Page 58 of Gambit
We break after ten minutes, our hour up already. The room buzzes with activity and fierce concentration. As I watch them, I feel a surge of pride. These kids aren’t just students; they’re future leaders and strategists, the lifeblood of our world, and they’re mine to mould.
“Let’s see what you’ve got,” I whisper.
Leaving the underground bunker, we disperse into the sunlight, and I squint as my eyes adjust.
“It looks like you’re making quite the impact,” Oliver murmurs, sidling in beside me as I make my way across campus to my next lecture. “And you look a hot mess.”
Giggling, I pull a hair tie out of my jeans pocket and scoop my hair up. “That course is brutal.”
“You designed it; of course it is,” he chuckles.
“Those kids did good,” Raphael says, which is high praise coming from him.
“Yeah, Definitely a few there to keep an eye on and a few more to nurture.”
“Too many dropouts,” he grumbles, though. “These kids need to toughen up.”
I lay my hand on his arm and shake my head at this negativity. “They will. This was a shock to the system. I bet they all come back tomorrow.”
“Hmm, we’ll see.”
29
ELIZA
It’slate afternoon as I stride across the gym, my eyes sweeping over the rows of students lined up like soldiers ready for battle. Their faces, etched with determination.
“Eliza!” Tarquin’s voice cuts through the noise, and his grin is wolfish as he watches a pair of second-year trade blows. “Some of these guys are good. Real good.”
“Yes!” I exclaim to him, stopping to observe a girl disarm her opponent, who is twice her size, with a fluid motion that speaks of hours spent perfecting her technique. “They’re lethal.”
Oliver chuckles, leaning against the wall with that lazy confidence that only a man who knows his own strength can possess. “I don’t think half of them knew what they were capable of.”
“And that is precisely why we are here… to show them.” I watch another student execute a takedown that would make Vince nod in approval. The program I’ve crafted isn’t just hard—it’s brutal. But it has to be. Out there, in the shadows where our kind thrives, weakness isn’t just defeat. It’s death. “They’re not just learning how to fight; they’re learning how to survive—to thrive.”
“You got this?” I ask Tarquin. “I need to head out and do book shit.”
“Go,” he says, nodding his head once before turning his focus back to the training. He is already moving forward and instructing a guy how to execute a roundhouse kick that will knock his opponent flat out.
Smiling, I wave to Oliver, who moves forward through the group, correcting and applauding. They are perfection.
My smile stays with me the entire way back to the townhouse, and I stride through the door, books heavy in my bag, each title a building block to my growing empire. When I settle into the nook by the window in the living room, Raphael slides in across from me, his gaze sharp but admiring.
“Studying again?” he asks, though it’s not really a question.
“Yep,” I say, flipping open a textbook on economics.
“Can we talk real quick?”
Closing the book again, I lick my lips and study his serious face. “That sounds ominous.”
“Only if you want it to be,” he retorts with a grimace.
“Okay, now I’m worried. What’s happened?”
“Nothing has happened, but Dad and Mum have split up, and it’s been taking a bit of a mental toll on both of them. It’s why you haven’t seen Mum yet and why Dad is being a bit of a douche canoe.”
“Yeah, I heard, I’m sorry,” I murmur, placing my hand on his knee. “You know you can tell me anything. I’m here, always.”
