As the song ended, I stepped off the dance floor with my five roommates, making a beeline for the cornucopia symbol hanging over the bar. Two Legion brats cut us off.
“Hey, Drake. And ladies.” One of the guys laughed.
His buddy was equally jolly, and it wasn’t just from the rum I smelled on his breath. “So, we were wondering.” More snickering. “Are you even a real man?”
“What are you talking about?” Drake said.
“You’re staying in a room of girls.”
“Exactly.” A smile spread across his lips. “I’m staying in a room with five women. Take a moment to think about that.”
Then Drake returned to the dance floor with our three female roommates, who danced all around him. The two brats watched him with obvious annoyance, then left in a huff.
“They had that one coming,” Ivy laughed, then hurried to join our roommates.
But I was thirsty. I continued on to the bar and ordered a water. I’d already had way too many of those bombastic cocktails, and I wasn’t even sure what was in them. Something that made me really happy. Or maybe that was just my temporary freedom.
“Playing it safe?” Harker said, glancing down at my water as he sat down on the barstool beside me. He had a bombastic cocktail, blue edition.
“Well, I’m supposed to be behaving myself,” I replied. “Showing respect. Not mouthing off.”
“Basically everything you excel at.”
I grinned, lifting my glass. “Exactly.”
We clinked glasses, then fell into silence.
“How are you doing?” Harker asked me after a few moments.
“Great, now that I’ve eaten. It takes more than a few laps around the track to kill me.”
“You’re doing well. Don’t give up.”
“I wasn’t planning on it,” I replied, then lowered my voice. “Ok, what’s their problem?”
He followed my gaze to the trio of Legion soldiers at the other end of the bar. They’d been staring at us since Harker had sat down beside me.
“Legion officers and initiates don’t hang out,” he said.
“Often?”
“Ever.” He smiled at me. “But I like you. It takes a lot of guts to talk back to Nero.”
“He says I have no sense of self-preservation.”
Harker threw back his head and laughed. It was a perfect, honest-to-goodness laugh, without pretense or ulterior motives. It felt nice to be talking to someone who wasn’t trying to get something out of me.
“Of course you don’t,” he told me. “That’s what makes you so much fun. No one has talked back to Nero in a long time. It’s good for his ego, keeps it from getting too inflated.”
“You’re his friend,” I reminded him. “You shouldn’t want me to antagonize him.”
“Nero and I have a complicated relationship. We’re brothers in everything but blood.”
“I have a complicated relationship with my family too,” I said. “Half the time we want to kill one another, but I’d never let anyone hurt them.”
“You are a noble soul, Leda Pierce.” He dipped his chin to me, then stood, going over to join Nero, who’d just entered the bar.
I watched them for a few moments. Whatever they were talking about, it looked serious. Maybe they were debating fresh new ways to torture us initiates come tomorrow morning. As I continued to watch them, Ivy and Drake spun and pivoted off the dance floor to join me at the bar.
“This is crazy,” Ivy said, plopping down beside me. She helped herself to my water. “They are both staring at you.”
I looked back at Nero and Harker. She was right. Whatever the two of them were arguing about in hushed tones, it seemed to have something to do with me. I shook off the thought. Not everything was about me.
“Harker seems to like you.” Ivy fluttered her eyelashes at me.
“I’m pretty sure he’s only being nice to me to annoy Nero.”
Ivy glimpsed past my shoulder. “They are both still staring at you, Leda.” Ivy began to fan herself.
“Should I get you some more water?” I asked her drily.
Ivy laughed. “No, I’m good. Come on.”
She grabbed my hand, leading me onto the dance floor. I could still sense Harker and Nero watching me as Ivy and I danced. I was almost disappointed when they turned and walked away, which was definitely not something I should be feeling about anyone—least of all those two.
Ivy waved her hands in front of my face. “Earth to Leda. Are you listening?”
“Sorry. I was just distracted. What did you want to say?”
Ivy chuckled. “You’re in trouble, girl.”
“What do you mean?”
“They like you.”
“Who?”
“Harker and Nero.”
“No,” I denied immediately.
Ok, maybe too immediately. A slow smile twisted Ivy’s lips.
“Harker was just helping me,” I explained. “And Nero is determined to kill me, one hellish obstacle course at a time.”
“No, they like you.” A slow smile twisted her lips. “And I heard something about Nero.”
I waited for her to elaborate, but when she didn’t, I said, “What did you hear?”
“That he doesn’t usually oversee initiate trainings. In fact, he hasn’t done it in years. But something made him do it this time.”