The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy

Chapter 16

The rest of the bouts around us begin to end pretty quickly, with Lieutenants moving around the room recording the results. Rafe and I sit quietly together in my circle and, even as my mind whirls fruitlessly, trying to figure out what the hell just happened, my eyes scan the room for Jesse and for

Luca.

Did they win? Did they keep their place high in the rankings?

“If you’re finished,” a Lieutenant says, stopping by our circle, “you should go to lunch.” He nods towards the door before he moves on.

“Come on,” Rafe says, standing up and grasping me by the arm to pull me with him.

“I can stand,” I mutter, even though he’s already pulled me to his feet.

Rafe doesn’t say anything, but he keeps hand on me as we move towards the gym door and towards the barracks cafeteria. As we get into the lunch line which I’m pleased to see we’re at the start of, lucky us – I turn to him suddenly, realizing that I’ve been too lost in my own thoughts to ask.

“Wait, did you win?” I ask, eager.

Rafe just glances at me and rolls his eyes, because duh, of course he did. I laugh, unable to help it.

“You don’t have to be so smug about it, Rafe,” I sigh, heaping mashed potatoes and gravy onto my plate along side the roast meat and peas.

“I’m not being smug, it’s just that the outcome of my bout was basically predetermined,” he sighs, grabbing two bottles of water and passing me one.

“Well so was mine,” I say as we carry our trays over to our usual table. I grin as I see Jesse coming through the door, Luca at his side. Jesse waves to us as he and Luca jog towards the food line. “But my result did not match the odds.”

Rafe settles across the table from me and frowns. “Yeah, we need to talk more about that,” he murmurs. “What the hell happened? Tell me everything.”

“Um,” I say, starting on my food, for which I genuinely am hungry today. “It all happened very fast…” I hesitate and then say what I can, about how Jackson basically had me pinned before he inexplicably bailed. As I speak, I look around the room for Jackson, who frankly should have been the first person in here.

nowhere in sight.

that’s all I know. a whiff Because I’m certainly not going to tell him what I suspect to be the truth that Jackson got of my scent and realized that he might be

out, why did he just….leave?

to jump a little when Jesse’s tray lands next to mine.

to Rafe’s. Luca nods around to us in a friendly way and looks at me with

Rafe says with a casual shrug, “you?”

Solid bouts poor kids, it’s really unfair that they put top versus bottom, even though it works

a shame, Shrimp,” Luca says, his mouth twisting with regret as he looks at me. “Seriously, do you

on his

raise my eyebrow at him, adopting an arrogance that I absolutely have not

way,” Jesse breathes, and then he starts to laugh. “No way!” he says again, a shout this time, and he wraps his arms around my shoulders,

his enthusiasm but I swat him away, trying to be cool life Rafe does with no effort at all. “It’s not a big deal,” I sigh, though I blush a little, because it kind of is a big deal. I mean, there are

“Are you

voice thick with disbelief as he leans forward to stare at me. “You…. you beat

say, my voice dry as I pretend

my lips. My brother looks up at me then with a small smirk

we fall into an easy conversation then, eating our

one hundred and twenty little desks all lined up in neat rows, a pack of paper and a pencil neatly set on each one. New ratings haven’t been calculated just yet, so I’m in the back row again with Ben Ternicki. He nods

brother

grin, liking his easy sense of humor.

notice a bunch of figures in black enter the room, spreading out behind the head table

whisper, leaning

back. “They’re probably specialty subjects. They’re allowed to come down and note any candidates who they think might be worthwhile, even if they don’t otherwise stand out.”

my eyes going wide as they focus on one professor in particular with a handsome, angular face, his dark hair pulled back into a knot at the back of

nods and I look down at the papers on our desks, the cover sheet marked with our candidate number and name. “What are these?”