The Night Isn't Always Quiet ch13-15

CHAPTER 13


Information Is Essential
To Progress












Mallory cursed and struck out at the empty space beneath her.
"We should have known he would do that," she muttered, struggling to her feet. She staggered, and both Nate and Jet moved forward to catch her. Nate, of course, reached her first.
"Go and find Markus," he said to Jet. "Mallory's too weak to go anywhere and we definitely need to speak to him. All of us."
Jet stiffened a bit at the request that sounded so much like a command. But he obeyed. He knew it needed doing.
Slipping into the corridor again, he was grateful for the time to think. It was hard to believe a Skiteriah had in fact been controlling most of his movements since his magic less on with Mallory. But it was also strangely comforting to think he hadn't intentionally done all the things he had. It explained a lot.
It was also obvious why Irani had chosen him to possess over all the other aerewolves in the Institute. Somehow, he had known Jet had the lesson with Mallory. Somehow, he had known Mallory would ask him to see her. Somehow, he had known they would be alone. . .
Jet shook his head. It was useless trying to discern Irani's plans by himself. He was only going to go around in circles. Mallory and Nate had much more experience in that area than he did.
With a jolt, he realised he had walked straight past Markus' office. He backtracked a few steps and knocked before pushing the door open.
"Jet?" Markus asked. He was not alone; Mitchell Jakoby sat in one of the armchairs in front of his desk.
"We- we've got a problem," Jet spluttered. "A big, black problem."
Markus' eyes widened as he understood what Jet was saying.
"Excuse me, Mitchell," he said. "Something's come up that I must attend to right away. We'll have to postpone this till tomorrow morning."
Mitchell glanced from Markus' face to Jet's, then back again. Then he nodded. "I see how it is. This is to do with those two kids that killed the Skiteriah's pet yesterday, right?"
Jet and Markus exchanged a look, and nodded.
Mitchell grinned and left the room, whistling again.
"Now. Tell me what's going on," Markus commanded.
"I'm not so sure myself, actually," said jet. "But I know Mallory can explain it to you."
The two left the room and headed back the way Jet came. The walk was in silence; Markus was wondering what could possibly have happened, and Jet was trying, still unsuccessfully, to figure out Irani's intentions.
Mallory was back in her bed when Jet and Markus reached her room. She looked a little stronger than when Jet had left, but her smile told how weak she really was.
"Mallory!" Markus exclaimed. "What on Earth happened in here?" His eyes drifted from her to the ragged holes in the walls leftover from her and Irani's fight.
"Irani happened here," muttered Nate. Markus brought his gaze back to him, the obvious follow-up question burning in his eyes.
"The Skiteriah behind the rygian attack," Mallory said with a sigh.
Markus remained silent, waiting for her to elaborate. While she told the story, beginning with the fateful magic lesson, everyone else watched Jet. He had his head bowed, not meeting the stares he could feel resting on him. He flinched at some of the worse things he had done under Irani's influence, but didn't comment.
"This is worse than we thought," Markus murmured when Mallory finished her tale.
"You can say that again," said Nate. "At least if it were Father, we'd know what to expect." He smiled at Mallory. "We shouldn't be so unsure of our work."
"The only reason we've survived this long is because we've been unsure," Mallory laughed.
Lucien frowned at that comment, but refrained from questioning it.
Markus sighed. "Ask away, Lucien."
"Well, I'm curious about what you meant when you mentioned surviving. Wouldn't you just come back in your next life if you died?"
"Not necessarily," said Mallory. "The Skiteriah have perfected a spell that, when cast on a weapon, can prevent a soul from ever returning to another life."
"Ever?" Yasmyn echoed in a small voice.
"Ever," Nate agreed grimly.
Silence fell over the group for a moment, before Markus asked, "Do we know anything about this Irani?"
"Other than his name, no," said Mallory. "I've never even heard of him before. But he felt much, much stronger than anyone else we've ever faced before. And he spoke as if he already had an army."
"But we haven't even heard a whisper of major Skiteriah activity for years!" Markus protested. "Above or Below!"
"How are you communicating with the Belowland?" asked Nate.
