Ch. 41..45: The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy Chapter 41-45

“It’s just so fancy,” I breathe, blinking. “I don’t know, I guess I just got…used to the barracks.”

“Well, dad and Uncle Roger like cadets to understand themselves as deserving of the best,” Rafe says with a shrug, and I tilt my head, considering that that’s not a terrible way to think of it.

“The Academy asks a lot of its cadets, as does the life after school,” Jesse says, smiling at me, clearly repeating words his dad said to him verbatim. “It likes to return the favor while it can.”

“Fine by me,” I say, reaching for a blueberry muffin – still warm, my god – while

Rafe fills my cup with hot brown liquid. I smile when he pushes the sugar and creamer my way – he and Jesse take theirs black, but he knows what I like.

“Morning!” Ben says, sitting down next to me and giving me a warm nudge with his shoulder. “Where’s Luca?” he asks, looking around.

“I’m right here,” Luca’s voice sounds, dry and exhausted, from right behind me.

I spin, my muflin halfway to my mouth, to see him already glaring down at me. Ut–oh, my wolf says, skittering back inside of me. Looks like he’s mad…

Chapter 43

“Hi!” 1 say, forcing my face into my best cheerful–Princess grin. “There’s coffee! Come sit down!”

Luca just narrows his eyes at me a little more, suspicious, and goes to the other side of the table, sitting with Jesse.

My stomach twists at this – Luca almost always sits by me. And while Ben took his spot today…I don’t know. Something about the way Luca keeps his eyes on me even as he rounds the table…

God, I feel like a little rabbit being watched by a hungry wolf.

We’re wolves too! My wolf reminds me, snapping her jaws eagerly in response to Luca’s predatory prowl. Let’s not let him see us sweat.

I nod, inwardly, and proceed as if absolutely nothing is wrong, determined not to let Luca think that I know at all why he might be in a mood.

Even though that I am well aware that I am very much the cause of it.

–

–

I did more thinking last night, and I decided in the end that I’ve been very foolish with the dream state. Even though my wolf is disappointed in my decision, I’ve decided not to use it anymore – it’s just too risky.

Instead, I’m going to put my feelings for my mate aside and concentrate on succeeding here at school. After all, that’s why dad didn’t let girls in in the first place – there’s enough to do here without romantic

distractions.

I’m not going to be the first girl in, just to fail out because I couldn’t stop mooning over a boy.

Rafe, Jesse, and Ben chat excitedly about their mornings, those on Warrior track eating faster than Ben and I because they have a workout this morning while Ben and I have an extra hour before class.

“Why do you think that is?” he asks me frowning.

“Who knows,” I say, giving a little shrug. “Maybe we’ll have like…extra homework to do in the mornings or something.”

“Nerd track,” Jesse murmurs, and I shoot him a dirty little glare.

“Don’t be jealous, dumb jock track.” I throw back at him, and he just grins.

“All tracks are equally good,” Rafe cuts in smoothly, always diplomatic.

Luca, to my chagrin, doesn’t say a word. I sigh a little, looking down at my plate as I push around my eggs, because I’d much rather he was his old self. This quiet, moody Luca – it makes me anxious.

“What’s up with you today?” Jesse asks, nudging Luca with his elbow. “Didn’t sleep?”

“Nope,” Luca says, terse, flicking his eyes up to me. “Weird dreams again.”

Jesse’s mouth bursts into a scandalized smile as he slowly shifts his gaze to me, but I quickly dart my eyes back to my plate, inwardly stringing together a fluid and vehement line of curses.

“Really,” Jesse says, digging in. “And what was so troubling about it?” he asks, and I can tell that he’s almost vibrating with eagerness now, just dying for more material to tease me with later.

I lift my eyes to glare at my cousin, wishing I could shoot death rays from my pupils to knock him dead in his chair.

“What was so troubling,” Luca says, his voice low and dangerous, “was that I knew so little about my friends. For instance, I shared with you all what my favorite desert was last night –”

I go rigid despite my earlier determination to keep cool.

“Your nan’s coffee cake was delicious,” Jesse chimes in, turning his head to Luca, fascinated as to where this is going.

“But,” Luca says, his eyes still trained on me, “I have no idea what any of your favorite deserts are.”

