Chapter 16

The rest of the bouts around us begin to end pretty quickly, with Lieutenants moving around the room recording the results. Rafe and I sit quietly together in my circle and, even as my mind whirls fruitlessly, trying to figure out what the hell just happened, my eyes scan the room for Jesse and for

Luca.

Did they win? Did they keep their place high in the rankings?

“If you’re finished,” a Lieutenant says, stopping by our circle, “you should go to lunch.” He nods towards the door before he moves on.

“Come on,” Rafe says, standing up and grasping me by the arm to pull me with him.

“I can stand,” I mutter, even though he’s already pulled me to his feet.

Rafe doesn’t say anything, but he keeps hand on me as we move towards the gym door and towards the barracks cafeteria. As we get into the lunch line which I’m pleased to see we’re at the start of, lucky us – I turn to him suddenly, realizing that I’ve been too lost in my own thoughts to ask.

“Wait, did you win?” I ask, eager.

Rafe just glances at me and rolls his eyes, because duh, of course he did. I laugh, unable to help it.

“You don’t have to be so smug about it, Rafe,” I sigh, heaping mashed potatoes and gravy onto my plate along side the roast meat and peas.

“I’m not being smug, it’s just that the outcome of my bout was basically predetermined,” he sighs, grabbing two bottles of water and passing me one.

“Well so was mine,” I say as we carry our trays over to our usual table. I grin as I see Jesse coming through the door, Luca at his side. Jesse waves to us as he and Luca jog towards the food line. “But my result did not match the odds.”

Rafe settles across the table from me and frowns. “Yeah, we need to talk more about that,” he murmurs. “What the hell happened? Tell me everything.”

“Um,” I say, starting on my food, for which I genuinely am hungry today. “It all happened very fast…” I hesitate and then say what I can, about how Jackson basically had me pinned before he inexplicably bailed. As I speak, I look around the room for Jackson, who frankly should have been the first person in here.

But he’s nowhere in sight.

Rafe hums in thought, considering my story and asking for more details, but I say that’s all I know. a whiff Because I’m certainly not going to tell him what I suspect to be the truth that Jackson got of my scent and realized that he might be murdering his mate.

But, if he’d figured that out, why did he just….leave? Why didn’t he say anything, or confront me?

I gnaw on my lip, distracted enough to jump a little when Jesse’s tray lands next to mine.

“So?” Jesse says, looking eagerly between Rafe and I as Luca puts his tray down next to Rafe’s. Luca nods around to us in a friendly way and looks at me with commiseration in his eyes. “How’d it go?”

“I won,” Rafe says with a casual shrug, “you?”

Jesse nods eagerly and gestures towards Luca. “Him too. Solid bouts poor kids, it’s really unfair that they put top versus bottom, even though it works out well for those in the middle.”

“Yeah, it’s a shame, Shrimp,” Luca says, his mouth twisting with regret as he looks at me. “Seriously, do you have a hidden skill or something? Or are you crazy smart? Because otherwise –”

“Why.” Rafe says dryly, interrupting Luca while concentrating coldly on his lunch, “are you assuming that he lost?”

Luca stops mid–sentence, looking between Rafe and me. I raise my eyebrow at him, adopting an arrogance that I absolutely have not earned.

“No way,” Jesse breathes, and then he starts to laugh. “No way!” he says again, a shout this time, and he wraps his arms around my shoulders, rocking me back and forth. “What the hell, Shrimpy!? How did you do that?”

I can’t help but laugh with his enthusiasm but I swat him away, trying to be cool life Rafe does with no effort at all. “It’s not a big deal,” I sigh, though I blush a little, because it kind of is a big deal. I mean, there are more tests coming, but this one will give me a significant boost in the ratings that I absolutely need, especially considering that I’m still coming in last in the obstacle course.

“Are you

serious?” Luca asks, his voice thick with disbelief as he leans forward to stare at me. “You…. you beat McClintock?”

“Maybe you should learn not to underestimate me so much, Grant,” I say, my voice dry as I pretend to concentrate on my food. “Or I’ll take you out next.”

Luca laughs a little at my hubris and grins at me. I can’t help the little smile that pulls at my lips. My brother looks up at me then with a small smirk on his mouth, pleased with me and proud. Because even if I didn’t really win the match? I’m at least learning how to handle myself around these guys.

I burst into a smile at that and we fall into an easy conversation then, eating our food hastily because we know the day isn’t nearly over.

We’re all shepherded into what looks like a classroom after lunch, with one hundred and twenty little desks all lined up in neat rows, a pack of paper and a pencil neatly set on each one. New ratings haven’t been calculated just yet, so I’m in the back row again with Ben Ternicki. He nods to me with a little smile and I shrug at him, communicating without words that I’m sorry my beat him in the match.

brother

Ben just shrugs like it was inevitable and I grin, liking his easy sense of humor. My eyes pull away

from him, though, when I notice a bunch of figures in black enter the room, spreading out behind the head table and observing the candidates.

“Who are they?” I whisper, leaning over to Ben.

“Professors from the Academy,” he whispers back. “They’re probably specialty subjects. They’re allowed to come down and note any candidates who they think might be worthwhile, even if they don’t otherwise stand out.”

“Oh.” I say, my eyes going wide as they focus on one professor in particular with a handsome, angular face, his dark hair pulled back into a knot at the back of his head. “I didn’t know there was a…way in. Beyond the examinations.”

Ben nods and I look down at the papers on our desks, the cover sheet marked with our candidate number and name. “What are these?” I ask as the Captain commands us to sit. noveldrama

“Logic test,” Ben answers as we take our seats. “Basic math, word problems, that sort of thing. It’s a thinly veiled IQ test.”

“Oh.” I say, my eyebrows going up. I’ve never taken one of those at least not to my knowledge.

–

“Begin,” the Captain calls from the beginning of the room, his voice dry. “Bring your test up to the front when you’re finished with it. And then you’ll be dismissed.”

I nod to Ben, wishing him luck, and then I flip to the first page, sinking into a calm, almost meditative state, moving through the exam pretty quickly as soon as I realize that these are the kinds of problems our have tutors trained us on since we were kids. It’s a relief, honestly, because this? This is my wheel house. I was always good in school.

The exam takes almost two hours, but I write my answer to the last problem and set my pencil down with a satisfied smile. I mean, it was tricky, and the problems got harder as the test progressed. But…I know I got them right. Every single one.

I sigh, pushing my chair back, and I jump a little at the screech it makes as it slides across the floor. Awkward, I look around the room to see if I’ve disturbed anyone….

And my eyes go wide to realize that I’ve disturbed everyone. And they all turn to look at me.

I glance down at the test in my hands, wondering if I missed a page or something, because…I mean, I know I’m smart. But I can’t have finished first, right?

Another chair scrapes across the room and I flinch when I realize that I recognize the giant form that stands up next. He turns and looks back at me and my eyes meet flinty blue steel. He stands still, and I realize that he’s waiting for me.

Because I stood up first.

I stumble a little as I move away from my desk and then, scowling, I hurry to the front of the room. To my chagrin, Jackson starts in that direction so that we get to the head table at the same time.

Heat rushes to my face as I look down at my shoes and my mind spins because – what the hell is going to happen?

Is he going to like punch me? For taking his victory from him? My shoulders seize despite me as my whole body tenses, waiting for him to act.