Once the Lambaa were grouped together, Jackson let out another whistle and Asena yipped, driving the Lambaa herd across the pasture at a slow, steady pace along the fence.
Fiona couldn’t help but smirk. “Not bad.” She flared her hand and a blue light burst from her own Djinn ring. Jackson’s stomach tightened at the sight of Rebel, Fiona’s Megala, the plumed, flamboyant Djinn that had been responsible for Jackson and Asena’s narrow defeat in the tournament.
Rebel let out a long forlorn call and then rose into the air with a few powerful flaps of its bejeweled wings. Once it had the height it needed, the flamboyant flying Djinn glided across the pasture just in time to turn the Lambaa herd as they approached the open gate leading them into the next pasture. It was quick, clean work, and by the time the pair had finished their work, Jackson found it hard to be even a little frustrated at her.
“If I’m being honest,” Jackson started out of the blue once they had finished their work. “Yes, I was upset with you.”
“No!” Fiona said, nudging him. “But you hid it so well!”
“Laugh all you want, but after I lost to you, it hurt. A lot. I not only lost the match, but I lost the house, too — but the job did help, so thanks by the way. But after a couple of weeks, I had justified to myself that this could be a good thing. That I could use the loss to better myself. And what better way to get stronger than to train with the tamer who pummeled me in the first place?”
“Look…I don’t mean to act like I’m too good for you or anything — I’m not. If it were up to me, I would. But…”
Jackson nodded. “Vance McCallister?”
“Yeah,” Fiona said. As it turned out, while Fiona’s win against Jackson locked down an opportunity to be trained by the Gold League vet Vance McCallister, she was not allowed to train with him until the weeks leading up until Bronze League Training Camp. His only order: to avoiding training with Jackson Hunt.
Jackson couldn’t help but be flattered, but it still irked him.
“Wait,” Jackson said, piecing together Fiona’s explanation. “No training until the weeks leading up to camp. Does that mean…?”
A long, painful silence stretched between them as Jackson considered the ramifications of what Fiona was saying. The first step into the world of professional Djinn taming was an invite to a regional training camp in the Bronze League, the entry-level competition for the DBL. Only one tamer from each town and city were selected to participate — at the end of camp, the best tamers were sponsored to compete in the actual Bronze League Championships for their region, no matter how well or poorly they ranked in the main season.
It was all Jackson had thought about for the past three months and the reason he’d been keeping such insane hours in an effort to eke out every ounce of training he could with Asena. But something in Fiona’s voice cut through the thin thread his hopes dangled from.
“You already got the invite, didn’t you?” he said in a quiet, hollow voice. Asena bounded up to his side, but Jackson could only give her a listless pat on the head while he stared at Fiona.
For the first time all morning, Fiona looked genuinely uncomfortable. It was all Jackson needed to confirm his guess.
“It came yesterday morning,” Fiona said. “Look, you —”
“No, it’s fine,” Jackson said. “Congratulations. You really do deserve it.”
“I’m tel —”
“No, it’s fine, okay?”
“Would you just —”
“Look, can you just stop?”
Fiona’s eyes widened and her lips tensed. She looked like she wanted to deck him.
His heart hammered in his chest and his cheeks burned. It felt the same as the moments after he’d lost to Fiona in the tournament. Still, he did his best not to show it. Rather than aggravating him further, the news left Jackson drained.
“Fine, then,” Fiona said. “You want me to stop? I’ll stop.”
CHAPTER 3
The rest of the day passed by in a haze as Jackson tried to go through the motions of his job. But no matter how much he tried to focus on the task at hand, his mind returned to the news. He felt like it had somehow punched him in the chest, and every time he took in a breath, it felt tight and strained. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Jackson had known Fiona would be Tyle’s rookie representative, but a part of him — that small flame that hadn’t been put out with his tournament defeat — had hoped…
Now it felt like the flicker of hope had been completely snuffed out. Asena sensed something was wrong right away and spent hours trying to cheer Jackson up with soft nudges of her nose or small, encouraging licks. When that failed to work, her tail drooped between her legs and she followed Jackson around, whining every time he looked at her.
