Skyla nodded her agreement and scurried away from them, heading off to class without a backwards glance.
“I’ll be quick,” Zain promised Alex, drawing her reeling thoughts back to him and continuing their earlier discussion. “There’s nothing new to report from the last update. I’m still trailing Aven, mostly focusing my attention on his gifted humans—the ones we know of, anyway. I haven’t discovered any of his plans, and that worries me. I’ve spoken at length with Hunter and we’ve been joining forces, hoping that we’ll get a lead. So far nothing has turned up. I have to wonder if one of Aven’s gifted allies has some kind of disillusioning or protective gift. Every time we get even slightly closer to figuring out what he might be doing, we lose the trail.”
Zain began to pace back and forward, his frustration showing through his tense movements.
“What can I do?” she asked.
“Just continue what you’re already doing,” he answered.
She knew better than to argue with him, since that had never helped her during any of their previous conversations.
“Let me know if that changes,” she said. “You know I’ll help in any way I can.”
“You better get going,” Zain said, deflecting her words. “I’ll see you in Combat tomorrow. At least try to fight, won’t you?”
“Goodnight, Zain,” Alex said pointedly, not waiting for his response before taking off for her class.
Over the next three days Alex was snowed under with schoolwork. Even their normally leave-study-in-the-classroom History teacher, Doc, had assigned a three-thousand word paper on the relevance of Agnus Cordon’s hierarchical government structure and how it compared to the modern day monarchy. Talk about snore-worthy. Alex had literally fallen asleep in the Library while researching the topic.
When Friday night rolled around, she finished the last of her exhausting assignments and decided to reward herself with an early night. She was in the bathroom getting ready for bed when she heard the door to her dorm open and seal shut again. She was about to call out a greeting to D.C. when she heard Jordan’s voice in the other room.
“You’re overreacting, Dix,” he said, sounding exasperated.
“I’m not,” D.C. replied. “I really don’t think you should go.”
“I don’t have a choice,” came Jordan’s muffled reply, his voice quieter than before. “You know that.”
“You do have a choice!” D.C. cried. “You’re almost eighteen—what are they going to do? Ground you? You don’t live with them anymore!”
“Dix, what’s really going on?” Jordan asked. “Why are you acting like this?”
There was a loaded pause and Alex stepped closer to the door separating them. She felt bad for eavesdropping, but there was no way she could announce her presence now without it being awkward for everyone.
“I just…” D.C. trailed off before trying again. “I just don’t feel very good about this.”
In the gentlest voice Alex had ever heard him use, Jordan said, “Hey. Nothing’s going to happen to me.”
Alex barely made out the words when D.C. whispered, “Promise me you’ll come back?”
“I’m only going for the weekend, Dix,” Jordan said, his tone still overwhelmingly sweet. “I’ll be back Sunday night. Earlier, if I can.”
“No.” D.C.’s voice was filled with urgency. “I need you to promise. No matter what happens, promise me you’ll come back. To us. To me.”
Alex felt her stomach churn uneasily at her friend’s desperate plea. Jordan must have sensed something as well, since it took him a moment to respond, and when he did, his voice was rough with emotion.
“I promise, Dix,” he whispered. “I promise I’ll come back to you.”
D.C. let out a sigh, and there was a rustle of noise where Alex presumed her two friends were embracing after their semiintense moment. She wondered how long she’d have to wait in the bathroom before she could make a stealthy escape.
“Bear’s waiting for me down in the Rec Room,” Jordan said. “You coming?”
“Yeah, that sounds good,” D.C. agreed. “I probably won’t be sleeping for a while yet.”
“Still having the nightmares?”
Jordan and Bear had eventually been told about D.C.’s recurring nightmares that had exhausted both girls the week before the SAS weekend. After Alex returned from the trip, D.C. had settled back into her normal sleep routine. Mostly. Once or twice a fortnight she still woke up screaming, but that was about it.
“No,” D.C. answered. “Not as often, anyway.”
She said something else then, something too quiet to hear, and a moment later Alex heard the door to the dorm room open and close again. Alex waited a few seconds to make sure they didn’t come back before she stepped out of her hiding place.
“I thought you might’ve been here. We don’t usually leave the bathroom door closed.”
Alex jumped and held her hand up to her fluttering heart.
“Dix! You scared me,” she spluttered, seeing her roommate standing next to the window. “I thought—uh—”
“I told Jordan I’d meet up with them in a minute.” D.C. looked Alex squarely in the eyes. “Did you hear everything?”
“I’m sorry,” Alex apologised, shuffling her feet on the carpet. “I wasn’t sure if I should interrupt or not. I didn’t mean to listen, but it was kind of hard not to.”
D.C. blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. “Don’t worry about it, Alex. It’s not like you heard anything I wouldn’t have told you about, anyway.”
“Can I—um, can I ask what that was all about?”
D.C.’s eyes darkened and she turned to look out the window into the night. “Jordan’s parents want him to visit Chateau Shondelle for the weekend. He’s leaving first thing in the morning.”
Alex felt her throat constrict at the thought of their friend having to spend the next two days with Marcus and Natasha Sparker. “Since when do they want anything to do with him? Whenever they do see him, they don’t actually want to see him. What gives them the right to demand his attention?”
“They’re his parents, Alex,” D.C. said quietly. “You know how much he wants to please them. If they say ‘jump’ he won’t ask ‘how high?’—he’ll just do it, if only to try to make them proud. He’d do almost anything to earn their love.”
“So he’s going back to his childhood home for some quality family time? Is that what you’re telling me?” Alex asked, more heatedly than she’d intended.
“I don’t like this any more than you do,” D.C. snapped.
Alex looked into her friend’s anguished eyes and could see the truth of her words. “I’m sorry, Dix. I’m just worried.”
“I know,” D.C. mumbled. “Me too.”
“I’d planned on having an early night, but I think I’ll come down to the Rec Room with you, if that’s okay?” Alex asked, grabbing a hoody to pull on over her pyjamas.
“Yeah, sure,” D.C. said, leading the way out the door. “I think that’s a good idea. Just the four of us hanging out together. Exactly like it should be.”