Chapter 30 #2
“Whoa, slow down,” a familiar voice laughs, and we turn as Jensen strides from the crowd.
He’s wearing a formal red tuxedo with a black shirt and complete with a tiny red bow, and I’m not sure why the bow looks so comical on his large form.
“Leave some for me, ladies,” he adds with a wry grin, grabbing two glasses and draining them both.
“Now who needs to slow down.” I laugh.
He shrugs, placing the empty glasses back on the table before grabbing a third drink. “If this is our last night to relax before the games, then I might as well enjoy it.”
Someone snickers to my right, and the three of us turn to see Satine, Paiton, Izzy, Ian and Ed. Ian has his arm draped across Satine’s shoulders, and they all look at us with disdain.
Ian’s gaze travels along my bare leg, before moving up to my cleavage and going to my face, and Satine tenses.
It clearly bothers her that he’s checking me out, and she pulls her shoulders back, leaning more into Ian as she clears her throat.
I want to tell her that she has nothing to worry about because stealing her man is the last thing I’d want to do, but she starts speaking before I can.
“I have to say I’m surprised, Token,” she says scornfully. “I half-expected you to turn up wearing nothing but your garbage feathers again, but it looks like your horrid outfit at least resembles a dress this time.” Lifting her nose in the air, she looks at Paiton and Izzy who laugh and snicker.
I have to stop myself from rolling my eyes because the woman is just so damn predictable.
“Back off, Satine,” Kenzie bites out, not as relaxed about the insult as I am.
Satine’s lips thin, and she places her hands on her hips. “What did you just say, reject?” she hisses.
“I said, back off,” Kenzie repeats, standing her ground.
I have to say, I’m a little proud. When I’d first met Kenzie, she never would have said a thing, but now she glares at Satine, just daring her to start a fight.
Galen lets out a noise of irritation that whispers across my ears. “Someone remind me why we never killed that one,” he drawls.
“That would be because your mate saved her,” Knox replies coldly.
Oh, riiiight. Yep, that was me. “And I’d do it again,” I defend, not feeling remorseful, even now. I saw what they were doing to Satine in that cell. It’s not like I could have left her there.
“You heard her, Satine,” Jensen says, crossing his arms and staring her down.
Like Ian thinks this is his cue, the man comes forward and cocks his head, eyeing Jensen up and down like a predator sizing up prey.
Which is…laughable considering Jensen is a head taller than him, but hey, it’s not always the size that matters.
“You know, you won’t be able to protect these rejects for long in the games,” Ian says, and there’s a psychotic gleam in his eyes.
“What about that one?” Raith rumbles in my ear. “We could take him out tonight before the games.”
“Yes,” Galen agrees. “I don’t like the way he keeps looking at our treasure. Hmm…we could feed him to the borsk. No one would be the wiser.”
“We’ve discussed this,” Thane growls low, and I’m not surprised he’s the voice of reason. “The samdian would be more inconspicuous. That creature is always hungry.”
I almost choke on my own spit.
“We need strong fighters in the games,” Knox whispers, his voice level, finally saying some sense. “The first challenges are always completed in groups. Not to mention, we need powerful competitors for the queen to focus on.”
The others all grumble, and I grin, not sure why hearing them talking about killing someone for looking at me is making me want to jump them right now. Huh. Talk about unlocking a new kink.
“This Ian guy’s not wrong, though,” Thane says, pulling me from my thoughts. “You won’t be able to rely on Jensen to keep you safe.”
I sigh heavily. “I know, I know, during the games I’ll be on my own.”
“Not only that,” Galen adds. “But there may come a time when survival means killing someone you see as an ally.”
That part makes my stomach twist, but again, it’s not a surprise.
Galen is telling me it as a warning, but I’ve already thought of this, and I already know that if it comes down to it…
I don’t think I would be able to kill either Kenzie or Jensen.
They’ve both helped me at Shadowbone in their own ways, and I mean, what’s the point of making it through the games if I have to kill my friends to get there?
That’s like the equivalent of selling your soul to the devil for eternal life.
Only, unlike in some of my favorite romance books, this devil isn’t some sexy winged man who’s going to give me incredible dick.
At the thought of getting dick, I find myself studying Satine while she watches Jensen and Ian have their little stand-off. Suddenly, the revelation comes to me, and I blurt, “He has a massive dick, doesn’t he?”
Satine and the others jerk their gazes to me, looking completely bewildered.
“What the fuck?” Raith curses in my ear. “Please tell me she said he ‘is’ a massive dick, and not that he ‘has’ one, or that borsk will be gettin’ a meal tonight after all.”
I ignore him, too focused on my current train of thought.
“That’s why you’re with him, isn’t it?” I say to Satine.
“It’s the only explanation. You can’t tell me that you’re with Ian because of his charming personality, and we all know he’s going to turn on you the first chance he gets during the games.
So that leaves…orgasms. Yep. It’s the only explanation. ”
Kenzie stares at me like she’s not sure whether she should be laughing or horrified, and Satine glares at me like I’ve lost my mind, but I know I’m on to something.
Satine can’t be that stupid to trust Ian.
His power is stronger than hers, and while I guess she could be using him for more than just his cock, either way, I think my comment stands.
Ian is grinning now, clearly liking the focus of our conversation, because he thinks I’m giving him a compliment when all I’m trying to do is suss Satine out. He goes back to wrapping his arms around Satine, forgetting about Jensen all together.
Satine narrows her eyes, and she schools her expression, but not before I see the flicker of doubt in her gaze.
