The Hidden Princess At All-Boys Alpha Academy

"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.

a lot of sneaky little hints," I

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

my own head as we

still and prop him up - because honestly, right now, the

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

still, they're the first to come into the room - which means the

almost jump out of my chair, desperate to dash over to them and get the information even faster, but

corner of his mouth curling into a

'cool' has never

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

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

just narrows

not seated next to me - one I'm not sure he meant me to hear. I smile at Jackson, delighted, which

looks between the two of us