Chapter 346

A wild grin crosses my face as I fix my eyes on the ball of paper and set it ablaze before it even stops rolling. It only takes a second longer to pull on Luca’s wind to lift the fire higher, creating a tiny whirlwind of flame just above the table, feeding it with Jackson’s power after the paper itself fully disintegrates.

Experimenting, being quite careful, I push on the wind, lifting the flames into the air and letting them spiral.

When I feel quite in control, I let it ride, powered by my bonds but not pushing it left or right. “So, it’s kind of like that,” I say, turning to my dad and Roger with a shrug.

They just stare at it in the air, their mouths open in awe.

“She’s playing it cool,” Tony says, glancing at me from the side of his eye with a smirk. “It’s this, but like, a thousand times that size.”

“How…how big can you go?” Roger asks, glancing at me before returning his eyes to the flame, fascinated.

“Um, we’re not totally sure,” I say, glancing over at Jacks.

“Really big,” Jackson says, answering for me with absolute confidence, his own eyes on the magic before us. “Really, really big.”

“Jesse?” I say, inviting him to join in.

“Yes, finally, thank you, you big attention hog,” he murmurs, making me laugh, but only because I know he’s not really jealous.

Dad and Roger actually gasp when Jesse’s shadows are added, leaning forward to study what we can do.

“The effect is truly amazing at night,” Rafe murmurs, likewise watching, unable to draw his eyes away. “Nearly invisible flame.”

I sigh, dropping the fire all at once and basically just pulling the magic from the air. “So, that’s pretty much it,” I say, turning to the Alpha King and his Duke, who just stare at me slack-jawed. “Jesse and I want to experiment more to see what happens when I give him my power instead of when he gives me his, but –“

My words are cut off by my father’s snarl as he crosses the room in a few long strides, sweeping me up in his arms and holding me tight before I even really know what’s happening. I gasp, but then laugh as my dad cradles my head to his chest, rocking me slightly from side to side.

“My girl,” dad growls, tucking his head down next to mine, his voice nearly choked with pride. “My amazing little girl – god, Ariel, you’re such a wonder.”

My eyes mist as dad loosens his grip on me, allowing me to turn my face up to his. He cups my cheek in his palm, looking down at me, his eyes crowded with tears. “I’m so proud of you, darling,” he murmurs, his whole heart in his face. “If this does what I think it can, then I think you may have just turned the tide of this war – I think…god, Ariel, I think that you may yet save us all.”

I bite my lip, completely overwhelmed, and tuck my face close against my dad’s shirt as he again hugs me tight.

“I mean, I helped,” Jesse says, only a little bit sour.

But we all burst out laughing, which is really what we need.

Something which my cousin, in his own way, already knew.

About half an hour later, after a great deal of discussion, dad and Roger decide that they still need to give a lot of thought to how my magic can be used in the war. Consequently, they decide that it will not be on the agenda tonight. “Too new,” my father says, shaking his head, his mind clearly working on the problem. In the meantime, though, those in command decide to move forward with tonight’s assault in which my little team will only have a small, non-magical role.

We’re dismissed from the command tent and ordered to prepare ourselves for battle, primarily by changing into uniforms that mark us more completely as members of Moon Valley military and not as under-trained Academy Cadets.

When we arrive at the large white tent set aside for us to sleep in tonight, a problem immediately presents itself.

“I mean,” I murmur, holding up the gigantic grey-and-black set of fatigues sent for me to wear, “there is…no way that this is going to fit.”

Jackson smirks, looking the uniform over and leaning close to murmur in my ear. “Second time I’ve heard you say that in two days, Clark. But in this case, I agree with you.”

I snap my head up to stare at him for a second and then burst into laughter, shocked not only that Jackson is making a joke, but that it’s a dirty one.

Jackson’s face breaks into a huge smile, but he moves on and straightens up, not wanting to draw too much attention. “Can you just roll the pants up a lot, like you did when you were a Candidate?”

I scoff a bit, my pride rankling at the idea that I’m going to go into my first military engagement with my pants rolled at the ankles and threatening to fall down at my hips. I sigh as I look over the uniform again, realizing that I’ve perhaps gotten used to the idea of my personal tailor being on hand to ensure that all of my uniforms fit me perfectly. “Daphne did not do all of that ironing last night, Jacks, to turn me out like this.”

