29
MAX
Before the Sorting, the hostility came mostly from male cadets. Now that I’d been outed as a woman—one who’d fooled them all and attracted their princes, the female cadets had joined the war.
Yesterday was a shit show. After I rode the dragon flame naked in front of a crowd, every cadet at the Broken Drum had watched the shifter prince drape his arm over my shoulders like I belonged there. Then two heirs got into a duel over me—something that had apparently never happened in the history of the Zodiac Covenant.
Small mercy that Aelindor and Nikolai hadn’t been there.
Bryn thrived on it. She recapped the events in a breathless torrent as we crossed the academy grounds toward class. “We were at the heirs’ table, Max. The VIP booth. No one’s treating us like bottom feeders again.”
“We’re first-year cadets,” I said. “Beingbottom feeders might not be the worst thing. Drawing too much attention, on the other hand?—”
She looped her arm through mine, clinging. I tolerated it for a few seconds, then shrugged her off.
“Max?” Hurt flickered across her face.
“This just looks ridiculous.” I gestured at us—me, a full head taller, her barely reaching my shoulder. “Unsoldierly. We’ll get mistaken for two gossiping chambermaids. Plus, I’m not the clinging type.”
“Wow.” She blinked. “You think I’m hitting on you?”
I drew a breath. The suspicion had crossed my mind. I thought of Rogue, who’d been in love with me and followed me into the Scorched Wastes because of it. He never came back. He didn’t even know I was a woman. That guilt still sat in my chest like lead. I didn’t want it for Bryn. Better to be blunt than to bury another friend.
“Are you?”
“You’re such a straight shooter, Max.” She studied me for a beat and smiled.
“What’s wrong with that?” I spread my arms. “I don’t have time for games.”
“There are games everywhere, no matter how the world turns. But you’re the kind who never stabs people in the back.”
“I might surprise you.”
She laughed. “Sure.”
“Listen, Bryn. I’m straight. Even when I pretended to be a boy. I had my reasons.”
“Of course.” She nodded without pushing. That was the thing about Bryn—she knew when to leave a door closed. “And to clear the air—I ain’t hitting on you.Crush? Maybe a little. But you’re way out of my league. Even the heirs orbit you, Max. You don’t see it. You don’t act like it. But you’re special.”
A flicker of sadness crossed her hazel eyes before she blinked it away.
“The last thing I need right now is a relationship,” she continued. “I did three years with Lindsy. The moment a half-assed mage came along and promised to elevate her station, she dropped me like dead weight.” Bryn’s voice shifted into a mocking lilt, the kind of sweetness that had been rehearsed in front of a mirror. “‘You’re the only one I love, Bryn. Just let me get a better footing. I’ll come back for you. I promise.’” The lilt died. Her jaw set. “I told her, ‘I never want to see you again, two-faced bitch.’ And she had the gall to look like I damaged her.” She snorted. “I’m done with the dating scene.”
“I’m sorry it didn’t work out.” I heard how flat that sounded and added, “Her loss. I guess.” Even though Bryn was my friend, I’d learned never to blindly swallow one side of a story. Relationships were complicated.
“I’m not doing bad for myself.” The grin returned. “I survived the Sorting. I was drinking with an heir at the VIP table. Everyone’s jealous.” She straightened her spine. “Let them be.”
“Being the object of jealousy isn’t a prize, Bryn.” I held her gaze. “It’s a target.”
I was already a target. I didn’t want it for my friend.
My current goal was simple: learn fast, get stronger, prove to the heirs I could be an asset. Then I’d have the leverage to go back for Missy and bring her here. The lastthing I needed was petty jealousy from the cadets getting in my way.
“We can handle a little trouble.” Bryn waved me off. “I’m not afraid of those bitches. Been dealing with their type my whole life.”
I hadn’t. Slave miners didn’t have the luxury of pettiness. Down in the tunnels, you worked, you survived, or you died. The surface world ran on different rules.
I clenched my jaw. Whatever shit came, I’d soldier on. Same as always.
