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“No, no, it’s good you—we—don’t,” Alex assured him, reaching out to squeeze his arm before quickly dropping her fingers to her side again. “I was just making sure.”

Shaking his head, Kaiden said, “The military isn’t for going to war against humans, Alex. That hasn’t happened for millennia—not since well before Akarnae opened, back when there were places in this world that people wanted enough to fight each other over.”

Alex immediately thought of the Library, knowing that battles had been waged over it for hundreds of years until it disappeared. She nodded and asked, “Then why—”

“Medora is populated with more than just humans.” Kaiden looked at her in a way that made her realise what he was saying was common knowledge, and yet, he was still humouring her ‘act like I know nothing’ request. “While we’ve never gone to war against any of the other races in recent years, that doesn’t mean we’re not prepared if such an event were to take place. Not that we’d stand much of a chance against them—anyof them. Meyarins may be at the top of the food chain, but the others can hold their own. We humans are, by comparison, relatively powerless. But if something everdidrequire a defence on our part, we have an active military in place for that very reason.”

Mulling over all the information he’d given her, Alex found that she had no questions remaining. At least, that was the case until—

“There are, of course, the threats posed from beings in other worlds”—Alex literally stumbled at his words—“but as far as Iknow, we haven’t yet encountered anyone who means us harm. So again, it’s just a precaution.”

Alex forced herself to regulate her breathing and fought the temptation to look at him to gauge his expression. With her eyes focused on the approaching Tower building bathed in gold from the setting sun, she grappled to bring her thoughts together. He couldn’t possibly know about her—surely he couldn’t. He would have said something, told someone, demanded answers. No, it was purely chance that his final words were so relevant to her personally. When she mustered the courage for a quick glance at his face, she was relieved to find him relaxed and at ease, with no evidence of him knowing more about her than he should.

“Does that answer everything?” he asked as they walked past Gen-Sec and towards the food court. “You don’t want to know the blueprints for any secret bases or how to assemble an ITD in under five minutes?”

Alex didn’t know what an ITD was, but she figured she was already treading a dangerous line with Kaiden and it was best not to ask any further questions that could show just how naive to the ways of Medora she really was.

“Nothing else. You were perfect,” she said. Then realising how that sounded, she fought the heat rising in her cheeks and amended, “I mean, you’ve been perfect.” She wanted to smack herself in the face. “As in, you’ve answered my questionsperfectly. That’s what I meant.”

Kaiden chuckled warmly. “Well, in that case, I’m glad I could help.”

They came to a stop outside the food court, lingering near the entry.

“I’m going to go clean up before dinner,” Kaiden said, nodding in the direction of the dorm building.

“Right,” Alex said, her hands fidgeting by her sides. “I’ll just…” She gestured towards the food court, indicating that shewas heading in there. “I’ll see you later, Kaiden. And thanks again for… uh…”

“Being perfect?” His eyes sparked with mischief and she felt her still warm cheeks heat further in reaction to the smile he sent her.

“Don’t make me regret coming to you,” she grumbled half-heartedly, knowing she deserved his teasing after her accidental gaffe.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he replied, very clearly struggling not to laugh. But then his face turned serious and he stepped closer—almost intimately closer—and lowered his voice to say, “Remember what I told you, Alex. You can always come to me. For anything, anytime. Okay?”

Swallowing around her suddenly emotion-clogged throat, Alex was unable to form a verbal response so she just nodded her agreement.

“Good,” he said, reaching forward until his fingers tangled with hers for a fraction of a second before he squeezed gently and let her go. “You go eat, and I’ll catch you later.”

Fingers tingling, she nodded mutely again. When it looked like he was waiting for her to enter the food court before he left, she spun around and walked through the doors.

As she moved away, it took everything in her not to turn and look back over her shoulder to see if he was still watching.

arin.

Twenty-Two

The next two months passed much fasterthan Alex would have liked. As November drew to a close, her classes became impossibly intense, with the teachers firing assignment after assignment at their students before the term ended for the Kaldoras holidays.

While the theory-based classes were straining her mind to its limits, Alex’s practical classes also became more strenuous. PE was close to the top of the list and Finn seemed to take particular pleasure whenever one of them had to be carried off to the Medical Ward.

But PE wasn’t the only class that resulted in one or more students having to visit the resident doctor. Alex found herself in the Medical Ward on an almost daily basis—for a variety of reasons—much to Fletcher’s displeasure.

The first time was after she became wedged between her saddle and a tree trunk in one of her Equestrian Skills classes. In her defence, an odd-looking reptilian creature had spooked her horse and caught them both by surprise. She was relieved the torn ligament in her knee hadn’t led to her falling off to become the reptile’s next meal.

Another tree landed her back in Fletcher’s domain when she sprained her wrist getting caught in one of Hunter’s traps during a SAS fake stake-out one night. It was still, clearly, her favourite class.

Not.

The following week she had to see Fletcher after having a violent allergic reaction to something in her Medical Science class. They were looking at the properties of different animal blood when Alex accidentally brushed her fingers against a murky-brown swab labelled with the scientific name,Daesmilo Folarctos. She was rushed to the Medical Ward when she began throwing up within seconds of the sample touching her skin. Fletcher kept Alex in the Ward for twelve hours, all of which she slept away after her energy was sapped from the sudden and debilitating sickness.