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The holographic image flickered off as the lights came on. I blinked a few times as cadets stood around me and gathered their things.
“Don’t forget,” Fiona called out from behind the lectern. “The battle of the schools is in two days. The best thing you can do to prepare is study the terrain around the academy and prepare your packs for any situation. And don’t forget that the Restless Sea is still a type of terrain.”
“If we prepare for anything, we won’t be able to lift our packs,” a Drexian cadet grumbled.
Fiona tossed her hair off her shoulder. “A big, strapping Drexian like you should be able to carry anything, shouldn’t you?”
The guy, who was big and burly, stammered something unintelligible as he stumbled toward the door. It never failed to amuse me how Fiona managed to maintain her badass image while still whipping out her feminine wiles to catch the Drexians off guard.
I stood slowly and moved toward the end of the curved row of seats as Fiona moved to intercept me.
“You okay?” She scoured my face intently. “You seemed distracted in class.”
My cheeks warmed, and I felt just as awkward as that Drexian must have felt. “It wasn’t your lecture, I promise.”
Fiona smiled warmly. “I know that. My talk on ancient Persian battle strategy is gold, and normally, you’d be fully into it.”
I returned her smile, grateful that she could joke about it. “Sorry. I guess I’m just having an off day.” More like I couldn’t stop thinking about Torq and how stupid I’d been to trust him, but I wasn’t about to admit that to an instructor, even a human one. “I’ll be back to normal tomorrow.”
She put a hand on my arm. “It isn’t the battle of the schools, is it? I promise, that will be nothing like the maze.”
“No, although I wouldn’t mind if the Drexians could chill out on all the trials and battles and competitions.”
Fiona leaned closer to me. “It’s all the testosterone. It muddles their brains and makes them want to turn everything into a competition.”
I laughed at this, which made her grin widen. After spending days beating myself up, it felt good to laugh and forget about Torq.
“Fiona!”
We both swiveled to see Ariana barrel through the door and dance around the departing cadets as she made her way to the front of the classroom. She was practically bouncing on her toes when she reached us and her eyes were sparkling.
“Did you hear?”
“If you’re this excited, obviously not.” Fiona grabbed her hands. “What’s going on? Don’t tell me you’re having Volt’s baby?”
Ariana barked out a laugh. “Very funny. Not yet, I mean, not for a while, oh, I don’t know what I mean, but that isn’t it.”
Fiona laughed at her friend. “We will definitely be unpacking that later, but what’s up?”
“You know how Torq thought he could connect us to the Drexian who’d actually rescued a human from the Kronock space?”
Fiona’s eyes lit up. “Yes and yes.”
“Well, that Drexian is on his way to the academy.”
My jaw dropped. Torq had come through with his promise? A part of me had thought that he might be overstating his connections, but it looked like he’d done it. Not that this changed anything. I still hated the cadet with the intensity of a thousand suns, but it was nice to know that he’d done what he said he would. It was nice to know that not everything he said was a lie.
“So, we’re going to get firsthand knowledge about how to pull off a rescue in enemy territory?” Fiona started bouncing on the balls of her feet. “And all without Vyk’s help?”
Ariana laughed and shook her head. “It means we’re one step closer to rescuing Sasha.”
Fiona pulled her into a fierce hug then grabbed me and pulled me in, as well. “I told you there was nothing we couldn’t solve if we worked together.” She released us both and rubbed her hands together. “This calls for a celebration. Drinks in my room?”
Ariana shared a knowing look with me. “Does this mean drinks, or drinks and cards? I need to know how much money I’m going to lose.”
Fiona gave her a wicked grin. “Tonight, I’ll spare your pockets. Just drinks.”
“Only a few though.” Ariana leveled a finger at her. “The cadets need to be on their game for the battle of the schools.”