"The Inner Circle and I are the ones who set it up, and the only ones who know of it. We watched our source for many a year before we chose him. There is no way he would betray us."
"But think how easily Jet was controlled by Irani!" Mallory said. "We didn't even suspect it until we saw proof! Do you not think it would suit our enemies to have us ignorant of their plans? And we do not even know if Irani is king or whatever they have in Kurong! He could be moving very quietly by himself, in some far-flung corner of the land!" She threw her head in her hands. "Oh, how I wish Lux remembered! He was always the best at this!"
"Don't we all," Markus murmured before adding, at normal volume, "I see your point. But there's a possibility he was lying, to put us off the scent. If we already thought he had an army, it would be easy for him to muster one without us troubling him.
"Yes, yes, I know. It just might be that he predicted us not believing him, or us sitting here arguing over precisely this! It would not surprise me if he is laughing right now at the predicament he's put us in."
Jet, who had been completely silent throughout the entire conversation, looked up suddenly. "It seems to me like he predicted us being divided over the information he gave us. It would make us easy pickings then."
That silenced everyone. No one had thought of it that way.
Nate opened his mouth to retort, but Mallory put up a hand to stop him. She smiled widely.
"Someone here is thinking clearly!" she said
"If what you said is true, Jet, did Irani lie, then?" Lucien asked.
Everyone looked expectantly at Jet.
He thought the question over for a moment. "I would think it was a half-truth. Most likely Irani has begun just forming his army, or is having trouble finding enough people to fill its ranks."
Again, this was the opposite of what everyone else was thinking.
"Makes sense," allowed Nate. "Typical Skiteriah to leave us arguing over two things that aren't even true."
"So what are we going to do?" wondered Yasmyn.
"Well, we have no way of getting to the Belowland - Kurong - yet, not one big enough for the force we would need to fight Irani," Mallory said.
"Why couldn't just you and Nate go?" inquired Lucien.
Aleisha began to protest earnestly, but after Nate put an arm around her and muttered a few things, she quietened down.
"We could go," replied Mallory. "But it would be a certain death sentence for both of us. Its true we have powers above the ordinary, and we would probably be stronger in our homeland, but even then we wouldn't be a match for Irani and however much of an army he's managed to form. Maybe if Lux was here, we'd be able to kill at least Irani, but there still are no certainty about that. We can't perform miracles."
"Define miracle," Nate muttered. "We've done some pretty amazing stuff in our time."
Mallory rolled her eyes. "Don't be cocky, dear brother."
"So we can do nothing?" Yasmyn asked, obviously disappointed.
"We can wait," supplied Nate. Yasmyn glared at him.
Markus sighed. "We aren't going to get any further tonight. We all need rest."
With that obvious dismissal, everyone began to file out of the room. Before he could leave, Mallory called out to Jet. This earned a warning glare from Nate, which he ignored.
"Yes?" he asked when he and Mallory were alone.
"You're still beating yourself up over this afternoon," she said. "Why? You know its not your fault."
Jet didn't answer for a long time. Mallory was about to repeat the question when he spoke.
"Because, no matter how many excuses you give me, I can't get over the fact my own hands intentionally hurt someone. I've never done that before, not intentionally, except to Skiteriah."
"That's not all," she murmured, certain that if she pushed him too far, Jet would plummet off the edge of an extremely high cliff that the day's events had formed.
"It makes me feel weak, how easily I was overcome. How easy it was to hurt you, and believe what that filthy, winged worm was telling me. Sometimes I wish my life would just pause, so I could stop and think about what's happening."
"That is an ability I would trade anything to have," she agreed.
The silence lengthened until Jet stood.
"I should leave you to get some sleep," he said in explanation. "See you tomorrow."
"Goodbye," Mallory breathed as he left the room.
As she watched his back, she wondered how long it could be until he remembered. Surely it couldn't be far away. He had sounded so much like Lux during the conversation about Irani that it almost broke her heart.
I can't survive this much longer, she thought. Her chest ached at the thought of staying away from him for much longer. Either he would remember, or she would tell him.





