Spycraft Academy by B. Miles (little readers .txt) 📕

Drina looked at Mattie smugly. "Told you he didn't guess," she said, flicking her hair and addressing Sam next. "I can control smoke."

Okay, that was helpful. She could probably push it into people's lungs. He'd have to look up the amount it took to make an adult male lose consciousness.

"Uhm. Perfect memory," Rosin said quietly. "Sorry, I know it's not much, but—"

"Hey," Mattie clasped her on the shoulder, "it's perfect. Sam here is fantastic at wheedling out soft talents."

"Actually, I won't need to." He pushed off his shoes and kicked his legs up on the bed. "I could have used your talent tonight. The thief wears this black outfit, and Apelles always wears black, and I should have been paying attention but I wasn't, and now I can't seem to remember if his clothes matched the thief's."

Rosin looked down, a small, pleased smile on her doll-like mouth. Her face flushed. Maybe people didn't compliment her or acknowledge her usefulness that often.

"Wait, so you aren't sure?" Mattie asked.

"Yes and no. I think it's strange that he let me go, for one. Most people would have killed a witness like me. That, and after I left, a window got broken. I went and looked, and I caught a sliver of a black figure running into the forest. I checked the broken window, and there was nobody on the other side that might have spooked him. Apelles could have simply opened the window, and he had to know that I was still around, so why would he break it and draw my attention?"

Drina shrugged. "I guess we'll find out. I'll take the first shift tomorrow night."

Sam found himself in the hallway with Rosin after Mattie and Drina kicked them out of the room so they could get some sleep. He turned to the blonde girl and gave her a small, warm smile.

"Thanks for staying up, and thanks for helping."

She stood there, still as a statue save for one hand. It was always twisting the tail of her silvery braid, and now was no different. She seemed nervous and high-strung. He bet with a little training, she could channel that jumpy energy into something lethal.

"You're welcome." She met his eyes. It seemed she was staring at the floor most of the time, never directly into his eyes. He was somewhat glad for it, because it was not okay for him to notice that her eyes were arctic blue, or that she had a dusting of freckles along the tops of her cheeks.

He turned to go, but she squeaked out a 'wait,' and so he stood still. She bit her lower lip, but she didn't look down. Her mouth was quirked a little at the corners; it wasn't a smile, at least not a conscious one. Her cheeks were stained an even brighter red than when Drina stripped to her underthings.

"Please don't get offended, I just really need to know...are you or are you not in a relationship with either Mattie or Drina? I know it's not technically my business, but I'm part of your crew now, and if something is going on, then whatever happens between you going forward affects all of us. Like, if you're with Mattie, what if she doesn't like the way Drina flirts with you...or what if you end your relationship and things become antagonistic...just..."

She lifted her chin high. "Give me a straight answer. Please."

Sam sighed through his nose and scratched the back of his head. He didn't know how to categorize the three of them himself, much less to somebody else. And the dynamics were very taboo; if Rosin was scandalized by Drina in smallclothes, she might be outraged by the sordid details of their little situation. He might have thought that it was a one-off had it not been for Drina declaring she wasn't a third wheel, if he didn't feel so at ease and right with the two of them, even if they were doing nothing more than walking to class.

He supposed Rosin would find out eventually. She was whip-smart, and it wouldn't be long before she caught onto the sexual innuendos and familiarity they all shared as if they'd been doing this for years.

"I'm courting Mattie in an official capacity," he admitted.

Rosin let out a breath like she'd been holding it for a while, frowning and nodding as if she'd been expecting as much.

"I'm also...well, Mattie and I are..." how could he explain this? What was Drina, exactly? "being courted by Drina, I suppose."

All of the air left Rosin in one big whoosh and she stood there blinking at him as if she didn't quite understand what he was saying. Silence passed over them for five seconds. Ten.

Rosin took a deep breath and asked, "You're in a relationship with both of them?"

"I...um, yes."

She cocked her head, her blush intensifying but her eyes unrelentingly curious. "How does that work?"

"Well, ah..." This was awkward. "I'm not sure, to be quite honest. It just...does?"

She did look down then, biting her lip far more furiously now.

"You won't tell anybody, will you? This is just between us. As a crew."

Rosin looked up sharply, nodding, "Of course. It wasn't my business to ask but—"

"No, you were right to. What we do affects you, too."

"Thanks," she said quietly, folding her hands behind her back. When she looked up at him again, she smiled a sweet, unassuming smile. "Goodnight, Sam."

"Goodnight, Rosin."

She turned away slowly and walked the short trek to her room deeper in the corridor. Sam didn't stop watching her until she was safe inside.

16

Three weeks and Apelles hadn't done anything but go about his day, retire for the night, and wake up in the morning before going about his day again. Sam should have felt relieved the spymaster wasn't making any moves against him, Mode, or his crew, but all it did was fill him with more and more apprehension because eventually, he knew, something would happen. That's just how life worked—eventualities