Chapter Four
“Q uinn?”
I glared at the hand on my arm, refusing to acknowledge its owner until she removed it. Almost immediately after I entered the parlor, I’d been accosted by one of the last people I wanted to see. Let alone be touched by.
Yes, that list of people had grown exponentially in the last few days. But the Maiden who’d played nice until going full mean girl and attacking me? She was high on the list.
And as far as speaking to her?
No fucking thanks.
When Elaine clearly didn’t get the memo, I yanked my arm out of her pink-polished grip.
“I’m sorry.” She tucked a bouncy blonde curl behind her ears. “I was just trying to get your attention.”
“Oh, I think you did that just fine the other night, Elaine.”
Her cheeks reddened. “I—Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t know Vivian was going to take it that far.”
“And yet, you still held my arms and let her do it. You’ll have to excuse me if your apology doesn’t mean jack shit to me.”
I scanned the room for an exit strategy, but the pledges closed the doors to the parlor before I could escape.
Yeah. The place had a parlor.
Because a massive lakeside estate didn’t scream extravagant wealth clearly enough without all the bells and whistles.
Elaine sighed, fidgeting with her red dress. “That’s fair. It’s not like I really expected you to see my side in all this anyway.”
My eyes rolled so aggressively that I glimpsed the back of my skull. “Mm hm.”
“I’ve been into him since I was thirteen, Quinn. We practically grew up together. And this whole thing? Me and the rest of the Maidens grew up hearing about The Quest. We came here with expectations, and I saw this as my first real chance to get to know him. A lot of Maidens wind up with their Knights after graduation. You know, married and happy.”
I blinked at her but said nothing.
“I was upset when it didn’t play out that way. When I overheard Vivian and Inez talking about getting rid of you, I thought they just meant getting you eliminated from The Quest. I didn’t expect—I never thought they meant all that.”
I wasn’t exactly sure how that justified anything, but I didn’t bother pointing that out. Her apology wasn’t for me. It was just to appease her guilt, which I confirmed when she kept talking, clearly unbothered by my lack of response.
“I just wanted you to know I’m sorry,” she said without a hint of remorse.
“Noted.”
Elaine’s face grew redder. “You don’t have to be like that.”
I tilted my head, my brow furrowing.
Was she for real?
She huffed. “If you’re just going to be a bitch about it, then forget it. I’m still hoping I get paired with him anyway, so.”
Worst. Apology. Ever.
Deciding I’d had enough of her, I turned to walk away.
Unfortunately, I made it two steps before crashing into the Knight in question. As I slammed into Landon’s chest, my hands flew up reflexively, and I grabbed his shoulders.
His arm came around my waist.
He inhaled sharply, tightening his grip. And I couldn’t breathe. Dark amber eyes drank in my features, and he fisted my dress where he’d grabbed it at my hip.
And I couldn’t fucking breathe.
“Let me go.” I flattened my palms against his chest, pushing back as he opened his mouth to speak. “No. No, you don’t get to say anything to me. Let me fucking go.”
“I can’t.”
I pushed harder, my heart jackhammering in my chest. “No.” My eyes, my throat—everywhere he touched me ached. “I yield, Landon. I yield .”
He released me, reaching for me as I jerked away from him. “Quinn, I?—”
My back hit a wall.
“There a problem here?”
Max Dread. I never thought his presence would bring me relief, but there it was. I spun around to find him glaring at Landon.
“I—Ladies’ room. I was trying to find?—”
Max pointed to a set of oak doors to my left, his eyes still trained over my head.
And like a total badass, I ran away as fast as I could.
Ducking into the first open stall, I sat down, without even bothering to lift my dress, and put my head in my hands.
But I refused to cry. Again .
I refused to crumple into tiny pieces after pulling myself together. Not here. Not now. Ideally, not ever again.
Breathing shakily, I sat there until the tightness in my chest eased. I wanted my inhaler, but Landon had taken that from me, too.
This wasn’t asthma. And it wasn’t trauma.
It was heartbreak.
I pulled out my phone and dialed Gia on a video call.
She answered on the second ring, huffing like she’d run a marathon. “I was peeing and left my phone on the couch, sorry! What’s wrong? What happened? Who do I need to castrate?”
I laughed, sniffling and grabbing some toilet paper to dry the corners of my eyes, and gave my best attempt at a smile.
Gia laser focused on that, her worried frown deepening. “What do you need?”
My voice shook. “Tell me I’m a bad bitch and I’ve totally got this again?”
“You’re the baddest bitch. And you’ve absolutely totally got this.”
I nodded.
But then my face crumpled again. “I don’t feel like a bad bitch, and I don’t know if I’ve got this.”
Tears welled in my eyes, and I blinked them away furiously.
Gia released a heavy sigh, her face overflowing with sympathy when I finally cleared my vision enough to see her. “You don’t have to be one, either, Quinn. You can come home right now and forget all about that place and those DOUSes.”
