Chapter 491

“Ut-oh,” Jesse says, turning to grin at me. “Looks like the secrets out.”

“You could look less cheerful about it,” I say, glaring at him even as I climb out of bed and move towards the door as Jackson pulls on his shirt. “It’s not your education at stake, after all.”

“Nooo, don’t forbid me my glee,” Jesse says, laughing a little as he, too, makes himself more presentable and stands up. I grin at him, knowing that he’s just teasing – that he’ll back me up no matter what.

I reach for the door handle as a second angry knock comes, but I don’t let it rattle me, instead glancing over at Midnight and Marigold. Pleased to see that they’re undisturbed and continuing their breakfast order, I take a deep breath and pull open the door.

The Captain glares down at me, livid.

“Oh hey, Captain!” I say, giving him my best Princess smile and tucking my hands innocently behind my back. “It’s so nice to see you again – how’ve you been!?”

“Sinclair,” he growls, taking an angry step forward to loom over me. He opens his mouth to begin what I’m sure is a long and fervid lecture about not letting girls into the castle.

But then he suddenly goes very still, staring at me, his eyes going wide as his mouth falls open.

And I just grin, knowing that he probably just caught a whiff of my scent.

I hear and feel Jackson coming to stand behind me, steady and strong, my Alpha ready to protect me and our two little baby girls against anything the Captain might say or do.

“Captain,” Jackson says, his voice rumbling low with warning. “Good morning. Would you like to come in?”

“Hi!” Jesse calls, a little too cheerful.

I suppress a grin and step back from the door, waving a hand to invite the Captain further in.

He doesn’t move, just continues to stare at me. “You’re…you’re…”

“Knocked up!” Jesse supplies, gleeful.

“Jess!” I sigh, turning to glare at him a bit.

“I mean, it’s true,” my cousin says with a shrug, grinning at me.

“Yeah well, he brought his mate,” I say, pointing over at Midnight, who puts the breakfast order into the dumbwaiter and shows Marigold how to shut the door and push the button that will deliver her magical commands. “And she’s possessed by Darkness. So. I’m not the only one breaking the rules.”

“To be fair,” Jackson murmurs, slipping a hand around my waist and pulling me back against his chest. “I don’t actually think the Cadet handbook has any clauses that forbid Cadets from getting pregnant. So, you might be in the clear there.”

My eyebrows raise as I turn my eyes back on the Captain, indicating that my mate might have a point.

Something about this breaks the Captain out of his shock and he snarls, stepping into the room and leaving the door standing open in his rage. “This is – this is ridiculous – I will not have this kind of anarchy at my school!”

“It’s not anarchy,” Jesse murmurs, walking to the center of the room and seating himself down in his armchair. “I think you’ll find that we’re very organized.”

“Organized,” Marigold whispers, tottling over to Jesse, who scoops her up and seats her comfortably in his lap, pressing a kiss to her hair. Midnight follows, giving a happy little wave to the Captain, sitting in Rafe’s chair.

The Captain just stares at both of them in shock before his eyes quickly dash to Marigold, and then up to Jesse’s face and back. But then his head whips to Jackson, putting together the undeniable fact that the little girl is Jackson’s daughter, not Jesse’s.

“Cadets are not allowed to have children,” the Captain growls, leaning towards Jackson to glare at him. “And if they do, they are not to take residence at the Academy –“

“Well, I’ve got three now,” Jackson says with a shrug, evenly meeting the Captain’s gaze, his arm tightening around me. “And I don’t think Ariel is letting any of them go anywhere.”

The Captain just stares at him, again stunned, trying to put together the math that makes that statement make sense –

“Twins,” I whisper, grinning and pointing at my belly.

The Captain shifts his eyes to me. “We’ve made exceptions for you before, Sinclair, but this goes too far – the Academy is far too dangerous a place for a pregnant woman –“

“I’m not pregnant!” Midnight calls, sounding far too proud of the fact. “So I can stay!”

The Captain whips his head to stare at her for a second before returning his eyes to me. “You are hereby disenrolled, Sinclair,” the Captain growls, still livid with me for thinking I could just show back up and everything will be fine. “We can discuss your continued enrollment after you’ve...” he stumbles for the words, his eyes moving down to my belly. “Produced the children…”

I sigh, tilting my head to the side, not letting his anger and his commands ruffle me. After all, we’ve had time to prepare for this.

“I’m afraid that timeline isn’t going to work for me, Captain,” I say, heaving a little shrug. “I’ll be continuing my enrollment now. We’ll each have to find ways to adjust.”

