14 Harmless Boxes of Circuitry and Lenses #2
“Care to elaborate on that huh ?” Temmi would blame the alcohol for making her salty, but in all fairness, she wouldn’t have acted any differently sober. She really needed to learn to bite her tongue. The irony of the empire making her a diplomat would never not be funny.
Arbora set her flute in a cupholder made to accommodate the thin glass stem. Slowly, she removed her legs from atop the mini bar. “Ever seen the clip of the two of you? The one that prompted your being cast?”
Temmi shook her head. She’d never had any desire to relive the embarrassment.
Arbora tapped the CB on her left wrist. After a brief moment of uncomfortable silence, the CB projected a three-dimensional holo.
Temmi cringed when a miniature version of herself jumped from her trash truck and stalked toward what were obviously the imperial heirs.
She couldn’t watch this without wanting to shrivel and die.
But she also couldn’t look away. To think this was immortalized on the internet’s hivemind, that nearly every citizen across seven solar systems had seen it . . .
A miniature Spie, looking like a goddamn goddess, said, “You’re cute, in a grimy sort of way.”
Nausea made Temmi set down her wine. She needed real alcohol. Stuff strong enough to make her black out and forget.
“Are you shitting me right now? Are you some kind of...narcissist?”
Mini-Temmi wore an expression of barely restrained anger, her dark blue curls escaping her low queue and frizzing uncontrollably.
Mini-Spie’s mouth curled in amusement. Watching it back, Temmi’s stomach performed a little flip.
In her memory, she hadn’t been standing that close to Spie, but the holo made it clear that only inches separated them.
Arbora tapped her CB, and the image paused. “See that right there? Chemistry .” She let the word hang like an accusation.
Was mortification going to be the norm from there on out?
With a second tap, the holo vanished.
Temmi had no response. At least, not one that preserved her dignity.
Because, loathsomely, Arbora was right. The two people in that clip had looked ready to fight or kiss.
Or both. And the more Temmi protested her lack of attraction for Spie Expani, the more she felt that annoying swoop in her gut, the one that made her wonder how soft the princess’s lips would feel running down her throat.
...Fucking hell, she didn’t even like the woman.
“Can I ask you a question?” Temmi needed to go on the offensive, needed to get away from thoughts about the deftness of Spie Expani’s fingers beneath the waistband of the ship doctor’s slacks....
Arbora shrugged one shoulder. “So long as we’re acquainting ourselves with one another.”
“You’ve dated Spie, right? You two have real history, not just two minutes of unfortunate footage in a back alley?
” Temmi would be lying if she said she wasn’t curious about what that history entailed, but she needed info on Nicky, not Spie.
“I’d ask why you’re here, but I assume it’s the same reason as all of us: leverage, power, money. ”
“You forgot to mention a second chance at true love.” Arbora’s smile lit her eyes.
Temmi couldn’t discern if she was joking. “A second chance at halfway decent sex, maybe. True love isn’t real.”
“That’s quite the negative assumption to make of Spie’s skills in bed. But you’re wrong; love’s real. Now, whether it’s possible within an unequal power dynamic—”
“You loved her? Spie?”
“You never asked your original question.” Arbora reached down and removed her high heels one at a time. They were white, strappy things. Death traps.
“My question was going to be about Nix. But you’re not very forthcoming, are you?”
Arbora placed the heels on the empty seat beside her. “Not with people I don’t trust. I came to win, Artemis of the X-planets. You’re young, aren’t you? Your promos put you somewhere near twenty.”
“I’m twenty-two.” Temmi bristled at the insinuation that she was na?ve.
She was anything but. Could run circles around most professors when it came to organic and biochemical theories.
Not to mention the way half a year in an adult prison as a juvenile matured a person.
“How have you seen the promos? My commbridge restricts online access.”
“Then get yourself a better CB.” The amusement in Arbora’s expression evaporated, the corners of her wide mouth drawing flat.
“My point is you’re inexperienced. To be completely transparent, I’m trying to understand what you’re doing here at all.
I’d assumed Spie wanted you. She’d do almost anything to piss off her mother.
Yes, even go so far as to marry a fringe dweller with a criminal record who never graduated secondary school. ”
Temmi got the uneasy impression she was seeing the woman behind the public persona.
And she didn’t like her. “You didn’t help me out there for sportsmanship.
You did it for the cameras. And you played the holo to vet my intentions on the show.
” Temmi was out of her depth. Equations, she could do.
Theories, hell yes. But relationships? Emotions?
