Chapter 601

I squeal – just a tiny bit - with excitement when I wake up in the morning, pressing my hands to Jackson's chest and sitting up, looking over at Rafe and Jesse's bed through the still-open curtain.

"Is it time?" I ask, gleeful. "Can we go? Did the weapons come? Did they deliver my paintball rifle?"

"No, it's not Midwinter for gun nuts, Ariel," Rafe murmurs in his bed, blearily rubbing his eye, clearly not as awake and excited as me. "They don't bring the weapons to our room - obviously, they'll deliver them to the field."

"Oh," I say, slumping a little in my disappointment. "Well, that's okay, I'll —“

But before I can further lay out my plans, Jackson's big arm sweeps up, knocking me down off his chest and into a pile of pillows. "No magic energy for you today," he groans, turning over and burying his face into the blankets. "You're already too awake. And too chipper."

"Jacks!" I gasp, laughing, too cheerful and excited to be offended, sitting up again and pouncing on him, smacking at his arms and chest. "Get up! Time for Games! We have to go!"

"I reject you," he mutters as he covers his face with his arms, "I reject our bond - I reject the love that was once between us -"

I laugh, smacking him again and crawling over him, feeling his love and adoration for me flowing steadily down the bond even if I am annoying the crap out of him right now. I hop to my feet as Jesse likewise glares at me from beneath his blankets. "Oh, would you all cheer up!?" I call, skipping off to the bathroom. "This is going to be a great day! We're going to have so much fun! I'm going to shoot everyone!"

As I dart into the bathroom, the dumbwaiter bell rings, confirming that I'm right and that it is time to get going.

Fifteen minutes later, when we're all dressed and standing around in a circle hastily eating the breakfast sandwiches that came up for us, Jackson passes us each a good dose of energy through our bond.

"Do you think this is cheating?" I ask, turning my head to the side as I hold one hand in Jackson's and the other in Jesse's, watching with a bit of delight as a shudder flows through my cousin when the energy hits. I can basically see his hair standing on end.

"No rules against using magic," Rafe

says around his final bite of breakfast, kneeling down to tie his boots. "Though our team's got the lion's share of it, which is probably unfair. Keep an eye out for Tony skulking around near bodies of water." noveldrama

I grin, thinking of Tony emerging from the water like a swamp creature. "Are there lakes?" I ask, curious.

"We're not supposed to tell you,"

Jackson says, smirking at me as Jesse drops my hand when he's all filled up with energy, moving over to his bed to find his own cap and pull it onto his head. I offer Jacks the last bit of my sandwich, knowing he needs more calories than the rest of us, but he just shakes his head and lifts his chin at me, indicating that I can eat it.

"You should tell me, though," I say, stepping close to him and grinning up into his face. "Because I'm pretty."

"Then yes, there's a river," Jackson says, grinning down at me and cupping my cheek in his palm. "We're going to be in a sort of crevasse or a ravine with -"

"Jacks!" Rafe scolds, swatting at Jackson's leg as he stands up. "You're breaking the rules."

"I can't help it," Jacks says, gathering me close to his chest and grinning at Rafe, laughter in his eyes. "She's...really pretty."

I wind my arms around my mate's waist and turn my face up towards my brother, giving him a smug smile.

"All right, whatever," Rafe says, laughing and whipping a hand out to knock the brim of my cap sideways, making me laugh. "Let's move out, troops!" Jesse, newly energized, gives a happy whoop and together the four of us head for the door and downstairs. I eat what's left of my sandwich on the way, so incredibly excited that I don't know how I'm going to keep it down.

We gather with the rest of the

cadets in our year on the lawn in front of the candidate barracks, where eight rather gigantic

helicopters wait. Rafe and Jackson immediately go into command mode and I stand next to Jesse, watching them with wide eyes as they call our team together, barking out orders for how to load up the helicopters and get everyone organized.

"Holy crap," I whisper, watching the efficiency with which they work, the ease with which they assume command. "They're like...good at this."