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She would not meet my eyes as she slunk further from view as cadets streamed past us. “Is that what we’re calling it?”
“You are helping me; I am helping you.”
She glanced at me, her eyes flashing. “You mean, you’re not ratting out me and my friends.”
Jess was much less agreeable than she had been when she had been a little drunk, but I liked this feisty side of her. “I would like to start tonight.”
“Tonight?” She nibbled her bottom lip, and then nodded. “Fine. I’ll meet you at the Stacks.”
The Stacks. Had I ever been inside the academy’s collection of books? Did I remember where it was? This was more evidence that I had always been destined to be a Blade.
“After dinner at the Stacks. I will be there.” I couldn’t stop myself from putting a finger under her chin and lifting her face so that she was forced to meet my gaze. “Make sure you are, too.”
Chapter
Eleven
Jess
Britta sat down across from me and Morgan in the cadet dining room. “Was that you I saw talking to the hot Drexian in the main hall?”
My heart lurched. I’d been so sure no one had seen me. Fucking Torq and his bullshit deal. Blackmail was what it was, even if he wanted to slap lipstick on that pig and call it helping each other.
“It’s Torq, right?” Britta continued before I could deny it. “The guy who was with us in the maze.”
I saw my easy out and took it. “Yeah. He wanted to congratulate me for becoming an Assassin.”
“Really?” Britta flipped her long, silvery hair off her shoulder. “You guys looked pretty intense and not super friendly.”
I attempted to laugh it off, but my laugh sounded strangled. “You know Drexians. They’re always intense.”
Britta swept her gaze at the Drexian cadets surrounding our table of human women—the loud laughter, the pounding on the tables, the heated discussions that seemed on the verge of exploding into a torrent of flying fists. “You’re not wrong about that.”
Morgan nudged me. “You sure you and Torq don’t have something going on? You did pair off to fix the ships in the maze, and it was you he helped when we were almost gassed.”
“Because I was standing beside him.” I shook my head. “There’s absolutely nothing between us. Besides, cocky guys who know how hot they are aren’t my type.”
Britta snorted out a laugh. “Then you might be shit out of luck at the Drexian Academy because this place is chock-a-block full of gorgeous, buff Drexians who know it.”
“I don’t know,” Morgan said. “I thought Torq wasn’t half bad in the maze. He pulled his weight and didn’t call me babe or honey, which is more than I can say for some human cadets.”
“Agreed.” Britta reached for her goblet. “Before the maze, I thought he was a class A douchebag, but after working together in the maze…”
I’d thought the same thing about Torq before he’d found me outside the initiation celebration banquet. I’d thought he’d changed after going through the maze and proclaiming that he’d go into battle with any of us. I’d thought he’d reformed his arrogant ways. But then he’d pulled his blackmail crap on me, showing me that he was just as big of a dick as he’d always been.
My mouth went dry when I thought about him pinning me in and telling me that he might require more from me than tutoring. Then I thought about him lifting my chin in the main hall, his gaze hot as he’d warned me not to stand him up at the Stacks. I grabbed my goblet and took a drink of the chidi berry tea, wishing it was something much stronger. Why didn’t thoughts of Torq enrage me? Why did they make my core heat and my heart trip? Why did I want a guy who would never desire me the same way?
“Enough about the cadets, what do you all think about the Drexian instructors?” Britta asked, as she leaned down and lowered her voice.
“Just as hot, but off-limits,” Morgan said.
“Are they?” Britta’s gaze locked on a group of Blade instructors who’d just entered the cadet dining hall. “Is there a rule against hooking up with the Drexian teachers?”
“Forget the Drexian teachers.” A human cadet with dark skin and hair cropped close to her head joined us, sliding her tray onto the wooden table. “Seriously, you should forget them unless you want to end up on a transport back to Earth.”
Britta frowned. “Party pooper.”
Zalina gave her a playful shove with her shoulder. “I like a party as much as the next girl. What this academy needs are some gorgeous Drexian women.”
