Chapter 573

I'm panting as Jesse follows me up the final hill of our run, keeping close on my heels and basically herding me like a sheepdog to ensure that I don't slacken my pace and fall behind.

"Jesse!" I gasp, swatting at him as he gets even closer when we reach the top of the hill, the door to the Castle only a few feet away. "Back off! The run is done!"

"Still twenty more feet, Cadet!" Jesse says, beaming at me, looking far too fresh for how exhausted I'm feeling. He jogs backwards, passing me, urging me along.

"Oh, I hate you," I sigh, still pulling my breaths in deeply as I let my pace slacken to a walk for those final twenty feet. Jesse laughs as he runs ahead to the little fountain where our water bottles are waiting, giving them a quick rinse before filling mine up and handing it to me when I join him there. "You did good," he says, quite cheerful, the energy Jacks passed to him early this morning clearly still running fresh in his veins.

I roll my eyes, knowing that he's just being nice.noveldrama

Jesse laughs. "You did!" he insists, giving me a little shove on my shoulder that just makes water slosh down my front. "Rafe and Jackson are just too hard on you and your little legs, they make you feel like you're slow. But honestly, you could outrun anyone your size any day."

"Cool," I reply, scowling at the water all down the front of my uniform now. "Good to know I can outrun mom and Cora and Juniper."

"Hey, a win is a win," Jesse says, raising his bottle to me with a wink. I sigh, a little pleased, and rest against the wall at his side as we both catch our breath and look out over the pretty winter countryside.

"Do you think the draft is done?" I ask quietly after a minute, thinking about Jackson and Rafe going off this morning even earlier than I usually get up for sniping practice. Jesse very cheerfully agreed to go along with me before our run, but only after Jacks agreed to make it worth his time by giving him the energy to do it.

"Who knows," Jesse says with a sigh, glancing at me. "I mean, we get the results at breakfast, so probably close now."

I nod, letting my mind drift a little as

I hydrate myself, wondering if they got the picks they wanted,

wondering what team I'm on.

Wondering, again, what this new

dark spot in my soul is about, and if it's going to pounce at some point. My stomach twists with worry.

"You know, you're really good at the shooting," Jesse says quietly, glancing down at me like he knows something is wrong but also realizes that I don't to talk to him about it. “I didn't realize until this morning how insanely good you are.”

I perk up a little at the compliment. "What, did you think I've just been messing around?"

He shrugs, smirking. “I mean, I

figured you could hit the side of a barn from twenty paces. But what I saw today, Ariel?" He shakes his head, looking off into the distance a bit. "I mean, it explains why Jackson is so eager to pick you first, despite his personal obsession with you. You're going to kick ass on whatever team you're on in this Game."

"Yeah," I say with a disgruntled little sigh, "except that it will be a paintball gun and won't have nearly the range and precision that I'm used to." The captain confirmed as much in his last message to me.

"If you have half the accuracy, baby trouble," Jesse murmurs. "You'll be fine."

"Thanks,” I say, grinning up at him and giving him a nudge in the side with my elbow. We're quiet for a moment, and I consider his face, which is more serious than I'm used to. “How are you doing? After...all that happened?"

"You mean my mom announcing she's my professor and then ruining my extra-suave reputation by dumping a bathtub's worth of water on me in front of my friends?" he asks, quirking a brow at me.

I laugh but shake my head, not giving into it, letting him know that I'm not letting him wriggle out of a real answer just by making me laugh.

He sighs a little, smiling at me before dropping his eyes to the ground. "I'm freaked out, Ariel," Jesse says quietly, shaking his head. "This shadow stuff...it is not what I expected my power to be."

"The Dark God did indicate that it

was powerful, though," I say quietly

after a moment, wantingen

him. "And that the Goddess gave you that gift almost...maybe in particular to counter his." I shrug, wondering if that makes him feel better.