The heartbreaking sight was enough to pull Jackson from his self-pity — at least enough to make him a functioning employee until lunch time. He’d found plenty of solo jobs around the ranch that provided solitude after Fiona left the pastures, but when lunch rolled around, Jackson prepared to face Kay. He would’ve skipped the meal entirely, but his locker also held Asena’s food. The last thing Jackson wanted to do was punish his Djinn just because he felt antisocial.
“What’s the matter with you?” Kay said. “It looks like an Auroxx just ran over your face.”
“Don’t wanna talk about it,” Jackson said, passing by Kay and burying his face in his locker. Asena’s food sat right in the front but he made a show of looking for it, hoping Kay might lose interest.
“C’mon, dude, working with Fiona this morning can’t have been that bad,” Kay said. “Look, I know you guys are sort of competitors now, but you grew up together! Just because you had one Djinn battle against each other doesn’t mean —”
“She’s in,” Jackson said. His flat voice caused Kay to pause long enough to explain. “Fiona got an invite to the Bronze League Training Camp.”
Kay knew what that meant — it was all Jackson could talk about over the past several weeks.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Jack,” she said in a much softer tone, tirade abandoned. “That doesn’t mean anything, though! She’s just one spot — there are like a dozen tamers brought to camp from each region aren’t there?”
“Yeah, but only one from each town.”
“But haven’t there been years in the past where a town’s had multiple tamers?”
“Sure, but they’re all sponsored,” Jackson said. It was really the last thing he wanted to talk about, but he hoped he could explain things to Kay now and at least get it out of the way. “Since I’m not the Tyle representative, there’s like a one percent chance I’ll get in. I mean, do I look like I know any sponsors?”
If I’d only won the tournament last year, things would be different. He left the words unsaid, but they rang in his head just like they had every day he returned home to the cramped apartment he shared with his grandma — the apartment they had to squeeze themselves into after losing their family home when Jackson failed to defeat Fiona in the Vance McAllister-sponsored invitational.
“Well, maybe you’re just looking at it the wrong way,” Kay said, falling back to her hallmark optimism. “If you don’t get invited to the Bronze League camp this year, you can always keep training — if you put another year in, there’s no way they can’t let you try out!”
“Yeah…maybe.” Jackson knew Kay was trying to cheer him up, but it didn’t help much. A year was a long time, and he worried the lack of real competition in Tyle would mean the margin between him and Fiona would continue to grow.
“Jackson, could I speak with you?”
Ken Sato’s voice rang across the break room, causing another jolt of adrenaline in Jackson’s stomach. His mind raced, wondering if he’d done something wrong in his distracted stupor over the past few hours. Shooting Kay a worried glanced, Jackson rose and crossed the room to meet with his employer who waited by the doors.
“What’s up, Mr. Sato?” Jackson said, trying to shake the depression from his voice.
&nb
sp; Ken Sato’s face was unreadable. “Care to step into my office for a minute?”
Jackson nodded and followed Mr. Sato through a couple of rooms until they came into a medium-sized office decorated with awards and pictures of the Satos standing next to some of their prize-winning, world-class Djinn and their famous tamers. Ken motioned for Jackson to have a seat. Jackson sat down in a worn leather chair, which let out a puff of air as he adjusted himself on the cushion. He squished his sweaty palms together in his lap.
He wasn’t sure why he felt so nervous — he’d worked for Sato Breeders for almost three years now. He’d loved the job the entire time, but had almost been fired the previous summer when he convinced Fiona to sign a bill of health allowing Jackson to compete with Asena in the ill-fated tournament. It wasn’t illegal, as Fiona did have the qualifications to do so, but in keeping the ordeal from the Satos — and more importantly, his grandma, it had been a real breach of trust that Fiona had to smooth over with her family before they accepted him back. Jackson had done his best to toe the line ever since.
