Wings of Fire as Humans: Jade Preparatory Academy

Chapter Fifty: Deathbringer Moonslayer

A/N: Woohoo! Fiftieth chapter!

"You've been quiet for a while," Glory said snarkily. "Not making up a false lead, are you?" 

Deathbringer made a face at her. "It's only been about ten seconds," he pointed out. "And I would be telling you right now if you hadn't asked a question." He paused and cleared his throat dramatically. 

"Oh, get on with it," Glory grumbled. 

Deathbringer, in a move that was completely OOC, ignored her. "Qibli, Winter, Tsunami, Peril, Kinkajou and Swordtail are in Queen Wasp's Palace." 

The room was silent for a moment. Then Moon asked, "Um, Deathbringer?"

"Yes?" 

"How do you know this?"

Deathbringer paused. He should have realized he would have to answer this question. 

"You're hiding something," Glory said, studying Deathbringer intently. 

Deathbringer looked away. "Sort of. I may have done some snooping last night."

"Snooping?" the entire room echoed.

"Yeah. Well, spying, you could say, but snooping sounds better." Deathbringer paused. Presumably for too long. 

"Snooping where?" Glory asked. 

"You really like to interrupt, don't you?" 

"I thought that was your thing," Glory shot back. "I'm actually quite good at listening, thank you very much." 

Sundew sighed. "Stop flirting and start talking. Deathbringer, tell us where you were snooping, or my plants will strangle you."

Deathbringer had known Sundew long enough to know that that was not an idle threat, and even though Deathbringer was sure he was capable of outdoing Sundew's plants on the field of battle, he thought it best to avoid a fight. 

Of course, he couldn't let Glory think he was a coward, so he said, "Oh, I'll tell you, but I'll do it on my own time." 

Sundew rolled her eyes and looked at Glory. "Can you make him cooperate?"

"Probably." Glory faced Deathbringer. "I will slap you if you don't tell us, now."

Deathbringer frowned at her but knew Glory's threat was even less idle than Sundew's. "Fine. I was snooping around Professor Cadelle's classroom." 

The room sucked in a collective breath, Cricket more than anyone. 

"My grandmother?" she asked. 

Deathbringer nodded. "Yes." 

"And what did you find?" Glory asked pointedly. 

Deathbringer sighed. He'd already told them more than he should, and he didn't want to risk getting his friends in more trouble. "There are cameras in here, right?" 

Everyone looked at Starflight, who blinked at being the sudden center of attention. "Yes. There are also likely microphones." 

"So . . . nothing we say is safe," Fatespeaker concluded. 

"Why didn't you tell us this before?" Moon asked Starflight. "Haven't we already revealed we know too much?"

"Yes," Starflight said. "However, I highly doubt they actually check the cameras or go through all our conversations, so say what you will."

To Deathbringer, that didn't seem like such a good idea. There was no way to guarantee that no one was going through their conversations, and since everyone had been . . . taken, surely there would be more monitoring than normal. He was a bit surprised Starflight hadn't thought of this himself, but then, Starflight had book smarts, not street smarts. 

"We should save this conversation for later," Deathbringer announced, pushing himself off the couch and heading toward the door. 

"Oh no you don't, Death Boy," Glory called after him. "You're telling us what you found in Cadelle's classroom whether you like it or not." 

"Actually, I'm not . . ." Deathbringer trailed off as he opened the front door and found himself face-to-face with an unfamiliar boy. 

They stared at each other for a minute, equally panicked. Then the boy smiled in a way that gave Deathbringer the willies. 

"I'm Darkstalker," he said. "Who are you?"