“What?” Rafe asks, turning to Luca, confused: “Why does that bother you?”

“Just humor me,” Luca says, his voice oddly angry for someone who is pretending to so casually talk about desert. “Let’s just…all go around. Say our favorite deserts. Ben?” he says, and I jump a little when he snaps his gaze to Ben next to me.

Ben glances at me, picking up on the weird vibe. “Um, I like…chocolate cake?”

“Amazing,” Luca says, dry. And then he turns to Jesse, clearly keeping me for last.

As Jesse reports that his favorite is bread pudding, and Rafe that he just likes chocolate chip cookies, I renew my determination to stick to the plan I made last night. When Luca gets to me? I have to lie.

Let him think that the dream state was a figment of his imagination – I’m never going to meet him there again. The plan I came up with last night to convince him that it was real? That was foolish – it is so, so much simpler to just…..never go there again.

“And you, Ari?” Luca asks, and Jesse turns to him a bit with a frown, because in public Luca never calls me by what he thinks is my name – he always calls me Shrimp.

“What is going on here?” Rafe asks, quietly looking between us.

I sigh. “I like chocolate cake too, Luca,” I say casually, taking Ben’s desert when I can’t think of my own.

I watch him carefully and, after a long moment, see his shoulders slump. Though the expression on his face is it relief? Or disappointment? Or….

—

I peer at him, trying to figure it out, but suddenly

–

“Don’t lie, Ari,” Jesse says, laughing and shaking his head and reaching for another piece of toast from the bread basket. “Everyone knows that you don’t actually like chocolate cake.”

Luca’s head whips to Jesse, his eyes going wide.

“Jes-” I start to stay, but he’s still going.

“No, your favorite,” he says, taking a bite of his toast and talking with his mouth full, “is strawberry ice cream, with whipped cream, and so many sprinkles on top that it’s kind of disgusting.”

He laughs, shaking his head at the memory of twenty–some birthdays when I wouldn’t even touch the cake – only wanting scoop after scoop of strawberry ice

cream

My faces goes pale as I turn my eyes back to Luca.

Who is staring at me in complete shock, his jaw hanging almost to the floor.

The table is silent for a long moment.

Jesse figures it out first, his head swiveling between us, delight on his face as he realizes that he just caused some kind of drama that he’s going to get to hear all about later.

Rafe is next.

“Seriously,” he says, leaning forward with his coffee cup halfway to his mouth, “what the hell is going on here?”

“Nothing!” Ben says next, realizing that the tension is between me and Luca, and proving himself an absolute gem by leaping to my aid. “Come on, Ari! Let’s go check out the library before class!”

Immediately I accept his offer, jumping to my own feet and almost up–ending my chair, which makes Jesse cackle with laughter.

“Wait,” Rafe says, frowning at Ben and me, “it isn’t safe

“You have to go to your class an hour early anyway,” Ben says, rolling his eyes a little at Rafe as he slings an arm around my shoulders. “I’ll walk Ari to Chemistry – it will be fine -”

Rafe hesitates but I quickly shout my goodbyes, glancing at Luca who I see is just…

Still absolutely frozen, staring after me, probably processing the shock of his life as he realizes that I actually was in the dream state with him the night before –

And that I just tried to lie to him about it –

And that he’s confessed to this little Shrimpy boy that he’s attracted to him –

That he tried to kiss that same little Shrimp boy that he insisted was a figment of his subconscious – but that it was real

And that I know all about it

The hysterical urge to laugh wells up in me, but luckily Ben sweeps me out of the room, speaking loudly about the history of the castle and the location of the library, covering my complete panic.

As soon as we get out the door I can’t help myself, covering my face with my hands and letting out a horrible little embarrassed shriek as I press my back against the

wall.

“What the hell is going on!?” Ben laughs, glancing back towards the Hall, “what did you do to Grant!?”

I slip my hands down a little bit so that I peer over my fingers, shaking my head at him. “Ben,” I whisper, “you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

He bursts into a grin. “After everything I’ve witnessed with you this week, Ari Clark?” He puts a particular emphasis on my fake name and raises an eyebrow at me. “There’s not much I wouldn’t believe.” He glances back towards the Hall. “But come on – we should go. They’re getting up.”

