AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I jerked at the deep voice behind me, whirling around to see a tall Drexian grinning at me. His black hair was a little long around his neck and his eyes were a shade of gold that you didn’t see in humans. I blinked at him a few times, wondering if he was talking to me. “What?”
He pointed to where I’d hung my blade off my waist. “You should turn the curve of the blade to face down and move it farther back.” He reached forward, pausing before touching me. “Do you mind if I show you?”
I couldn’t find the words to tell him yes, but I was able to move my head up and down. He gingerly twisted my holster and then removed my blade and hooked it back on facing the opposite direction. Even though his fingers didn’t touch my skin, I could feel his heat through the fabric of my clothes.
“That will be safer and make it easier to grab.”
“Thanks.” My voice cracked as I finally spoke. “Are you an Assassin?”
He gave me a crooked smile without taking his gaze from mine. “Unfortunately, no. We are not on the same side today.”
“Oh.” I smiled back, my heart tripping in my chest. At least I hadn’t been so caught up with Torq that I’d managed to overlook a Drexian this hot and charming in my own school. “Then thanks again, and good luck.”
His smile softened. “You too.” He jerked a thumb behind him. “I’d better go.”
I usually would have let him walk away, but I didn’t want to let being burned by one guy scar me for life. I wasn’t ready to get back on the horse, but it didn’t hurt to look at them. “What’s your name?”
The Drexian paused and bowed his head slightly. “I’m Dom.”
“Nice to meet you, Dom. I’m Jessica, but everyone calls me Jess.”
The black pupils inside the gold of his eyes flared. “Oh, I know who you are, Jess.”
I laughed. “I guess everyone knows who the human cadets are, since there aren’t many of us.”
“You are hard not to notice, human or not.” Then he held my gaze for a long beat, before backing away and melting into the crowd.
I had to remind myself to breathe as I turned back to Morgan. Maybe rebounding from Torq wouldn’t be so hard after all.
Chapter
Fifty-One
Torq
What was Dom doing, talking to Jess? Waves of panic swept over me, sending cold chills across my skin, and making me shudder. He couldn’t know anything about her, could he?
I gave my head a determined shake, as if to brush away any thoughts that he might know about us. It was impossible. I’d made a point to stay far from her. I hadn’t spoken to her, I hadn’t arranged to bump into her, I hadn’t looked at her. Well, I’d tried not to look at her. Sometimes it was impossible. My eyes searched her out even when I knew it was wrong, even when I knew I couldn’t allow myself the indulgence.
I glared at the back of his head as he dared to touch her, blood pounding furiously in my ears as I watched his hand go to her waist and adjust her blade. The thought of him touching her, looking at her, smiling at her made me almost forget my promises. I wanted to storm through the crowd, pull him away from her, and throw him to the ground. I wanted to feel the crunch of his bones as my fists pounded them. I wanted to hear him beg me to stop. I wanted to punish him for daring to touch what was mine.
But she isn’t yours. Not anymore. You gave her up.
My heart dropped like a black stone in the churning sea. As much as she felt like she was still mine, she wasn’t. She couldn’t be. Not if I wanted to keep her safe. She couldn’t be as long as Dom was still determined to extract his vengeance by punishing me.
I tracked him as he backed away from her, but I snatched my gaze away once he turned. He couldn’t see me watching. He couldn’t see that I cared.
“You’re here early.” Kort sidled up to me as the crowd swelled. “I didn’t think you would arrive until later.”
I was relieved that my friend had arrived to distract me. “I wanted to be ready. There is nothing else to do today but the battle.”
“True.” Kort cast his gaze across the cadets, his expression rueful. “I have been telling myself that the battle is good practice, even if we don’t win.”
“I thought you were sure we would win, even with the late start. I thought you had a plan to come out on top and win back the respect of our school.”
Kort let out a long breath. “I have not been completely successful in devising a plan. It is why I’m not an Assassin.”
I put a hand on his shoulder. “But they do not have your strength.”