CHAPTER 14


Decisions For The Future
Are Always Prophetic
In One Way Or Another










Nate had just joined Yasmyn, Jet and Aleisha for breakfast, with news of Mallory, when the summons came. One of the fourth year boys ran up to the table, puffing, with a message from Markus.
"He said he - needs to see you-immediately," he huffed to Nate, his sentence broken by his heavy breathing. "And that-it was of the-utmost importance."
Nate frowned but rose to her feet. He apologised to the others and and headed back in the direction of Mallory's room. It was obvious she couldn't move, so Markus was going to have to have his meeting there.
"Where's he going?" Lucien asked as he slumped into a chair beside Yasmyn. He looked utterly exhausted.
"What happened to you?" said Yasmyn before Jet could explain about Nate.
"I had a bet with Jack. And that's all I'm going to say. So, what's with Nate?"
"Apparently Markus had to talk to him, and I assume Mallory, about something of the 'utmost importance'," Jet muttered, his voice mocking.
"What could that be?" wondered Lucien.
Both Jet and Yasmyn shrugged helplessly. Aleisha only looked around the room, her mind elsewhere.
"We know about Irani," Yasmyn said. "What else could they be keeping from us?"
As one, the three of them turned to Aleisha. After a moment, she met their gazes.
"What?" she asked.
Jet spoke first. "What are they hiding from us, Aleisha?"
"Who?" she said in an obvious attempt at stalling. She received no reply.
"I don't know! If they wanted to tell me, they would've taken me with them!"
"You know," said Jet. "Or you guess, at least. And my guess is that it would be pretty close, seeing how well you know them. So spill the beans."
"You know what, Jet?" Aleisha said, rising to her feet. "You can't just demand to have everything you want. Sometimes you have to just trust people and know if they aren't telling you something, it's probably for your own good!"
With that, she stormed away from the table in the opposite direction to the one Nate had taken.
Jet glanced up at Lucien and Yasmyn. Their faces were disapproving.
"She knows something!" he protested.
"We know that," Lucien said. "And that something is going to stay hidden if you go about demanding information like that!"
"You know if you get on Aleisha's bad side, Nate's not going to think very highly of you," Yasmyn added. "And Mallory's going to side with her brother over us any day. If you want to learn something, maybe you should work on not becoming their enemies."
"I don't think it'll be that drastic," murmured Jet.
"You never know," Lucien said mysteriously. "Gods are tricky creatures."
Jet and Yasmyn burst into laughter.
"You've never even met a god before those two," said Jet.
I'm not so sure about that, Lucien thought as he watched the two siblings, thinking of his Jet-is-Lux theory.

