“Have you come to mock with David?” I asked, and she shook her head, a few tendrils of hair coming loose from her own ponytail.

“I actually thought we should join forces on our talent. Do some kind of dual baton thing. Especially if I’m right about the pageant being one of the trials.”

“That was Bee’s idea?” When I glanced back, David was sitting up a little straighter, his eyebrows raised. “I thought you put that together, Pres.”

Irritation bubbled up in me, which was probably stupid, since what did it matter whose idea it had been? But I didn’t like the sharp, interested way David was looking at Bee. He was thinking... something. I wasn’t sure what, but the wheels were clearly turning.

I shrugged, sweat rolling down my spine. The late afternoon was getting warmer, and I was about to suggest going in when Bee held out one hand. “Here,” she said, nodding toward the baton. “Let me try.”

The baton was a little slick with my sweat—more from the warmth of the day than from any real effort—but I tossed it to her.

The baton turned end over end in the air, but before it had even completed one full rotation, Bee had launched into a forward handspring unlike anything I’d ever seen her do in cheerleading. Heck, Bee had been so bad at jumps that it was sort of a joke. She’d always said it was because she was too tall, but apparently that wasn’t a problem anymore.

Bee was a blur of motion, and then the baton was in her hands before rising back into the sky. Another series of easy, effortless flips, and she caught it again, beaming at me triumphantly.

And then from the fence, I heard David breathe, “Holy crap. She’s better than you.”

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

“OKAY, WELL, let’s not go that far,” I joked, and Bee stepped up beside me, frowning at David.

“No, I’m not,” she said, but David was already standing up, shaking his head.

“No, no, I didn’t mean, like, better better,” he said as he shoved his hands into his back pockets. “I just meant... you’re good. It’s one thing to know you’re a Paladin, but it’s another to see it in action, I guess.”

David was still watching both of us, eyes bright behind his glasses. “What if...” He stopped, holding up both hands even though neither Bee nor I had said anything. “Hear me out,” he added, and I knew that whatever was going to come next was not going to be something I’d like.

“Okay, so if Harper fails the Peirasmos, you become my Paladin, right?”

Bee shifted her weight, looking at David like he’d started speaking a foreign language. “Harper can’t fail the trials,” she said, and I noticed her fingers tightening around the baton. “She’ll die.”