Understanding the backstabbing politics that went into a dating show?
“Now you’re thinking critically. Look, Artemis. I’m not out to make you my enemy. But there will be twenty-four of us in the manor. Only two winners. And I can tell you right now that you won’t be one of them. Not when Nix is already spoken for.”
“Already spoken for? What’s that supposed to mean?” The CB on Temmi’s wrist vibrated silently. She ignored it, her gaze focused intently on Arbora.
The other woman picked up her flute. She held it daintily between thumb and forefinger, the beige liquid within sloshing as the Cavaller accelerated and decelerated.
The flute, still as full as when Temmi had entered the vehicle, was more for show than refreshment.
Arbora hadn’t been stupid enough to sacrifice mental acuity for the comfort of drink.
Unlike Temmi, who’d played right into her hands.
I am na?ve, Temmi realized. But I’m also a quick learner.
And what she’d learned was that she needed someone like Arbora on her side.
Someone clever who knew how to act in front of a camera, who could play people’s emotions.
“It means you have no concept of imperial politics. Nicky’s going to wed the New Terran knockoff princess—not exactly public knowledge, so be grateful I’m sharing it with you.
Point is, if you want any chance of winning this thing, you’d do well to focus on Spie.
Not that you stand any real chance there, either. ”
Temmi considered this. But she hadn’t come on Love Galaxy to win.
She merely needed to stick it out until the final eight—one million credits was more than enough to change her family’s lives.
And, even if by some miracle she survived to the finale to collect her second million, she didn’t expect Nicky to pick her.
Who he married was ultimately irrelevant to her goals.
Love Galaxy wasn’t a dating game, as she’d assumed only weeks before. It was a game in power and politics. In choosing the right allies. She tilted her head at the closed partition separating her and Arbora from the driver’s cab. “How much do you suppose they can hear?”
Arbora glanced at the partition, then back at Temmi. “It’s always best to assume they can hear everything.”
“Then I’d suggest you come a little closer.”
Arbora pursed her lips, a hint of that earlier amusement returning, and set down her champagne flute. She ducked her head and stepped, half-crouching, from her vertical bench to Temmi’s horizontal one. Her doubly pierced eyebrow flew up in question.
Temmi lowered her voice to less than a whisper. “Spie’s paying me to be here for her brother’s benefit. Which makes me off-limits to her. I don’t need Nicky to pick me, only keep me around for a while. Which, incidentally, makes me your perfect ally.”
The confession was a gamble. Temmi wasn’t a good liar, so honesty was her best option. And though she’d consumed more alcohol than was wise, she wasn’t drunk. She was just playing the game. Sometimes, that required showing your hand.
Arbora pulled back. “Now, that’s interesting.
” Her lips drew into a sensuous smile. How often had Spie Expani kissed those lips?
Nope, bad question. Sober Temmi would never think that.
Sober Temmi didn’t question her sexuality.
Arbora lifted a hand to fiddle with one of the rings in her eyebrow.
A golden hoop with at least a two-centimeter radius. “You’ve genuinely surprised me.”
“I’m new to all this. Help me navigate the show and I’ll help you with Spie—through Nix.”
Arbora’s fingers paused on her eyebrow ring. “I’ll think about it.”
“But I just—”
“You just gave yourself the best chance you’ll have of allying with the person most likely to win Spie Expani’s hand. I’m impressed, X-girl. But keep some secrets to yourself while we’re still around listening ears, yeah?” She rose, hopping back to her bench.
Temmi exhaled slowly. Her cheeks were flushed, her chest buzzing with nervous energy. Had that been a mistake? Would Arbora keep her secret? Or would Temmi be kicked out before the show officially began?
Her CB vibrated again, and this time, she tapped its surface. Two messages populated in the air, one after the other.
Unknown: Be careful who you trust.
Unknown: See you soon.
Temmi did a double take, looking over her shoulder, even though there was nothing behind her but the car’s rear window.
Only Kalvin, Blessing Stone, and Manny had her CB’s bridge frequency, and this wasn’t from any of them.
“Everything all right?” Arbora asked.
Temmi didn’t answer her fellow contestant, instead letting her gaze drift to the Cavaller’s window. The blurred world was slowing, the view solidifying into groves of gnarled trees. A manicured lawn. A sprawling, four-turreted mansion backed by coastline. Temmi had never seen an ocean. Trees. Life.
No , she thought, finishing her second glass of wine and already reaching for a third, everything is far from all right.