Chapter 55

The breath punched from my lungs. Linda maybe hadn’t eavesdropped on everything, but she had definitely heard that Nicholas and I had once dated.

“I imagine that information would be quite problematic if it was to be publicly known.” With a sway of her hips, Linda sauntered closer.

Problematic was an understatement, especially with the King’s threat on my life.

Nicholas narrowed his eyes. “What do you want, Linda?”

“Straight to the point, aren’t you?” Linda said.

“I don’t like games.”

She shrugged. “Fine. Listen, I’m not unreasonable. I’d be happy to keep this information quiet if I’m given the proper motivation.”

Nicholas crossed his arms. “And what would that entail?”

She tilted her head, a smile on her lips. “I want you to publically favor me. I want private dates, sitting beside each other at banquets, first dances at the balls. All of it. And when the time comes, maybe you’ll consider me for the finale.”

I curled my hands into fists. How could she be so underhanded as to use this information, wrongfully overheard, in such a way? Had she no shame?

But I couldn’t say a word against it, with the King’s threat hanging over me. As much as I wanted to tell Linda to buzz off, if she shared what she’d learned, I would be in the worst kind of trouble.

Nicholas, meanwhile, had no sense of my dilemma. All he could see was this person before him trying to garner ill-begotten gains.

“I won’t be blackmailed,” he said, glaring.

Linda, unfazed, tapped her finger to her chin. “I suppose the secret being out wouldn’t affect your princely reputation. Yet I’m sure you can imagine what it might mean for Piper.”

Nicholas glanced at me. The blood drained from my face.

“She’d likely be kicked out of the competition for unfair advantage,” Linda continued. “You two have a history. It’s difficult to compete with that.”

Nicholas’s fierce gaze sliced back to Linda. “Maybe it’s you that I will see leave this competition.”

“Then I go straight to the press with what I know. I bet I’ll be on all the talk shows. Truly, I can’t wait.”

Nicholas fell silent.

Fear struck through me. Was there really no escaping this?

“I’ll give you until the eve of the next challenge to make your choice,” Linda said. “Else I’ll tell everyone on broadcast everything that I heard.” She swiveled on her heel, facing the door. “Think about it, won’t you? I eagerly away your decision.”

After she left, Nicholas and I stood there in silence for a long moment.

“I’m not ashamed of our past,” Nicholas said, after a while. He turned toward me again, but did not move to close the large gap between us. “But I worry what it would mean for you, for the world to know about it.”

“You shouldn’t have to be with someone like this.”

I was frightened, yes, but I couldn’t let Linda walk all over Nicholas and push him into a potential marriage, just to hide our secret. The King could make good on his threats, I knew that. But Linda would never stop. She’d just want more and more.

“You should be able to be with someone you love,” I said.

Nicholas sighed. “Piper. This competition has never had anything to do with love.”

I shook my head, refusing to believe that. The princes were searching for their mates. That meant tenderness and affection. At the very least, a basis of friendship from which more feelings could grow.

It was just too sad to think otherwise, that the princes were here as pawns like the rest of us. That none of this really meant anything.

“The candidate that has the best Luna qualities will be the one chosen,” Nicholas said. “That is all that matters.”

“No. You have to be with someone you love.” I did not give Nicholas up just to have him be miserable the rest of his life. I left him to protect him, so that he could have opportunities later to meet and be with someone better than me.

Linda was not that person.

Yet… the King’s threats kept me from saying as much.

“That’s not the way the world works, Piper. At least not within the palace walls.” He faced the balcony railing, and looked out into the darkness. “If playing this game with Linda keeps you and Elva here and safe, then that is as good a reason as any for me to follow through.”

I absolutely hated that I had no other choice but to let him.

“I’ll respect your wishes in this,” he said. “Whatever you want is what I’ll do.”

He had to do it, or the King might have me killed. All I had to do was tell him so, even though I truly didn’t want to.

If I was alone in this world, I would tell him to turn her down flat. As it was, I had Elva. Elva needed her mother. I couldn’t afford to be reckless with her care in jeopardy.

Yet the words he waited for did not come easily. I tried several times but could not force myself to say them.

Instead, after a few agonizing minutes, I said, “We should think about it. Linda gave us some time. Let’s use it.”

He tilted his face toward me. The moonlight reflected in his eyes, and they sparkled, golden and bright.

The thought of Linda getting to see him like this made me want to scream. With how she was acting, she didn’t deserve to have him, even for one evening. Certainly not all of them.

“We’ll need to have an answer the night before the challenge,” he said. He was giving me time then.

I exhaled in relief. I hadn’t realized that I hadn’t held my breath.

“I’ll have one before then,” I said, and hoped I wasn’t lying.

Shortly later, after I wiped my eyes and practiced my smile, we returned to the party. The orchestra had set up by now, and the King had finished with his private audiences. The King and Queen were now seated in their thrones.

Several of the girls had begun dancing on the floor with some of the honored guests who had been allowed to attend tonight. Most were personal friends of the King and Queen. Although a few celebrities were also present.

“To bring up the ratings,” Nicholas told me.

Julian was in the middle of the floor, dancing with one of the girls who had chosen to earn his favor during the elimination ceremony. When he spotted Nicholas and me, he ditched her right in the middle of their dance and came toward us.

She didn’t seem all that upset, as Julian’s Beta Brian immediately guided her into the waiting arms of another single dancer. For him to have acted so quickly, Brian must have anticipated Julian’s every move.

It certainly brought Julian’s behavior into question. Not that it was particularly shocking to find out he was treating the girls so fleetingly.

Julian walked to us. I thought he might have something to say about our disappearance. If anyone would have noticed, it would have been him. But he just smirked as he glanced between us.

“The music’s started,” he said then. “The dances have begun.”

“We can see and hear fine,” Nicholas grumbled.

“I suppose you can,” Julian laughed. “Forgive my clumsy words. I merely wished to lead into a question.”

Nicholas narrowed his eyes.

“What question would that be?” I asked, though I had a sneaking suspicion. Though surely even Julian wouldn’t be so shameless as to ask me for a dance when I was clearly speaking with his brother.

Weren’t there rules about such things?

Then again, Julian never seemed to care for the rules.

Julian, fully facing me, bowed low. He held out his hand. “Miss Piper, would you give me the honor of this dance?”