Chapter Twenty-Six
W andering out of the parlor, I passed by the room with the small library I’d sat in before the Match Selection. A light ran underneath the pictures on the wall, illuminating them and drawing me closer.
Beside the picture from this year, the photo of the Maidens and Knights from the year prior was hung. Along the bottom, names were listed. I didn’t expect to see any I recognized, but one name jumped out. Scanning the row of Knights behind the Maidens, I found Kingston.
He looked different, somehow. His face was more open, although not by much. Blue-gray eyes sparkled even as he stared forward with his back straight and chin lifted.
The image of a future King.
In the front row, the Maidens smiled happily, eager to be a part of The Quest. They had no idea that by the end of it, one of them would be dead. As I stared at each girl’s face, I couldn’t help but wonder which one it was. But two of the girls looked about as out of place as I would’ve been.
Instead of dresses with pearls, one wore ripped jeans and combat boots, her hair streaked with bright colors. The other wore a simple black romper with no necklace and ballet flats. Her dress didn’t appear as fancy as the others.
I instantly wanted to know which Knights had picked them.
But footsteps sounded in the doorway and distracted me.
Kingston walked inside the room with a secret smile that weakened my knees. I glanced between him and the door, unsure if we had to worry about being found alone in the room. But if he wasn’t concerned, I assumed I didn’t need to be. Plus, if anyone came to the door, they’d just find two people admiring the class photos.
Totally normal and not suspicious.
If they didn’t pay attention to who the people were.
Stepping up behind me, Kingston dropped his head close to my ear, and his slow inhale of breath stole mine. “You look beautiful tonight,” he whispered. “I can’t tell you how relieved I am that you’re alright.”
My back thrummed with energy at his nearness, relief filling my heart at what he said—at the possibility there really was an explanation for everything—and hope that he was about to share answers I desperately needed.
“I have to admit, staying away from you has proven harder than I expected it to be.”
When he didn’t say anything, I turned my head toward his, inadvertently brushing my cheek against his nose.
He pressed his lips to my skin, the barest hint of a kiss before he pulled back.
I couldn’t help leaning back into him. “So, you were intentionally keeping your distance? This whole time?”
“Yes.”
I searched his face for answers. “And now…”
He ran his fingers down the bare skin of my arm, drawing out goose bumps. My body tingled everywhere his aligned with mine, and my eyes fell closed.
“Now, I wish I could openly show you how much I’ve been longing to touch you.”
My heart fell. “You mean, you still have to stay away?” I stepped forward so I could turn around to face him fully. “Kingston, please tell me you can give me some answers. I need more than this. More than cryptic notes and brief moments of contact.”
I ran my hand through my hair, tugging at my scar without thinking, but the possibility of being disappointed and left with nothing weighed heavily on my mind.
“You’ve been like a ghost haunting me through the first thirty days, Kingston. Telling me you’ll see but showing me nothing. Except that you don’t have a problem being nice to the girl who tried to drown me in the fucking lake.”
His jaw clenched at the mention of Vivian, but he stayed silent, which was good because I still had plenty to say.
“I was attacked. The Knight I thought I could trust, because you vouched for him over and over again, stood up in front of everyone and said he didn’t believe in me. I came back to find you cozied up with the girl who held my head underwater while Landon stared at me like?—”
I shook my head, cutting off thoughts of Landon to focus on Kingston. He waited, head bowed and tension lining his face, as I got everything off my chest. As I spoke, he lifted his eyes to the photo on the wall, hands clasped behind his back and his mask slipping with every word I said.
“Then, I get your note, and I’m left to question everything all over again. On top of that, I’ve been drugged, and now, everyone knows I’m fine, including whoever did it. Don’t you see how impossible it would be for anyone to hold on through that?”
When I finished, a sad smile lingered on his face. His eyes met mine as he admitted, “I do. Of course, I do. And every time I’ve said I was right about you, it’s because I’ve known no one else but you would be able to do it. To hold on without answers. Or find the signs and clues I’ve tried to leave you.”
He took my wrist and touched my bracelet, fingers playing with the small charms, and something nagged at the back of my brain, but I couldn’t grasp what it was.
Kingston let out a heavy sigh. “That doesn’t mean I want to keep you in the dark. I swear to you, love, it’s quite the opposite. But there are some things I can’t tell you without putting you in even more danger. More than I already have just by picking your application out of that pile.”
He glanced at the photo briefly before shaking his head.
“Is there anything you can tell me? Or…at the very least, can you tell me when you’ll be able to share more?”
“Once everyone moves into Pendragon, I have ways we can move and speak more freely. I can arrange a time and place for us to meet. I promise I’ll share as much as I possibly can. But if that’s all I can share tonight, knowing I’ll tell you as much as possible but can’t share everything this weekend...Can you hold on through the end?”
“This weekend?”
He nodded. His eyes pleaded with me to understand. To hold on a little longer. “Yes.”
Could I let that be enough for now?
It wasn’t an issue to give it a few days, but knowing there would still be secrets, could I continue The Quest and wait until he shared everything?
Truthfully, I thought I could.
But someone was still out to get me, and the question of if I’d be taken out by them first weighed on my mind.
I couldn’t ignore it.
At my prolonged silence, Kingston released my wrist and stepped back. “I’d also understand if you wanted to leave. I know you’re supposed to be locked in with the appeal to get the prize money, but…” He let out a heavy breath. “I could take care of that. Cover the prize and let you walk away from Camelot Court before all this goes any further.”