The Captain’s face starts to redden with rage at my open defiance. “You cannot –“

“If I’m dismissed from the Academy now,” I interrupt, holding up a hand and conjuring up my blue flames, which make him take a step back in surprise. “Then the military of Moon Valley loses the opportunity to train and make use of its most powerful weapon. Which, if you ask me, is far too much of a loss when the solution is simply to make a slight adjustment to the rule book.”

He snarls at me, teeth flashing. “Obviously we value your powers, Ariel, which is why I suggest you return after your…confinement. It is far too dangerous for a pregnant woman to train at the academy!”

“Eh,” I say, glancing at my fire and then vanishing it away. “If I leave now I don’t think I’ll ever come back. I’ll be far too busy caring for my children, building a home for my family, learning my place. You know,” I say, giving him my prettiest smile - one that likewise shows all my teeth. “Women’s work.”

Jackson growls softly behind me, giving me his full support.

“That is not what I mean,” the Captain growls, unhappy to be put in this position.

Another voice drawls from the door. “Then what do you mean?”

I gasp with delight, my head spinning to see my favorite professor leaning casually in the doorframe. Neumann gives me a little half smile in greeting before turning his eyes back to the Captain.

“What’s the problem here?” Neumann asks, the little smirk still curling his lips. “Are you presuming that pregnancy has rendered the girl unable to read?”

“Don’t speak to me like I’m a fool, Neumann,” the Captain growls, his anger growing and becoming more palpable in the room. “Obviously this has nothing to do with her intellectual capacities. It is the physical training which puts her in danger and makes us liable, not to mention the continued threat of insubordination –“

“Oh, Ariel’s talents never leaned towards the physical anyway,” Neuman says on a sigh, waving a lazy hand to dismiss the Captain’s concerns. “She’s always been crap at that.”

“Hey!” I snap, straightening up with a frown.

“Ariel, any Alpha in this room could knock you down with a flick of their finger and I refuse to be impressed simply because you can pull a trigger with moderate accuracy.”

“My accuracy is more than moderate,” I growl. To my surprise the Captain nods along with me, still glaring at Neumann.

“It doesn’t matter,” Neumann says with a sigh, waving that lazy hand at me in turn as he refocuses on the Captain. “The point is that the girl’s education plan was always individual anyway. We’ll simply keep her away from the knives. Yes?”

The Captain sighs, clearly outmatched here, and ducks his face into his palm even as he shakes it. “God damn Sinclairs,” he mutters. “I…need to talk to Roger and Dominic about this.”

I nod, accepting this, recognizing that even his willingness to talk to my dad is a victory. Neumann smirks at me and nods, silently agreeing that we’ve taken the cake on this one.

“Okay, me now!” Midnight says, jumping up from Rafe’s chair and striding over to us, her hands firmly planted on her waist. “I’m going to enroll! Please make me a uniform!”

Neumann’s face bursts into a delighted grin. “What on earth are you?” he asks, bending down a little to see her better.

The Captain groans, lifting his face from his hand. “No. Absolutely not. No little girls in the Academy – you have to go.” He points at Marigold. “That one too.”

Jesse gasps dramatically and cuddles Marigold closer. “How dare you, this is a Princess of our realm –“

“Oh, no she is not,” the Captain scoffs, folding his arms over his chest.

I bare my teeth at him, growling, and he turns to me, blinking with surprise. “What!?”

“That is my daughter, Marigold,” I say, raising my chin, quite proud. “You will take care to show her the respect she deserves.”

“Come on, Goldie,” Jesse murmurs, his big smile clearly betraying how much he’s enjoying this. “We’re too important to deign to debate your royal status.” He stands, holding her close and wandering over to the window.

“I’m still primarily interested in this creature,” Neumann murmurs, pointing at Midnight.

“No other girls,” the Captain growls, turning to glare at Neumann and Midnight in turn.

“No, you have to let me in,” Midnight says, tossing her hair back over her shoulders, prim and smug. “I’m very important. No one can do what I can do. You will let me enroll and I will study Chemistree and be a spy.”

“I said –“

“All right,” Neumann says, blatantly ignoring the Captain. “Go on, kid. Show us what you’ve got.”

Midnight grins, wicked and gleeful, and then her shadows erupt from her. I gasp, a bit shocked to see her completely fade from sight in a cloud of darkness, her edges blurring into darkness. She dashes away then to the dark corner of the room where she becomes indistinguishable from the wall.

“Fantastic,” Neumann murmurs, smiling widely, shaking his head.

“Oh god,” the Captain says, sighing heavily and looking up to the ceiling. “This is becoming a finishing school for incredibly dangerous magical girls.”

I burst into a grin, absolutely loving that idea.