~~

Nate didn't bother knocking when he reached Mallory's door. She would already know he was here.
Markus was sitting on the edge of her bed, eyes on the piece of paper in his hands. Mallory was reading over his shoulder.
"Nate!" Markus said when he looked up. "I wasn't sure if Jake had caught up to you or not."
It took a moment for Nate to realise that Jake must be the name of the fourth year who had brought Markus' message. "He found me, but I don't think Jet likes that we're talking behind his back."
"He wouldn't," murmured Mallory, not meeting Nate's eyes.
"Well, speaking of Jet, he's the reason we're here," Markus said hesitantly. "If Irani really is coming with an army, we're going to need all of you at full strength. While Jet is accomplished at the moment, we need to decide how long we will wait before giving his memories a nudge."
"I say as soon as possible," replied Nate. "We have no idea when this Skiteriah is coming back, and there's no way we have even a prayer against him without Lux firing all pistons!"
He looked at Mallory, expecting her to be ready to back him up, but she was hesitating.
"What's wrong, Mallory?" he asked. "It seems to me like this is something you'd be glad to agree with me on!"
"Yeah, I know. But it seems wrong to force these memories on him. What if he hasn't remembered for a reason? We could do irreparable harm!"
Nate, who had an argument prepared for any other answer she could have come up with, was silent.
Markus nodded. "That makes sense, but aren't the lives of hundreds, possibly thousands, of aerewolves and Jururgan who are willing to die for their gods worth more that the risk of damaging Jet's mind? He's a strong kid. I doubt it would do anything."
"Fine," Mallory snapped. "Do what you want. Just don't come crying to me when you've crushed our chances because Jet's mind collapses!"
She glared at her hands, refusing to meet the gazes she could feel burning holes in the top of her head.
After a moment, Nate spoke again. "Maybe Mallory has a point. We would be in a worse position than we are now if something goes wrong."
Mallory didn't say anything, but Nate thought he detected a small sigh of relief. Markus caught it too, but he misinterpreted its meaning.
"We should leave you to rest, Mallory," he said, rising to his feet. "I suppose we should talk to the others. Get it over and done with. You say Lucien has already worked it out, Mallory?"
She inclined her head. "And we need to tell Yasmyn. There isn't another way to explain the memory she saw."
"And Aleisha already knows, so there's no point in keeping anything from her."
You'd tell her after we left here, even if Grandfather forbade it, Mallory though smugly.
"Go round them up, Nate," Markus said, nodding at the door.
"Actually, if my timing's precise, they should be turning the corner right about. . . now," he replied.
Mallory rolled her eyes. "You're such a schemer, Nate."
A few moments later, the door opened to allow Lucien, Yasmyn and Aleisha. Nate glanced down the corridor to make sure no one was around eavesdrop before turning back to the others, the door swinging closed with a soft click.
Markus glanced at Mallory, to be sure she wasn't going to tell them. She had her eyes on the window, her hands trembling slightly.
"Now, before I say what I'm about to say, I need you to swear not to tell anyone. And especially not Jet." The comment was directed to Yasmyn and Lucien, seeing as Aleisha already remembered everything. They both nodded, Yasmyn looking slightly confused and Lucien excited.
"Okay. As you know, we have told you we don't know where Lux is. That wasn't entirely the truth. Lux is here, in the Institute."
"I knew it!" cried Lucien, cutting off whatever Markus had been about to say.
"If you know so much, why don't you explain to Yasmyn so we're all on the same page?" Nate asked.
"Well, its obvious if you think about it," Lucien said, turning a little to look at Yasmyn. "It's Jet. Jet is Lux."
"So that memory. . ."
"Was of one of Mallory's past lives," Nate finished.
"Wh- That can't be true," she spluttered. "My brother can't be a god."
"It's very true," said Mallory. Her voice was cold. Still worried about Jet. "Trust me, I'd know."

~~

As he left the cafeteria, Jet saw Nate and Markus walking together, deep in conversation. He smiled to himself as he changed directions so he didn't cross their path. Assuming the other had left at the same time as Nate and Markus, which seemed most likely, now was probably the only time he would get to talk to Mallory alone for who knows how long.
Mallory looked up in surprise when Jet slipped into her room. Understanding crossed her features after a moment.
"Jet. . ." she began, but he spoke before she could finish.
"So you've got more secrets." He remained by the door.
"You won't understand."
"Try me."
Mallory glared at him. "Have you ever thought, Jet, that sometimes secrets are only there to protect you?"
This reminded him of Aleisha's earlier comment, and he wondered if he was really that hungry for information.
Mallory had taken his silence for an answer. "No, of course you never thought of it that way. Why would the great Jet, celebrity archangel killer, need protecting?"
"I'd never kill a Jururgan. You know that."
"Some days, I wouldn't be surprised if you would just for some goddamn attention!"
"You're in a bad mood."
"Thank you for that, Captain Obvious!"
Jet drew closer and knelt on the floor beside the bed. "What did they do?"
Surprised by how perceptive he was, it took a moment for Mallory to voice her next sentence. "They did nothing. We were just discussing. . . the future."
"Lux?"
Again she was surprised by how quickly he was able to see into the heart of the problem. She nodded quickly, closing her eyes against the tears that suddenly welled there. This was not a conversation she wanted to have with Jet.
"Why was I the only not there, then? I deserve to know about Lux. I have as big a stake in this as anyone here! I mean, Irani controlled me! How much more do I have to go through for you guys to trust me?"
"Oh, Jet," she murmured. "I do trust you. With my life. And I want to tell you. So, so badly. But I can't"
Her answer seemed to anger him. "Of course you can! All you have to do is say a couple of words and it's done!"
"Jet, you need to go. Please. I can't do this right now. I can't bare it. Leave me alone."
He opened his mouth to argue, but Mallory shook her head, stopping the words in their tracks. "I'm sorry, Jet. You don't know how sorry I am. But this is not something I can talk about with you. I'm not strong enough. If you want to know, talk to Markus or Nate or Yasmyn or Lucien or Aleisha. Just not me. Please, I need to be alone. I'm sorry."
Jet knelt there for another moment, silently begging Mallory to meet his gaze. Then he stood and was gone, the door slamming shut with a finality that made the tears building behind Mallory's eyes start rolling down her cheeks.