“Is everything okay, Jackson?” Mr. Sato asked, brow creasing in concern. “Is your grandma well?”
“Yes, sir,” Jackson said. “I’m just…tired is all.”
Mr. Sato nodded but he didn’t look convinced. Once more, Jackson felt a pang of regret for what he and Fiona had done to her parents — the Satos practically treated Jackson like family.
“The reason I wanted to talk to you is because I’ve been hearing lots of good things about your work,” Ken said. “And I’ve seen them myself. What were your plans now that you’ve been out of school for several months?”
Jackson didn’t hesitate. “I want to be a Djinn tamer.” What he didn’t add was that, at the moment, it felt like the furthest thing from a possibility.
Mr. Sato nodded. Jackson knew the breeder had mixed emotions about taming as a professional career. He’d made his millions raising Djinn to be the very best battlers possible. On one hand, all three of the Sato children were pros — or in Fiona’s case now, at least semi-pro. On the other, Jackson knew Mr. Sato didn’t want Fiona to follow in the footsteps of her older brothers. He’d held out hope that his daughter would get an education and take over the ranch someday.
“You’ve got some talent as a young tamer, but I don’t think I need to tell you how hard that road is and how many young talents don’t make it to the big leagues,” Mr. Sato said. “You’ve got just as much skill raising and caring for Djinn as you do battling with them. I’ve been impressed watching you the last few years and wanted to see if you were interested in taking on more responsibilities at the ranch?”
The question caught Jackson by surprise, especially given the whole betrayal of trust deal just a few months back. “What did you have in mind?”
Ken Sato leaned forward over his desk. “Your work herding and in the fields has been great, but I’d like to bring on another breeder in the next couple of years. You could start interning here and we’d pay for you to take all of the classes you’d need over the holo, so you wouldn’t have to leave home. There would be a small increase in pay if you accepted and a substantial raise once you became a certified Djinn breeding specialist.”
Jackson didn’t know what to say. The last thing he’d expected was a job offer and a full-ride scholarship when he came to work that morning. Then again, he hadn’t expected to have his dreams of joining training camp dashed to pieces, either.
“I…I’m sort of surprised, Mr. Sato — thank you…” Jackson picked through his next words carefully. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to go home and talk things over with my grandma, if that’s okay?”
Mr. Sato waved a hand and smiled. “Of course. I don’t need an answer right away. Classes wouldn’t start until the fall, but we could begin your internship this spring. Take as much time as you need.”
“I will,” Jackson said, his head spinning.
“Good,” Mr. Sato said. He stood up and offered his hand to Jackson, who shook it. “And, if I may, I’d like to give you a little advice?”
Jackson nodded. “Of course.”
Mr. Sato placed his hand on Jackson’s shoulder. “I’ve seen a lot of tamers come and go over the past thirty years. There have been some that have become very wealthy in the leagues, but most ended up without much to show for all their hard work. On the other hand, there’s real money to be made in breeding and as much security as any career. Just food for thought.”
Jackson thanked Mr. Sato and left his office, still dazed. By the time he made it back to the break room, Kay had already returned to work. Without any immediate tasks left on his list, Jackson spoke with the ranch foreman and left Sato Breeders early. On the way home, Jackson summoned Asena from her ring. The Djinn walked alongside her tamer, offering him silent strength.
“What do you think, girl?” Jackson asked her. “Maybe we’re not as ready as we thought we were.”
Asena gave a small whine and an anxious nip on the hand. Jackson sighed. He knew his grandma would already be home — today was one of her scheduled half-days at the greenhouse. He turned from the road leading to their small apartment and headed toward Tyle’s nearby woods instead.
With no real purpose in mind, Jackson wandered on the edge of the farmlands where the scattered trees had grown bare over the past season. Asena lost her previous depression at the sight of the forest and set about at once to sniffing and digging here and there. Jackson watched her, happy to see his Djinn could set aside her worries so easily. He played over the day in his mind once more: Fiona’s announcement, her father’s offer.
