Chapter 37

Chapter

Thirty-Seven

Fiona

T he scraping of silverware and the clunking of goblets on the wooden table had slowed as the welcome banquet came to an end. I’d managed to push enough of my food around my plate, so it looked like I’d eaten when I’d really just nibbled on a roll of warm, yeasty bread.

Ariana leaned closer to me on my left side. “Don’t think I don’t see what you’ve done.”

I sighed. Of course, Ariana had noticed. She might not be an Assassin trained to notice small details, but she was my closest friend at the academy, and she knew I loved eating. “I’m not that hungry.”

She eyed my plate. “When are you not hungry, Fi? ”

“When Vyk and Devon are sitting next to each other and acting like they’re best buds.”

Ariana followed my gaze across the room to the head of the table to where the Drexian and human were talking and laughing. I’d seen the way Vyk had looked at Devon when he’d walked in on us that morning. I’d seen the hardness in Vyk’s eyes when he had told me that he didn’t trust him. And now he was acting like they had known each other for years?

“Maybe they’ve found common ground,” my friend suggested. “They are both military officers.”

More like that common ground was me, I thought. What was Devon telling Vyk about me? What about my past was he revealing, courtesy of the powerful Drexian wine?

“Have you ever seen Vyk like this?” I asked Ariana. “Have you ever seen him laughing, even with Drexians he knows?”

Ariana hesitated, nibbling the corner of her lip. “No, but that doesn’t mean anything.”

I gave her a side-eye glance. “So, it’s just a coincidence? I don’t believe in coincidences.”

Admiral Zoran slid his chair back, the legs scraping loudly on the stone floor. He’d already given a welcome toast to Devon at the start of the meal, but he looked poised to do it again. Would this night ever end? I was still supposed to pay Commander Vyk a visit, although I dreaded it now.

“Thank you all for joining me in welcoming Captain Gorman, and I trust all of you will help me show him the best of the Academy during his stay. ”

Everyone lifted their goblets one last time, and I tossed back the remnants of my wine, glad I’d already developed a tolerance to the stuff. The last thing I needed now was to be drunk.

Zoran did not sit again, but instead, he pulled out his wife’s chair for her and gave her his hand to help her stand. That was the signal for everyone else to stand, as well.

I lost no time in pushing back my chair and jumping to my feet. “At least that’s over.”

Ariana stood, but she was distracted by Volten slipping his hand in hers, so I turned to Morgan, who’d been sitting on my other side.

“That wasn’t so bad,” she said, touching a hand to her stomach. “The food was good, and we were all the way across the room from the guy you wanted us to keep away from you. This task isn’t going to be hard after—”

A sharp elbow in the ribs caused her words to drift off, but a glance to one side told me why. Devon was making a beeline for us, for me.

“Grekking hell,” I muttered, finding the Drexian curse oddly satisfying.

Before the captain could reach me, Jess stepped into his path. “We haven’t met yet. I’m Jess, short for Jessica. I’m a cadet in the School of Strategy, and I would love to tell you all about my experience being a human at the academy.”

Devon blinked slowly at her, as if trying to focus his gaze. “What?”

“That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? To find out how the integration is going.” Her voice had become much more bubbly than usual, and she hung on his arm to prevent him from walking forward, a fact that prompted her boyfriend, Torq, to glare at the captain.

“There might be some flaws in this plan,” I said, as Torq drew himself up to his full height.

Before I could step in and prevent Devon from being attacked by a jealous Drexian who had no idea why his girl was suddenly simpering over the visiting captain, Morgan pushed Jess aside.

“If you really want to know what’s going on, I can tell you. I’m also an Assassin, but I’m…” she cast a glance at Jess, “more available for intimate conversations.”

“Assassin?” Devon mumbled, clearly forgetting the nickname of the School of Strategy.

Britta came up and flanked the captain on the other side, causing him to swing his wide-eyed gaze to her. Then she and Morgan spun the captain around, and proceeded to walk him away from me, chattering eagerly about how much they had to tell him.

I backed away and made a dash for the exit, knowing that I would owe my friends big for this. Whatever future favors I owed them were worth it for not having to deal with a wine-soaked Devon with more questions than I had answers. I didn’t even stop to say goodnight to Ariana as I slipped away, grateful to escape the banquet hall without being spotted.

I’d just stepped into the corridor when I was yanked backward, and a hand clamped over my mouth.

“Did you really think you could run?”