The Bargaining Path Read online

  ***

  And whoop me he did. On the first day of training, we were introduced to our five trainers, even though we already knew them. Rael, the Ares guide, and Augustus, the Herculian guide were two of them, and then there was James, Tom, and Caspar, who was hanging around with Violet a little too frequently for my taste.

  “Hi, Caspar!” Alice whispered, and he smiled and waved at her. “What?” She asked when I looked at her.

  “You know I don’t like that guy.”

  “Well, I do. So I’m going to say hi to him.”

  “I don’t know how you can like him when he is trying to break up Violet and Nick.”

  “He is not trying to break them up.” She said, with a roll of her eyes.

  “You know that Violet has missed class like, six times already? Do you know why? It’s because she hangs out with Nick in the early evening, says she’s…”

  “I was there when she told us this, Quinn.” She said with another roll of her eyes, “She and Caspar hang out. What does it matter if she misses class once in a while?”

  “Because it’s not once in a while.’

  “Well, aren’t you just such a good student, even though you’re not a student? How many times did we skip school?”

  “That was different! He’s a bad influence on her. She was so excited about being a doctor, and now, Dr. Miletus is going to kick her out of the program.”

  “She is not going to kick her out of the program.”

  “Are you serious? She’s a hardass, and Violet is stepping on her toes. Not to mention, she hasn’t told Nick that she’s seeing Caspar all the time!”

  “Nick doesn’t think there’s anything to worry about.”

  “That’s what you think.” I muttered, and she scowled at me.

  Someone else was on my side. James was scowling down the line of instructors at Caspar, and when our eyes met, he rolled his, and I rolled mine in response. James’s bad feelings towards Caspar were more than likely the result of him being Adam’s son, but I know that he had asked me about Caspar and Violet multiple times.

  “Does Brynna know?”

  “No. Violet says she’d never approve of them hanging out.”

  “Oh, so she sees the danger in the son but not the father. Cute.”

  “You all are here because you volunteered for active service.” Rael said, “Specifically, you volunteered for the Army. Because there was no set criteria that you all had to meet before enlisting, you all must be approved by James, Tom, Joseph, Augustus, and myself. There are two hundred of you here, and only one quarter of you will pass our five tests, if that. So, without further ado… Shall we begin?”

  They tried to separate Alice and me when we split into groups but James stopped them.

  “No, let them stay together. That will be harder in the long run than easier.”

  “You sure about that?” I asked, with a chuckle of disbelief.

  “I am absolutely sure.” He replied, “See you kiddies later.”