CHAPTER 15

Making A Scene
Sometimes Ends With
A Wish Come True












Jet knew Mallory was better.
He had seen her around the Institute, but not once had she approached him or Yasmyn or Lucien.
Jet knew it was his fault. He also knew Nate was the one who was keeping her away. If he hadn't been so harsh that day, she might still be around to talk to. He still might hear her beautiful laugh, feel her soft skin brush against his when they bumped into each other. . .
Shaking his head, Jet refocused on the small body tucked under one of his arm. He had sworn to himself, when he had realised Mallory was avoiding him, that he wouldn't think of her. If she didn't want to know him, he didn't want to know her.
That was why he had finally agreed to go out with Lilian. At least, that was the reason at first. Now, when he was in her presence, he found it hard to think about anything else. Not that he minded. When he wasn't with Lilian, he found his thoughts overtaken by Mallory. It had been two months since he had last talked to her. Yet he still found himself lingering on the two days had been friends.
He shook his head again and focused on the conversation.
"And if that's true, then I must be. . ." Yasmyn was saying. She trailed off staring at Lucien with a horrified expression.
Suddenly she stood, and with a hurried "Excuse me", she was gone.
"What was that about?" Lucien asked.
"I don't even know what you were talking about in the first place," said Jet.
A silence fell over the group, shattered by the bell signalling the end of lunch. Lilian reached up to press her lips to Jet's once before hurrying to her next class. Jet watched her for a second before trailing unwillingly after Lucien.
"You seen happy," Lucien commented.
"Why shouldn't I be? Just because Mallory and Nate are avoiding us doesn't mean I should be all miserable."
Lucien raised one eyebrow, which reminded Jet he had been like that for a few weeks. The conversation ended there.
They turned a corner and saw Yasmyn folded on the floor, her shoulders shaking and tears running down her face. Jet took a step forward. Yasmyn never cried.
Before he could say anything, he noticed the two girls on either side of her. He recognised them immediately.
Aleisha and. . . Mallory. Seeing her face again, so close, was like a bucket of cold water being thrown on him. It was shocking, then incredibly blissful after getting used to the sensation.
It took a moment to realise that both were glaring at him and Lucien with such an anger that sent them both back the opposite way.
Around the corner, safe from their stares, Lucien said, "That was strange."
Jet looked at him. "Thank you for that."
"I meant that she went to Mallory and Aleisha for comfort," Lucien clarified, rolling his eyes. "You don't think she's remembered too, do you?"
"It's possible, I guess. Still doesn't explain the Mallory and Aleisha thing."
"I would say they knew each other in their past lives. It's obvious relationships survive the space between lives. Look at Aleisha and Nate!"
"Okay, that makes sense. But why the crying?"
Lucien thought about that for a moment. "I have no idea. I've known both of you since we were three, but I've never seen her cry like that before. Ever. Even when we stole her Barbie dolls and ripped all their heads off."
Jet laughed. "Oh, that was fun. Sucked that Dad could glue them all back on, though."
"Even if he couldn't, you guys have enough money to replace them all three times over."
"You're jealous," Jet teased.
"Oh, yeah. I really want a collection of Barbies."
"That was why we couldn't find that dolls house that we bought for Yasmyn that year. You took it to play with!"
Jet knew he'd crossed a line. He sprang into a run as soon as he finished speaking, Lucien hot on his heels. They sprinted through the corridors, headed for the closest training room. They knew they wouldn't get in trouble for anything there.
Just as Jet was through the door, Lucien stuck out his foot to trip him. But their legs got tangled and both of them hit the floor with a loud thud.
"Good job," Jet said, giving Lucien a shove.
"Having a good time, are we gentlemen?" asked Markus.
Jet and Lucien glanced up and saw they'd ran straight into the middle of a class. And not just any class. Everyone in the room had a pair of perfect white wings protruding from their backs, except for one.
Nate was glaring at the two aerewolves with an anger that surprised Jet. Hadn't the guy heard of accidents before? But then again, he probably thought it was a plot to talk to the person stznding beside him.
He had no idea how she'd gotten here so fast, but there Mallory was, trying to bite back a smile. She noticed Jet was watching and glanced away.
"Well, Jet was, er. . ." Lucien trailed off, trying to think of an explanation that didn't put him in a bad light.
"I provoked him into chasing me by teasing him about the extremely large Barbie collection he has in the bottom of his closet," Jet inserted, winking at Lucien who immediately flushed deep red.
