Page 107 of Trivium

“I don’t. Except you. Tomorrow. Throw. The. Dagger!”

Ahmina scowled at Lennox. The thought of hurting him made her stomach turn.

“Lennox.” She sighed. “I can’t do that.”

“You’ve done it before.”

The memory of them dangerously close and alone in the hallway filled her mind. She had been so overwhelmed. So confused by everything she had been feeling—for Lennox, the situation with Barrow, her impending failure.

“That was different.”

Lennox lifted a brow. “Zeina has a healing potion. She will fix me right up if you actually hit me. And from what I’ve seen, the chances of you hitting me are low.”

“Oh realllllyyyyy?” She challenged.

“Absolutely.”

“Maybe you just haven’t seen my best work yet.”

“Throw it!”

Before she could think, she threw the dagger, aiming at Lennox’s left shoulder. He dodged it just in time.

“Bullseye.” He smiled. “If I didn’t move you would have punctured my joint, leaving me disarmed on that side. Well done, Mina.”

Ahmina was smiling too.

“Your turn.” He threw his dagger.

Her body worked faster than her mind, catching the dagger by the shaft before it slid into her upper thigh.

“Lennox.” She breathed hard. “You almost pinned me to the tree.”

“I knew you would catch it. Otherwise I wouldn’t have thrown it.” He gave her shoulder a gentle, playful push. “And besides, a thigh puncture is easy to heal, and I am very precise with my dagger throws. Did I not throw it exactly one inch to the left of your femoral artery?”

She looked down. She had caught it in that exact spot.

“How did you know I would catch it?”

“Because you’re ready.” His eyes gave him away. When she looked into them, she knew he was telling the truth. There was something else too, more he wasn’t saying. Some deep hidden emotion, fighting to be freed.

Ahmina recognized it because it lived inside of her too.

He admired her.

The three of them walked back to the dorms in silence, Zeina carrying a new collection of plants. Tomorrow would decide Ahmina’s fate. And despite what Lennox said, she still didn’t know if she was ready.

But she didn’t have a choice.

72

LOVELEENA

Loveleena was late, as usual. She and Emerson had gotten into a debate about Jarrian politics at dinner and she lost track of time. Approaching the Battlegrounds, her heart ached at the memory of Park, lying dead in the dirt.

She was relieved to find out they weren’t staying there, continuing instead to the abandoned house where she had been days before with Zeina, Ahmina, Serena, Lennox, and Ren. Where she found out she was a triplet.

She had a family—a family of Jarrian nobles. She was an Alva, not a Veloria. But ever since she found out the truth, she questioned everything she knew about the family she grew up with. Her unique appearance went unquestioned—while she had green eyes, her parents and siblings had hazel, while her hair was thick and curly, her family’s stick straight. But that wasn’t enough for her to question her entire lineage. Everyone assumed that she had inherited some great grandparent’s genetics. Her parents knew, of course, since they were the ones who took her in. But what about her siblings? Did Lana know? Or was her older sister just as much in the dark as she was?