Chapter 227

I sit for a moment, my hand in Luca’s, considering my options.

Part of me wants to push back – to just tell my parents to spend the money for me as they’ve always done. But still another part accepts that what they’re saying is right – that I’ve been insisting for months now that I’m not a little girl and that I should be able to make my own choices.

Plus, part of me wonders…well, whether anything can be done for the people of Jackson’s world, those in the Community who are suffering, or perhaps who have escaped like he has? If something can be done, and I can help it with these resources…I’ll want to do that.

“Okay,” I say softly, and I raise my eyes to meet my parents. Dad works hard to keep his expression stern but mom gives in, beaming at me. “And…I can take a few days? To talk to Luca, and to…make some decisions together about how it should be spent?”

“Yes, love,” mom says, leaning forward to give my arm a fond squeeze. “We’ll set up a video call for a few days from now and you can tell us what you’ve decided. We’ll go from there.”

Things move quickly after that, with my parents assuring me that they’ll make some preparations on their end while Luca and I talk. And then my parents give me hugs and kisses goodbye, my mom squeezing me tight for a long moment and whispering to me to take care of myself because I’m very precious to her. I press my face to her shoulder in that moment, taking a long sniff of her scent, memorizing it. By the time she passes me on to my dad and moves to hug Luca I’m very nearly in tears, because I love them both so much – and they’re so good to me – and I’m a little overwhelmed about all of this money – and I’m going to miss them -

“Ariel,” my dad laughs, wrapping me up into a hug of his own. “Come on, little girl, pull yourself together – you’re a Cadet, after all.”

“Cadets can cry too,” I mutter, burying my face in his suit jacket and getting a few tears on it.

“Apparently so,” dad murmurs, dropping a kiss to my hair. “Sweet girl. I love you so much, Ariel. Keep your chin up, darling, and don’t let these boys boss you around more than they ought. Don’t forget that even though you look just like your mother you’ve got a great deal of me in your heart. Which means they should all be terrified.”

I laugh and smile at my dad, loving him terribly, and then I take a deep breath and move back to Luca’s side as he shakes my dad’s hand, looking quite serious and I think feeling better about his position with my parents. As we leave, I can tell that things are indeed better, starting to be repaired – even if the three of them have a long way to go.

Luca drops my hand out of necessity as we step out of the door and it swings shut behind us, but I stay close by his side as we start down the hall.

“Thank you,” Luca says softly, smiling down at me as we hurry off to breakfast. “For believing in the gym – for wanting to support it. It…I think it helps a lot of kids, Ariel. Does a lot of good in a small part of our world.”

“I genuinely believe in it, Luc,” I say, smiling at him and bumping my shoulder into him as we go. “I’m not just sending the money because I have a crush on you.”

He laughs, his head tilting back a little as he slips an arm around my shoulders. “Yeah, but it doesn’t hurt that I’m so pretty, does it?” he asks, grinning.

“Nooo it does not,” I say on a happy sigh. We walk quickly towards the hall where breakfast is served, but Luca goes suspiciously silent. “What?” I ask, glancing up at him. “What’s wrong?”

He frowns at me, clearly deciding whether or not to ask. But I roll my eyes at him and give him a sharp nudge down the bond that makes him grin and then speak. “How do you…know that Tony guy, Ariel?” he asks. “And what’s all of this talk about…magic?”

I grimace a bit, realizing that we’re on shaky ground as I’ve promised people – Jackson, specifically – to keep their secrets.

“Let me talk to the others,” I say quietly, my expression pleading. “I’m…not sure how much I can say.”

“So…there’s some great secret amongst the rest of you that I don’t know?”

“I mean, you know I’m magic, right?” I say, raising my eyebrows at him. “That I can like…melt glass?”

His eyes go a bit wide as his steps stumble. “Wait, you did that?” he says, staring at me. “That day in your bed, with the marble? H-how?”