"You're just making it seem more true, Lucien," Mallory called, ignoring Nate's restraining hand as she drew closer.
"Everyone seems to be against you today," laughed Jet.
The other Jururgan were still stiff, eyes darting about warily. Mallory turned to them and rolled her eyes.
"They don't bite, guys."
"Are you so sure about that?" Nate muttered. He was ignored.
"These two have known about us for a long time," Markus said, eyes twinkling with amusement. Whether it was because of the story about Lucien or the other Jururgan's reaction to them, Jet couldn't tell. "They even brought Mallory back to the Institute."
Most of the Jururgan relaxed, but they still didn't draw closer.
"Anyway," continued Markus. "You two came at exactly the right time. Most of these kids remember all their training, so there isn't much to teach them. I think they'd enjoy the chance to fight against someone they usually stand beside in a battle."
It took only a moment for Jet and Lucien to understand what he was suggesting. "Bring it on," they said in union.
"Anyway, it was boring just fighting Mallory," Jet added.
She laughed. "How is it boring when you haven't even won yet?"
"Well, if the results are always the same, its not fun anymore. Or do you Jururgan have a different definition of boring?"
"I should have had a camera ready," Lucien said. "I never thought the day would come when Jet Archibald Bates would admit that he was beaten. Especially by a girl."
"Your middle name is Archibald?" Mallory asked, struggling to contain another laugh.
"Hey, I wasn't even a day old when this was decided. I didn't have a say in the matter."
"What would you have chosen?"
"Something along the lines of super-hot-extra-strong-totally-awesome-dude."
Lucien and Mallory weren't the only ones who laughed at that. Markus and several of the other Jururgan chuckled. Even Nate cracked a small smile before he remembered he was supposed to be angry.
"Isn't that a little long?" asked Lucien.
"Well, it would have to be shortened. Something like Shestad."
Another ripple of laughter, enveloping more of the room.
"Okay, I officially crown you Jet Shestad Bates," Mallory said.
"Ah, sweet success. Another thing to tick off my list."
"You have a list? Wait, I don't want to hear it."
"Yes you do. Riding a hovercraft along the Great Wall of China, living with the Eskimos for a year, be the first person to invent a car that can fly to Jupiter. . ."
By the end, Mallory, Lucien and the rest of the room were in stitches again.
"Come on," said Markus. "You guys aren't here to be comedians."
Jet rolled his eyes. "Like Lucien could ever keep up with my comic genius."
Lucien only shook his head. Markus beckoned to the both of them.
As he followed him to the centre of the room, Jet asked, "Hey, Markus, when were you going to tell me you were a Jururgan too?"
Markus grinned. "Maybe I expected something like this to happen."
"Oh yeah. I go crashing Jururgan training sessions everyday. Eventually I was going to stumble on this group."
"Just change already, Jet. I'm sick of your constant babbling," Lucien said.
"And I'm sick of your blinding blonde hair. Maybe I should dye it black in your sleep. Then you'd get, let's say, half of the attention I get?"
"You're an ass." But Lucien was smiling.
"Oh, great. All those Skiteriah are going to wet themselves when they see a donkey charging them."
Mallory laughed. "Get on with it. We all know how impressive you are, Jet. It's not something we're going to forget anytime soon."
"I bloody well hope not."
Jet laughed as he turned to his other self, the sound turning to a strange growl somewhere in the process. He shook out his fur and flexed his paws. Come closer if you dare, his stance seemed to say.
A few of the Jururgan looked a little startled when they took in his size. Markus grinned at them.
"Don't worry. Jet's not going to hurt you. Even if he is such a gigantic monster."
He pointed at a few of them, then at Jet. "Try and take him down."
An hour and a half later, Markus signalled a halt. Jet headed for the floor. When his paws touched the floorboards, he waited a few strides before turning back to his human form so smoothly a few of the closer Jururgan girls gasped.
He flashed them a smile before joining Lucien, Mallory, Nate and Markus on the other side of the room.
"Don't show off," Mallory scolded.
"The fact you we're watching me just now means its working, so why should I stop?" Jet asked as the bell rang.
She didn't bother answering. He was just going to twist anything she said.
Jet grinned like her thoughts were written on her face.
"Get out of here, all of you!" Markus said. "I can't stand to listen to him any longer!"
"Your wish is my command." Jet bowed as he spoke. The other three followed him when he turned for the door.
"Jet," said Mallory when they reached the corridor. He turned to her.
"Yes?"
"Can you meet me in the garden? We need to talk."
He nodded. "When?"
"As soon as you can."
With another nod, he turned and ran after Lucien.