Six months ago, he would have declined the job without a second thought. Now, after weeks upon weeks of grueling training with little to show for it, he felt his confidence wavering. After an hour of internal back and forth, Jackson whistled for Asena and made his way home.
Following Asena up the sidewalk that led to their apartment, Jackson closed his eyes and imagined he was still going to his mom’s old house across town in the suburbs. Their new place wasn’t bad, but to Jackson, it still didn’t feel like home. Every once in a while, he still caught himself heading down the road that led to their old house, only to turn around when the sharp pang of reality struck him.
Just as Jackson expected, Jane was already home when he opened the door. Jackson’s grandma was lounging on the sofa, no doubt recuperating from a hard day at the greenhouse — a reminder of how much harder she’d had to work since he committed to taming.
“Hey there, pal. You’re home early,” Jane said, standing up and making her way over to the kitchen. Asena ran to the woman’s side and wagged her tail until Jane produced a small bone-shaped treat. She gobbled it up right away and settled down on her rug in the corner. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” Jackson said. “Just got things finished early, so I decided to call it a day.”
Jane frowned. “Since when do you call it a day early? You’d hang around even if they didn’t pay you — what’s going on?”
Slumping down on a chair at their tiny kitchen table, Jackson filled his grandma in on the day’s events. Jane listened without interrupting Jackson until he finished.
“So that’s the deal,” Jackson said, heaving another long sigh. “I’m not going to make it to the training camp this year, and Mr. Sato thinks I’m more cut out to be a breeder than a tamer. I don’t know what to do.”
“What do you want to do?” Jane asked. She’d returned to stirring the pot on the stove, but her attention remained on her grandson.
“I think I should just take the internship job,” Jackson said. “It’s really not a bad deal — I can go to school just like you wanted and still work with Djinn. In the meantime, I’ll sign up for some local tournaments and maybe get my name out there a bit more for next year’s training camp.”
Jane peered at Jackson over the rims of her glasses. “You don’t need to convince me, Jackson. Not anymore. As much as I love everything you’re telling me right now,
this is your decision. But if you want some advice from me, it sounds like you’re trying to talk yourself into doing something you don’t want to do.”
His grandma’s answer left Jackson without a reply. Just over a year ago, the last thing in the world Jane Hunt wanted her grandson to do was battle Djinn. Now, it almost sounded like she was encouraging him to do just that.
“I’m just trying to be realistic,” he said.
Jane snorted. “Jackson, we both know you’re not a realistic person — you’ve got too much of your mother in you to do the boring, responsible thing.”
“Yeah…” For some reason, Jane’s words made Jackson feel even worse and more indecisive. If she was telling him not to give up on his dream, then he wondered if he was crazy to even consider taking the Sato job. At the same time, he justified using the money from the job to travel outside of Tyle where he could expand Asena’s training and find stronger opponents. He knew he would also learn tons of things about the various Djinn species that he couldn’t learn anywhere else. What difference would a year really make? As it stood, leveling up Asena was getting harder and harder, especially with the diminishing competition around Tyle. He’d really have to commit some coin to seeking out these opponents, but he had no real idea of how to go about doing it without there being some sort of organized competition. And back and forth the ordeal went in Jackson’s head.
“Jackson,” Jane said, bringing him back back to reality. “You didn’t go through everything last year just to give up after one little roadblock. You’re young. Don’t be so hard on yourself. We have the money if you want to keep working as a ranch hand and training Asena on the side. Don’t think we lost that house for nothing. But if you want to take a year and try some other things out, there’s nothing wrong with that either. The way I see it, you’ve got two great opportunities to choose between.”
Jackson smiled and actually felt a little bit better, though a part of him wondered how true it all was. She had been working a lot more than usual. “Thanks,” he said. “And thanks for all of your support. It really means a lot.”
Rivals Page 2