The Eternity Key by Bree Despain

the screen. “The names Cupid and Psyche represent the ideas of the heart and the soul. These two mythological beings symbolize the two halves of what makes us who we are—our heart and our soul.”
    A languid tone swoons through the room from the other female students, but all I can concentrate on is the fact that Ethan has gone back to swiping his finger across the screen of my iPad. If he were to click on my texting app …
    I wave my hand in the air, catching his attention. “Mr. Bowman, may I have my iPad back?” I ask. “Um, I’d like to bookmark that passage.”
    “Ethan, please. And thank you for the use of your handy device, Daphne.” He sets the iPad on my desk. The screen has gone dark, so I’m not quite sure what he’s seen.
    “No problem,” I say. “Ethan.”
    Ethan smiles, his large hand resting on my desk. “ ‘Daphne, Daphne, why dost thou run? What grievest thou to be undone?’ ” His words make me feel like my rib cage is too tight, and my hand begins to shake, but his voice is lilting and lyrical, and I realize that he’s reciting poetry. A collective tone wafts throughout the room, another sigh from all the female students. Ethan leans down close to my ear. “Daphne, are you as hard to catch as your namesake?” he asks, his measured tone dipping colder, darker, as he speaks.
    I resist the urge to shiver and give him a befuddled look instead.
    “You do know
that
myth, don’t you?” he asks. “The girl who would rather be turned into a laurel tree than to be caught up by an enamored Apollo?”
    I nod. “I know the story.”
    “Good,” he says, and returns to his podium. He relays the story of Daphne and Apollo to the rest of the class, but I’m too shaken to listen. I’m about to tuck my iPad into my bag when a new text from Haden comes up on my screen: When the bell rings, I want you to take Lexie and walk out of here as casually as you can. Go find Dax. Do not come back to this classroom under any circumstances.
    I nod, letting him know I got his message. I don’t dare attempt to text him back, even though I’m dying to know what he’s planning to do.
    The bell rings, and I stuff my things in my bag, wondering how I’m going to get past Ethan, when half the girls rush toward the front of the room to talk to him. It reminds me of that scene in Indiana Jones when all the archeology students want a piece of HarrisonFord. I catch Lexie by the elbow before she can join the throng.
    “I wanted to ask Mr. McHottypants over there …,” she starts to protest, but I give her the most pointed look I can muster and say, “Hey, girlfriend, I really need your help with … something,” and propel her toward the door.
    “Are you feeling okay?” she asks.
    I hold my breath as we pass by Terresa. She stands up but lets us pass.
    “Yeah, I just forgot my trig notes. Can I borrow yours?” I say to Lexie as we exit through the door.
    “Sure. I didn’t know you had trig.”
    I glance slightly behind me and see Calix coming down the hall behind us.
    “I do. Last period. Are they in your locker?”
    “Yeah.”
    I lead her through a crowd of students heading the opposite direction and then make a sharp turn down the next hall.
    “My locker is the other …”
    “Shhh. Don’t say anything,” I whisper. “We’re headed toward the counselor’s office. We need to find Dax.”
    “Why?”
    I glare at her for saying something after I told her not to. “Because your Mr. McHottypants is a freaking Skylord,” I whisper. “And his Skylord nephew is behind us.”
    Lexie’s eyes go wide. We turn down another hall and duck into the counselor’s office before Calix comes around the corner.
    “What about Haden?” Lexie asks.
    “He’ll be okay,” I say. I hope that I’m not wrong.

chapter six
HADEN
    I watch Daphne leave, taking Lexie with her, and the Skylord named Calix leaves shortly after. It takes everything I have not to go directly after them, too. But I can’t. Not if