~~

Jet was standing by the pool when Mallory walked up the stair to the rooftop garden.
"So Nate's finally let you see me," he said somewhat bitterly, without turning around.
"How do you know I wasn't avoiding you of my own free will?" asked Mallory, surprised by his knowledge of Nate's command.
"Well, the training session for one thing. You seemed pretty happy to talk to me then. And Aleisha." Of course, she thought.
"How long did you have to badger her before she told you?"
"I didn't ask. I didn't care. She told me anyway. She said that no matter how much she loved him, Nate was wrong. That I had the right to know you didn't hate me for what I'd done."
"Oh, Jet. You haven't done anything. I would have done exactly the same thing in your position. Nate just overreacts sometimes."
Jet glanced down at where Mallory had moved to his side and raised an eyebrow. "Sometimes?"
She laughed. "Alright, all the time."
He sighed. He'd missed that laugh.
"So why are you here?" asked Jet.
"Aleisha and Yasmyn both mentioned you'd been pretty miserable lately. Beating yourself up over this whole mess."
"Not all the time," he murmured, thinking of Lilian.
Mallory glanced up with an expression that told him she knew nothing of that relationship. But if Yasmyn and Aleisha hadn't said anything, then they probably had a good reason for that. So he wasn't about to bring it up.
"The answer I want to hear is not at all," she said. "Jet, you have no reason to be dwelling on this. No one likes being lied too. It's just. . . its not my secret to share."
"And whoever this secret belongs too gave you permission to tell Yasmyn and Lucien and Aleisha this?"
Mallory hesitated for a second. She hated lying to Jet. "Yes."
He nodded. "Makes sense." He looked at Mallory again. "Does this mean you'll talk to us again?"
She smiled. "Definitely. No matter what Nate thinks."