Valkyrie Rising ✓

Chapter Ten

"So where'd you and Kaz sneak off to last night?"

Eveia and I are descending the stairs to breakfast. I roll my eyes at her knowing smile.

"Nothing happened. We just went up to the roof."

"Oh, sure." She holds the D-Hall door for me. "Romantic setting under the stars, just the two of you. And nothing happened?"

I shrug my shoulders and raise my eyebrows. The picture of innocence.

"Morning, Ladies." Kaz comes up behind us.

Eveia still wears her wide grin. "Well, you look to be in better spirits today. I wonder what could have changed overnight?" She wiggles her eyebrows at me.

I push her shoulder. "Don't you have something to complain about?"

"Yeah, you're much too chipper." Kaz moves away with his tray. I try to hide a grin and follow suit, taking my tray in the opposite direction.

"Oh, come on!" Eveia yells after me.

I decide to give her something when she catches up to me at the pancakes station. "We just talked, okay? Got to know each other a little bit."

I notice Kaz glance at my arms when I sit next to Wick at the table. I'm wearing a short sleeve shirt today; I got up early to apply the scar serum. I can hide my scars just as well as Kaz does.

"Ugh, swimming first thing today?" Eveia groans at the schedule in her hands.

"That's more like it!" I grin even as she kicks me under the table.

"I hope we get to spar in Shark's class," Wick says. "We'll see how good your punches are in real life."

Eveia stands up and leans over the table to punch him in the shoulder. "I'll beat you in any form, any day."

They share a smile, and I wonder if "nothing happened" to them last night, too.

                                                                                                    *

I forgot being in Wick's group today also meant Anders would be with us. We're just doing swim laps in first session, so we get to wear wetsuits. Anders comes up behind me while we're waiting to get in the pool.

"Too bad we're still in wetsuits," he mutters a little too close to my ear. "Wouldn't mind stripping down to our undies." He winks at me when I turn to him.

"Get lost." I shake my head and move to stand on the other side of Wick and Eveia.

I go out of my way to avoid him the rest of the class.

Lunch passes in quiet. Anders sits with us, and none of us seems too keen to engage him in conversation. I catch Kaz eyeing Anders with distrust twice. It makes me want to smile, but I can't figure out why.

When we leave for third session, Kaz brushes my shoulder as he passes.

"I don't like him," he says, then goes his own way.

We're continuing with knife throwing in Briar's session. Anders keeps his distance, which somehow unnerves me even more than when he hangs around too closely.

Briar lets me try long-range throwing. A wooden circle is set up fifteen feet away, with three circles, one inside the other, on it. A large dot marks the bull's eye. Wood is a more difficult substance to stick with a knife than fabric bags. It takes me all session, but I finally get the hang of striking the target in the center circle by the time the bell rings. I don't manage to quite hit the bull's eye, though.