Page 136 of Resurgent

As if on cue, the bell rings, which means Riding class will start soon.

“Shit, I didn’t realize we’d been in here so long. I’ll go check to make sure the coast is clear.”

“That’s okay,” I assure him, before giving him a quick kiss. “I'm a big girl, I can manage. Plus, you still need to clean up and pull your pants back on before your next class,” I wink, before sliding out to go proctor Delta Company's class.

“Mattey, I did it!” I sprint the last few steps and launch myself onto his back, not even considering the chance of him not catching me.

Laughing, he does—one arm under my thighs, the other bracing my hip. “What did you do, Lee?”

“I saved someone’s life!” I cling to him, beaming over his shoulder as he carries us toward the Riding Field. “Like, I actually, actually saved them. In. Real. Life!”

“Wait, what? How?

“You know how I was helping Sorenson with Delta Company’s Dragon Orientation? Well, Micah, the recruit, thought he was too cool to hang onto Priscilla when they landed. Needless to say, that went horribly wrong for him, and when he fell off, he landed weird, and the bone in his leg—” I make a face. “—was not where a bone should be. And the artery got nicked. Blood everywhere!”

Matt winces. “You are way too excited for something so gross, but keep going.”

“I didn’t even think,” I say, breathless from adrenaline all over again. “I sprinted across the field, dropped next to him, packed the wound, slapped a tourniquet on, and Sorenson said if I’d been thirty seconds slower, they would've been prepping a body bag.”

Matt finally twists to look over his shoulder at me, his expression a mix of pride and awe. “Holy shit, Lee.”

“I know,” I squeal into his neck. “I have never felt so badass in my entire life. I mean—my hands were literally inside his leg, and I didn’t pass out.”

He shudders. “You’re such a badass. I would’ve thrown up on the kid… probably in the wound.”

I laugh, loud and unfiltered, the sound echoing across the path as he continues walking with me still clinging to him.

My cheeks hurt from smiling so hard. The sunlight is warm on the back of my neck. People passing us are staring, but I don’t care. I feel happier than I have in weeks, and no one is going to rain on my parade today.

Matt bounces me once, adjusting his grip. “Alright super hero, after the vault, we’ll see who wants to go have a celebratory drink.”

“Can we just do a night in? I’m not really feeling up for the whole bar scene. Plus, I really should be studying.”

“You’ve been studying nonstop lately, and you just saved someone’s leg. But fine, how about we do game night with the crew in my room?"

Chapter forty

Annalise

My eyes roam over the card straights and runs spread out across the table in front of each of my friends.

Three twos and a run of diamonds are in front of Sasha. Three fours in front of Emily. Four aces and two runs in front of Theo. More combinations than I can count before I’m being yelled at for taking too long in front of Matt, and a big ‘ol goose egg in front of Ian, same as every other round before this that’s sent him so far into the negative; he’d be about ready to claim victory if we were racing toward five-hundred negative instead of positive.

Ian groans and pushes his chair back. “I need to pee.”

He gets halfway to standing before I catch him glancing straight at Sasha's cards. “Oh, you bastard!”

Ian freezes, then drops back into his chair, laughing. “What?”

For a second, everyone is looking around the table in confusion, but as I share what I just saw, the room erupts.

Matt’s throwing fries at him; Sasha’s throwing her slipper.

Ian catches Theo’s candy bar to the chest and laughs even harder. “This is an even better payout!”

“You did the same thing five minutes ago when you said you needed to use the bathroom, didn’t you?” Emily asks through her tears.

“I could have needed to use the bathroom.”