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

If you think I can't fend off an idiot like that, if you think I haven’t done it dozens of times before, then you’re a dolt and I’m insulted.”

Sam didn’t reply. Was this their first fight? Probably, he was quietly fuming on the inside. Drina was making sense; everything she said was right, and it was a smart plan, but he just…really, really didn’t like it. Let go of the control, trust your crew.

“Fine, Drina.” Sam crossed his arms and looked pointedly at the wall. “I trust you to handle yourself. But if you need us, we will be right there. You need to only yell for us and we will be there in seconds.”

Drina’s scowl softened and she chewed the inside of her cheek before dropping her own defensive stance. She reached up slowly and Sam didn’t pull away when she cupped his jaw with a gentle touch.

“I know you’ll be there, Sam. I trust you to be there for me when I need you, just like you can trust me to be there for you. Remember, I promised you. I don’t break my promises.”

An hour later, they were inside of Delcan’s room. He wasn’t there. Drina had been prepared to stab him with a dart in the shower, she and Sam had a legitimate argument over it, yet it looked like it was for naught. Just to make sure Delcan wouldn’t pop in unexpectedly, Sam kept them all under a shadow cloak while they ransacked the place.

It was a mess anyway. Sam doubted that the blonde would notice that it was in disarray when it already looked as if a tornado swept through the place.

Half an hour into the search and they finally found something under Delcan’s mattress. A small stack of letters from June. Love letters.

It didn’t make sense. Was Delcan able to talk her into doing something because she was in love with him? Were these coded messages?

Sam gave the lot of them to Mattie and Drina so they could analyze them while he and Rosin continued to search. An hour later, Mattie sighed and tossed the letter she was reading on the floor.

“I really don't think Delcan is doing anything,” she said. “I ran through all of the regular ciphers we know and nothing looks like it’s in code. Honestly, he just seems like a regular twenty-year-old man. There's nothing in the letters about foreigners or signals or anything. Just notes from a love-sick, and deeply confused, girl. We can’t find any potions or weapons. There's nothing, Sam.”

“Maybe June was just taking a walk and ate something off the floor because she's crazy. I mean, writing love letters to Delcan, I wouldn’t doubt it,” Drina said.

“Maybe,” Sam muttered.

He didn’t believe it, though. Something was off. Why did June lift that specific rock, how did she seem to know exactly where she was going in the dead of night? His gut was telling him that there was something here that he was missing. But what?

His intuition had rarely failed him, but this wasn't making any logical sense. Maybe his sleep deprivation was getting in the way and his gut instincts weren't as dependable as usual.

Rosin put a gentle hand on Sam’s shoulder. “C’mon. I think we’ve looked through everything. The tourney is tomorrow, you need a proper rest.”

24

Sam was almost done with breakfast when his plate was picked up and flung across the room. Sam blinked at the spot his food once was and slowly looked up to find Delcan towering over him, his face twisted into an ugly snarl.

“You were in my room last night. I could smell your filthy stench all over my things.”

Drina visibly stiffened, her hands wrapping tight around the fork in her hand. Delcan didn’t notice.

“Why would I be in your room, of all places?” Sam asked calmly, subtly probing him to see what his reaction might be. Panic that Sam knew something, hopefully.

Instead, Delcan threw his hands in the air, “I don’t bloody know! To steal my shit? To fuck with me?”

“You’re assuming I did it,” Sam said as calmly as he could. “But where’s your proof?”

“I saw you, you twat,” June muttered from behind Delcan. The blonde was so big and close to Sam that June was fully hidden behind his tense shoulders.

“Oh,” Sam said nonchalantly. What was Delcan going to do, kill him in the mess hall? “Yes, well, I’m afraid that’s true, then.”

Delcan reached over and snatched Sam by the collar, yanking him to his feet and pulling him so close that their noses almost touched.

“What were you doing in my room?” He hissed.

Sam pursed his lips. Delcan would be the one giving up information, not him. Sam would not show his hand.

“You filthy, blighted worm.” Just as Delcan pulled his fist back, Sam brought his knees up and push-kicked the blonde in the groin. Delcan wheezed and grabbed himself between the legs, dropping Sam in the process. Then Delcan shouted as if he’d been stabbed. When he whirled around, grabbing at his shoulder, Sam could see that he had, in fact, been stabbed.

Drina’s fork was buried in the meat of Delcan’s shoulder, wobbling with every movement he made. June stared at the fork with wide eyes, looked at Drina, and then dove at her.

The mess hall went from peace to chaos in seconds. Sam was vaguely aware that the girls were going at each other while Rosin backed away, but most of his focus was diverted by Delcan when he tore the fork out and conjured a ball of fire into his palm. Then the screams started. The other students fell over each other, toppling chairs and pushing tables to get away from the fight.

Sam was ready for it this time. Before Delcan could so much as twitch, Sam pulled the shadows cast by the fire and wrapped them around Delcan’s head like a shawl. The blonde howled with rage and the fire in his hands extinguished as he clawed at his face.

There