The first trainee stared, first at the wisp of smoke curling from Juniper''s barrel, then at the target, its centerpletely shredded. He was dumbfounded.


    No steadying her breath? No adjusting for angle or calibrating her aim? She just raised the rifle and fired?


    And not only had she hit the moving target with every shot, but she''d hit the dead center. One bullseye could be luck. But ten? All fired within five seconds? Was that even humanly possible?


    "Is there a problem?" Juniper asked, tilting her head slightly. Beneath the brim of her cap, her eyes were calm and cool.


    The trainee snapped back to reality and hastily raised his own rifle. After ten shots, one had missed the target entirely. Of the remaining nine, six were bullseyes, and the rest were decent hits. He was skilled, no doubt. But he had still lost.


    The other trainees were visibly shaken, staring at Juniper in disbelief. Ten bullseyes in five seconds? Some of them had achieved that score before, but never at that speed. They''d need at least ten or fifteen more seconds a gap that could take a lifetime of training for a special forces soldier to close.


    Next, the second trainee stepped up. Learning from the first, he fired rapidly, trying to throw off his opponent.


    But it was useless. Juniper performed just as wlessly, even managing to shoot one of his errant bullets out of the air mid-flight.


    Seeing his trick exposed, the second trainee silently lowered his rifle and walked away in shame.


    The third trainee stepped up. He failed. The fourth. Failed. The fifth...


    From a short distance away, Shanley watched her, his deep-set eyes narrowed in thought. "A shooting style like that isn''t learned overnight."


    He had a strange feeling that Juniper''s technique resembled that of ''Specter.'' He''d shed with Specter a few times and remembered the style well.


    But he quickly dismissed the thought. Juniper had grown up in Borealia; how could she have ever crossed paths with someone like Specter? It had to be a coincidence.


    Still, he made a mental note to ask herter who had taught her to shoot.


    "You didn''t know Juniper could use a gun?" Ebony Fox remarked, her gaze shifting


    to Shanley. "It seems you don''t know your girlfriend very well."


    Shanley''s lips thinned. He couldn''t


    argue with that. The girl was a treasure chest of surprises,


    revealing new skills when he least


    expected it. M?ster Lunar


    street racer, a perfect-score


    student... and now, a master


    ace


    sharpshooter.


    "You''re right," Shanley said, his lips curving into a slight smile. He adopted a sincere tone. "I''ll work harder to be a worthy husband."


    Husband? The word made Ebony Fox''s eyelid twitch in annoyance. Who was he to anoint himself with that title? She had already thought Shanley wasn''t good enough for her sister but now knowing the fullI extent of her skills the feeling the he was ''unworthy'' intensified.


    ...


    Finally, it was the tenth trainee''s turn.


    "Wait-"


    Just as Juniper raised her rifle, the man beside her spoke up. She paused, looking


    at him with a questioning nce.


    "I can''t beat you," he admitted with surprising honesty. "You win. Let''s not waste the bullets."


    Her skill was terrifying. The nine


    men before him, all superior shots, had failed. As the weakest


    marksman of the group, he saw i point in humiliating himself further.


    "Alright."


    Juniper lowered her rifle. As she walked past the line of defeated trainees, she paused.