Chapter 275

I’m panting as Jesse follows me up the final hill of our run, keeping close on my heels and basically herding me like a sheepdog to ensure that I don’t slacken my pace and fall behind.

“Jesse!” I gasp, swatting at him as he gets even closer when we reach the top of the hill, the door to the Castle only a few feet away. “Back off! The run is done!”

“Still twenty more feet, Cadet!” Jesse says, beaming at me, looking far too fresh for how exhausted I’m feeling. He jogs backwards, passing me, urging me along.

“Oh, I hate you,” I sigh, still pulling my breaths in deeply as I let my pace slacken to a walk for those final twenty feet. Jesse laughs as he runs ahead to the little fountain where our water bottles are waiting, giving them a quick rinse before filling mine up and handing it to me when I join him there.

“You did good,” he says, quite cheerful, the energy Jacks passed to him early this morning clearly still running fresh in his veins.

I roll my eyes, knowing that he’s just being nice.

Jesse laughs. “You did!” he insists, giving me a little shove on my shoulder that just makes water slosh down my front. “Rafe and Jackson are just too hard on you and your little legs, they make you feel like you’re slow. But honestly, you could outrun anyone your size any day.”

“Cool,” I reply, scowling at the water all down the front of my uniform now. “Good to know I can outrun mom and Cora and Juniper.”

“Hey, a win is a win,” Jesse says, raising his bottle to me with a wink. I sigh, a little pleased, and rest against the wall at his side as we both catch our breath and look out over the pretty winter countryside.

“Do you think the draft is done?” I ask quietly after a minute, thinking about Jackson and Rafe going off this morning even earlier than I usually get up for sniping practice. Jesse very cheerfully agreed to go along with me before our run, but only after Jacks agreed to make it worth his time by giving him the energy to do it.

“Who knows,” Jesse says with a sigh, glancing at me. “I mean, we get the results at breakfast, so probably close now.”

I nod, letting my mind drift a little as I hydrate myself, wondering if they got the picks they wanted, wondering what team I’m on. Wondering, again, what this new dark spot in my soul is about, and if it’s going to pounce at some point. My stomach twists with worry.

“You know, you’re really good at the shooting,” Jesse says quietly, glancing down at me like he knows something is wrong but also realizes that I don’t to talk to him about it. “I didn’t realize until this morning how insanely good you are.”

I perk up a little at the compliment. “What, did you think I’ve just been messing around?”

He shrugs, smirking. “I mean, I figured you could hit the side of a barn from twenty paces. But what I saw today, Ariel?” He shakes his head, looking off into the distance a bit. “I mean, it explains why Jackson is so eager to pick you first, despite his personal obsession with you. You’re going to kick ass on whatever team you’re on in this Game.”

“Yeah,” I say with a disgruntled little sigh, “except that it will be a paintball gun and won’t have nearly the range and precision that I’m used to.” The captain confirmed as much in his last message to me.

“If you have half the accuracy, baby trouble,” Jesse murmurs. “You’ll be fine.”

“Thanks,” I say, grinning up at him and giving him a nudge in the side with my elbow. We’re quiet for a moment, and I consider his face, which is more serious than I’m used to. “How are you doing? After…all that happened?”

“You mean my mom announcing she’s my professor and then ruining my extra-suave reputation by dumping a bathtub’s worth of water on me in front of my friends?” he asks, quirking a brow at me.

I laugh but shake my head, not giving into it, letting him know that I’m not letting him wriggle out of a real answer just by making me laugh.

He sighs a little, smiling at me before dropping his eyes to the ground. “I’m freaked out, Ariel,” Jesse says quietly, shaking his head. “This shadow stuff…it is not what I expected my power to be.”

“The Dark God did indicate that it was powerful, though,” I say quietly after a moment, wanting to bolster him. “And that the Goddess gave you that gift almost…maybe in particular to counter his.” I shrug, wondering if that makes him feel better.

