Chapter 82

“Honestly, Ari, you did kill yourself studying for this test,” Rafe says, looking at me seriously, “and I know you know the material up and down. He must have included trick questions

“Rafe,” I sigh, leaning back against the arm of the couch, “I don’t need the Prince going to yell at my professors for me, that’s not going to make a man like Neumann be any nicer or give me better grades.”

“I don’t want him to be nicer, I want him to be fair,” Rafe corrects.

“Well, at least we’re all doing shitty in Chemistry,” I sigh, “not just me. So. He is technically being fair.”

Rafe shifts uncomfortably in his seat, unhappy to not be able to do something to help me, I know. And my heart warms more to see him like that, to know that I have a big brother who’d tear the world to pieces to make it a cozier place for me.

But still, I want to prove myself here I really do. I don’t want to cut corners and get special treatment, and I know Jesse and Rafe get that.

“Well, we’ll burn an effigy of him on midwinter,” Jesse says, his eyes on his own textbook, studying some kind of military theory. “That will make us all feel better.”

Rafe nods sagely, smirking at Jesse, but he gets up when the dumbwaiter bell rings, heading to the little door to get our dinner.

Luca gives me a little nudge with his toe and I turn to see him give me a little smirk and a wink. I smile, biting my lip and leaning my weight against his leg a little more, pleased to

see him.

Because while these past few weeks and months have been absolutely grueling?

Luca has been….absolutely the best part.

Every day we meet at breakfast and I’m absolutely buzzing to see him. We eat with our legs. pressed together beneath the table, and I kind of forget that anyone else is around, so lost

do we get in our conversations. Luca heads off with Jesse and Rafe to do their warrior stuff all day, and I either head to Chemistry or Marksmanship or study with Ben.

But nights? Nights are where Luca and I really shine.

Dinner in our suite is always the best end to these long and grueling days, with my little. group of friends all cobbling together to study, and eat, and make each other laugh as much as we can. We’re all stressed, I know the program makes us that way. But with Jesse’s wild sense of humor, and Rafe’s wry quips, and Ben’s clever observations and Luca’s bold willingness to say whatever damn thing comes into his head?

–

God, I spent most of my evenings stretched out on the couch, holding my stomach because I’m laughing so hard.

Luca, I know, delights in this, and he’s figured out precisely the things to say that make me laugh the hardest, pushing those buttons expertly like a scientist whose singular job is to make me laugh so hard my ribs ache. We spend most of our nights stretched out on the couch together, beaming at each other, just…so incredibly pleased to be in each other’s

company.

Jesse and Ben smile happily at Luca and me, I think pleased to be able to watch our relationship develop, but Rafe…

Well, perhaps predictably, he’s less pleased.

“You need to be careful with him, Ari,” Rafe says one night after Luca, Ben, and Jesse head down to the gym to do a little boxing practice. Rafe, to my surprise, stays back with me, sitting on the couch with me, studying me carefully.

“What?” I ask, sitting up straight and not bothering to pretend that he’s talking about Ben. “What’s wrong?”

Rafe just slowly shakes his head at me. “You have a mate, Ariel,” he says softly, like he doesn’t want to have to be the one who says it.

I bite my lip, not really knowing how to respond to that. Because, of course, Rafe thinks that he’s talking about Jackson but really, he’s talking about Luca too.

“Look,” Rafe sighs, glancing at the door where the three boys just left, “dad had this chat

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with me a long time ago, and so now I’m going to have it with you. But can you promise to keep this between us? It’s personal.”

I perk up, curious. I didn’t know that Rafe kept anything at all from Jesse – I mean, the three of us are very close, but I’m well aware that the bond between Rafe and Jesse is particularly close–knit.

“Of course,” I say instantly, meaning it. If my brother asks me to keep a secret, I’m going to

do it.

“There was a point a couple of years ago when dad caught me…with a girl.”

1 gasp, delighted. “Who was it!?” I ask, leaning forward towards him.

“Not the point of the story,” Rafe says, giving me a tiny glare before I grin and he moves on. “Anyway, dad wasn’t mad at me or anything, but we sat down and he told me some stuff that really…stuck with me. And I’m going to say it now to you and you can do what you want with it but I hope you’ll listen.” noveldrama

Fascinated, I nod.

“He told me,” Rafe sighs, pressing the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. “that when Aunt Cora and Uncle Roger brought me to the Goddess to have me baptized as a baby that…they saw that I have a mate.”

“Rafe!” I gasp, leaning further forward and smacking him on the knee, “that is amazing! Oh my god! Do you know who it is!?”

He shakes his head, dropping his hand from his face and looking evenly at me. “Dad didn’t want to give me any details because he wants me to live my life as normally as I can. But he saw how much I liked this girl and…” he shrugs, trying to figure out his words, “he just wanted me to think about what it might mean to fall in love when I know that I’ve got something big coming my way that would… interrupt that.”

I sit back against the couch now, seeing where he’s going with this.

“I know you….like Luca,” Rafe says softly, and my heart swells to see how much my brother is working to care for me. “And there’s nothing wrong with that. But just…take care of his heart and yours, all right? Jackson is…”

Rafe looks towards the door, hesitating.

I smile a little, seeing him work to try to understand my complicated, taciturn other mate. Jackson has been around a little bit more, but he hasn’t exactly ingratiated himself with the group over the past weeks – and honestly, I know that Luca has been a large part of turning

him away.

But Rafe, I can tell, doesn’t dislike Jackson. He just doesn’t get our connection, not yet.

“Jackson’s important,” I say quietly, nodding, understanding where Rafe is going with this. “I get it. But Rafe,” I slowly shake my head, silently asking me to trust me on this too, “Luca’s important too, all right?”

Rafe sighs and, to my surprise, moves closer on the couch, wrapping me in his arms and hugging me tight. “I know,” he murmurs, giving me a kiss on the head in much the same way that dad does. “I just don’t want either of you to get your hearts broken, okay? Just….be careful, little sister.”

“I will,” I sigh, allowing myself to relax against my brother’s warm side for a moment, letting him worry about me in a way that makes me feel comforted and protected. I fight the desperate urge to just spill everything now, to reveal all the details.

But…we’re just so close to finals and the Examination.. Spilling to him that I’ve got two mates, and that Luca is one of them? It’s going to blow up Rafe’s world and completely freak him out precisely when he needs to concentrate.

Rafe and I stay close like that for the next hour or so, sitting on the couch and studying separately even though I feel closer to him in this moment than I ever have before. We both jump a little, the stillness of our moment interrupted, when Jesse and Luca come back into the room covered in sweat, Ben looking relaxed as he follows behind.