Exordium (Emberhold Academy #1)

13. Jet

Chapter 13

Jet

I was put with Zane's group. The obstacle course I had to deal with was challenging, but nothing like Reverie would face in Instructor Storm’s group. That course was the most difficult to complete. It was the only one with the tunnel of fear, as the Passives were calling it. We would switch up every day, and I was told after everyone attempted all three, Emberhold would make the courses even more brutal. The Academy wanted us to survive. Otherwise, all of this would be easier.

I was disappointed in my performance. I finished at the top but not without some bloodshed. With all my training and experience, I held myself up to high standards. If I was honest with myself, my human training wasn’t up to par with the Passives raised in the Aurathion culture. That scared the shit out of me because my training was some of the most elite the United States had to offer.

Baby Moon finished right behind me. Her performance impressed me; you could see the pride on her brothers’ faces. Chloe was the real deal; I was glad Reverie had been paired with her. They could help each other through the trials to come.

I heard all the screaming from Reverie’s group and felt my heart drop when the twins and Nathan ran that way. I had to fight my desperate need to go to her. Everything in me, every instinct I had, urged me to her side.

I had feelings for her that I didn’t understand. I’d only known her for one day. How was it possible to become so fascinated in such a short time? Seeing her fall apart for Nathan in class was next level. I didn’t know if my hard-on would ever completely go away. Why didn’t I want to kill Nathan? Did I belong to her too? Was this what it felt like to be Faction? The answer to those questions didn’t matter. It couldn’t happen. I had a mission to complete.

Thankfully, Reverie was ok. The cause of all the screaming was another girl that Emberhold had taken to initiation. The thought of her being harmed or not making it through initiation was too painful to contemplate. Luckily, she and her family were part of my mission, so I had an excuse to watch her. After finishing, Zane instructed me to head to conditioning. I wasn’t going to do that. Slipping behind the wall separating the obstacle courses from the conditioning area, I stayed to watch Reverie run her course.

When she started stripping, I was impressed. I was always taught to be prepared, so I had questioned some clothing choices I’d seen today. It looked like my Reverie had smartened up while waiting for her turn.

Dammit! She wasn’t mine!

I needed to stop thinking like that. Mind on the mission, Jet! I still needed to observe her but maybe from a distance.

Wait! Was that a Minion's bra and boy shorts combo? My boy Kevin was the shit! This girl! How was I supposed to concentrate when I was exposed to fuckery like this? I took a deep breath.

The way she went through the obstacles was mind-blowing. This girl was next fucking level. “Oorah,” I thought, smiling widely. She was everything I wanted in a woman: beautiful, athletic, and with a hell of a left hook. This was going to be a problem; I needed to back off and reassess.

Instructor Storm was a complete dick and seeing Zeke punch that fucker in the face was fan-fucking-tastic. A little fucking scary, but awesome. I couldn’t hear everything they were saying, but it was apparent I needed to study Zeke a little closer.

Hearing clapping, I looked back toward the obstacle course and saw Reverie with some monstrous-looking panther thing. It was nuzzling her fucking hair, those razor-sharp teeth on display. I instinctually felt for my sidearm and remembered I didn’t have it. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Were those fucking tentacles coming out of its back? What the fuck? This would have to be reported immediately.

Reverie was smiling and petting the freaky-looking thing. I relaxed, realizing she wasn’t scared of the animal at all. Damn, what in the hell would I see next? This shit was crazy. My superiors were going to shit a brick when I updated them. Maybe their fear was warranted. How could my world hope to defend against these people? I prayed it wouldn’t ever be necessary.

I slipped out of the shadows and headed to the equipment to begin conditioning. I would have to up my game to survive initiation and complete my mission. Aurathions were here to stay, I just hoped they were content with the status quo. If they ever decided to take over, I feared there wasn’t much we could do to stop them.