Chapter 255

“Date’s been decided,” Delta announced, striding into Zoey’s room without knocking. “It’s happening tomorrow.”

Not knocking was a bit rude, Delta knew, but she’d been hoping to catch Zoey doing something inappropriate. Unfortunately, she was just sitting there, nose in an alchemy book like was her default state when given downtime. How boring. Though she supposed when Sabina was rewarding her for being studious, she couldn’t blame her too much.

The taller girl blinked as Delta strode in, then immediately smiled seeing who it was. That made Delta’s stomach do some embarrassing warm-and-fuzzy things, which she ignored as she plopped down on Zoey’s bed and started kicking her feet back and forth, waiting expectantly for a response.

“The date for what?” she asked.

“Next shard. With barbarian girl. What else?”

“It’s been arranged that fast?”

“You can’t actually be surprised. It’s Rosalie we’re talking about. And this new girl might be as much of a shard addict as her.”

“Fair,” Zoey said. “Still, I expected to be waiting at least a few days. Thought we’d practice more together first.”

“Shards are the best practice,” Delta said, half joking but half serious. Maybe it would be smarter to take things slower, but she doubted it was necessary. It was one hell of a party that she’d been thrown into, and not just because of Zoey, but the sheer talent of every member. It was weird knowing she might be the worst on the team: she was used to being the best.

“Practice only matters so much when there’s no real stakes, I suppose,” Zoey said. She tilted her head, closing her book and setting it aside. “It’s not just team training we needed, though. You think you’ll have your shadow under control by tomorrow?”

“Eh,” Delta said. “It’ll be a while before she’s second nature. But she’s basically all I’ve been working on since we got here, so yeah, I’ve made good progress.”

“Enough you can use her in a fight?”

“Not as perfectly as I’d want, but yes. She’ll be more asset than not. And in situations where I need her as a scout or can otherwise use her solo, I can control her nearly as well as myself.”

“No kidding?”

Delta nodded, pleased with herself.

“That’s a lot of progress in just a few days.”

“It’s all I’ve been doing, like I said.” She shrugged. “Plus, it was one of those things that was hard to get started with, but is getting easier the more I learn. Once I wrapped my head around the simple movements, with managing two bodies at once, picking up speed and learning more complex motions became less and less of an issue. Not that I’ve perfected anything, though. It’ll take some time for that.”

“Still. I’m impressed. Wanna demonstrate?”

Delta paused, then grinned wickedly.

“I didn’t even mean it like that,” Zoey protested. She paused. “Not that I’d complain, if that’s how you want to show off,” she amended.

“My girlfriend has such appetites,” Delta lamented loudly. “Every conversation turns to such lewd matters.”

“You turned it into that, this time,” Zoey pointed out.

“Thankfully, I am a kind and amenable girlfriend—” she continued, ignoring Zoey.

“You sure about that?”

“—and I’m willing to indulge her insatiable hungers, caring and doting woman that I am.”

Zoey rolled her eyes, which Delta snickered at.

“This is random,” Zoey said, “but you reminded me of something. You blushed that one time, when Rosie brought up you ‘playing’ with your clone, shortly after we got here. But when would you have had the time for that? I’ve been wondering.”

Ah. This topic again. Despite her usual unabashedness, her cheeks colored. “Doesn’t matter. Don’t you wanna see all the cool tricks I learned?”

“I think I’d rather you answer the question.”

“Than be blown by two copies of me?” Delta asked, somewhat offended. “Really?”

Thankfully, Zoey at least paused.

“I can have both,” she said eventually.

“Can you?”

“Yes,” Zoey said, raising an eyebrow.

Oh? In a more confident and assertive attitude than usual? Zoey did tend to take the lead, though it also depended on her mood. Basically anything this girl did could fluster her, though. And the self-assured way she’d just ignored Delta’s attempt at a deflection was ... well. Heat kindled in her stomach. Dominant Zoey was fun.

But then the embarrassment returned. Ah, hell, what was there even to be embarrassed by, though? Delta was a girl who liked to own up to what she did.

“Right after I woke up, basically,” Delta said with a casual shrug. “I mean, I found I could make a clone of myself. Who wouldn’t experiment?”