“Yes,” he says with a sigh, “and you know me, always searching for the bigger and better responsibility. Always looking for another weight on my shoulders, like the obligation to defy the God of Darkness…just because I can.”

“You don’t fool me, Jess,” I say quietly, making him look at me. “Given the choice between something like this and something silly like…a magical gift that made you really good at puns –“

“That would have been amazing,” he interrupts, his eyes narrowed.

I laugh, but just shake my head at him. “Jesse. Deep down? We all know what you would have chosen.”

“Yeah, well,” he sighs, slumping against the wall, “puns were never really part of my sense of humor anyway.”

I lean against him then and Jesse wraps an arm around my shoulders. “You’re a good guy, Jess,” I say quietly. “You saved me yesterday. Even if you’re not comfortable with your powers…I’m grateful for them.”

“Well, if they let me save you even once, cousin,” he says, pulling me a little closer. “Then I’ll deal with these shadows and call it a done deal.”

I smile, leaning against my favorite cousin a little more.

But Jesse just sighs, looking again out into the distance. “Did you hear what the God said, though?” he asks, his voice curious and hesitant.

“He dropped a lot of sneaky little hints,” I say, derisive. “Which one are you thinking of?”

“When he said his girl found me,” Jesse says, shaking his head like he’s trying to see how the pieces fit together. He blinks, refocusing his eyes on me. “What the hell did he mean by that?”

“I have no idea, Jess,” I say quietly, shaking my own head as we look at each other, both of us battled and disconcerted by it.

My cousin just sighs, leaning his weight on me, and I do my best to stand still and prop him up – because honestly, right now, the only thing I can offer my cousin is support. Even if I desperately wish I had some answers.

Luca, Ben, Jesse and I all sit up straight, turning towards the door to the breakfast room as we see Jackson and Rafe walk in. The room bursts into whispers, because of course the rest of the Cadets in our year know that they’re two of the six captains working together in this round of Games.

But still, they’re the first to come into the room – which means the draft must be over.

I almost jump out of my chair, desperate to dash over to them and get the information even faster, but Luca puts a hand on my knee.

“Be cool, Shrimp,” he says, one corner of his mouth curling into a grin.

“I don’t know if we’ve met, Luca?” I say, my eyebrows going up. “But ‘cool’ has never been one of the descriptors that anyone has ever applied to me.”

Luca laughs, shaking his head at me a bit – but either way, his plan worked, because Jackson and Rafe settle into the two empty chairs across the table from us. Jackson shoots a little glare at Ben, who is seated on my right between us.

Ben just laughs, shaking his head. He reaches for the coffee pot, passing it to Jackson as a peace offering. “You don’t get your preferred seat if you don’t show up to breakfast on time,” Ben says, grinning.

Jackson just narrows his eyes at Ben before turning them to me, a warm greeting coming down our bond as well as a little whine from his wolf that he’s not seated next to me - one I’m not sure he meant me to hear. I smile at Jackson, delighted, which just makes him laugh.

Rafe looks between the two of us but then rolls his eyes.

“How’d it go?” Jesse asks eagerly, passing Rafe the basket of muffins and baked goods, looking between our two Captains.

“The draft went well enough,” Jackson says with a shrug before looking around at everyone at the table. “We did our best, made what negotiations and offers we could. I don’t think that it’s likely we’ll get everyone we wanted but,” he shrugs again. “I don’t think it will be bad.”

“Wait, so,” I say, sitting up straight and peering at Jacks, not really missing the fact that Luca’s hand tightens on my knee as I give my other mate my undivided attention. “You guys don’t like…know what the teams are? It’s not already decided?”

“We make our case,” Rafe says, “and then the Captain makes the final decision when Cadets are claimed by multiple teams.” His eyes move around the table then. “Which all of you were, by the way.”

“Really?” I squeak, delighted and thrilled. “Even me?”