“You mean Luca has regained his power of speech?” I ask dryly, ducking back against Ben’s side and letting him lead me away.

“Yup,” Ben says, still looking backwards. “And he looks mad.”

Chapter 44

Ben sweeps me up a few staircases, away from the rest of the boys, and he really does take a minute to show me the incredible library that takes up a large portion of the top floor – presumably on the other side of our rooms. I gape around at it in complete awe.

I mean – we have a pretty impressive library in the palace – but this? The arching ceilings are almost entirely made of glass, like the entire space was once one giant. greenhouse or something. The stacks are all tall and white, reaching so high I can’t believe they don’t topple over, with these gorgeous brass ladders steepled all over them.

Obviously, all I want to do for the rest of the day is wander around picking out a stack of books and sinking onto one of the plush velvet chairs with them, but Ben laughs, leading me away to my chemistry classroom with plenty of time to spare.

As we walk, I smile at him even as he glances at his map, trying to find the right halls. Because as much as I know he’s dying to ask me what’s going on with Luca, he’s also sensing that it’s somehow private, and that I’m not ready to go there yet.

Unlike Jesse, who I know will tease me mercilessly and press me for details the moment he gets a chance, Ben lets me have my space.

And so as we arrive at the door to my class, I take a minute to bump my shoulder into his what I’m coming to learn is the manly version of a big hug. “Thanks,

Ben.”

“Anytime, Ari,” he says, grinning at me. And by the crinkle around his eyes, I can tell that he understands that I’m thanking for him for more than the escort. “Good luck in there,” he says, nodding

towards the classroom.

I bump him again, and he grins at me before heading down the hall.

When I step inside, I’m surprised both by the smallness of the classroom and by the fact that I’m….

Alone.

I stay perfectly still for a second, the two boys who are already in the class turning to look at me.

I mean, it’s not that I’ve never been alone before…

But, I mean, have I?

I have spent my entire life in the company of my family, watched and guarded. Even when I’d go to sleepovers they’d send a guard or two along to stand outside of the house.

But now…

“Are you staying or going,” a deep, bored voice asks, brushing past me into the

room.

I stumble a little – he didn’t hit me or anything. I was just…surprised.

I watch with interest as the tall man sweeps to the front of the room, putting his book down on the black desk at the front, raising an eyebrow at me. He has dark hair, just going grey at the temples, and a long crooked nose.

I smile, liking him instantly – I don’t know why. Nothing about him screams nice, but…I don’t know.

I like him too, my wolf says tilting her head with interest, and I stand up straight, trusting my instincts. “Staying,” I say. “Sorry,” I apologize, coming into the room more fully now and taking a seat at an empty table.

The professor nods and looks down at his book, flipping through the pages.

—

I sit a little awkwardly, not knowing what to do. I mean I recognize the two other cadets already in the room, and the five more who filter in after. They were all candidates with me. But what Ben said last night holds true

Rafe and Jesse, they

really did do a good job of isolating me away from everyone else.

I have no idea who any of these people are.

“All right,” the Professor says, marching to the door and slamming it shut, twisting the lock and striding back for the front of the room, all business. “Welcome to the Espionage Track. I’m Dr. Neumann, I will be your advisor and your professor of Chemistry.”

We all sit up a little straighter then, I think anxious and eager to impress. He smirks a little at us, not unkindly, and then launches into a speech about what we’ll be expected to do here. My eyes go wider and wider as he speaks, detailing the

incredible amount of information that we’ll be expected to learn in a very short amount of time. I jump when he takes a textbook from below the desk and drops it on the table in front of him, the text making a huge thwapping sound.

“This is the first of your four textbooks for this course. I will expect you to be proficient in all of the information contained within this text by the time the holiday break rolls around.”

Holiday break? We….we have those?

“Those who do not succeed…” he says, his voice slowing now as he looks around at all of us, “will not be accepted back next term.”

I breathe in sharply. What?

