Dragon Fire Academy 1 First Term an RH academy romance - Rachel Jonas Page 0,66

of us was ready to push our limits.

Chapter Eighteen

Ori

A shadow darkened the space beside me, and I peered up. There she stood—my hive’s greatest distraction, alive and in the flesh.

There was an uncertain smile set on her lips, and I didn’t bother returning it. Instead, I turned to face the water again, keeping watch on the kids, making sure they didn’t venture out too far.

“Mind if I join you?” she asked, her voice sounding shaky with the question.

I offered nothing but a casual shrug in response, and I kept my eyes straight ahead as she smoothed her dress down her thighs, and then sat beside me on the grass.

“Thought you might want this,” she said quietly. In my peripheral vision, a brown bottle was held out to me. “It’s sort of a … peace offering,” she added with a hint of amusement.

We hadn’t exchanged a single friendly word that I could recall, so for her to be putting forth an effort now seemed suspicious.

I took my time responding, but eventually accepted the bottle, cracking it open to take a sip.

As we sat in silence, my gaze slipped to Noelle’s legs, crossed and stretched out in front of her on the ground. Her dress only covered so much, and my gaze lingered on her smooth, tan skin. It hit me then how right my brothers had been, stating that I, too, was guilty of watching her. However, the difference between them and me was that I knew my limits and hadn’t let her looks blind me. I was just as focused as the day we first accepted our mission.

“The ladies all seem really nice,” Noelle stated, returning a wave to one of Nayeli and the Solaris hives’ sons.

Breathing deep, I realized she didn’t intend to just sit. There would be conversation too.

“They are,” I sighed, hoping the discussion would end there.

She nodded again, seemingly well-aware of how awkward this was. Why she’d come over to strike up a conversation, I would never know, but I hoped she didn’t think this was going to change things. She was a job assigned to us by the Chief. Nothing more.

Despite what my brothers seemed to think.

Staring as she pushed a hand through the large waves of hair resting on her shoulder, I swallowed hard, fighting how she affected me. Even with such a simple gesture, she’d stolen my focus.

All it took was me facing forward to break her spell. I know Kai thought she was a gift from Spirit, but I couldn’t see it that way. After all, she’d done nothing since she showed up but divide us. There was no telling what more she was capable of.

However, as I struggled to make myself believe all the negatives were reality, the girl beside me didn’t quite fit that mold. My gaze shifted left and I swear she was glowing, as if she somehow harnessed the sun’s power to make her even more tempting.

It wasn’t easy, being forced to resist the wiles of someone who looked like her.

But I wouldn’t have it any other way. My sacred duty came before everything.

Noelle glanced over when I cleared my throat, giving myself an internal pep talk to reaffirm my mission, my priorities.

“Listen,” she sighed. “I think, somehow, you and I got off on the wrong foot, and I just want to clear the air between us. It’s not too late to—”

“Why?”

Her brow twitched when I interrupted with the abrupt question, but it was one that deserved and answer.

“Uh … why am I hoping to eliminate the tension, the drama? Easy,” she declared. “Because we’re both adults and this is all just … really dumb. We don’t even have good reason to be at each other’s throats.”

Kai was melting faster than an ice cube in the sun for this girl. Even if he hadn’t admitted as much, I’d seen it with my own eyes. Then, Joel said too much last night at the orphanage, vaguely affirming things that concerned the Omega Hive, meaning they had zero to do with him.

And now I was supposed to believe that Noelle wanting to make amends today was just a coincidence?

If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she bought into the hype, believing that her role within our hive was more than what it was.

Regardless what anyone else thought, I knew the truth. She was not our Queen.

“Just … stop,” I asserted, noting how still she sat after I spoke. “My brothers and I were given a mission, and that mission