Chapter 49

“Okay, the question of boys aside,” Jesse says, clearly rankled by the diminutive appellation as he steps forward again, “seriously, can we trust you? This is…not a small secret.”

“I swear it,” the seamstress says, her eyebrows going up and her face sincere. “Beyond the fact that I will absolutely lose this job if anyone figures out that I kept this secret, I think it’s really cool that there’s finally a girl in the ranks. Plus,” she grins at me and gives me a shy little shrug, “I liked you immediately. And I, too, could use a friend. Gets lonely in this castle.”

“See?” I say, linking arms with her and turning to pout at Jesse. “We’re lonely, Jess. Are you going to deny us friendship?”

Jesse groans, tilting his head back and covering his face with his hands, but I just turn to smile at the girl.

“I’m Daphne,” she says, offering her hand, which I shake. “And I swear, I won’t tell anyone, ever. I want to help.”

“I’m Ariel,” I say in turn, though clearly she already knows that. “And thank you, seriously.”

“Anytime!” she says as Jesse takes a deep breath and drops his hands from his face. “Let me show you what I did –”

– a

Daphne quickly walks me through the details of my uniform modifications wider waist, more breathing room in the chest and the little sports bra that she quickly sewed for me, which she designed to flatten my already–smallish chest as much as possible.

“I’ll make you more of these,” she says, grinning at me, “as well as send you up any women’s products that you need, whenever you need them. Just send me a little note saying you popped a seam, I’ll figure it out.”

I beam at her and impulsively throw my arms around her in a hug, pleased and grateful. “You’re the best, Daphne,” I murmur. “Can you stay for dinner? There will be plenty of food,” I say, pulling back. But then I roll my eyes. “But also, many more boys.”

“That’s all right,” she says, shaking her head, her pretty blue eyes sparkling. “But,

maybe I can come up later in the week on my day off? And we could…hang out?”

“Yes!” I say instantly nodding and feeling a bit sorry when I see the hope that swells in her eyes. This poor girl she’s probably even more starved for female company

than I am.

“We’ll be glad to see you,” Jesse says, his calm returned now as he slips his hands into his pockets and again steps close to Daphne, smiling down at her. “Though, try to come with it’s just us Sinclairs here in the room,” he murmurs. “We like to keep our secret close.”

“Or,” Daphne says, turning her head, again coy. “Do you just not want to share me with the other boys?”

“Well, why would you want to see them anyway?” Jesse asks, a subtle twist to his lips. “When you could hang out with a duke?”

Laugher bursts from me at the gall of him at this moment and I just shake my head, turning away. God, a few minutes ago I’d honestly thought Jesse was doing a good job of flirting with Daphne, but with that

line

“Oh, a Duke?” Daphne says, her eyes wide and innocent. “Is that supposed to be impressive?”

Jesse blinks at her, but as I watch his smile grow I realize that he likes that she’s actually pushing back. “Isn’t it?” he asks, boldly taking another step closer, “It’s not every day you meet a duke.”

“Well,” she says, hesitating and glancing towards the bathroom, “isn’t there a Prince just behind that door?”

I burst into delighted laughter again, doubling over and putting my hands in my knees at the way Jesse’s mouth pops open in surprise.

Daphne grins too, smiling up at him, pleased as punch to have gotten the better of him. And Jesse, to his credit, laughs as well.

“I have to get back,” Daphne says, reaching out to me for a hug – which I give her – before she heads for the door. “Ari, I’ll be in touch. And, your grace,” she puts deliberate emphasis on his royal title as she smiles pulls the door open, “it was so nice meeting you.”

“Bye, Daphne!” I call as she leaves, but then I instantly spin to grin up at Jesse.

“Ohhh she got you!” I say, pointing a delighted finger up into his face. “You are so embarrassed!”

“I am not,” he says, still smiling and smacking my finger away. “Come on, you have a workout to do before dinner.”

“What?”

“Seriously!” he laughs, shoving me between the shoulders towards the door.

“Didn’t you hear about the Examination at the end of term? We’ve got to keep you fit if we want to keep you around, little Princess!”

“You just want to keep me around so Daphne keeps coming around,” I accuse, glaring at him over the shoulder as I drag my feet towards the door. Honestly, I thought my day was over and I could relax.

