Page 11 of Legend

I gaped at him for a moment, trying to determine if he meant what I thought he did. “Are you offering to coach me?”

He inclined his head ever so slightly. “I am.”

I was struck dumb. Why would someone I only knew in passing want to help me? He didn’t even know details about the game or who I would be playing.

After a few more moments of uncomfortable silence and the other women glancing at each other, he shifted from one foot to the other. “I suggest you accept my offer.”

“Are you good?” Ariana blurted.

He slid his gaze to her, his lips quirked, and he slid his gaze back to me. “I am very good.”

Something about the way he said that made me believe him. I’d heard lots of arrogant boasting at the academy, but never by Tivek. “I accept. When do we start?”

Without answering, he pivoted on one heel and started walking back in the direction from where we’d come. When none of us moved, he stopped, glanced over his shoulder, andreleased a small sigh. “If you wish to be ready by the staff card game, we start tonight. Are you coming?”

“Yes.” I rushed forward, and the rest of the women fell in step with me. I wasn’t sure if the invitation was officially for all of us, but I would feel better with my friends around me. I also knew they’d never let me go off to be tutored by the enigmatic Drexian without them.

We proceeded back to the main hall and up the sweeping staircase, which would usually be swarming with cadets. Now, we were the only ones walking up, and we could fan out and take up the entire sizable width.

For a moment, I wondered if he was leading us to the cadet dining room, which would be deserted. But we breezed by the tall doors. We kept walking down a dimly lit hallway with vaulted ceilings until we reached a doorway I recognized.

“The Admiral’s office?” Ariana prompted my question.

“The Admiral is not in his office.”

Jess drew in a sharp breath. “Are we breaking in?”

Tivek cut her an amused glance. “He has authorized me to use his private space so we will not be interrupted.”

“And so Vyk will never know,” Morgan added.

Tivek locked eyes on her for a beat, his lips quirking even more. “That would be optimal.”

He pressed his hand to a panel and the door slid open, to reveal a long room. Moonlight streamed in from a far, narrow window that was cut into the stone, and the massive black desk glowed in the blue-white light. The office waslarge enough to hold us all, but it wasn’t lost on me that there were only two stiff chairs on this side of the desk.

Tivek strode inside, but instead of continuing to the desk, he stopped in the middle of the room and touched his palm to the right wall. A panel I would have previously sworn did not exist, glided open silently.

“Whoa,” Britta whispered, as Tivek stepped through the gap and vanished into the wall.

I hurried after him, any trepidation dwarfed by my curiosity. The admiral had a secret lair.

As I stepped inside, the hidden room embraced me with its warmth and my feet went from tapping on hard stone to sinking into plush carpet. There was a fireplace inset in the wall directly facing us, its dancing flames casting a mesmerizing glow across the dark couches facing each other across a low table.. The scent of woodsmoke, rich and earthy, enveloped us, mingling with the faint aroma of aged paper and exotic spice.

"Are you sure we’re allowed to know about this?” I asked, my eyes widening as I took in the side walls, one which contained floor-to-ceiling glass shelves that held glittering bottles of liquor and the other which was lined entirely in bookshelves jammed with leather-bound books, their gilded spines catching the light from the fire.

Tivek chuckled, his laughter a deep, husky sound and not at all what I would have expected from someone so reserved. “I am sure. Now, shall we play?”

A deck of Drexian cards was already on the table, the emblem of the academy in metallic gold on the tops of the cards. Tiveksat on one of the couches and scooped up the deck, his fingers deftly shuffling the cards before dealing them face down on the table.

I took a seat across from him and slid my cards from the table, assessing them as he briefly reviewed the rules. I knew the basics of the game, but I’d taught myself and had only played against humans.

“You may discard first,” he offered.

I played a card, which he immediately matched and took. That was fast. As we immersed ourselves in the game, Tivek's mastery became increasingly apparent. His moves were calculated, his decisions swift and precise. The firelight danced across my cards, casting an ethereal glow that seemed to intensify the competition.

"You’re really good at this,” I said, as he easily won the game.

Tivek shrugged. “I have been playing for much longer.”

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