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Jess
My hair dripped down my back as I ran along the corridors, the boots I’d hastily shoved onto my feet slapping the stone floor. There were a few cadets still drifting from the dining hall and a few more headed for the Stacks, but I didn’t pay them much attention. They glanced at me, eyebrows peaking as I ran, but I didn’t care. At least my hair wasn’t still wrapped in a towel. That would have drawn stares.
I’d have to apologize to Britta later for rushing her from my room and feigning sudden exhaustion. I was pretty sure she hadn’t bought my lame act, and I wouldn’t be shocked if she’d heard me dash from my room only minutes after she’d left.
That was nothing compared to the apology I owed Torq. How long ago did he fall from the wall? Britta’s voice had become an incomprehensible buzz as I’d realized the reason Torq hadn’t come looking for me, the reason I hadn’t bumped into him around the academy. It hadn’t been because I’d been slinking around like a coward and avoiding him. It was because he was injured.
He might have been killed, and I wouldn’t have known. The thought made my stomach churn, but I didn’t slow my pace as I reached the cadet dormitory tower and took the stairs two at a time. I almost fell on my face, barely catching myself at the last moment, but I didn’t stop.
Only when I was standing outside Torq’s door did I pause to draw in a breath and ask myself why I was in such a panic. From what Britta had said—although she only had sparse details—he hadn’t been seriously injured. He was healthy enough to recover in his quarters instead of the surgery, which was a good sign. Of course, it had taken a trip to the surgery—after I’d located it in the cavernous academy—for me to discover that he’d been discharged to his room.
It wasn’t so much Torq’s condition that had me so flustered, it was the thought that I hadn’t known. I hadn’t known, which meant he hadn’t heard a word from me since he’d kissed me. He must think I’d heard about his fall but didn’t care, and that made my stomach do an uncomfortable flip. I might be a nerd, a geek, a brainiac, but I’d never been a mean girl.
I rapped my knuckles on the door and slowed my breath while I waited for it to open. Then I heard a muffled voice. “Come. It’s open.”
I pressed my hand to the side panel, and the door glided open.
Torq was sitting up on one of the beds with a stack of pillows behind him. When he saw me, he didn’t smile or even give me his trademark cocky grin. He crossed his arms over his chest. “You are late.”
All of my guilt and regret evaporated like a puff of smoke. I stepped inside and returned his frown with one of my own. “I went to the surgeon first.”
He relaxed his shoulders and expression. “You thought I was at the surgery?”
“I was told you fell. How did I know you were fine?”
He mumbled something about not being completely fine. It was then that I noticed that the lower part of his leg was wrapped in bandages and some of the sympathy I’d felt when I’d seen him laid up in bed returned. “Are you going to tell me what happened, or should I leave?”
Torq released a breath. “We were practicing grappling with daggers on the climbing wall.”
I shook my head at the absurdity of that statement. “Fucking Blades.”
He angled his head to one side, as if waiting for me before continuing his retelling.
I waved a hand at him as I pulled out his desk chair and sat. “Go on.”
“Like I was saying, we were on the climbing wall, and I’d used a few other cadets to leverage myself halfway up the wall when—”
I held up one palm. “I’m sorry. You did what?”
“I climbed the cadets instead of using the climbing holds. There were too many of them ahead of me and it was a faster way to get up the wall.”
I couldn’t stop the laugh that spilled from my lips. “That was actually a pretty clever strategy. Too bad you’re so buff and aggressive, or you could have made a half-decent Assassin.”
He grinned at me, the cockiness instantly reappearing. “You think I’m buff?”
“And aggressive. Don’t forget that part. And I only said half-decent, so don’t get a big head about it.”
Torq touched a hand to his face. “Why would my head expand?”
“Big head means you think you’re God’s gift to the universe.”
His brow furrowed. “Which god?”
I groaned. “Never mind. Just don’t get all cocky about it. All Drexians are buff.”
“And humans have very strange expressions.” He grinned without any trace of arrogance. “But I am pleased you liked my strategy.”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes, although there was something sweet in how happy he was with my approval. “I take it not everyone liked it as much as I did?”