“Nah, I like you for you,” Jesse says, smiling at me as we pass through the door and head for the elevator. “Though I do admit, the seamstress could be an unforeseen perk.”

“You stay away from my friend,” I snap as we climb back into the elevator.

“Absolutely not,” he says, his voice deadpan as the doors shut and we head down, down, down to the ground floor.

I’m still panting and gross with sweat an hour and a half later when Jesse and I get back to the room, me stumbling in exhausted and him casually strolling as if we did nothing more than take an evening walk.

We leave the door open in case any other cadets want to come by and say hello, introduce themselves or whatever.“Hey!” Rafe shouts from the couch, where Ben and Luca are already sitting. Rafe glances up at the clock. “You’re pushing it close to dinner time,” he says, curious.

“Well, Shrimpy here just needs to get faster, doesn’t he?” Jesse says, grinning at me and shoving me towards the bathroom, letting me subtly know that I can take first shower.

–

I rush towards it, blushing a little – as ridiculous as it is for Luca to see me all red and sweaty.

I take my time in the shower because while I’m in it my mind returns, perhaps. inevitably, to the way Luca’s face looked at breakfast this morning – his absolute shock at the realization that not only are our midnight dream meetings real, but that in the end I tried to keep that from him.

But eventually my growling stomach forces my hand, and I towel off and pull my new uniform on- chic and fitted, as promised – before braiding my hair up and tucking my cap onto my head.

When I open the bathroom door, I almost moan at the scent of foot that immediately floods my nose.

“Seriously, Ari,” Rafe says, glancing up at me. “I had to basically fight these guys to keep them away from your serving. What took you so long?”

“Just tired,” I murmur, heading to what is clearly becoming my little corner of the couch – a place which is, fortunately or unfortunately, right next to Luca. My attention immediately goes to the food in front of me – roasted chicken all wrapped up in soft flat bread, spread with spicy sauce and topped with crispy vegetables.

I dig in with gusto.

As I eat, the boys continue their conversation around me, everyone filling in the details of their day. Ben is chattiest, and while I am interested in the details of his program (which sounds almost as rigorous as mine), I do not miss the fact that Luca is noticeably silent and still moody, like he was this morning.

But I don’t look up at him, simply concentrating on my food.

“Actually, Luca,” Ben says, and I lift my head to see him turning to my mate from his spot on the floor. “I was practicing those punch combos you showed me earlier, but my shoulder is tweaking after like ten of them. Can you show me if I’m doing them right?”

“I actually hurt my arm in workout this morning, Ben,” Luca says, frowning at him with true apology on his face. “Maybe Rafe could take a look? He can throw a punch almost as well as I can. noveldrama

Luca glances over at my brother, who smirks at him before nodding eagerly to Ben. The two stand up and move to the center of the room behind the couch, where there’s more space. My stomach twists with anxiety as I hear them get

started, Rafe directing Ben to lift his fists and show him what he’s got.

“All right,” Jesse says with a sigh as he pushes himself up from the chair. “Time for

my

Oh no, my wolf says, raising her snout as my eyes dart between Luca and Jesse’s retreating form. Say anything! Get him to stay here!

“Wait, Jesse,” I say, and he pauses, turning to look at me. “Um,” I say, glancing around for an excuse for him to stay but coming up with absolutely nothing. “Don’t you want to…finish…dinner?”

“I ate enough for both of us, Ari,” he says, gesturing towards my unfinished plate. “You should worry about yourself before me.”

Ohhhh nooo my wolf moans as I watch my cousin disappear into the bathroom, dread pooling in me.

“What is it, Shrimp,” Luca says, his voice soft as he turns to me. I sink back into the corner of the couch. “Don’t want to sit alone with me? Don’t want to have a nice little one–on–one chat?”

“Um,” I say, my eyes going wide as his narrow.

And then I gasp as, quicker than I can see, Luca ducks below the high back of the couch and snaps his hand out, grabbing the front of my uniform and pulling me so close that there’s barely a few inches between our faces.

“What the f**k is going on, Ari!?” he growls, his face livid.

I stare at him, my eyes wide, but before I can bluster out some kind of excuse or apology or protest, a hesitant voice rings out from the door.

“Sorry,” it says, and I spin around in shock to see Jackson standing at the open door, his hands sunk into his pockets. “Am I…interrupting something?”