“Fatigues aside,” Jesse sighs, coming over and picking up my body armor. “This is…not going to work. This is going to hang down to your knees.”

I laugh, shaking my head and pressing my hands to my cheeks. “God, what are we going to do?”

Rafe curses lightly, glancing towards the door, clearly trying to come up with a solution fast because dad ordered him, Jesse, and Jacks back to the tent to discuss strategy as soon as they get changed.

“It’s cool,” Tony says, coming around the corner from the little latrine already changed and buttoning up the front of his fatigues. “I’ll take you down to the requisition point to see if they have anything smaller. You can’t be the only Shrimp in the army.”

Luca nods, pulling off his Cadet shirt and starting to shake out his new grey fatigues. “Wait two minutes, I’ll come too.”

As I take a moment to quietly ogle my shirtless mate from the side of my eye, Rafe and Jackson look at each other and simultaneously give a nod, agreeing to the plan.

“I, the person in question and the ultimate decider, also agree to this plan!” I say loudly as I snap my attention back to them, not-so-tacitly reminding them that I’m in charge of my own life and decisions.

Rafe, Jesse, and Jackson both just look at me like I’m crazy for a second and then move on. “Cool!” Rafe says, pointing a finger seriously in Luca and Tony’s faces. “Protect her with your life.”

“Yes sir,” Tony says, giving him a half-assed salute as Luca just sits down on his bed, tugging off his boots and nodding. I mean, that command is nothing new to him - he’s heard it a thousand times.

I sigh, giving into it and gathering the useless uniform up into my arms as the boys finish getting changed and Jacks, Jesse, and Rafe all head out. When Luca is likewise suitably disguised as a military grunt instead of an elite Cadets, he and Tony duck out of the tent with me. We head down the dirt path between the tents, looking around for where the supplies might be kept.

“Wait here a second,” Luca murmurs, quickening his pace and stopping a soldier in the path ahead to ask for information about where to go for this sort of problem.

As I watch him speaking to the tall soldier, whose handsome face sports a familiarly straight nose, I gasp and spin back towards the main tent, cursing under my breath.

“What?” Tony asks, straightening at my side and looking around with concern for any threats.

“No, it’s nothing,” I sigh, reaching out and putting a hand on his arm. “Sorry. I just…crap, I forgot to ask Rafe again about Blythe.”

“What about him?” Tony asks, frowning down at me.

I sigh, dropping my hand and stepping close to my friend. “He just…said something in the Game. About Juniper. Just something in passing –“

“About your sister?” Tony asks, shocked, his eyebrows flying up.

“Yeah,” I say, pursing my lips. “It…I mean, it was just an off-handed comment, but it sounded like he’d talked to her –“

“You need to shut that down right now, Ari,” Tony snaps, looking down at me, his face perhaps more serious than I’ve ever seen it. “That guy – don’t trust him. He’s a sycophant and a parasite – he’ll do anything he can to climb the ranks.”

“How do you know that?” I ask, frowning up at Tony, concerned.

“I’ve just been watching him,” Tony says quietly, frowning and looking down the dirt road between the tents. “The way he moves – he doesn’t have like…friends. He just moves towards the richest or most powerful person in a group and sucks up to them until he sees someone else he can glom on to.”

“Wait, seriously?” I ask, staring up at Tony. “How do you – how do you know all that?”

“Because I’m a keen observer of humanity,” Tony says, turning back to me with a shrug. “Or, more precisely, because I’m nosy.”

I laugh, shaking my head a little and glancing over at Luca, who turns away from the soldier and starts to walk back towards us. “Good to know. How come you didn’t tell me this before?”

“I told Rafe about it,” Tony says with a shrug, “but he already knew. But if Blythe is saying something about Juniper, I think you need to make a bigger deal about it. She’s only eighteen, right?”

I frown at Tony, turning my head to the side. “Junie is seventeen.”

“Not anymore,” Tony says, smirking and shaking his head at me as Luca comes up. “Juniper Sinclair is famously a Capricorn. Did someone miss her little sister’s birthday?”

I gape at Tony, appalled at myself when I realize that he’s right.