“Ours,” Zuko corrected. “We did that together. You don’t get to keep all the credit.”
“Aww,” I cooed, patting Zuko’s and Slater’s chests. “You shouldn’t have, but I actually don’t need him.”
“We do need to know one more thing,” Eleanor wheezed, leaning on Lorian.
“We need to know where the drugs are,” Lorian explained.
Zuko sighed dramatically, squatting down and making eye contact with the half-dead warlock. “Enough lies. Torture didn’t work.” His orange eyes glowed like sun shards. “Where’s the drugs?”
“I don’t—” The accused choked on his own denials, tripping over the words. “I?—”
“You can’t lie,” Zuko said impatiently.
“Top floor.” He sagged.
Raze plunged his dagger into his heart.
Jarvins clapped five times, and the simulation ended, leaving us in the cold simulator with our academy-issued suits on. “Notes: Rune, you were…efficiently tempting. On par with your mother’s skills. Top marks.”
“Don’t let my dads hear you say that,” I muttered.
He turned red before shooting a very pointed look at Slater. “Slater, points for spectacle.”
Slater bowed. “Can’t take all the credit. Snakey did a lot of the work.”
“Koa, your code phrase was obtained with admirable restraint.”
Koa beamed.
“Zuko, very well done. Lorian, efficient protection with minimal disturbance. Eleanor, stubbornness is commendable, and your disguise work well done even in your state. Aura…” He paused. “You almost sabotaged Rune’s mission, like your envelope told you to do, but you stopped yourself. Youneverbetray your squad. Half marks, but you pass the final since you did not successfully sabotage Rune. We will monitor you.”
Aura’s shoulders dropped half an inch. “I’m sorry. I thought I had to listen to my mission.”
“Not when it involves betraying your squad,” Jarvins snapped.
Ah, that was why she did it.
“Sorry,”she squeaked. “I will do better.”
“Hawk, you shouldn’t tell your squadmates when you’re protecting an item in a crowded place.”
He nodded with a sheepish grin. “Yeah, my bad.”
“Even though there were hiccups, your entire squad passes.” Jarvins gave us a dismissal nod. “See you next week for quarter two.”
We dispersed out of the simulator, and a second later, Dimitri backed me against the academy’s wall. His jaw was tight. “Don’t ever take a hit for me again.”
I tipped my head back. “Stop getting yourself into situations where I have to.”
“You don’thaveto,” he corrected me.
“I want to,” I said.
His eyes flickered with anger and something else. “Whydo you want to?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But it’s more than just you being my squadmate.”
He exhaled roughly. “That’s not helpful.”