Wait…she doesn’t really think he would stick by her in the games, does she?
Disgust fills her expression, and she turns from me, walking away. Paiton and Izzy snicker as they follow after her.
“Watch your backs,” Ian says with a cruel grin as he and Ed leave with them.
I stare at the group as they disappear into the crowd of students.
“A massive dick?” Jensen shakes his head at me and laughs when they’re gone.
Bringing his glass to his lips he downs the contents and grins at us.
“Yeah, we’re all goin’ to fucking die. Wanna dance?
” He places down his empty glass and holds his hands out to me and Kenzie.
Smiling, I politely refuse. My guys are watching me, and I don’t want them seeing me dancing with Jensen.
The last thing I need is them thinking Jensen’s trying to take their girl away from them.
“You sure you’ll be fine over here?” Kenzie asks me reluctantly as she takes Jensen’s other hand.
I gesture to the tower of drinks beside me. “I’ll be just fine.” Servers start filtering into the ballroom, their silver trays filled with canapés, and I add, “And lookie, there’s even snacks.”
Kenzie rolls her eyes and grins, giving me one last look before she lets Jensen lead her to the dance floor. I smile as I watch them, and if it wasn’t for the fact that I know Kenzie has no interest in men, I would have thought they looked perfect together.
As the night wears on, eventually the originals move from their table, walking and chatting amongst the students. I make a point to avoid any original who comes close, subtly weaving between the students, always keeping a good number of bodies between us.
My guys don’t find me, but that’s not surprising.
They’d already said before the dance that they don’t want to single me out.
They’d said something about how the queen already has me on her radar since I was chosen as the Token, and they don’t want her realizing I’m their mate.
Which seems valid because if she finds out I’m their mate, she’d probably want to execute me considering the prophecy.
I’m back to standing by the tower of drinks, shielded from the queen’s gaze by the mass of glasses, and I cover my mouth with my hand as I yawn.
Come on lady, I mumble internally, wishing the queen would finally retire.
I can’t leave until she does, and despite the incredible room, I’m ready to spend the rest of my night with my guys.
“There you are, child!” Elgen’s rasping voice sounds in my mind, almost making me jump.
My eyes flit around the room until I find her and Tarlaz high up on the wall closest to me, hardly noticeable with the moving shadow images of battle scenes playing out around them.
“Nice to see you haven’t made a spectacle of yourself,” Elgen adds. I’m not sure if she’s being sarcastic, but I think I’ve been doing a pretty good job at keeping under the radar, so I’m going to assume she means it as a compliment.
A server approaches carrying a silver tray topped with tiny artistic-looking pieces of food, and before he can pass me, Tarlaz shouts in my head. “Well, don’t let him get away, girl! Look at those morsels. Taste them and tell me what flavors dance on your tongue. You could be dead tomorrow!”
I want to protest at the ‘dead’ part, but his words shock me in to action.
I quickly lean forward, stopping the server before he can leave.
Seriously, it’s like he never intended to stop at all.
“Which one do you want?” I ask Tarlaz, because there are five different types of canapés on the tray, and I have zero idea what any of them are.
“All of them, of course!” Tarlaz replies.
I smile at the server who simply stares at me as I start piling food onto my hand.
As the server turns to leave, Tarlaz rasps, “Don’t forget that little one with the pickled garnish.”
Smiling apologetically, I quickly retrieve one of those as well, and the server finally scurries away like he’s glad to be free of me. “Seriously, what are you going to do without me?” I mutter to Tarlaz.
“A great many things, because you’re winning the games and getting us out of here, child,” Tarlaz replies, his words muffled in my mind like he has something in his mouth.
I turn to where the shadows are on the wall, only to find he has replicated the canapés beside him in shadow form. “Now, let’s start with this one,” he says, and he’s already pretending to eat the shadow canapé with a cone pastry top.
I grin, always appreciating that the shadow loves snacks as much as I do. Reaching for the real cone canapé on my palm, I bite off the top, moaning as the pastry flakes in my mouth.
“Well, don’t hold back now,” Tarlaz urges, staring at me intensely.
I go on to describe the earthy, woody taste of the truffle infused in what tastes like cream cheese and garlic, and the shadow listens to my every word, making strange noises like he’s enjoying consuming it just like I am.
Slowly, I move through the canapés, and when I come to the last one, I pause. “You know, I still don’t understand how you got trapped here. Surely you can’t be the only ones who were on this land when the academy was built? Why hasn’t the queen already freed you?”
“I doubt the queen has had the time to notice us let alone contemplate freeing us from this prison,” Elgen grumbles. “We can’t be sure of the exact reasoning for our predicament, but our hopes still reside in you becoming a champion of the games, girl.”
My brows lift. “Hold on, you can’t be sure? So there could be another reason you’re here?” I ask, surprised.
“We’ve made a calculated guess,” Elgen says. “Why else would we be here? I have no interest in watching children dance around pretending to be warriors before their untimely deaths.”
“You know we’re adults,” I correct, still musing over what she’s said.
“Pshhh,” she answers. “Children in my eyes. No, all that’s important is that we find a way out of here, so we can retire to the depths of the forest and forget this place exists.” She leaves it at that, turning from me and making it clear she’s not going to give me any more of an explanation.
I want to try and pry more out of her, but Tarlaz impatiently urges me to taste the last canapé. “Okay, calm down,” I say to him, laughing. Lifting the morsel, I go to pop it into my mouth, but someone bumps me from behind and the canapé goes flying through the air. Oh, crap.