The room is silent, aside from our harsh breaths, and I stroke my fingers along her skin, kissing her while she recovers. She’s so beautiful, my Tatiana.
Mine.
Chapter Eighteen
In which we are introduced to the Leader’s Challenge. Most of it is painful.
Tatiana…
How is he still hard?
Lucca’s panting, holding most of his weight off me with his arms braced on the mattress. He’s still inside me, hot and hard and even as weak as I am right now, if he started moving I’d probably come again and I don’t think I have any fluids left in my body to do it.
His nose is buried in my hair, and his chest expands against me as he breathes in.
“Are you huffing me?” I laugh weakly, “Like glue, or something?”
“Maybe,” his voice is muffled. “You could be my drug of choice.”
You’re already mine, I think, stroking the back of his hair.
Three days later…
“I think we can all agree that Professor Fukumoto is a sadistic swine and whatever he’s planned for the challenge is going to be horrible.”
Liam O'Neill is a sour and superstitious Irishman who is often right about how bad things are going to be, according to Lucca. But he still wants Liam on his team because he’s exceptionally strong, and Fukumoto warned that strength would be important.
This makes me question what I have to offer if everything is based on muscle mass.
“Liam, it’s not just Fukumoto,” Lucca says, “Dean Christie’s in on this one, and that woman can be evil in a way that even the male professors don’t have the imagination for.”
There’s some uneasy stirring from the group at that observation.
This is my first time meeting some of these students, several are juniors and seniors, but their obvious respect for Lucca makes me proud of him. He’s also picked Ania Jankowski who still scares me a little, and Jun Chen.
We’re crowded into Lucca and Konstantin’s place, Kon having taken his team elsewhere to make a plan. Lucca confidently goes through the group, discussing everyone’s greatest strengths. We’re all wearing black suits, some kind of tough mesh-like material that’s easy to move in, and some sturdy boots. I’ve pulled my hair back in a tight braid to keep it out of the way and I’m terrified. Not exactly about getting hurt during the challenge, but failing Lucca. This is his first real test as a Leader. I don’t want to be the reason he loses the competition.
“Go grab some breakfast,” he says, “we’ll meet out on the north field in one hour.”
Everyone bolts out to carbo-load in the dining hall and Lucca looks back to see me still huddled on his couch. “You need sustenance for this challenge,” he scolds me, striding over to haul me up.
“Maybe you should have let Mateo put me on his team,” I blurted, “I could have sabotaged him with my lack of experience.”
“Not every student at the Academy has participated in one of these challenges,” he said. “Relax. Even if I wasn’t having sex with you, I would have picked you for your sniper skills, I know we’re going to need you.”
“Even if you weren’t boning me, huh?” I said dryly. “You smooth talker, you.”
Lucca’s hands slip to my waist and he lifts me, feet dangling, so he can stare at me, eye to eye. “If we don’t win this challenge, I’m going to edge you for a week and not let you come. For a week. So go find your confidence and get moving.”
Staring at his narrowed gaze, I nod a little too fast. “I’ll just go grab a granola bar or something.”
“What do you think they’ll do for the first part of the challenge?” I’m whispering to Ania, who’s standing tall in the chilly wind whipping over the flat plains of the island.
“Probably something very uncomfortable,” she says placidly, “if not acutely painful.”
“Oh,” I put my hand on my stomach. I will not throw up. At least right now.
“Welcome, students!” Dean Christie shouted, looking alarmingly cheerful. The rest of the college has gathered to watch, probably hoping someone will die in a terrible way.
“This is a three-part challenge,” she continued, “the first team to get to their flag wins. The Leader can direct their team but cannot participate.”
Glancing over at Lucca, I can tell he doesn’t like that.
“One of the key qualities to being a great leader is being able to direct your people successfully and trust that they’ll handle the job.” Professor Fukumoto says. “Even if you know you’re sending them into danger.”
No, Lucca really doesn’t like this. His mouth is a thin, flat line as he listens to the instructors.
“Your first task,” calls the Dean, “use these logs to create a bridge over the ravine and have a team member cross it successfully.” She fires a pistol in the air. “Go!”
The ravine she’s talking about is a deep split in the rocky surface of the field. The bridge that’s usually there is gone, and the pile of cut logs she’s pointing to must weigh two hundred pounds each. The rest of the teams are picking their biggest players, but Lucca’s picked two muscled Seniors I don’t recognize and Jun, who’s very lean. He gives them a quick series of directions and they race off to the logs.
“Brilliant,” murmurs Ania.
“Please explain,” I ask, leaning closer.
Our three are moving slower than the others because Jun can’t carry one of the logs on his own. He’s still helping where he can and I see him directing the other two on where to place the logs.
“Do you know what Jenga is?” Ania says.
“The game with the wooden pieces and you stack them until they fall?” I said.
“Yes. Jun is the campus champion for the life-size Jenga pieces on the grounds by the main building.”
“I’ve never seen them,” I admit, marveling at the creation of our team’s bridge. Two other log spans were finished before ours, including Mateo’s team. But when his team member tries to cross it, one of the logs slips almost instantly, sending him plummeting onto a safety net stretched out ten feet below. The next team is doing better, their man is halfway across, but his weight is unbalancing their log bridge and he falls, too.
“Go!” Lucca roars, “You’ve got this!”
Jun’s creation looks haphazard, but he’s traversing it effortlessly. When he reaches the other side, the Dean blows her whistle.
“First round goes to Toscano!”
Professor Fukumoto doesn’t give any time for gloating or celebration. “The second task is at the grotto,” he shouts, “get moving.”
I exchange glances with Lucca as we run past the combat gym. I’ve swam in the grotto before, but it’s not my favorite thing. I’ve always thought a college swimming pool would be well-lit and nicely heated. The Ares Academy uses a cenote. It’s a deep cavern created by collapsed rock that fills with rainwater. Picking our way down the carved stone stairs, I’m already hoping Lucca doesn’t pick me for this challenge. It’s not as brutally cold as the Atlantic surrounding the island, but no one can stay in for long, aside from the two Norwegian students who insist on swimming every day.
Neither one of them, unfortunately, are on our team.
“This task is two-pronged,” Dean Christie grins, and it’s not the “fun aunt” smile, it’s the leer of a sociopath. “You must retrieve your team’s bag from the water. It might be on a ledge, or at the very bottom. At the same time, you must attempt to take another team’s bag as well. Your members may not leave the water until both objectives have been achieved. Of course, the other team’s players will also attack to retrieve their bag from you. You will need a team member for retrieval, one for defense, and one for offense. Leaders, you have five minutes to pick your people and have them enter the water.”