“Wow…” I whisper, leaning forward, my hand shooting out to touch the long, slim silver rifle that the Captain lifts out of the bag and sets up straight, balancing it on its two bipod legs so it stands up on its own. At the last second, I pull my hand back, not sure if I should. “Go on,” the captai
“Well, it’s fancy,” I say, gesturing to the gun. “And it has a scope. You point the crosshairs at the target and you shoot – it should work!” He laughs at me again, I think genuinely pleased and entertained. “It’s going to take a long time to get good at it, kid,” he says, smiling at me and pattin
“You’re late!” Faiza says, sing-song, as I push open the door to her office and skitter inside. “I know, I’m sorry,” I say, panting a little as I shut the door behind me, leaning against it as I try to catch my breath. “I had to learn how to put my rifle away, lock it up.” “Rifle?” she asks, rai
I laugh a little, shaking my head at her, not getting it. “Please, Faiza. Explain.” “Look, close-up magic is nerdy as hell,” she says, leaning forward and talking to me seriously now. “But it teaches you a great deal about how to do things in plain sight. And if you can’t even sneak marbles into y
“You can sit there, Ariel’s boy,” Blaze says, waving a general hand towards the wall by the door as Luca follows me into the small gym and pulls the door shut behind him. “You are not to interrupt. Read your book, if you would, or watch. But no talking.” Luca raises his eyebrows at me, I think a l
“I am,” Luca says seriously, pushing up from the floor as he intuits that the lesson is done. “Well then,” Blaze says, looking at him for a long second and then shifting his eyes to me. “Perhaps you can put our Ariel through a different set of paces. See if her dodging skills adapt well to a diffe
“You win, you win,” Luca sighs, letting me slip in his arms a little until we’re face to face. “That was awesome – you improved so fast.” He nudges me happily with his nose. “We should have got you in the gym long ago, Shrimpy.” “Well,” I sigh, letting my weight fall back against his arm as I stre
Ben leans closer to Jesse, probably explaining quite patiently that Jesse’s completely misinterpreting the entire situation, as I tug on Luca’s sleeve, feeling his anger surge, trying to draw his eyes back down to me. “Luca, please,” I say quietly, a little desperate, glancing between him and Jack
“We won’t be here all the time.” A new voice surprises me and I turn, starting to cry in earnest when I see my dad come around one of the houses, Rafe at his side. “We have a country to run, after all.” He grins at me, opening an arm. “Dad,” I croak, shaking my head and tucking myself against his
“Come back here,” Neumann calls, pointing at the ground in front of him. Midnight appears again in the corner, dismissing her shadows, and dashes back over, smiling her delight. “Are you seriously encouraging this?” the Captain murmurs, shaking his head and heaving a big sigh. Neuman doesn’t rep
“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
“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 gl
Marigold laughs a little but just nods. “Are we doing this?” Jesse says, glancing up at the clock that looms large over the entire station. “We don’t have a ton of time.” Jackson looks at me and arches a brow. I laugh and nod, grinning at our little party. “Let’s go!” The next morning I wake u
Marigold, perched high on Jackson’s arm, looks around the train station with wide eyes as she munches on a cookie. I bite my lip for a moment, watching her, anxious that she’ll be anxious. After all, her life has already involved so much change… “She’s fine,” Jackson murmurs, smirking down at me f
I can’t help it. I just get incredibly jealous. “Tell me,” Jackson urges, feeling the shift in my emotions, tightening his arms around me. “I just want to do that,” I say, laughing a little, shaking my head, feeling petulant. “It sounds so cool, and important, and…vivid. I want to do that work,
I scootch forward on the window seat, making room behind me. Jackson takes a moment to dip low, pressing a kiss to Marigold’s cheek and then to her hair, telling her how much he missed her and how glad he is to see her. The little girl laughs, beaming up at her father, and I can feel both of our hea
“Ariel,” my mom calls after me. “Please, come and talk to us –“ “It’s time for the meeting anyway, Ella,” dad murmurs. “She needs space to think and we don’t have any more time to talk.” As I head into the darkness of the hall Jackson’s voice appears in my mind, soft and apologetic. Do you wan