Cameron Battle and the Escape Trials


 Contents
 
 Half Title
 Dedication
 Also by Jamar J. Perry
 Title Page
 Contents
 Map
 Chapter One
 Chapter Two
 Chapter Three
 Chapter Four
 Chapter Five
 Chapter Six
 Chapter Seven
 Chapter Eight
 Chapter Nine
 Chapter Ten
 Chapter Eleven
 Chapter Twelve
 Chapter Thirteen
 Chapter Fourteen
 Chapter Fifteen
 Chapter Sixteen
 Chapter Seventeen
 Chapter Eighteen
 Chapter Nineteen
 Chapter Twenty
 Chapter Twenty-One
 Chapter Twenty-Two
 Chapter Twenty-Three
 Chapter Twenty-Four
 Chapter Twenty-Five
 Chapter Twenty-Six
 Chapter Twenty-Seven
 Chapter Twenty-Eight
 Chapter Twenty-Nine
 Chapter Thirty
 Chapter Thirty-One
 Acknowledgments
 Copyright
 
 
 
 Guide
 
 Cover
 Table of Contents
 Beginning
 
 
 
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 iv
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 To me—for making it through
 Also by Jamar J. Perry
 Cameron Battle and the Hidden Kingdoms
 
 CONTENTS
 Chapter One
 Chapter Two
 Chapter Three
 Chapter Four
 Chapter Five
 Chapter Six
 Chapter Seven
 Chapter Eight
 Chapter Nine
 Chapter Ten
 Chapter Eleven
 Chapter Twelve
 Chapter Thirteen
 Chapter Fourteen
 Chapter Fifteen
 Chapter Sixteen
 Chapter Seventeen
 Chapter Eighteen
 Chapter Nineteen
 Chapter Twenty
 Chapter Twenty-One
 Chapter Twenty-Two
 Chapter Twenty-Three
 Chapter Twenty-Four
 Chapter Twenty-Five
 Chapter Twenty-Six
 Chapter Twenty-Seven
 Chapter Twenty-Eight
 Chapter Twenty-Nine
 Chapter Thirty
 Chapter Thirty-One
 Acknowledgments
 
 
 
 CHAPTER ONE
 “Watch out!” I said, reaching out and grabbing Zion’s backpack straps as he tumbled off the bus steps.
 “Whoa,” he said as I pulled him back. “That was close.”
 I pointed at the book in his hand. “Reading again instead of watching where you’re going?”
 He smirked at me, curls bouncing over his eyes, as he jumped down onto the concrete and started to walk to the bright yellow entrance of Sutton Middle School, our new school now that we had finished elementary. “Aww, so you care about me?”
 “Not really,” I said, running to keep in step with him as we went through the entrance. I snatched the book from him—the second in the Percy Jackson series—and stuffed it in my backpack. “I care more about my books, you know, the ones you keep stealing from me.”
 A crowd converged inside the large school building, which was built with a mixture of red-and-gray brick on one side, with its center carved out of glass. Zion dug in his pocket, ignoring my accusation.
 “You’ve had it all summer,” I said, whispering this time. “You know … ever since …”
 “Ahh,” Zion said, fishing out a slip of paper. “There it is! My locker number and combination.” He grabbed my hand and pushed through the crowd of scared-looking new middle schoolers, pulling me to the second-floor stairs as a large man stepped in the hallway and yelled, “Seventh graders! Let’s get moving. First period starts soon!”
 Zion had been waiting for middle school ever since we had come back from Chidani, talking about it nonstop. I hadn’t particularly cared, though, because my mind was on saving my mama and figuring out what happened to Daddy.
 I let Zion pull me upstairs, across the stainless marble, our new sneakers squeaking over the floor. I fished my slip from my pocket—“Don’t forget this, Cam,” Grandma had said on the way out of the house this morning—while Zion mumbled his locker number and combination to himself, stepping up to number 207. I folded my arms, leaning against mine, number 209, right next to his.
 “We need to talk about it, Zion,” I whispered again. “There’s so much that happened—”
 Zion sighed, opened his locker, and stuffed his things in, cutting me off. “Cam, can I just have one regular day?” he asked, taking out another sheet, his class schedule. He grabbed his leg, squeezing it as he gazed at the paper. “Can I just get one day where I get to be a kid? It’s the first day of school, and you’re acting like the world is going to end.”
 “But it will end if Amina gets what she wants,” I hissed.
 A quick look of concern appeared on Zion’s face before it disappeared. “Listen, we have English with Ms. Maton first period. We should get there.” He patted my shoulder. “If you want to talk about it, we can. But can it wait