“This is in addition to the school’s standard cuts at the end of the first semester,” Neumann says, looking around slowly at all of us, and the other students all flinch and begin to murmur. I look around, confused and a little upset –

Further cuts – god, I’d forgotten all about those –

Neumann’s eyes focus on me now, perceiving that I am completely lost. “In case some of you are unaware,” he says, his voice dry, “which is…frankly abundantly clear from some of your expressions, Alpha Academy cuts a further 40% of its entering Cadets at the end of the Examination.”

I go pale. What? What?

40%!?

What the hell is this Examination!? Why didn’t Jesse and Rafe say anything!? “What I am attempting to explain to you,” Neumann continues, “is that Espionage cuts on top of that. If you pass the Examination but fail your Chemistry exam? You’re out. The rates for continuing in Espionage are the most

competitive in the school, which I believe is fair, considering that we do not want to produce inept agents. With an entering group of 8, as we see here, I would expect the continuing number in January to be…”

He pauses to consider, perhaps doing the math.

“Somewhere between two and three of you.”

My breath freezes in my chest. What. What?!

“Of course,” he says with a bored sigh, “there is no reason why all eight of you could not make it if you were the most spectacular incoming group of young cadets the school has ever seen. I would just…not expect it to happen.”

He takes a moment to look each of us in the eye, and I don’t miss it when he lingers longest on me.

“You will be trained for other affinities within Espionage with other professors, but all of you will meet here three times a week to study with me. You will be examined in your other affinities as well and will be required to pass those examinations too. You will also need to be fit enough to pass the Examination, which will be your own responsibility. I suggest you each work very hard. That being said, if any of you do not believe yourself up to the task, you may apply to switch to the…Ambassador Track.”

But the distaste with which he says the word suggests to us that to do such a thing would be a great step down in the world. My heart twists for Ben, who is already there. All of the young men around me straighten their shoulders, and I see that each is determined to try.

Neumann takes another moment to look us all over, not inviting questions but leaving the space open in case any of us have anything burning we need to ask. And even though questions race through my mind, I press my lips together in a firm, determined line.

I can ask Rafe and Jesse for answers to those later. Now? Now I need to listen.

“Good,” Neumann says, nodding, and then he reaches below the desk again, pulling out a stack of notebooks and pens. “Hand these around,” he says, offering them to the young man closest to him, “lessons begin now.”

As Neumann speaks I scribble furiously in my notebook, taking down everything he says because I don’t yet know his teaching style – is he the kind of professor whose lessons you pour over again and again in an attempt to memorize his wisdom? Or is he more of a guide through the field, supporting you as you your own pace? I’ve had both kinds of teachers – but until I know his style? I’m writing down everything.

learn at

The pages are soon filled with a wealth of information, and even though I’m intimidated, by the end of the class I’m also incredibly excited about what to come.

The lesson plan that Neumann has sketched out for us by the end of the semester we’re not going to refresh our understanding of the basics of Chemistry, but we’re also going to understand the chemical compositions and the mechanics. of how to create twelve subtle poisons that he understands as the basic toolkit of any self–sufficient shadow agent.

Those poisons, he promises, will be the basis of our examination at the end of

term.

My hands are almost shaking with nerves and excitement when we close our notebooks at the end of the three–hour class. I slip my pen into the notebook, clutching it to my chest as I get in line with the other students picking up my textbook at the front of the room.

When Neumann places it in my waiting hand, he smirks when I almost drop it, my eyes going wide at the surprising weight. “Going to have to work on that, Cadet,” he murmurs. “If you can’t carry the book, how can you expect to carry the

knowledge?”

“Well, it will weigh a lot less when it’s all in my head,” I murmur, lifting the book more firmly into my arms as I turn away.

To my surprise, Neumann laughs, and he nods to me as I glance over my shoulder on the way to the door. When I trip over a desk because I’m not looking where I’m going, he just laughs again good– heartedly, hanging his head a little with a sigh and

a smile.

I dart into the hall, embarrassed but smiling.

I probably shouldn’t be as surprised as I am when I walk immediately into my brother, basically bouncing off his chest.

“Ari,” he says, frowning down at me. “What the hell is going on with you?”

