t notice.

“Sure,” she said, managing to sound causal-as if she took strolls around the world with boys who might like her every afternoon. Her pulse thundered in her ears.

He took her free hand in his and started down the winding path to Bristlecone Hall.

But after a dozen steps, nothing happened. They were just walking.

“Oh, I thought-”

“We are.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “But we can’t leave Paxington like that-some security feature. Mr. Dells had a talk with me about it.”

Fiona nodded. No one but students and staff were allowed on campus by foot or by car, and apparently there were restrictions on the use of magic, too, to cross its boundaries. As if Paxington were its own little country. She remembered how Dallas and Kino had waited for her outside the school gates, which made sense only if even the gods were forbidden from entering.

What kind of agreement did Paxington have with the League and the Infernals and the mortal magical families that let them operate with that kind of autonomy?

She turned her attention to the warmth flowing from Mitch’s hand into hers. He’d picked the long, roundabout way to the gate. Was that because he had wanted to hold her hand for the pleasure of holding it? Wanted, as she did, to make it last as long as possible?

She squeezed his hand back. “Hey, normal walking-just fine with me,” she said.

“You looked like you had a lot on your mind coming out of the coliseum.”

“Oh, the girls and I were talking about our last three matches-trying to come up with strategies to deal with our missing Jezebel.”

Fiona omitted their discussion of the boy-boy-girl dynamics of Team Scarab, and how her personal relationships could potentially sink their team’s ranking.

Mitch nodded. “Jezebel missing isn’t a huge problem. Not anymore. Every team in second semester is down at least one person. Dropouts, injuries-happens every year.”

The walked past the pedunculate oak called the Hangman of London. Its giant shadow crossed their path, and fog blew through its twisting branches. It reminded her of the misty graveyards that led to the Borderlands.

Fiona definitely preferred the sunshine these days. She took a sip of the coffee to warm her. It was perfect: lots of cream and no sugar. Just how she liked it.

“If teams get too small, people get reassigned,” Mitch continued. “I have an aunt who’s a Paxington alumna, and she explained it all to me.”[46]