Chapter 21

He slowed to stop as he reached the marker and leaned over to catch his breath.

“Do you think if you focus hard enough on training and combat skills, you’ll stop missing him?” Hanifa asked. She stopped a few feet from him.

Jamal straightened up and glared at her. “Fuck you.”

“I’d offer if you thought it would help.”

“Eww. Too much like screwing my sister.”

“I thought you only had brothers.”

“I do, but still…” He put a hand on the stone marker post and stretched out his calves.

“Maybe you should put in for a transfer to the Headquarters complex.”

Jamal stared at the ground for a bit before looking back at Hanifa. “Because that would be so damn good for my career.”

“Enh, okay, maybe not, but then again, you might have to choose.”

“This is all so completely beyond my control. Even if I got a posting to the complex, there’s no guarantee that we could be together. He’s on the fast track for some kind of magic training, and I’m just a soldier.”