“We could’ve helped you clean up.” Jeren’s eyes travel down my body. Though I’m already dressed in the academy uniform, I feel as if he can see straight through the fabric.
“I’m fine.” I plop onto the bed nearest the big, bright window. “Can I have this one?”
“Sure.” Ceredes stands and pushes his bed across the floor until it bumps into mine. Kyte and Jeren do the same until we have a bed that takes up one entire side of the room.
“Okay then.” I lie back and stare up at the white ceiling. “This is weird. Is this weird?”
“It used to be Master Harlan’s quarters until he moved to the administration building with the other teachers.” Kyte frowns at the dimples and holes in the wall where someone clearly punched their aggressions out.
“Not the room,” I sigh. “Just this whole thing. Staying at the academy even though the council is … afraid of us. At least, I think they are.”
“They’re cautious.” Jeren scoots closer to me and rests his hand on my knee, a familiar, welcome touch. “But they should be. We could probably destroy the entire academy and leave a smoking crater in its place.”
I turn toward the window. That feeling of being too full is fading, but the vibration of power inside me isn’t. If anything, it grows stronger with every moment I spend with my Alphas.
“I still don’t understand how the Sentients got in or why they came for me.”
Kyte reaches over and scratches my head, somehow knowing right where it itches. “My mother knows more than she told me. They plucked you from earth for a reason.”
“What reason? And why did Warverian try to take me? And, for that matter, what the hell was Bartanz even thinking? I mean, he’s kidnapper number one.”
“It’s all tied together.” Jeren squeezes my knee. “A big knot we’ll have to unravel.”
“Can you ask your mom?” I turn to Kyte.
“I can ask. She won’t tell.” He shrugs. “She’s on a transport to a planet near the Rift. The Fleet chased the Sentients there after the battle.”
“Another thing—who opened the school barrier?” I have about fifty more questions, but I know my Alphas don’t have the answers.
“We’ll find out, and we’ll handle it.” Ceredes leans over and kisses my forehead. “No one comes for our Omega.”
“Who would want me gone or dead? Ilwen? I mean, she’s a bitch, but I don’t see her forming an alliance with the Sentients just to get rid of me.”
Kyte shakes his head. “She’ll stoop pretty low to get what she wants, but that’s bad, even for her. No. Seems unlikely. Someone on campus must have some Sentient leanings. Connections.”
“A spy?”
“Exactly.” Jeren pulls a knife from nowhere and twirls it through his fingers. “Maybe the Sentients found an Alpha or an Omega, conditioned them, and put them in the Fleet’s sights.”
“Then the Fleet scooped them up and brought them to the academy.” I follow his line of thought. “A spy. And when I showed up—”
Kyte nods. “The student told Warverian—”
“Who knows you’re special and wanted you for himself,” Ceredes finishes.
“But there arehundredsof students.” I glance out the window. The campus is quiet today, people sleeping off the fun from the ball or the excitement from the skirmish, but just thinking about how many cadets could possibly be the spy makes my stomach turn.
“You’re safe.” Kyte’s words meld with Jeren and Ceredes’s in my mind.
“Gavros is an asshole,” I offer.
“True.” Jeren flips his blade in the air and catches it. “And he’s had a particular interest in you since you first showed up.”
“Anyone know what galaxy he’s from? What planet?” Kyte looks around.
We all shrug.
“I’ll look into it.” He reaches for his comms device.
