I didn’t think about her at all. Didn’t think about the way she moaned around me like this was something special, like I’d even remember tomorrow. The physical release was all that mattered, something to take the edge off the constant pressure, the expectations crushing down on me from all sides.
I let myself drift in the sensation, one hand tangled in her hair more for balance than affection. This was what my life had become. Meaningless hookups in the woods while my father’s voice echoed in my head, reminding me of all the ways I wasn’t enough. The great Aiden Reece, heir to a legacy I never asked for.
I finished with a quiet groan, my eyes still closed, not wanting to see her expression. I came down her throat in hot spurts, but it was weak. The moment she pulled away, I tucked myself back in and zipped up, taking another long drag.
“You should go back to the party,” I said, not looking at her as she stood.
“We could go somewhere more private,” she suggested, her hand resting on my chest. “My roommate’s going to be at the party for a while.”
I finally met her eyes. “No.”
The hurt flashed across her face before she masked it with a practiced smile. “Another time, then.” She was gone a moment later, disappearing back toward the bonfire, and I was alone.
I took one more hit before putting out the joint and tucking the remainder back into my pocket. I needed to get back before Percy came looking for me. He’d been watching me like a hawk since the term started, ever since the rumors about the Assembly’s new axis candidate began circulating.
The thought of some Assembly-approved axis being forced on us made my stomach turn. The shield was the only thing in my life that was truly mine, the only place I’d ever felt like I belonged. Percy, Draco and Eris were the only family that mattered.
And I’d burn this whole fucking academy to the ground before I let my father or the Assembly take that from me.
FOUR
Jupiter
I didn’t sleep well,which I’d expected, and Noodle did not help matters by repositioning himself four separate times across the night in what felt like a very serious campaign to maximize discomfort for both of us.
By six in the morning I’d given up entirely, made coffee from the small kit in the room, and sat at the desk watching the sky outside my window go from black to gray to a cold blue that meant sunrise was happening somewhere in there behind the clouds.
‘Nervous,’Noodle said from the pillow, observing me with one eye.
“Acute of you.”
‘Your energy is loud.”
“You really aren’t helping, you know.” I said. “I’m trying not to freak the hell out right now, but my nervous system is on fire.”
‘You could not go.’
“I have to go.”
‘You could tell them no.’
I looked at him over my coffee. “Tell the Assembly no?”
He considered this.‘You could bite them.’
“Noodle.”
‘Chomp chomp.’
“Get off my pillow, you heathen. I need to make the bed.”
He didn’t get off my pillow, because he never did what I asked him to do when I asked him to do it, but he did shift to the corner and technically made the request possible if I worked around him. He was worse than a cat.
I showered and dressed more carefully than usual. I wasn’t performing anything. I wasn’t dressing to impress anyone in particular. But I wanted to feel as confident as possible going into this freak show. It was a good philosophy to live by;when in doubt, make yourself look as hot as possible so at least you…well, at least you’ll look hot.Okay that wasn’t a wonderful philosophy, but I digress.
I chose to wear a cropped t-shirt that showed a fair amount of my midriff, exposing my black-ink serpent tattoos on my torso that also swirled all the way up my arms. I left my black hair down, because it was waist-length, and in a way I could use it as a barrier if need be, if only in my head. The final touch was my boots, which were worn-in and comfortable and had been through more combat situations than I cared to count and still looked like I’d bought them yesterday, which I considered one of my finer achievements.
‘Pretty,’Noodle said with a little hiss of his forked tongue.