Chapter 45

“Oh, god, Rafe,” I sigh. shaking my head up at him and glancing down the hall. “Do we have to do this now? My schedule says we have ten minutes for lunch before. our next mystery class –”

“Here,” Rafe says, dropping a wrapped power bar and a bottle of water on top of my books. “Academy isn’t big on hot lunch – just a snack before a big dinner. Eat while you walk, talk while you eat.” He puts a firm hand between my shoulder blades and urges me forward, making me keep pace with his quick stride.

“How do you even know where we’re going.” I murmur, struggling with the wrapper of my lunch with one hand. Rafe sighs, taking the food back and unwrapping it for me before slipping it into my hand.

“I looked at the map, obviously, and don’t try to change the subject,” he says. “What was going on with Luca this morning? He was staring at you, completely freaked out, and Jesse almost had a conniption he was laughing so hard.”

“How the hell should I know!?” I ask, blatantly lying and talking with my mouth. full.

“Ari!” Rafe sighs, glaring at me. “I know you’re lying – I’ve known you since you were born –”

“You were just a baby,” I mutter, even though he’s right.

“Fine!” he snaps, moving on, “pressing subject number two! Why the hell did you invite Jackson to have breakfast with us yesterday?”

I stare up at him for a second, forgetting to chew in my surprise, even though he keeps me moving. “What?” I ask, swallowing hard. “Rafe, that was like, a million years ago –”

“That was twenty–four hours ago,” he says, giving me a withering stare.

“Well a lot has happened in the meantime!”

“A lot that you were hoping would make me forget!” he counters, pointing ahead to a door that I understand from his body language is our destination.

I grin up a him, because…yup. He’s got me there.

Rafe stops, grabbing my arm, making me stop with him. “Ari, we had a deal – that guy tried to kill you, and you promised never to speak to him again, and all of a sudden he’s at our breakfast table? What the hell!?”

“Rafe,” I sigh, glancing towards the door, knowing that we’ve only got a few minutes to get in there and I really, really hate being late for school. “I promise I’ll tell you, all right? Jackson – he saved me in the obstacle course –”

“What?” Rafe asks, leaning closer, shock all over his face. “He what?”

“He is the only reason I made a better time- and considering that I was the 90(th) candidate let in? If he hadn’t, I wouldn’t be here. We owe Jackson – and I promise that I will tell you all about it, but can we just get to class? None of this is pressing right now, right? We have time.”

Rafe scowls, glancing between the classroom door and me.

“Fine,” he says, tugging me forward by the arm before I wrench it from his grasp, not wanting whatever professor is in this classroom to see my big brother dragging me around. “But you and I are taking a

long moment tonight to have a chat about Jackson McClint…”

Rafe doesn’t finish his word, though, because as soon as we round the corner into

the room…

We come face–to–face with the man in question.

Or, at least I do. Rafe has to look down at him. But seated at the desk in the front row, Jesse lounging in the seat behind him? Jackson’s just about eye–to–eye with

1. me.

Rafe doesn’t even bother to hide his groan as he walks into the room, shoving me in front of him and heading for the desk next to Jesse. When I hesitate, Rafe barks my name, pointing to the desk next to him.

I blush, glancing around and realizing that not only Jackson is witnessing Rafe boss me around like a little kid, but so is another dark–haired cadet and the professor – who is, of course, the handsome professor who handed us all the weird orb yesterday, his dark hair tied back low at the base of his neck. He grins at me, amused, but I sigh and do as my brother says, taking the desk next to him.

“Well,” says the professor, nodding to all of us and moving to the door, pulling it

shut. “Now that we’re all here, we can begin.”

I look curiously around the room now, confused.

Seriously, a class of five people?

What the hell is going on here?

“My name is Professor Alves. The five of you have been gathered here because out of the 96 cadets admitted to the program, only the five of you showed a particular aptitude for my teaching specialty. Unlike the rest of your peers, you will be enrolled in this class for the entirety of your time at the Academy. There will be no examinations and no cuts made. Instead, the time will be spent learning your own particular affinity and cultivating your…talent.”

He go

goes quiet now, smiling around at each of us in turn, I think enjoying the fact that each of us are completely confused. Silence reigns in the room and he just lets it hang there.

Jackson is the first to break it, frustration in his every word. “I’m sorry,” he says, though he certainly doesn’t sound it, “I don’t understand. What are these affinities. you’re talking about?”

