Chapter 53

Jesse is really nice to me for the rest of the morning, slinging his arm around my shoulders and cracking jokes all the way to breakfast. Even I can’t help laughing, even as a deep pool of dread forms in my stomach, because I have absolutely no control over how Luca is going to react to any of this.

My mind keeps running through scenarios – is he going to storm in demanding answers? Is he going to declare to the entire Hall that I’m a girl? Is he going to just pull me aside and-

“Hey,” Jesse says, using the arm around my shoulder to tug me incrementally closer. “Whatever it is, Ari? It can’t be that bad.”

“What?” I ask, looking up at him as we walk, glancing at Rafe, who chats amiably with Ben as they walk down the hall ahead of us.

“Whatever drama went down last night in your little dream state?” Jesse says, raising an eyebrow at me.

I

gape at him – how did he…!?

He just laughs at me, my face making the admission even if I don’t confirm with words.

“Seriously, Shrimpy, it can’t be that bad. You’re going to get through it! Don’t worry so

much.”

—-

I sigh, hanging my head back and leaning against him, more relieved than I thought I’d be that he guessed and I have someone to talk to about it.

“I’m just…I have no idea how to handle this, Jess,” I murmur as we walk into the Hall. “You’re more experienced than me, how do you handle…” I glance again at Rafe, lowering my voice, “romance drama?”

“Well, in my experience, you just gently dump them and move on the moment things start to get even remotely complicated,” Jesse says, his voice breezy.

I gasp and gape, looking up at him. “Jesse!” I scold, aghast.

“What!?” he says, grinning at me even as I shove him away. “I enjoy other people’s romantic drama, not my own. Plus, I said gently –

“I didn’t know you were a heartbreaker,” I growl, glaring at him. “And also! This advice does not apply to me!”

“I know, you poor thing,” he murmurs, laughing at me a little. “None of my methods will suit you, you should probably just call your mom –”

“We don’t even have phones, you idiot,” I groan, shoving him away from me further, disappointed that he is so nice to me but also so useless. My eyes scan the room, going first to our usual table and then into the room at large…

But Luca’s not here yet. I let out a little huff of relief.

Jesse smiles at me, kind, and pulls out my chair for me before going to sit next to Ben, deliberately leaving the seat next to me open. I glare at him, hoping he can read the word “traitor” all over my face.

He grins back at me, devious, as he accepts the coffee pot from the approaching waiter, murmuring his thanks.

I scowl as Jesse pours coffee in the cups all around the table. The waiter delivers my plate of eggs and sausage and I do my best to lose myself in Rafe and Ben’s conversation about fighting techniques for smaller bodies, but I keep losing track of it and instead just concentrate on drinking cup after cup of coffee, trying to wake the hell up.

“Better slow down on that, Shrimp,” a voice says above me.

I jump, my eyes going wide as I turn my face up towards Luca, who smirks down at me before sinking into the chair next to me.

“Save some for the rest of us,” he says, lifting the now–empty coffee carafe with a frown.

I just gape at him, my breath coming short as I wait to see what the hell is going to happen

next.

“Hey, Luc!” Jesse calls from across the table, friendly. Ben and Rafe also smile at him, saying their goodmornings as Luca snags a fresh muffin from the basket, tossing it in the air once

before taking a bite. noveldrama

“Morning, all,” Luca murmurs, dead casual as he catches the eye of a waiter and orders more coffee for the table. The waiter nods, walking briskly away as I just continue to stare.

“So, Luca,” Jesse says, and my eyes whip to him as I hear the mischief in his voice. “Was your sleep any better last night? Any…bad dreams?”

I glare at my cousin, murder in my eyes. If I were closer and it wouldn’t absolutely blow my cover, I’d wring his neck.

“Nah, I slept great,” Luca says, smiling warmly at Jesse and thanking the waiter, who comes back with the coffee pot. “Completely dreamless for once, which is a blessing. I feel amazing today.”

“Good,” Jesse says, his eyebrows going up in surprise.

I forget to draw breath as I just stare at Luca, aghast.

What…what the hell is he playing at?

Does he…really not remember what happened?

Or is he just playing it off!?

I’m still gaping at him when he turns to frown at me, looking me up and down. “Seriously, Shrimp,” he says, completely casual. “You’d better eat, we have like, fifteen minutes before class.”

Slowly I turn back to my eggs, pushing them around with my fork, completely, completely baffled as to how Luca is this calm and collected when I am a wreck.

My daze continues as Rafe walks me to my Marksmanship class, which begins at roughly the same time as the Warrior–track training. He made us leave breakfast a few minutes early so that he has time to walk me, so I don’t even have the opportunity to speak to Luca for a minute alone.

30

All the way to class, Rafe babbles on about some kind of sporty nonsense – fighting techniques, how to throw a javelin, who the hell knows

and surprise about Luca’s reaction.

as my mind just spins in shock

I mean, yesterday, when he just suspected something was up, he was moody all day and basically had a meltdown at breakfast. But today, when he finds out my deepest secret, he’s completely cool?

What the hell is going on?

And why is my mate so complicated – why didn’t I get stuck with some nice simpleton –

“Hey,” Rafe says, grabbing my sleeve. “Stop – we’re here.”

I fall back a step, realizing I walked right past the classroom door.

“Oh,” I say, my shoulders bunching in embarrassment. “I’m sorry.”

“Are you all right?” he says, looking me over. “You had enough coffee at breakfast to fuel a rhinoceros

you should be good. Is there anything I should be…worried about?”

–

“No,” I sigh, looking up at him and shaking my head, doing my best to will some energy back into my body. Who’s being moody now? “Seriously, Rafe, I just need to get more sleep tonight. I’m sorry – please don’t worry.”

“All right,” he says, giving me a little smile and looking down the hall. “Good luck in there!”

“Thanks!” I call as he starts away from me, clearly eager to get to his own class.

And then, with a big sigh, I push all of the Luca drama out of my brain and step into my Marksmanship classroom.

“Oh,” I say, the word popping out of my mouth without my intending to say it. Because this it’s huge, more like a gym, except long and narrow instead of a wide rectangle.

classroom

–

“Clark!” a loud voice says, not unfriendly, and my eyes move immediately to the man standing at the front of the room, the lines of his body locked into military precision. My eyebrows raise when I see that it’s the Captain.

“Sir!” I say, hurrying across the room towards him. As I walk, my eyes flick to the two other students, both of whom I recognize from my Chemistry class yesterday.

“Good,” he says, nodding me towards a spot next to the other two so that the three of us stand in a neat line. “Glad you’re all here.”

My eyebrows go higher, if that’s possible, when I understand that he means that this is our entire class. Rafe and Jesse – they’re in huge classes, packed with cadets.

Mine have all been tiny.

The Captain smiles at me, just a little lift of his mouth. “Surprised?”

“Just didn’t expect such individualized attention,” I respond, honest.

“Yes, individualized is right,” the Captain says, looking at the other two young men before his eyes settle on me. “Considering that I picked the three of you by hand.”

And my breath suddenly catches as my eyes meet his because he looks at me with such… assurance. Like he knows everything about me.

Can he, like Professor Alvez, have already guessed my secret?

Have we fooled ourselves into thinking that we could really keep it from the people who run this school!?