“Like what?” Rue squinted, still obviously annoyed by the nickname.
“Like me, for one.” John grinned.
Jesse laughed, “Can’t argue with that, Frosty. He’s pretty great andstillcomes in second to me.” He fluttered his lashes. “I have a fantastic sense of humor, I’m smart, well-spoken, handsome… shall I go on?”
“Lacks confidence,” Rue commented, tongue in cheek, and tried to hide his grin at Jesse’s overinflated ego.
But I saw it. Maybe these men could make this work in due time.
John rolled his eyes, apparently deciding a change of subject was in order: “So Adelaide, how prepared are you for initiation?”
I nibbled at the sandwich that Jesse had put on my plate. “I’ve been preparing for it for years.”
“That doesn’t really answer my question.” He frowned, “What have you trained in?”
“I told you to ease into these kinds of subjects.” Jesse slapped John’s hand when he reached for a grape. “Those are for Pookie Poo, Bro. Keep your grubby paws off.”
“No.” I gave him a droll look.
He motioned, crumpling up a piece of paper and throwing it over his shoulder, “On to the next.”
“She’s been trained in all of the fighting methods taught on Aurathia and a few from Earth. Also, she’s had extensive training in survival methods and carries a pack with her at all times with supplies.” Rue, aka Frosty, dropped all of that info like it was no big deal.
I looked down at the bright pink pack at my feet, then eyed Frosty with suspicion. What the hell?
“Damn, dude, stalker much?” Jesse asked in shock. He turned to John, “Is it wrong that I’m sort of impressed?”
Rue gave Jesse a smug look, “I take care of the things that are important to me.” Then he resumed eating like none of this was out of the ordinary.
“How do you have all of that information?” I asked him, way more calmly than I felt. The fact that I was unaware of this level of observation freaked me out.
I needed to be better than that.
Frosty (I liked that nickname for him.) finished chewing his food and then wiped his mouth on a napkin. “You probably don’t remember, but we’ve met before.”
I wrinkled my brow, “When?”
“We were just small children and were both at the same birthday party…one of the Council members' children, as I recall. You walked by, and our hands brushed. I knew then our destiny was intertwined.” He turned and began eating again.
“But how do you know so much about me?” I wasn’t just going to let this drop.
He sighed and turned to me once again, “It wasn’t hard, I did my due diligence. I needed to make sure you were being prepared properly, and you were. I’ve kept an eye on you sinceyou arrived here, and it’s clear that the fates saw fit to give me a Nexus that was superior to any other.”
“Wow.” Jesse said in wide-eyed amazement, “Just W-O-W.”
John cleared his throat, “Well, as interesting as that is, I think there are other topics we need to cover.”
I could tell John was going to be our mediator if this Faction ever became a reality. I, on the other hand, was still trying to wrap my head around Frosty’s admissions. This guy was next level. I could see why so many Aurathions wanted him as a potential.
Jesse waggled his brows, “Sexy times?”
John hit him on the back of the head, “No, moron.”
Frosty’s face turned red, and he scowled at Jesse. “You’re ridiculous.”
I threw my head back and laughed. We were all going to get along just fine.
Chapter 4
