29. Poppy
POPPY
The exit doesn't open into another challenge, thank fuck.
Instead, the tunnel opens into a room that looks like a nightclub designed by someone who had no concept of taste or what people want.
For a second, I wonder if we’re going to have to do a nightclub version of the HGTV challenge or Bar Rescue or something and do a fully body cringe.
The walls are wrapped in plush pink velvet, the floor a glowing neon turquoise, and a buffet table sits in the center, stacked high with platters of bioluminescent fruit and a frosted pitcher filled with a bright yellow liquid.
"Congratulations on surviving," Ken’s hologram appears, making me flinch, accompanied by a canned track of polite golf applause.
Talk about a fucking jump scare.
Vael grabs my hand.
"To celebrate, I’ve authorized a mandatory after-party. Enjoy the amenities while I compile the viewer feedback."
I don't care about the food; I don't care about the slushies.
My eyes dart instantly to the far side of the room.
Sitting on a circular sectional couch are four figures. Pol is there, aggressively feeding a moon-shaped fruit to Selene, who looks exhausted. And sitting right next to them, covered in a thick layer of grey soot, is Lucy, holding the thigh of her peachy dragon.
She’s safe. She’s alive.
"Lucy,” I whisper, relief and disbelief warring inside me.
I dart away from Vael, my feet flying across the neon floor.
Lucy leaps off the couch, her tech suit ripped at the knee, and meets me halfway. We collide in a bone-crushing hug, both of us crying like idiots.
"You're a-a-a-alive," I choke out. "Your locator thingie went grey. I thought—I thought Ken killed you. I’m so so sorry, Lucy. This is all my fault.”
"He tried to," Lucy tells me, holding me tightly. Her skin is burning underneath my hands. "We got attacked. Ty-Rok literally ripped a mechanical panel out of the ground and managed to jam our biometrics or whatever they’re called. We tried to lose them."
I look past her shoulder to her partner. Ty-Rok’s scales are a light peach, fading into creamy stripes along his chest and darker orange along his spine. He gives me a slow nod, his eyes flicking to Vael, stepping up behind me, one possessive hand on my hip.
“Where are Ell and Lily?” I ask. “Have you seen them? Lily and her partner were with us, but—”
“Enough.” Selene cuts me off with the abrasive word. “They’re luckier than we are.”
I blink at her, confused, but Pol just nods. Selene puts a finger to her lips, which… doesn’t help explain anything.
“Aliens on one side, humans on the other,” Ken appears in front of us, and Selene gives him what might be the most murderous look I have ever seen in my life.
And I’ve seen murderers on trial, so… that’s saying something.
“Choppity hop,” Ken adds, clapping his hands.
“Do you mean chop chop, asshole?” Selene asks drily.
“You leave me no choice,” Ken tells us sadly, and suddenly Vael’s ripped out from behind me, while the other two aliens are removed to the other side of the room.
A wall slams down from the ceiling, slicing directly through the center of the green room.
Lucy and I hold each other, and Selene stands on shaking legs.
Our three Draegon warriors on one side, and leaving Lucy, Selene, and me on the other.
"The viewers feel the female contestants are holding back their emotional venting in the presence of their Draegon partners. Time for your reality TV confessionals, ladies."
Fucking hell.
Muffled roars of the Draegons sound from the other side of the wall, which makes Ken laugh.
“Your muscles are no good in this challenge,” he says. “Ladies, be as disgustingly human as you wish. Turn on the foul water in your eyes.” With that, he disappears.
I turn back to the couch, the weight of my guilt crushing me as I slump onto it.
"I am so sorry," I say, my voice cracking. "I am so, so sorry, Lucy. I dragged you with me. I thought I was saving us all. I thought this was our way out. I didn't know there was a homicidal AI. I did this to you. If anything happens to you…"
The room goes quiet, save for the sound of my ragged breathing. I brace myself for the worst.
Instead, the cushion dips beside me.
Lucy wraps her arm securely around my shoulders, pulling my head down onto her shoulder, while Selene lets out a loud snort.
“Please shut up," Selene tells me.
She cracks a purple melon open with her bare hands.
"What’s done is done. Crying about it is a waste of time.
Besides, you didn't build Ken. There’s no way you could have known what was going to happen.
Earth is fucked, anyway. I wouldn’t have signed up on my own for this, but I also didn’t sign up to get abducted a few years ago.
" She scoops some of the pink flesh out of the melon and chews thoughtfully. “Not bad.” Selene holds out the melon.
Lucy recovers first, shaking her head, then turning to me.
"She's right, Poppy," Lucy tells me, smoothing a lock of hair away from my forehead. "You made some bad choices, yeah, but we signed those papers. We’d talked about doing something like this for years. Was doing it drunk great? No. Could we have said no? Yes. I think we could have. I think we all wanted what this was supposed to be, even if we weren’t ready for the original show, yeah? "
I sniffle. “But it’s so much worse now.”
“Lily and what’s her name, Ellison? They’re alive.” Selene shoves a piece of the pink fruit directly into my mouth. "Now eat. We need the calories if we’re going to fucking get out of here."