Court of Nightfall (The Nightfall Chronicles #1)(2)

"No idea. Any chance you can hack into their system and get my results for me?"

"The hacking skills you've programmed me with are likely sufficient. I can try if you would like."

Tempting. So very tempting. But likely they would find out, and it could jeopardize everything. I'd just have to wait. I didn't have the most current e-Glass, so I couldn't give Evie the upgrade to do untraceable hacking. In fact, mine was several models old. Nearly outdated. But I'd made some of my own modifications. To the point that it could do more than any on the market today.

I didn't see my parents anywhere, but Jax came out of the small office carrying two cups of coffee. He smiled big, his dark eyes ("They are brown," said Evie) locked on mine as he walked toward me. My heart did a little happy dance, and I accepted the coffee he handed me.

"How'd it go?" he asked.

"I don't know," I said between sips. "Okay, I guess?"

Jax had recently gotten his pilot's license but didn't have the money for his own plane. Since he'd been my one and only friend since I was a toddler, and his dad had been close to my parents before he died, it hadn't been hard to talk my dad into letting Jax work for him in exchange for time in the sky. He had to log in his hours in order to become a flight instructor and then go commercial—though in truth we both wanted to pursue a military career with the United Front Initiative: international travel, a chance to work with the best of the best flying around the world, protecting and defending the innocent from the cockpit of a fighter plane. The dream for us both.

He tousled my hair. "I'm sure you aced it. I've never seen you fail at anything you set your mind to."

I appreciated his confidence, but my own plummeted as I second-guessed every choice I'd made. "Have you seen my parents?" I asked, trying to steer the conversation elsewhere.

"They're inside. They're really nervous about the test."

"Or maybe the apocalypse has come and we just don't know it yet. My dad's probably mentally checking the stock in our bunker to make sure we have enough canned beef stew or something."

Jax laughed and tossed an arm over my shoulder as we walked toward the office. Oh if only that gesture meant to him what it meant to me. Even the touch of his fingers against my bare shoulders sent chills through my body, but he and I were squarely in the friend zone. He'd seen me in diapers, after all. I'm afraid there's no recovering from that.

"Your dad is just looking out for you and your mom. And the entire neighborhood. It'll be handy when the zombies come."

I rolled my eyes. "So handy." Though, to be fair, having a bunker and being prepared for the worst had become pretty commonplace since the Nephilim War. To the point that there were reality shows based on it. My parents seemed downright moderate compared to some of the apocalypse nuts out there.

As we entered the office, I saw my mom finishing up a call on her e-Glass. She flipped it back over her ear as my dad pulled her onto his lap. "Do you have a moment, Mrs. Night?"

She grinned at him, in that private way they had. "A moment for what, good sir? My time is valuable."

He pulled her closer and caressed her face with his hand. "A moment for me to look upon the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

She ran her hand through his dark hair, smiling. "For that, I suppose I can indulge you." She leaned in and kissed him as I approached.

When she saw me, she laughed and pulled away. "Promise me, Scarlett, you will find a man as loving as your father."

I didn't often admit this, but I secretly enjoyed how crazy in love my parents were. But then I remembered Jax and willed my blood not to rush to my face. He'd seen and heard it all and his impish grin wasn't helping the situation.

My dad came up to me, arms outstretched for a hug. "How'd it go, Star?" My dad had an easy manner about him. His accounting clients loved it, and animals seemed drawn to it, always showing up at our front door waiting for the food they knew he'd leave. It wasn't hard to see why, and it wasn't just that he was a handsome man with dark hair and warm brown eyes. It was his smile, his kindness, the way he set everyone around him at ease with his authentic charm.

"Hard to tell," I said, stepping away so my mom could get her hug, too.

His smile didn't waver at my own uncertainty. "Well, no matter what," he said, "you'll find a way to fly."

My mom hugged me next, her face still soft and glowy from flirting with my dad. "I'm proud of you no matter what. I know you think I don’t support you in this, but I do, honey. I just want you to be happy doing something you love. That's all I've ever wanted."

"I know, mom," I said. My mom was a computer genius, but instead of pursuing a high tech career, she went into teaching. She was always doing after school tutoring for kids who needed help. Each year she ran a food drive and donated her hand-made jewelry for charity fundraisers. She said she had a tough start as a kid and wanted to give back. I learned all my computer skills from her.

She and my dad made a handsome couple standing together. Him tall, dark and rugged, her petite, pale like me, with fair hair and blue eyes.

Jax pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to me. "I got you this gift. As a good luck charm."

I took the small silver bag from him and opened it, my heart fluttering in my chest. Inside was a silver pin of wings with an 'N' in the middle. My initial! I looked up into his handsome face, my heart full of unexpressed emotion. "These are pilot wings," I said.