Page 3 of Revenge (Warriors of the Drexian Academy #6)

Chapter

Three

Sasha

I was halfway up the wide stone staircase in the cavernous main hall when I heard my name called behind me.

“Sasha, wait!”

I turned to see Ariana jogging up the stairs after me.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” she said breathlessly as she caught up to me, her hand nervously flicking through her short side-swept bangs. “Where have you been?”

Guilt gnawed at me, sharp and unexpected.

The eager hope in her voice and the way her eyes lit up when she saw me were painful reminders of how little time I’d spent with her since our rescue.

How wrapped up I’d been in my own anger and need for answers that I’d neglected the one person who mattered most.

“I was just...” I started, then stopped. Just what? Confronting my rescuer in a windswept shipyard? Demanding he help me hunt down the people who’d left me to rot? “I needed some air.”

The hurt that flickered across her features was subtle but unmistakable.

Memories washed over me of lying on the cold Kronock bench, staring at the ceiling and thinking about Ariana.

Wondering if I’d ever see her again, if I’d ever get the chance to tell her how proud I was of her, how sorry I was for all the stupid fights we’d had growing up.

In those dark moments, I would have given anything for just five more minutes with her.

Five minutes to be the big sister she deserved instead of the distant, competitive stranger I’d become.

And here she was, offering me exactly that, and I’d been too consumed with my need for revenge to see it.

“You know what?” I forced my voice to sound lighter than I felt before turning fully toward her and giving her my complete attention for the first time in days. “I’m all yours.”

The transformation in her expression was immediate and brilliant, like a sunrise breaking through storm clouds. A smile spread across her face and made something tight in my chest finally loosen.

“Really?” she asked, as if she couldn’t quite believe it.

“Really. Lead the way, little sister.”

She grabbed my hand without hesitation, her fingers warm and surprisingly strong as she tugged me back down the stairs. “The others are in the staff dining room.”

I let her lead me down the corridor, artificial torchlight casting dancing shadows on the walls and giving the academy a different vibe at night than the bustling one during the day.

The staff dining room was smaller than the great hall, but the beamed ceiling and long wooden tables were the same.

There was no food set out on the serving tables, but the air was thick with the lingering scents of grilled meat and fresh-baked bread that made my stomach growl despite the tension coiling in my gut.

A group of women sat clustered at one end of a long wooden table, their conversation dying as we entered. I recognized some of them from the rescue, but I’d been too distracted by being freed to recall names.

“Everyone, you remember my sister Sasha,” Ariana said, her voice warm with pride as she pulled me toward an empty chair.

“Of course we do,” said a blonde with wavy hair. Fiona, I remembered. The Strategy instructor. “Though we didn’t get much chance to talk before.”

“You were pretty exhausted,” added another woman with long silver hair. Britta, the engineer. “Understandably.”

I settled into the chair next to Ariana, hyperaware of how these women were studying me. Not with judgment, exactly, but with the keen observation of people trying to figure out where I fit into their established dynamic.

“Ariana’s been telling us about your dramatic rescue.” Britta said, leaning forward. “Sounds like quite the adventure.”

The way she said “adventure” made it clear she knew exactly how traumatic my captivity had been, but was offering me a way to discuss it that didn’t require me to bare my soul to virtual strangers. I felt a burst of gratitude for the consideration.

“It was definitely more exciting than I would have preferred,” I said with a light laugh.

“I’ll bet,” Fiona said with a grin that was slightly wicked around the edges. “Though it sounds like your rescuer made up for some of the unpleasantness. The tall, dark, and dangerously handsome Inferno Force pilot? That’s some serious romantic novel material right there.”

Heat flooded my cheeks before I could stop it, the memory of gold eyes and that insufferable smirk making my pulse skip despite myself. “It wasn’t like that,” I blurted. “We were just fellow prisoners trying to survive.”

“Right,” said Britta with a knowing look. “Fellow prisoners. Like Kann and I were in the holo simulation. I know exactly how that goes.”

The dark-haired woman next to Britta elbowed her. “Yeah, you do.”

“Is that why you’re blushing?” Fiona asked.

“I am not blushing.”

“You absolutely are.” Ariana’s eyes danced with mischief. “I’ve never seen you blush over a guy before. Not even when Marcus Henley asked you to senior prom.”

“That’s because Marcus Henley was an idiot,” I muttered, which only made them laugh harder.

