Villain School by Stephanie S. Sanders

way. That was
therapeutic
!” I said. “I’ve wanted to tell him off like that for years. I might go back and do it again.”
    â€œLater,” Dodge said. “First, we have to find Ileana’s dorm.”
    The doors were before us. All of them lookedexactly the same in the flickering green light of the torches—just wooden doors fastened to the surrounding stone of the cave hallway by sturdy iron hinges.
    â€œSo, uh, which one is Ileana’s?” Wolf asked as we followed Dodge down the corridor.
    â€œShe’s a princess. I found out the school had to make special arrangements for her to come here—added security,” Dodge said, rounding a corner and stopping in front of a door that was flanked by two stone gargoyles.
    â€œSeriously?” I asked, feeling my school pride wavering. “We have to collect dragonfire from real live dragons, and they think a couple of stone statues are going to frighten us? Besides, that one looks like an old henchman of mine.”
    I pointed to the gargoyle on the left whose doglike features reminded me of Cappy, my ogre-ish former henchman who only
looked
scary but was actually quite good with babies.
    Beside me, Wolf stepped forward, reaching for the door handle, when suddenly his furry paw was zapped by some kind of magical current.
    â€œOuch!” he barked, pulling his paw back and licking at the charred fur.
    â€œThe gargoyles are not meant to frighten us away,” Dodge said. “They are magical guardians set torecognize Ileana’s blood. They will only admit the princess or someone who shares her blood.”
    â€œYou could’ve told me that sooner,” Wolf said, still licking his paw.
    â€œSomeone who shares her blood?” I asked. “What? Like her mom and dad?”
    â€œYes, or any other relative—a brother or sister, even.”
    â€œWell, that’s it then,” I said, turning to Dodge. “Unless one of us is Ileana’s evil twin or something, I don’t think we’ll be going any farther.”
    Something flickered behind Dodge’s hazel eyes. Amusement? But he didn’t say anything. Instead he pulled out a vial filled with a small amount of thick red fluid. It looked almost black in the dim light.
    â€œTell me that’s not what I think it is,” I said, backing away.
    â€œHere.” Dodge shoved the vial of blood into my hand. “Once you’re inside, there’s a switch that deactivates the guardians’ shields, but be quiet! Don’t wake the princess.”
    â€œAnd you got kicked out of Morgana’s for
good
behavior?” asked Wolf.
    Dodge flashed him a familiar evil grin that was becoming his trademark.
    I examined the vial in my hand, turning it in thefirelight. As a rule, villains should not be freaked out by the sight of blood, but for some reason, it really churned my stomach. I held it gingerly, as if it were a poisonous snake.
    â€œBut how did you—”
    â€œNo time,” Dodge said, cutting me off. “Just go.”
    He shoved me toward the door. Briefly, I wondered why Dodge didn’t just take the vial and go first, but he didn’t seem in the mood to talk about his strategy. So, armed with a vial of what I assumed was Ileana’s blood, I reached out for the door handle, slowly, ready to pull back if I felt even a tingle of the magical barrier.
    I didn’t need to worry. My hand bypassed the barrier and made contact with the door handle. A moment later, I opened the door and stepped inside. For the first time in my life, I was in one of the girls’ dorm rooms. I wanted to savor the moment, but Dodge and Wolf were outside waiting. I could hear Dodge tapping his boot impatiently on the stone floor.
    â€œHurry up, Drexler,” he whispered.
    I reached out my hand, ran it along the wall until I found the switch that deactivated the guardians. The guys joined me in the darkness.
    â€œNow what?”