Taking a deep breath¸ I closed my eyes and tried to stop the orgy of violence currently unfolding in my mind. It wasn’t Sara’s fault that I currently hated everything. The night at the fair was a week ago, but the vision of slitting David’s throat still had me rattled. Alexander had said that the second trial was about facing my worst fears, that what I saw there wouldn’t necessarily come true, but that didn’t make me feel any better. Especially when I thought of what David had once told me—that he’d had a dream of the two of us fighting. That we weren’t angry but sad. And on top of that, I could still see Saylor’s worried expression when she’d told me that David could one day become a danger to himself as well as to everyone else.

So, yeah, I had a lot on my mind, and almost none of it revolved around making Sara Plumley happy with my walk. Plus, I still had one more trial left to go, and with the way the previous two had gone, I was pretty much expecting this last one to make my house blow up or something. It seemed like with every trial, I was losing a little bit more and, if I were honest, I wasn’t even sure what I was doing this for. Being David’s Paladin didn’t seem so great when he wasn’t even David anymore.

“Are you listening to me, Harper?” Sara asked, and this time, I thought of clobbering her with my baton.

“Yes, ma’am!” I called as brightly as I could, taking immense satisfaction from the way her brows drew close together. The “ma’am” implied “old,” which was clearly not okay with Sara, but it was also polite, which meant there was nothing she could do about it.

Honestly, not enough people know how to use good manners as a weapon.

But that thought wiped the smile from my face. If only good manners would be an effective weapon in whatever it was Alexander had coming next. After the fire, I’d been prepared for all the trials to be like that, dangerous and destructive. But then the Fun House had been a psychological thing, and, for my money, that had almost been worse. I wasn’t sure I’d ever get over not only the vision of David, but also seeing my mom screaming.

Seeing Bee with a sword thrust through her stomach.

That’s what would happen to her, I reminded myself, if I didn’t get through whatever this last trial was. Maybe not any time in the near future, but as I’d learned, being a Paladin was a dangerous business. I had to pass the Peirasmos, not just for me, but for Bee.