“With my mind,” I say, raising my hands to my temple and narrowing my eyes, working hard for a joke that doesn’t land.

Luca just stares at me and goes a little pale.

“And I can light things on fire,” I say, giving a shrug as I sigh.

“With your mind?” he whispers, still staring at me, his pace slowing.

“Kinda,” I say, shrugging and looking anxiously down the hall towards breakfast, where everyone is waiting. “I mean, with my magic, it doesn’t feel like I do it with my mind. It comes from somewhere else.”

“And…Tony does that too?” Luca asks, beginning to walk with me again as he adjusts to the information even though I can see and feel that he’s a little freaked out.

“I’ve made some promises,” I say quietly, my eyes begging him for patience. “I’ll…ask if I can tell you. But I won’t break people’s trust if they don’t want me to.”

Luca nods to me, but I can tell he feels left out and betrayed.

“I’m sorry,” I say, shaking my head as we come to the doors of the hall, not pushing them open yet. “You know I would have told you, right? If it was just me? But…it’s not just my secret to hold.”

His mouth twists a little in disappointment but he nods. “I get it,” he says with a sigh. “But…try to convince them, all right? I’d be more comfortable if I knew what was going on.”

I smile at my mate and nod as we press into the breakfast room, obviously arriving quite late. A grin breaks out onto my face, though, as I see that our group is already arranged around our usual table, and that Jackson is there too, waiting for us. I quicken my pace, eager to see everyone as well as to eat.

“So, are you like…all magic?” Luca asks, glancing between me and the rest of the table as he keeps pace at my side.

I laugh a little and then pitch my voice mysteriously. “I am not at liberty to disclose that information, Grant.”

He just groans, tilting his head back. “Oh god, that’s a yes,” he mutters, making me laugh more.

“Ari!” Ben says, beaming at me and gesturing towards the empty seat next to him that has Jackson on its other side. “What the hell, man! You barely made it in time for coffee.”

“I know, I know,” I say with a sigh, giving Luca’s arm a brief touch before I scurry to the open seat and sink into it, smiling at my friend. “Tell me you saved me a muffin, or I’ll cry.”

Ben laughs and moves a blueberry muffin from his plate to mine. I squeak happily, grateful and glad, and am already taking a bite as I turn to Jacks. “Hi,” I say, my mouth full.

He works hard to keep from beaming at me, to maintain his Academy reputation for stoicism. “All okay?” he says, raising an eyebrow at me and starting to pour me a cup of coffee.

Beneath the table I slide my foot towards him, looping it behind his ankle and hooking it around the side, as much contact as I can get without being ridiculously obvious. “All very well, no worries,” I say, quite breezy as he places my coffee in front of me.

A warm feeling blooms in me as I smile at Jackson and my wolf gives a happily little howl, her feet dancing to be near to him again. And I realize, ridiculously, that I missed him – even though I was only away for less than an hour. I pass everything that I’m feeling down the bond to Jackson in a warm swell. He can’t help the smile that breaks out on his face, even as he pretends to ignore it.

But, quite secretly, he passes to me his own warm rush of happiness and affection and relief to again have me near. These emotions flood down the bond, filling me with a gust of lovely warmth so suddenly that I’m almost dizzy with it, my cheeks flushed with joy as I turn it over in my heart, relishing it, exploring it, basking in it as I sip my coffee and stare at my mate.

“Earth to Ari,” Jesse says, snapping his fingers in front of my face.

I blink back to myself and refocus on my cousin, laughing a little when I realize that the nearness of Jacks actually did make me completely forget that everyone else existed. I grin and look around the table at all of my friends, everyone I love so much, who all grin at me and shake their heads at my distraction, entertained and pleased.

Well, all except for Luca, who I realize saw as much as everyone else. Quietly, he pours himself his own cup of coffee, his face pale and his jaw set, clearly working hard to contain his jealousy at my reaction to Jacks and failing…just a little bit.