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Morgan swiped her tablet closed and tipped her head closer to mine as we sat side by side in the front row. “The Dark Times on Drex seem a lot scarier than the Dark Ages in Earth history.”
“That’s because we didn’t have dragons or griffins on Earth.” I waved a hand at the hint of the hologram hovering in the air, the outlines of eagle-headed lions in the depictions of the Drex battle.
Morgan tightened her blonde ponytail. “You don’t think that’s real, do you? I mean, those are mythological creatures, right?”
I shrugged. “After the creatures we encountered in the trials, I honestly would believe anything here.”
“But they aren’t on the planet now.” It was a statement, but I sensed it was also a question.
“I think someone would have mentioned if dragons roamed Drex.”
Morgan snorted out a laugh. “Are you kidding? How many things have the Drexians failed to mention already?”
She made a good point. The Drexian Academy wasn’t known for being forthcoming about its traditions or long-held secrets, which made me wonder if they were hiding things about the planet, as well. Still, I’d seen no evidence of dragons or griffins, and those seemed like large things to conceal.
While we were debating the existence of mythological creatures, the rest of the class filed out and left the half-moon shaped classroom virtually empty. Only Fiona sat behind her desk flipping through a stack of yellowed parchment that hadn’t been there during the lecture.
I walked to her, unable to keep my curiosity at bay. “More research into the Kronock?”
She tipped her head up, grinning when she saw it was us. “Don’t tell anyone, but I snuck these documents from the Stacks so I could review them between classes.”
Morgan joined me at the desk. “Why didn’t we think of borrowing things from the Stacks? Not that I don’t love reading by the dim lighting in there.”
“Maybe because we aren’t instructors?”
She bobbled her head at my point. “Right.”
Fiona smiled. “I’m pretty sure I’m not supposed to take papers from the Stacks either, but I trust you two not to rat me out.”
“Who hasn’t broken a rule or two?” Morgan slid her gaze to me. “We already broke about a thousand last term with our after-hours coaching.”
And I was breaking more rules by sneaking into Torq’s room, I thought, as my heart pattered. I hoped my cheeks weren’t flushing and betraying me as I shifted from one foot to the other, but I couldn’t staunch the flow of memories from the night before—of Torq’s head between my legs, of him inside me, of him coming inside me, which would have freaked me out if I didn’t have a birth control implant and know that he had one, too.
Morgan elbowed me. “Jess freaks out even talking about breaking the rules.”
“I do not,” I protested, even as my cheeks warmed.
Fiona eyed me but only smiled wider. “Rule-breaking doesn’t always come easy to Assassins at first. We’re used to playing games by the rules and winning on skill alone.”
“I don’t mind a little bending of the rules.” I glanced at the papers on her desk and tried to change the subject. “Have you made any progress?”
Fiona sighed. “If by progress you mean adding even more possible sites to our list, then yes.”
“That’s the opposite of our lack of progress,” Morgan said. “We came up with a long list of places that wouldn’t work. At least you’ve found some targets.”
Fiona didn’t seem comforted. “Too many targets mean it will take forever to narrow it down, but I can’t ignore all the locations within Kronock space.”
I didn’t know a great deal about the enemy’s domain. It wasn’t a part of space humans—or even many Drexians—had explored. And since the Kronock had been pushed back and weakened, I’d hoped that the space they controlled had shrunk, but that might have been wishful thinking on my part.
“Is there anyone at the academy who has experience with Kronock space? Maybe the Academy Master can help narrow the field.”
Fiona frowned. “There’s one Drexian here who has been to Kronock space, but he’s not exactly the type to help out a bunch of humans.”
“Vyk?” Morgan asked with a quick glance over her shoulder, as if the silver-haired Drexian might materialize in the classroom at the mention of his name.
Fiona grunted her version of yes. “I hope he was vindicated in the trial scandal, but I can’t forget the things he said about humans, or the fact that he went along with the plan to wash out the Earth cadets for so long. He might have gotten cold feet at the end, but that doesn’t mean he’s changed his mind about us being here.”
“What did he say about humans?” I asked. The severe Drexian had always given me the chills, but I don’t know if I’d ever heard him speak. My encounters with him had been limited to me scurrying out of the way as he stalked through the halls, and I was fine keeping it that way.
