Chapter 13

Chapter

Thirteen

My first day of boot camp would not be fun. I had heard and seen firsthand how cadets were treated like the scum of the earth.

"You will not be given special treatment just because you are my successor," my father said at breakfast.

He normally poured a cup of black coffee and went to his office, but this morning he was sitting in front of me and the triplets with a muffin.

"I know," I told him.

He appraised me solidly for a few seconds and my heart picked up speed. Did he know Liana didn't like him? Could Zuri smell it?

I peered at my father's creature. She stood like a sentinel beside him, ready to devour any foe.

Finally a smile broke onto my father's face and he shook his head. "My daughter bonded a Talanagi. I can't wait to see the drill instructors' faces when you walk in with her."

I sat up straighter, smiling a little myself. "You're coming to drop me off?"

I'd assumed he'd be too busy.

My father nodded. "I cleared my morning. But I need to be at Sky Reach by the afternoon. We've had a fresh attack there."

I grinned the entire way through my breakfast. My father, the emperor, was dropping me off at boot camp?

On the one hand, he never took time out to do that stuff. It was always Elaine, and so I was excited. But on the other hand, having your father, the leader of the free nation, drop you off at what was literally referred to as hell month, was bound to make a bigger target on my back. But I didn't care. If my father wanted to be a parent today instead of a leader, I was going to enjoy it.

I'd waited my entire life to make him proud, to do something that would make him notice me. But when I glanced at Elaine, she was giving me one of her warning looks. A look that said, Be careful. I frowned, unsure what to make of that, so I decided to ask her when we had some alone time.

But before I knew it, my father had packed all of my things into his car and I was saying goodbye to Elaine and the triplets on the front porch.

"Give them hell, big sis," Virtue told me, and reached out to fist bump me. I swatted her hand away and pulled her in for a hug.

"Mind Elaine. Pay attention in training," I advised her.

She pulled away, rolling her eyes, and nodded.

Valor, the eldest by three minutes, was next: "If anyone messes with you, remember a well-timed throat punch is effective," she informed me as she peered at Elaine, who smiled at the advice.

I hugged her and then went to Victory, who was already waiting with arms open. I pulled her in and just held her, the youngest of the three but with a mighty heart. She was submissive in nature, companionate, and my favorite. She would probably bond with a less-than-desirable creature and have a lame job in the Imperial Fleet, but she'd be the most well-adjusted and happiest of the Everhart clan.

"I love you, Aisling," she whispered in my ear and I froze, shocked by the three words. My brain short-circuited as if it didn't know what to do. She never said it—no one in this family did, and that was normal.

Did she think I was going to die or something?

"You too," I mumbled, as she pulled away from me and reached out to touch my now half-black, half-red hair.

"So cool," she muttered.

My father stepped up next to me and Elaine caught my eye, giving me a salute. "Remember what I taught you. Be respectful to your drill instructors and your fellow cadets. Head down. Follow orders."

"Yes, ma'am." I saluted her back but there was so much more I wanted to say. This woman had raised me for this moment. All the training and advice she'd given me was so that I would bond with a creature and make it to boot camp.

My father tugged my arm and I followed him, hoping that Elaine knew me well enough to know the unspoken words that were lodged in my throat.

I love you.

When we got to my father's car, something caught my eye in the garden. I turned to the source and saw Liana, with her vibrant purple, red and orange feathers.

‘Let's make an entrance,' Liana told me.

I grinned. "Dad, I'll follow you there?"

My father raised one eyebrow but I didn't wait for him to comment. I was totally flying to my first day.

My father's car pulled in the parking lot and already I could see hundreds of cadets gathered around the huge gates of the Imperial Fleet Training Center. The gates of the training center had a giant puma on the front standing in a ring of fire, my father's creature, in a portal. An homage to him.

When my father stepped out of the car, the crowd gasped. Parents, students, creatures, they all formed a circle around him until each and every one pulled up their right hand and saluted him.

Liana began her descent, and one by one the crowd turned from my father and looked up at the sky. Whispers became shouts, then there was pointing and gasping until Liana landed right in front of the closed school gates.

"That's my bestie!" Tetra stepped out from the crowd, her black wolf creature trailing behind her as she limped her way over to me.

I grinned, jumping off of Liana and hugging Tetra.

"Dude, what happened last night?" she started.

"My dad is here to see me off, did you see him?" I asked her with a warning tone in my voice.

I did not want my father finding out about last night and the three men I'd killed.

Tetra nodded in understanding and she spun. The crowd parted and my father walked right up to her, with three of his personal guard on either side of him.

