I wiped the sweat off my face and gulped down another swig of water as Garrett wrapped up the physical assessments. My muscles burned in that particular way that meant they'd grown stronger, not weaker.
"Not bad, Monroe." Garrett's massive hand hit my shoulder like a falling boulder. Most students would have staggered. I barely moved. "Whatever you're doing, keep it up. The academy needs more soldiers who understand conditioning."
"Thanks."
"Don't thank me yet." His smile went sharp and mean. "Next month's benchmarks will be worse. Much worse."
Perfect. Something to look forward to.
Belle appeared at my elbow once Garrett left to terrorize other victims. "You realize you just jumped from bottom ten percent to top five, right? In three weeks."
"Yeah."
"People are going to talk."
"Let them." I checked the time and grabbed my water bottle. "We've got Cross's class in fifteen minutes. Should probably get moving."
