Read Dorothy Must Die Novella #7 for Free Online Page A

ready.”
    He walked away without another word. Lanadel watched him go. Why he was so insistent that no one could be trusted? It was more than just his commitment to the Order and their training. Was it what had happened to his family, or being raised byMombi—or was it something even worse? Whatever it was, it had hurt him so deeply that it seemed he would never be able to fully trust another person.
    Nox wasn’t her friend—but he was like her. All his anger bottled up inside, just waiting for an outlet. Putting up walls to keep himself safe. Melindra was the opposite of that. Despite all that she had gone through, she was still open to Nox and to Lanadel, and to life, in a way that Nox didn’t seem to be.
    Lanadel wondered if it was possible for Melindra to ever break through Nox’s wall. She had already somehow broken through to Lanadel. Lanadel didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. They were preparing for a war with Dorothy. Was having people who she cared about something that made her a better fighter, or a more vulnerable one?
    Nox seemed to be struggling with the same question. But which side would he come down on? And what would it mean for Melindra?

FIVE
    The next day was so different from her first weeks with the Order that Lanadel felt as if she’d suddenly traveled to an entirely new place. A tiny, winged image of Gert woke her at dawn by blowing a miniature horn in her ear—not that she could tell from her sleeping cave that it was dawn. She only knew it because Gert had told her when she first came to the caverns that that was when training started every day. But instead of her solitary meal in her sleeping cave and a long, dreary day of endless one-on-one sessions with Nox, she trained for the first time in the main cave with everyone else. The training caves all had the same high ceilings, bright crystal lamps, and hard, smooth white floors. The walls were lined with dozens of weapons: axes, knives, swords, staffs, and other fighting implements Lanadel didn’t even recognize, let alone know how to use. Slings and harnesses dangled from the ceiling at one end of the cave; when Nox had taught her flips and leaping, whirling kicks, she’d started out in a harnessuntil she learned to spin and cartwheel without help.
    Now Nox and Melindra circled her in the middle of the polished white floor while Larkin and Holly watched from the sidelines. In the ring, there was nothing friendly about Melindra’s face. Her expression was stony and focused, her eyes fixed. Lanadel could practically feel the searing force of her gaze as Melindra assessed her every weakness with razor-sharp precision.
    â€œHow would you fight differently against two people?” Nox asked as the two of them continued their unnerving, predator-like circle. “Think about what I’ve taught you.”
    â€œLike teaching her anything is going to help.” Larkin’s voice was low, but it carried. Lanadel flushed with anger. She opened her mouth to answer him, and Nox and Melindra pounced. Melindra moved so fast Lanadel didn’t even realize what was happening until she was on her back on the floor, the other girl’s knee resting on her chest.
    â€œOkay,” Nox said, in his usual infuriatingly even tone. “Let’s try that one again, Lanadel.”
    They did. And again. And again. Each time, Melindra knocked her down before she could even land a strike while Holly and Larkin snickered. This time, Melindra and Nox didn’t defend her. They were so focused on fighting that she wondered if they even heard Holly and Larkin’s sneers. Why couldn’t she be the same way? Or maybe now they expected her to defend herself. Out there in the real world, out fighting Dorothy, there’d be no one to stop anyone else from trying to hurt her. Ifshe couldn’t learn to deal with Holly and Larkin now, she’d be next to useless when she was faced with a