Page 48 of Legend

“That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? To find out how the integration is going.” Her voice had become much more bubbly thanusual, and she hung on his arm to prevent him from walking forward, a fact that prompted her boyfriend, Torq, to glare at the captain.

“There might be some flaws in this plan,” I said, as Torq drew himself up to his full height.

Before I could step in and prevent Devon from being attacked by a jealous Drexian who had no idea why his girl was suddenly simpering over the visiting captain, Morgan pushed Jess aside.

“If you really want to know what’s going on, I can tell you. I’m also an Assassin, but I’m…” she cast a glance at Jess, “more available for intimate conversations.”

“Assassin?” Devon mumbled, clearly forgetting the nickname of the School of Strategy.

Britta came up and flanked the captain on the other side, causing him to swing his wide-eyed gaze to her. Then she and Morgan spun the captain around, and proceeded to walk him away from me, chattering eagerly about how much they had to tell him.

I backed away and made a dash for the exit, knowing that I would owe my friends big for this. Whatever future favors I owed them were worth it for not having to deal with a wine-soaked Devon with more questions than I had answers. I didn’t even stop to say goodnight to Ariana as I slipped away, grateful to escape the banquet hall without being spotted.

I’d just stepped into the corridor when I was yanked backward, and a hand clamped over my mouth.

“Did you really think you could run?”

Chapter

Thirty-Eight

Jess

“That was awkward.” Morgan sidled up to me, as the crowd in the banquet hall dispersed.

I released a sigh of relief. “I was wondering how far you were going to take it.” I swept my gaze around the long room that echoed with chatter, even from the few of us remaining. “Where’s Britta?”

Morgan ran a hand through her blonde hair. “Taking one for the team?”

My jaw fell open. “Not really?”

My friend grinned. “No, but she was going to walk the captain to his quarters. I don’t think the guy could find themon his own.”

“At least he isn’t pestering Fi, although I’m not sure how long we can keep distracting him. At some point, he’s going to be more sober and figure it out.”

I nodded, wondering why Fiona didn’t just tell the captain that she wasn’t interested. Normally, the instructor was a tough-as-nails ballbuster, but the arrival of the envoy from Earth had rattled her.

“Maybe by then he’ll have already given the human integration a good review.”

My stomach tightened. “You don’t think he would let his deal with Fiona color what he reports to Earth, do you?”

My friend angled her head at me. “Do I think a guy would make a decision based on his bruised ego and be petty enough to punish an entire program to get back at one woman who rejected him?”

I groaned. “You’re right. Forget I even asked.” Then I straightened. “But that’s not going to happen, because we’re going to make sure the captain is way too distracted to get dumped by Fiona—again.”

“What happened to you thinking we couldn’t keep this up for too long?”

“If it means saving the program, we can.”

“Saving what program?”

I pivoted to face Torq, who did not look pleased.

“Does this have anything to do with you falling all over the human envoy?” His expression was stern, as he stood with his arms crossed over his chest.

I almost laughed at how irritated he was. I was still not used to having a Drexian boyfriend, and I’d never had a guy act jealous over me before. Even though he was wrong, I secretly loved that he had a possessive streak. It wasn’t very liberated of me, but since I’d never had much male attention before, I couldn’t help but revel in the sensation of being desired enough to provoke envy.

“I waspretendingto be interested in him.” I put a hand on Torq’s arm. “I was helping Fiona.”

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