My eyebrows rose, and he forced a tight smile, offering me an out that didn’t leave me with nothing.
“You’d really do that?”
“If it was what you wanted, yes. I could let you go to keep you safe.”
I stared at the way his shoulders bent toward me, picturing a weight there I hadn’t seen before. At the same time, I sensed the weight of eyes on me that hadn’t been there before.
Torn between the hope for answers and the fear of an unseen threat, I didn’t know which one was stronger.
And I needed more time.
Blowing out a heavy breath, I glanced back at the door leading to the parlor, where a celebration had begun now that the Honor Challenge was over. I still had to choose where to go tonight, if both Max and Landon didn’t come back to the cabin with me.
“Can I think about it?” I finally asked. “Meet you this weekend to get some answers and decide from there?”
“Yes, Quinn. Of course. Take all the time you need. Just—Promise me something?”
I arched my eyebrow. “Something else?”
Before Kingston could respond, Merle rounded the corner and found us.
“Kingston?” He glanced between us, his lips pressing together as he narrowed his eyes. “I hope I’m not interrupting.”
But the way he said it convinced me he certainly did.
“Not at all,” Kingston responded smoothly. “Lady Everly had a question about the living situation for the next challenge, given her attack at the hands of some of the Maidens. I was about to address that when you walked in.”
“Ah, right. Yes, Miss Everly, we plan to make sure your room is at the closest end of the hall in case you need anything, while Miss Valencourt and Miss Astolat will stay at the far end. You’ll share a room with Miss Gold, if that’s acceptable?”
My eyebrows rose. “Oh, I hadn’t realized we’d be sharing rooms, but yes. That sounds fine, I guess. Thank you, both.”
Glancing between him and Kingston, I couldn’t help but ask, “There’s no way I could take you up on those accommodations early, is there? I’d just…feel safer somewhere else, I think.”
Kingston tilted his head.
But Merle responded, his tone a little snide after I’d shut him down in the parlor. “Unfortunately, those rooms at Pendragon aren’t ready at this time.” He tilted his head. “There is a room in the back of the house, but?—”
“No,” I blurted. “No, thank you. I’d prefer not.”
“Well, then, you’ll need to stay in the cabins another night.”
“Yes, but…” Kingston chimed in, his eyes narrowed on Merle. “If you feel safer, after the most recent incident, Landon could stay with you.”
I wondered if the look in Kingston’s eyes had to do with Merle’s offer. If Kingston knew that room was creepy as fuck.
Blue-gray eyes met mine. “I promise you’ll be safe, but if an extra pair of eyes makes you more comfortable, he can stay with you and Max.”
“In my son’s cabin?” Merle interjected before I could respond, pulling mine and Kingston’s attention to him. “I assumed now that the challenge was over, she’d move to Landon’s cabin.”
Kingston stiffened. “I believe that decision is up to her.”
Merle stared at Kingston, red faced and clearly annoyed. “Right. Yes, of course.”
Kingston slid his eyes back to mine, something pointed in his stare that I couldn’t make sense of.
“It’s your choice.”
Nodding to him, I tried to hide the confusion on my face. “I understand. Thank you, Kingston.”
Was that what he’d wanted me to promise him? Like earlier, had he wanted me to stay with them at all times?
I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t think trying to figure out what he meant in front of Merle was a smart option, though.
“I’ll just go and find my Knights, then.”
Kingston nodded.
Unsure what else to do, I crossed one ankle behind the other and bent my knee quickly. Then, I died of embarrassment over that weird little curtsy, leaving the room as fast as possible.
* * *
After a segue to the bathroom, where I sat in the stall for way longer than was necessary to collect my thoughts, I went back to the parlor.
Kingston’s offer replayed in my mind, and the question of what threat lurked in the shadows couldn’t be quieted. It was obviously big enough that Kingston offered to fork over twenty-five thousand dollars like it was Monopoly money.
Which, maybe to him, it was.
But fear lingered in the back of my mind.
Still, the promise of answers and one hundred thousand dollars— okay, and other things—kept me from calling the nearest rideshare as soon as we got back to the cabin. Besides, when I got there, I’d be with my Knights, and the possibility for some answers wasn’t completely off the table.
If they didn’t kill each other first.
When I stepped into the parlor, Landon and Max stood on opposite sides of the room. Both stared at the doorway, and their expressions changed as soon as I walked inside.
Their combined relief lit me up like a goddamn glowworm.
Since it was technically his cabin, I glanced at Max first, tipping my head to the exit. He turned and shot a smug glare at Landon, because the dickhead just couldn’t help himself, before I could give Landon the signal, too.
I tried to get Max’s attention with my death glare, but when the smug look on his face melted away, I searched the parlor before I narrowed my eyes back on him, trying to figure out what was wrong.
But I couldn’t tell if he was concerned, confused, or just extra cocky.
He rubbed the back of his head, a habit I’d only seen him do when he was nervous or unsure, as he glanced back to where Landon was. His brow dipped lower, like he didn’t know what to make of the emotions or thoughts running through him.
“What is it?”
“Nothing, I just—” He snapped his mouth shut, expression morphing quickly into his usual brooding one. “Nope. Not my problem. You ready to get out of here?”
“Yeah, but I need?—”
I glanced past him.
But Landon, with whatever Max must’ve seen on his face or seen him doing, was gone.