“Each of you,” Alves says softly, moving to the book satchel perched on the edge of the desk and pulling from it the black orb, “demonstrated an affinity for magic. I will be here, over the course of the next several months and years, to see whether or not your particular skills can be honed for the battle field or otherwise in service of the nation.”

My eyebrows go up almost to my hairline.

I mean, our moms told the three of us when we turned sixteen that the Goddess has given each of us a particular magical gift. But that is a BIG family secret, and none of us have spilled a word of it to anyone.

hint of it, I’m also pretty damn sure that none of the three of us have shown any either. Which mom and Aunt Cora said not to worry about – they didn’t find out about their own gifts until later in their lives either.

So…how the hell did the Academy find out? My eyes dart immediately to the black ball.

“Yes,” the professor says, perhaps seeing the direction of my gaze and probably

67%音

everyone else’s as well. “The sphere measures magical aptitude – one of my own inventions, very useful. And while it does allow us to identify candidates who have an affinity for magic, it does not at all tell us what kind of magic that person wields.

So!”

He deftly tucks the ball back into his satchel, smiling around at the five of us. “Does anyone know what they can do?”

The five of us sit in absolute silence, staring at him.

I mean.

He just very, very casually told us that we’re all magic, and that he’s going to train us in battle magic –

And even if that is maybe the coolest thing I’ve ever heard…

It is definitely a surprise.

“Oh come on,” Alvez says, coming around the desk and shocking me by casually sitting on it, tucking his leg in beneath him. “Surely one of you is aware of what you can do? Sinclair?” he says, his eyes moving immediately to Rafe.

Rafe just stares back at him, unreadable.

“I’m aware of your mother’s talents,” Alvez says with a casual shrug, which makes Rafe’s eyes narrow. I feel mine doing the same. Mom – her healing magic isn’t precisely a secret, but she’s been very careful to never specifically confirm it. “She and your mother,” he shifts his eyes to Jesse now, “were instrumental in the formation of this department! They designed it!”

My lips part in shock now. What!?

Rafe sits back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest, glaring at the professor a little bit. And I realize that the professor is trying to get us to casually confess our mothers‘ magical affinities, which we have long sworn to never do.

“Oh come on,” the professor says, looking around at all of us and laughing casually. “We’re going to have to learn how to trust each other a little more. After all, we’re going to be spending a great deal of time together. In the spirit of trust and full disclosure…how about a little demonstration.”

I look over at Rafe and Jesse, who look between each other and at me. Together, we

nod.

“All right,” Rafe says, speaking for us and no bothering to consult with Jackson or the other boy, who I see scowling at the other side of our line of desks, displeased to be left out. “You demonstrate first, then we’ll…have a conversation.”

The Professor smiles at him and then pulls a large piece of candy out of his pocket — a jawbreaker, I think. “Me first,” he says, his voice low with pleasure, and then he tosses the candy into the air towards the center of the room.

We all turn to stare at it and I gasp when, suddenly – almost from the bottom up- the jawbreaker stops falling and instead just…disintegrates in the air. The very miniscule pieces of it float through the air to the ground in a fine pile of pink dust.

“Whoa,” I breathe, shocked and impressed.

“Disintegration,” the professor says with a casual shrug. “My affinity also allows me to rust things, though it’s a longer process that mostly yields the same results.”

“How do we know it’s not a trick?” Jackson asks, clearly more suspicious than me. “That the candy wasn’t going to fall apart as soon as you threw it?”

“Give me something else,” the professor says, looking around at us. “I’m an open book in this classroom we all have to be. I promise, I’m not lying to you about my skills or what the class is for, though it might sound unbelievable now.”

“Here,” I say, ripping a blank page from the back of my chemistry notebook and balling it up in my hand. “Can I just… toss it?”

He nods to me and so I do, lobbing it high into the air.

Like the jawbreaker, the paper likewise just falls apart into microscopic pieces that drift down through the air.

“Holy shit,” Jesse whispers, watching it. “That is…incredibly cool.”

“So,” Alvez says, smiling around at us, his voice a little self–pleased. “Does anyone know what they can do?”

But we all just look around at each other, completely silent.Until the dark–haired boy on the far side of the room heaves a sigh and raises his hand.