Chapter 353: Something’s Wrong

Rebecca’s POV

​I barely slept.

​Every time I closed my eyes, my brain found something new to torture me with. First, it was Kaden calmly telling me that Melvin was a good man and that I should take my time deciding whether I wanted to give him a chance. Then it was Rola lying in the bed across from mine, happily announcing that she wanted Kaden to make love to her. By the time morning came, I had probably gotten two hours of sleep, maybe three if I was being generous.

​I dragged myself out of bed when the alarm went off and headed straight for the bathroom. By the time I came back out, dressed in my training clothes with my hair pulled into a high ponytail, Rola was already awake and standing in front of the mirror fixing her hair. And, of course, she was smiling. Apparently, kissing Kaden had given the woman enough happiness to last an entire year.

​"Good morning," Rola said brightly.

​"Morning," I muttered as I sat on the edge of my bed and reached for my boots.

​"I barely slept," she continued, and I looked at her in disbelief because she certainly didn’t look like someone who had barely slept. "Every time I closed my eyes, I kept thinking about last night. Four months, Rebecca. I can’t believe we waited that long for a kiss."

​"I’m glad it was worth the wait," I replied, focusing on tying my boot instead of the dreamy expression on her face.

​"It definitely was." The happiness in her voice was impossible to miss, and unfortunately, it reminded me of something else she had said last night. She was going to hatch up a plan today. I had hoped she might forget about it after sleeping, but judging by the look on her face, I wasn’t going to be that lucky.

​"I’ve been thinking about my plan for tonight," Rola continued, confirming my fears almost immediately.

​My fingers stopped on my bootlace, and I slowly looked up at her. She was smiling at me in that suspiciously sweet way that had gotten me involved in Kaden’s birthday surprise in the first place. "No."

​Rola’s eyebrows rose. "No?"

​"Whatever you’re about to ask me to help you with, the answer is no."

​"I haven’t asked you anything," she protested.

​"You’re going to."

​"I might not."

​"You’re looking at me exactly the way you looked at me before asking me to help with his birthday," I pointed out, and Rola immediately started laughing. I raised a finger before she could attempt to convince me otherwise. "I helped with the birthday. My duties as your unpaid relationship assistant have officially ended."

​"Oh, come on, Rebecca."

​"No." I stood and grabbed my jacket from the chair. "Whatever you want to do with your boyfriend tonight, you are perfectly capable of arranging it yourself."

​Her laughter followed me toward the door, and despite my frustration, a small smile pulled at my lips. The truth was, I liked Rola, and that was probably the most inconvenient part of this entire situation. It would have been much easier if she were horrible. If she were rude, arrogant, cruel, or one of those royal women who believed everyone around them existed to serve them, I could have happily disliked her. But no. Kaden had apparently decided to date one of the sweetest women alive.

​"We’re going to be late," I told her as I opened the door.

​"I’m coming," Rola replied, hurrying after me.

​The moment we stepped into the corridor, however, I pushed everything about her and Kaden out of my mind. I wasn’t here to think about Kaden’s love life. Stephanie was still trapped inside Plant Pack, facing Goddess knew what, and I had suffered through the trials and forced my way into this unit for one reason. I was going to bring my sister home. Everything else was a distraction, and I couldn’t afford to forget that.

​By the time we reached the training field, most of the candidates were already there. The morning air was cool, and several candidates were stretching while others gathered around the weapons racks. My eyes found Kaden before I could stop them. He stood near the center of the field with Kane and Logan, studying something on a large board. He was dressed in dark training clothes with his sleeves pushed up to his elbows, looking completely composed. There was no awkwardness and no sign that our conversation last night had affected him at all.

​As if sensing my stare, Kaden suddenly lifted his head, and our eyes met across the field. I immediately looked away, pretending to be very interested in adjusting the sleeve of my training shirt.

​"Good morning."

​I turned at the sound of Melvin’s voice and found him approaching me. "Morning."

​His sea-blue eyes moved over my face for a moment before his brows pulled together slightly. "You look tired."

​I gave him a flat look. "Every woman loves hearing that first thing in the morning."

​A smile pulled at Melvin’s lips. "I meant you look like you didn’t sleep."

​"I didn’t," I admitted, but before he could ask anything else, Kaden’s voice carried across the field.

​"Everyone into position."

​Training began immediately, and thankfully, it gave me something else to think about. For the next two hours, we moved through combat drills, ability-control exercises, and team formations. Kaden treated me exactly the same way he treated everyone else. If I made a mistake, he corrected it. If I did something right, he moved on. He was professional, controlled, and completely focused on training, and I told myself I appreciated it.

​By the time Kane finally called for a short break, sweat had soaked through the back of my training shirt and every muscle in my body ached. I spent the next ten minutes beneath one of the shaded areas with Rola and a few other candidates, drinking water and trying to give my aching legs a little rest before Logan called everyone back onto the field.

​Training resumed immediately. For the next twenty minutes, everything seemed normal as we moved through another set of exercises. I was tired, but nothing I couldn’t handle. I had trained on far less sleep before, so I ignored the heaviness in my body and concentrated on following every instruction Kaden gave us.

​Then, in the middle of one of the exercises, something strange moved through my chest.

​My hand went there automatically as I frowned. It wasn’t pain, and it disappeared so quickly that for a moment, I wondered if I had imagined it. Still, I stood there for a few seconds, waiting to see if it would happen again. When nothing did, I lowered my hand and looked around the training field.

​Everything looked normal. Kane and Logan were standing near the weapons rack discussing something between themselves, while Kaden was a short distance away speaking with one of the instructors. The other candidates were preparing for the next exercise, and Rola stood only a few feet from me, stretching one arm across her chest. No one looked concerned. No one seemed to have felt anything unusual.

​I shook it off and returned my attention to training. Maybe I really had imagined it. I was running on barely any sleep, and after hours of training, my body had every right to complain.

​A few minutes later, it happened again.

​This time, the strange sensation was strong enough to steal my breath. Something seemed to tighten deep inside my chest before pulling forward, and my body actually followed it. I took one step before I realized what I was doing and immediately stopped.

​My brows pulled together as I stared down at my feet.

​What the hell?

​I hadn’t meant to move.

​I slowly looked around again, but there was still nothing unusual. No one was standing directly in front of me. None of the candidates close to me were using their abilities, and there was nothing on the other side of the field that I had any reason to walk toward.

​"Rebecca?"

​Rola’s voice made me turn. She was watching me now, a slight frown replacing her usual smile. "Are you okay?"

​"Yeah." I lowered the hand that had somehow found its way back to my chest. "I’m fine. Just tired."

​Rola studied me for another moment before nodding, and I turned my attention back to the field before she could ask another question. I didn’t need anyone making a big deal out of nothing, especially when Kaden was only a few feet away. If he heard I wasn’t feeling well, there was a very good chance he would send me straight to the healer, and I wasn’t about to lose a day of training because I had barely slept.

​So I ignored it.

​At first, I ignored the heat too. We had been training for hours, so being hot wasn’t exactly unusual, but this felt different. The heat started at the base of my neck before slowly spreading through my chest and down both arms. My heartbeat began pounding harder against my ribs, and when I took a slow breath, the training field seemed to shift slightly beneath my feet.

​Something is wrong, Laura suddenly said.