“Wait, what?”
“Dicks of unusual size! DOUS. Though, maybe we’ll call them Dickheads of Unparalleled Size. So it’s very clearly an insult.”
“I like it.” I gave her a wobbly smile, grateful for the attempt at making me feel better using The Princess Bride , even if it hadn’t completely worked. “Love you.”
“Love you more. And you can walk away at any time. You know that, right?”
“I know. But I came because I wanted to show them—I wanted to prove to myself that I could do this whether he or any of them believed I could or not. I know I can do it. And I’m not leaving until I do.”
“That’s fair.”
“Plus, I really need the money.”
“Hear! Hear!”
My chin wobbled. “I just…I thought I was angry enough to face him. I thought I could do this without letting them get to me.”
Gia’s hazel eyes widened before she schooled her features. “So, he didn’t…”
“He didn’t say a word.”
She grimaced. “Well, I don’t want to say I told you so, but…”
“Yeah, yeah. But you told me so.”
“Yeah, but Quinn, you’re allowed to be a bad bitch and still want answers. Or be hurt by what he did. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. So, it’s okay to have moments like this. And my offer still stands to castrate them.”
“I’ve got you on speed dial if it comes to that.”
I stood up and straightened my dress. Checking my makeup in the tiny image of my face on the screen, I dabbed at the remnants of Gia’s eyeliner.
“You look beautiful. Now, check the zipper pocket inside your clutch, touch up your makeup, and go make those idiots rue the day they picked you as a Maiden.”
“As you wish.”
We shared a quick laugh and said goodbye. And I readied myself for the Match Selection. Digging into my clutch, I found a surprise in the zipper pocket.
A small tube of lipstick.
Flipping it upside down, I read the name Vicious Trollop , and burst out laughing. I applied it to my lips, snapped a selfie, and texted it to Gia.
She replied back in seconds. “You’re a vicious trollop. You’re a vicious trollop!” And, in my head, I heard her mimicking Lorelai Gilmore.
My resolve strengthened. Bad bitch energy restored, I went back out into the parlor.
Max Dread stood by the door with his arms crossed over his chest. He clocked my entrance but didn’t say a word.
When I spotted Landon across the parlor, talking heatedly to Kingston, I headed in the opposite direction.
As I stood off to the side, everyone else gathered in the center of the room for Kingston’s welcome speech.
“Welcome, everyone, to the Honor Challenge. Over the next six days, each of our Maidens will be paired with a different Knight. During this time, the Maidens must resist the temptation to give in to their new Knight, staying faithful to the one who chose them.”
Taking that as my cue to block out the rest, which maybe wasn’t the best idea in hindsight, I waited for the selection to begin. I zoned back in when Kingston’s speech ended and the first Knight stepped beside him to pick a Maiden.
And because fate decided to not even build up the tension a little bit before totally fucking me, Max Dread walked to the bowl of names and pulled out the first scrap of paper. He unfolded it and read the name to himself.
Slowly, his mouth twisted into a smirk.
And his eyes met mine across the room.
“Quinn Everly.” He crooked a finger at me, which I pointedly ignored. “Looks like you’re mine, Princess.”
A glass shattered.
Everyone turned their heads, but I kept my eyes on Max, narrowing them on his cocky grin. But before I could puzzle out if he’d found a way to rig the drawing, the Maidens making a fuss over the broken glass, now embedded in Landon’s hand, pulled my focus. I ignored the impulse to see for myself initially, but bleeding on the carpet snagged my attention. Unfortunately.
With a towel around his hand, Landon pinned Max with eyes radiating hatred.
When they jumped to me, I quickly turned away.
Digging the glass shards in further, I walked over to Max and took my place beside him before meeting Landon’s gaze. But the broken expression on his face didn’t make me feel better.
Not even a little bit.
Refusing to show that, I lifted my chin and looked away. Max huffed a laugh by my side, slinging an arm over my shoulder.
My body tensed.
I glanced back at Landon, heart pounding.
His eyes flashed with pain and anger, searing through me before cutting across the room. He stalked over to the bowl and pulled out a scrap of paper.
Then, he stormed out.
The name of his Maiden fluttered to the floor behind him.
“Never took you for a petty one, Princess.”
I shrugged out from under his arm. “You know nothing about me, Max.”
He assessed me from the corner of his eye as I put distance between us. “Good thing we’ve got six days to change that.”
I kept my tone as dry as possible. “Lucky me.”
“Lucky me, too. I hope.”
He deserved to have that shit-eating grin smacked off his face, but instead, I ignored his attempt to bait me. I rolled my eyes as one of the Maidens picked up the discarded slip of paper Landon had pulled from the bowl.
She read it and searched the room for his new Maiden.
And because fate was a total fucking bitch, she walked right over to Elaine and delivered the good news.