Whisper [Fourth Wing]

Chapter Thirteen

THERE ARE 169 FIRST-YEARS by the time the morning is done and, even with Violet's penalty for the rope, our squad has placed eleventh out of the thirty-six squads for Presentation—the piss-inducing parade of cadets before this year's dragons willing to bond.

The fastest up the Gauntlet was Liam Mairi, of course, earning him the Gauntlet patch. Pretty sure that guy doesn't know how to take second place, but hey. If I was happy for anyone managing to get the Gauntlet patch then it was him. Couldn't have handed my title over to anyone better.

The box canyon that makes up the training field is spectacular in the afternoon sun, with miles of autumn-colored meadows and peaks rising on three sides of us as we wait at the narrowest part, the entrance to the valley. At the end, I can make out the line of the waterfall that might be just a trickle of a creek now but will rush at runoff season.

The leaves of the trees are all turning gold, as though someone has brought in a paintbrush with only one color and streaked it across the landscape. And then there are the dragons. Averaging twenty-five feet tall, they're in a formation of their own, lined up several feet back from the path—close enough to pass judgment on the cadets as they walk by.

"Bring back any memories?" Bodhi asks as I shuffle into place next to him, leaning my elbows against the narrow wall on the edge of the training field.

"Just a few," I shrug with a small smile in his direction. "Though not very many of them are good."

Bodhi laughs. "Hope none of those bad ones involved me." He turns to face me, glancing at me from head to toe. When his eyes land on my back, the corner of his lips flicks upward.

"What?" I ask with a frown, suddenly incredibly self conscious.

"How are things between you and Xaden?" he asks, a slight tone of amusement in his every word. "Doing well are you?"

My eyes narrow on him. "How do you know?"

"Sawyer may have mentioned something," his lips tug upward into an even bigger smile and I roll my eyes.

Of course Sawyer told him. Sawyer had probably told every cadet in out squad and the next what he'd saw. And he wondered how he'd earned the title 'Loose Lips' last year. The guy was a gossip.

"And the ties on your corset have been undone since you two came back together earlier."

Wait what?

My hands fly to the back of my corset, finding it still undone halfway, the straps flying loosely in the gentle afternoon breeze. Well shit. I'd completely forgotten about that.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" I snap at Bodhi as my fingers fumble over the laces. Bodhi just laughs to himself, shaking his head.

Why was fastening a corset always so hard when you needed to fasten it? I never had a problem in a morning when I could just choose not to wear it. But every time I needed to fasten it, the damn thing just would not lace up.

Suddenly, warm fingers wrap around my hands, pulling them away from the laces. "Allow me," Xaden whispers from behind me, his breath hot against my neck.

I don't even have to turn to know he's enjoying this, that there's probably a smirk plastered on those beautiful lips that I want on me again. In fact, right now, I'd love to drag him away from all this and see where else he can have those lips.

"Thank you," I mutter, my cheeks flooding with warmth. Whether that's at the memory of the last time we were alone together or at the embarrassment that everyone in this field–every squad, section and wing leader–can see Xaden lacing up the corset he undid. Or maybe it's simply the cold. Yes that's it. My cheeks are flushed because it's cold today.