Chapter 54

Chapter

Fifty-Four

Fiona

“ I don’t know when I’ve seen you eat so much.” Ariana sat across from me, eyeing me as I ate my fourth strip of fried padwump.

I paused with the crispy strip of salty meat inches away from my mouth. “What can I say? Vyk wore me out.”

Ariana grinned at me. “I could not be happier for you.”

“Why? Because I had a wild night with a Drexian who’s driven me crazy since I got here? It’s not like this could ever be something real.”

I didn’t have to worry about anyone overhearing us because we were the only people in the staff dining room. Since classes weren’t in session, instructors kept erratic hours, and the long tables were almost never full .

I had been a bit dismayed when we’d walked in, but did I truly expect that Vyk would be there? He was probably still sleeping it off, since he’d left my quarters in the middle of the night. Even so, a part of me wanted to see him again and wanted to get our first public encounter out of the way.

Ariana leaned forward and braced her arms on the table. “Why not? Some of the best couples start out hating each other or at least annoying the living fuck out of each other. Take me and Volten. We started out with him insulting me. Torq was a cocky asshat to Jess before he fell for her. Even Admiral Zoran had a bumpy start with Noora and look at them now.” She tilted her head and scrunched her lips to one side. “Come to think of it, not a lot of Drexian-human couples start out liking each other.”

I bit off the end of my padwump and swallowed it. “I don’t know what that says about us or them, but none of that means that Vyk or I want more than a fun fling.”

“But he’s your type. You said it yourself the very first day we were here.”

I groaned. “You and your excellent memory can be really annoying sometimes, you know that?”

Before Ariana could answer, chattering in the doorway caught our attention. Britt, Jess, and Morgan walked in, and it seemed like they were all talking at the same time.

Ariana waved at them. “Over here!”

The women joined us, sliding into seats on the benches. I slid my overflowing plate of padwump to the center, so they could help me work through the overly ambitious stack of crispy strips .

Britta swept her gaze around our group, then it landed on me. “I guess it’s okay that none of us are busy distracting Captain Gorman if you’re here.”

I thought back to Vyk knocking the man to the floor with a single punch and the captain lying on the black stone and groaning. “Maybe he’s sleeping in, but I haven’t seen him since yesterday.”

Morgan nudged Britta in the side. “We walked him back to his quarters in the most roundabout way possible after the banquet, didn’t we?”

Britta nodded as she snatched a slice of padwump off the top of the heap. “We did manage to traverse three of the four schools and go through almost every tower.”

“It would be a miracle if he had any clue where his quarters are in reference to the rest of the academy.” Morgan flipped her blonde hair off her shoulder. “He might not be sleeping in. He might be walking in circles.”

Britta laughed as Jess shook her head. “Even if he finds his way through the academy, I put Torq on distraction duty.”

“Torq?” Ariana wrinkled her nose. “You gave your boyfriend a shift?”

“He volunteered,” Jess corrected. “He didn’t like seeing me pretend to flirt with the captain, so he agreed to help us keep the guy busy and away from you.”

Ariana let out a low whistle. “That Drexian must be crazy about you.”

Jess smiled shyly. “He is, actually. ”

Morgan smiled brightly at her fellow cadet. “Why shouldn’t he be? Jess is brilliant and beautiful, and she has amazing taste in friends.”

Britta and Jess laughed and groaned while Ariana winked at me from across the table.

“Well, thank you,” I said. “I really appreciate you all helping me, but I hope that Devon got the hint that I’m not into him.”

“Because guys are great at taking hints,” Britta muttered.

I knew she had a point, but I was hoping being knocked out cold had been the hint Devon needed to back off. As I considered telling my friends what had happened, Torq rushed into the room.

Jess instantly perked up, her eyes flaring wide as he came up behind her and gave her a kiss that was anything but shy. The Drexian had no problem displaying his affection in front of us, which made me like the guy even more.

“I thought you were on envoy duty,” Jess said a bit breathlessly.

Torq pinned me with a sharp gaze. “I just came from dropping him off at the surgery.”

The rest of the woman gaped at him. “What? Did he have another accident?”

Torq shook his head brusquely. “He says he was attacked, but he didn’t see his attacker. He also claims that Fiona was with him when it happened.”

All eyes swung toward me, and no one spoke for a few beats .

“I was with him,” I finally admitted, my mind racing with the new information that Devon hadn’t seen that it was Torq who’d hit him. That or he didn’t remember. He had hit the floor pretty forcefully.

“Did you see who attacked him?” Torq asked.

I drew in a deep breath. “It was me. I’m the one who hit him.”

Ariana sucked in a breath, and the other women looked at me as if I’d just sprouted horns.

Torq narrowed his gaze at me. “You hit him so hard that he was knocked unconscious?”

The Drexian did not believe me, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t let Vyk take the fall for defending me. He already had enough strikes on his record. He did not need another black mark on his reputation when he’d only been protecting me.

“Why?” Ariana asked in a soft voice. She knew my history with Devon, but she also knew how important it was to me that he turn in a positive report. Hitting him would be ensuring the opposite.

I decided to tell a partial truth. “He got aggressive. He wouldn’t let me go. I had no choice but to get physical.”

Ariana’s expression became steely. “I wish I had been there to help you.”

“Same,” Britta said, her eyes hard and menacing. “Maybe then he wouldn’t have gotten back up.”

“It wasn’t all that.” I tried to laugh it off, even though I knew if I removed my long-sleeved shirt, they would see the finger marks on my arm. “I took care of it. ”

Torq held my gaze for another few seconds before standing. “I should go. I asked them to keep him sedated until they healed the bruises, but I should brief the Academy Master.”

I stood as well. “I should go check on the captain.”

“Not alone.” Ariana popped up and the rest of my friends followed suit. “We’ll go with you.”

My throat constricted but I shook my head. “I’ll be fine, especially if he’s sedated.” They grumbled but I insisted. “I promise.”

I headed for the door before Torq had finished kissing Jess goodbye, and I broke into a run as soon as I was in the corridor. But I had no intention of going to see Devon.

I needed to find Vyk.