“Unlike your mysterious Inferno Force hero,” Fiona said. “I’ve read some seriously hot prison romance novels, and let me tell you, there’s something about being trapped in close quarters with a dangerous man that just?—”

“You read prison smut?” the dark-haired woman interrupted, looking scandalized and delighted in equal measure. “I knew you liked romance, but?—”

“It’s not smut!” Fiona protested, her cheeks turning pink. “It’s romantic literature with adult themes.”

The table erupted in laughter and good-natured teasing, with everyone offering their own definitions of Fiona’s reading material. I relaxed despite the embarrassment of being the center of attention, drawn into the easy warmth of their friendship.

“Fine, fine,” Fiona said, holding up her hands in surrender. “It’s smut. But it’s educational smut! It taught me everything I know about certain subjects.”

This triggered another round of laughter, and I was grateful to no longer be the focus of their attention.

But I could feel Ariana’s shrewd gaze on me, studying my face with the kind of intensity that had made her such a gifted pilot.

She’d always been able to read me better than anyone else, and I could see in her eyes that she knew my protests about Deklyn were only half the truth.

Time for a strategic subject change.

“Enough about my nonexistent love life,” I said firmly. “I want to hear about how my little sister fell for a fellow pilot. And a Drexian, no less. Dad would have had a stroke.”

The effect was immediate and exactly what I’d hoped for. All attention turned to Ariana, whose face lit up with a radiance that transformed her from beautiful to absolutely luminous.

“Oh, you should see them together,” the dark-haired woman—Jess, I remembered now—said with a dreamy sigh. “It’s disgustingly romantic.”

“Volten’s so serious and stoic,” added Britta. “But around Ariana he just melts. It’s like watching an iceberg discover fire.”

Jess rolled her eyes. “Leave it to the engineer to describe love like a scientific process.”

Britta shrugged. “Attraction is chemical.”

“He’s not an iceberg,” Ariana protested, but she was smiling so hard it looked like it might hurt. “He’s just focused.”

“Right until you walk into a room,” Fiona said. “Then he becomes completely useless. Yesterday I watched him walk into a wall because he was staring at you instead of where he was going.”

The stories came fast and eager then, each woman contributing her own observations about Ariana and Volten’s relationship.

How he’d watched her with barely concealed longing before they’d gotten together.

How she’d been completely oblivious to his feelings until he’d finally worked up the nerve to say something.

How he’d almost messed up everything but they’d finally gotten together after almost dying in the maze.

How they’d been inseparable ever since, finishing each other’s sentences and communicating with looks across crowded rooms.

I genuinely enjoyed their tales, charmed by this glimpse into my sister’s happiness.

Growing up, our father’s competitive nature and military expectations had pitted us against each other.

Everything had been a contest—grades, achievements, who could fly better, who could shoot straighter.

We’d been rivals more than sisters, and by the time I’d joined Earth Planetary Defense, we’d barely been speaking.

But listening to these women talk about Ariana with such obvious affection, seeing how she’d found her place among them, I felt something shift inside me.

We weren’t children anymore. Our father wasn’t here to poison the well with his expectations and comparisons.

For the first time in our lives, we had the chance to just be sisters.

“And what about when he tried to teach her those Drexian combat moves?” Jess was saying. “She kept getting distracted by his muscles and?—”

“Okay, okay,” Ariana laughed, holding up her hands in surrender. “That’s enough embarrassing stories for one night.”

“Are you kidding?” I grinned at her obvious discomfort. “I’m just getting started. There are years of big-sister privileges to catch up on.”

The look she gave me then was pure joy, bright and uncomplicated in a way I hadn’t seen from her since we were young. It hit me then just how much I’d missed, how much time we’d lost to stupid pride and family pettiness.

“I’d like that,” she said, and I heard years of hurt and hope wrapped up in those simple words.

“Me too,” I said, meaning it completely.

The conversation flowed around us then, easy and warm, full of laughter and gentle teasing.

For the first time since my rescue, I felt something other than anger or determination.

I felt peaceful, connected, and like maybe there was more to rebuilding my life than just hunting down the people who’d wronged me.

As Ariana and Fiona took turns sharing stories about the Drexians’ attempts to understand human dating customs, their laughter bright and infectious, I made myself a promise.

Whatever happened with my quest for answers, whatever dangers lay ahead, I wouldn’t let revenge consume me.

Not at the cost of the relationship Ariana and I were finally building.

Right now, being a sister was more important than anything. And for the first time since I’d left the alien prison cell, I felt like enough.