She bowed her head. "Mr. Everhart."

His mouth ticked. He hated when she called him that and not emperor, but she'd been doing it since she was seven so there was no changing her ways.

"I'm pleased to see you survived The Wilds," my father told her, and then peered at her creature. "And made a decent bonding."

Decent. She was a wolf! That was more than decent. My father and Tetra always found ways to subtly insult each other.

"Oh yes, sir. Thank you. All I can hope for now is to serve the Imperial Fleet as best I can." She was laying it on thick and my father knew it.

He rolled his eyes, about to retort, when the puma-adorned gates opened. People stepped back, no one wanting to be in the front as the half-dozen drill instructors, equally male and female, walked out to greet us, marching in lockstep.

They stood erect but I noticed one of their gazes flick to my father. It was one of the females. She had a blonde pixie cut that was slicked back, and a hawk tattoo on her neck. I noticed six creatures waiting just inside the gates, one of them a hawk. Oftentimes humans got a tattoo of their creature to display for all to see. I was betting that hawk was hers.

"Emperor Everhart on deck!" the hawk drill instructor screamed and they all dropped to one knee and bowed their heads.

My father smiled, clearly loving the attention.

"Dismissed," my father said, and they stood as one.

I released the nervous breath I had been holding and the drill instructors went at ease, breaking apart their little display of unity and standing three on each side of the entrance to the school.

"Please say goodbye to the cadets," a drill instructor with a black buzzcut said. "After they cross this threshold, they are no longer your children. They are mine." The others grinned.

My father was smiling too. Elaine told me that most of the drill instructors were a fan of theatrics, but a few were serious and would push you to the limit, inflicting pain both physical and emotional to see how well you could submit to orders.

Everyone turned to their parents then and I moved to say goodbye to my father, but he was talking to the lieutenants.

"Aisling, honey," a familiar female voice called over my shoulder.

I spun and Tetra's mom pulled me in for a bone-crushing hug. "Thank you for protecting her," she said into my ear.

I relished Bethel's mama hugs. They were the kind I imagined my own mother would give me if she were still alive—all-encompassing, vulnerable, and filled with unspoken love. I pulled back and her eyes were wet.

"Of course," I told her. "And I will continue to."

Not that Tetra needed it much, she had a creature now. A powerful one.

Bethel nodded, holding out something wrapped in cloth. "My banana bread. I know it's your favorite."

It was.

I took it, sure it would be confiscated but unable to tell her no.

Tetra was beside her mother, looking like she was on the verge of tears. I worried for my friend when the drill instructors would start screaming in her face. I hadn't prepared her for any of this.

Her mother waved goodbye to us one last time and then moved to the street to wait with the other parents.

I turned to my bestie. "Hey, T, you gotta do what they say. No sass. No jokes. No rolling eyes. Don't even think it. They will know."

She rolled her eyes in response. "They can read minds?"

My eyes widened. "T, no eye rolling. I'm serious. You have to show that you can be respectful and take orders without any questions."

Her brow furrowed. She was the queen of questions. "What if?—?"

"T, I'm warning you. They will shave your head and parade you around in your underwear at 2 a.m. in the freezing cold if you cause problems. Do as I say," I snapped.

She swallowed hard, looking scared for the first time. "Okay, jeez."

She reached up to touch her long blonde hair as if horrified by the thought of it being shaved off. Maybe I was being a touch overdramatic, but I'd heard of it happening.

A shadow fell overhead and I looked up, instinctively knowing who it would be.

When I saw the black dragon, I sighed.

Onyx landed right next to Liana and Kohen dismounted, carrying a backpack filled with his things.

My gaze flicked to my father. I could practically see the hatred fuming off of him as he stared at Kohen. My father leaned into one of the lieutenants, the oldest one, with silver hair and a take-no-prisoners look on his face. My father said a few things into the lieutenant's ear and then walked away. I followed after him, his guards allowing me through as he reached his car.

"Thanks for coming to see me off!" I told him.

He spun, like he'd forgotten I was here. "Oh yes. Be good, Aisling. Don't embarrass me."

Ahh, there was the warm and cuddly man I knew.

"Yes, sir," I saluted him, and he mirrored the move back to me and then he drove off. One of his guards handed me my duffle bag and I ran to meet up with the others, who were now going through the open gates with their creatures. Ours were too big to fit side by side, so Kohen and I waited until the last cadet had entered the gate.

"You first, princess," Kohen said, but the words held no harsh tone. They even sounded respectful. If that were possible. Had he given me a pet name?

I peered at Liana, who nodded and stepped up beside me. Swallowing hard, I walked through the gates, watching as every eye at boot camp turned to look my way, even the drill instructors.

I found a place at the end of the line, placed my bag at my feet, and stood tall next to Anika of all people. Liana wandered to the field behind us and stood with the other creatures. The drill instructors knew better than to try to train the creatures. That was something we would each do ourselves. They might guide us but they wouldn't be screaming in the faces of a wolf or lion. They weren't stupid. We had to submit to the instructor so that our creatures would submit to them through our bond.

The hawk lieutenant stepped up to the front line with her hands behind her back. "If you think you are special because you survived The Wilds and bonded, THINK AGAIN!" She roared the last two words in Tetra's face and my bestie squeaked.

"I am Lieutenant Ashendell, your lead lieutenant. It is my job to make sure you can survive in a war and I take my job VERY SERIOUSLY!" She screamed into Anika's face but the Imbrian didn't move.

She then walked right up to me and stared me up and down. "If ANY OF YOU think you are special because of how much money you have, or who you parents are, YOU ARE WRONG and I WILL PROVE YOU WRONG," she shouted in my face, so close that I felt spittle fly onto my cheeks.

I didn't move a muscle, just stared ahead as if nothing had happened.

Lieutenant Ashendell walked up to Kohen. "And if you have a weakness, and the creatures chose wrong." She stared Kohen up and down. "I will pull that weakness out of you and display it for all to see."

She paused, just glaring at him. I peered at him without moving my head since he was right next to me. He appeared to be glaring her down, not looking at the space in front of him like he should be.

Oh stars. He was an idiot.

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?" she shouted suddenly, making half the cadets jump, and probably hoping to jostle Kohen, but he didn't move.

"Yes, ma'am!" Kohen replied with the rest of us.

I had a feeling this was going to be an interesting month.

Over the next twenty minutes, we stood there as they tore open our bags, displaying our stuff for all to see. They took heavily padded bras, makeup, curling irons, and threw them all in the trash. One of the male cadets had brought cookies and letters from his mother pre-written for each week he was here. She read a few out loud, got everyone laughing, and tossed the rest.

"WEAK!" one of the lieutenants said.

They took my banana bread but that was it. Elaine was no fool. She didn't pack anything that would have been confiscated. When Lieutenant Ashendell's gaze fell to my necklace, my stomach dropped.

How could I be so stupid? No jewelry. She could see the panic in my gaze as I was unable to contain my fear that she would destroy the locket.

"Give it." She held out her hand.

My heart pounded in my chest, and simultaneously another lieutenant took Tetra's cane.

"I need that to walk, you asshat," she snapped.

Oh crap.

Lieutenant Ashendell tore away from me and ran up to Tetra. "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?"

Suddenly there were fingers on my neck and I froze, peering over at Kohen in shock when he pulled my necklace off and popped it into his mouth!

What the hell?

Lieutenant Ashendell made Tetra do one hundred push-ups and then came back over to me. Her gaze fell on my neck and her eyes narrowed.

"Turn out your pockets," she ordered.

I did without question.

"Open your mouth," she said next.

I did.

"Where is it?" she growled.

"Where is what, ma'am?" I said in the rhythmic answering tone they preferred.

She reached out and grasped the sides of my cheeks, hard.

I felt movement behind me but I dared not turn around to look, and Lieutenant Ashendell's hand fell away from me almost as soon as she'd touched me. I was about to wonder why when I felt her. Liana.

My creature walked out from her line where she had been standing with the others and strode over to Lieutenant Ashendell, pausing a mere six feet from her.

The lieutenant narrowed her gaze at me. "You will not get special treatment."

"Yes, ma'am," I answered, staring straight ahead and ignoring the fact that my creature was threatening her.

‘Go back in line,' I told Liana.

Liana reached her head forward and sniffed Lieutenant Ashendell's leg, causing the lieutenant's eyebrows to raise.

"Control her," she said to me through a clenched jaw, but I could hear a slight shake to her voice.

‘She won't hurt you. She was bluffing. I like her,' Liana decided, and then strode back over to the line with the others.

Bless the stars! This firebird was going to give me a heart attack.

"Sorry, ma'am," I said, and Ashendell rolled her eyes, stomping off to make fun of the fact that Tetra could only do twenty push-ups.

I wanted to tell Tetra that they would give her a Fleet-issued cane. It wouldn't be cute like the crystal one she had now; it would be rubber and safe for her and others. But I couldn't say a word. And I couldn't stop thinking about how Kohen had my special locket inside his mouth.