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Math equals eh.
“You think I’m letting you out of here to go blab my secret to the universe?”
“And what secret is that, exactly?”
It’s then that I notice our audience. Rena in particular looks very unhappy about my presence and this turn of events.
Chad looks… I can’t tell, actually. His fixed grin says he’s thrilled to see me. His popping eyeballs say he’s not. His hands are too wrapped up in unwanted belts to interpret.
“Who told you we’d be here?” Rena asks, stepping forward.
Not gonna lie, her angry face is a tad more formidable than the previous one that was unraveled by milk.
“No one told me,” I say.
“It was me! I told him! I’m so sorry!” Chad blurts out.
I give him a hard look.
“No you didn’t,” I say, widening my eyes at him. Because he really didn’t.
He reminded me that Jarvis liked belts and would look for a pony store. If anything, his information was more of a misdirection than a hint.
“It’s his eyes! When he looks at you, you just… I don’t know. Look at him,” Chad explains with a groan. “They’re all green and shit and the lashes!”
Oh great. Twelve people are now looking at me and none of us knows why.
I blink, hoping that’s also some magical power.
It’s not.
“Okay. Enough. I’ll take care of this,” Rena says to Jarvis and another woman who is probably the director. “We don’t have much time before Jarvis needs to be back at the venue.”
Fists clenched, eyes narrowed in rage, Jarvis steps like he’s going to come at me, then recoils like someone held him back. Since no one did, it just looks like he walked into an invisible wall.
His gaze is hostile as it fires more daggers in my direction, but he doesn’t move until his assistant, Mallory, takes his arm and directs him around. At that point, he moves so easily he was clearly waiting for someone to do exactly that. Seriously, does he commission a script-writing team to spell out his day every morning? Hey, maybe they would know how many minutes Nash should have waited before reporting to basecamp.
Any hint of amusement fades when Rena’s icy stare lands on me.
“Let’s go.”
She points at the door behind me, and I turn with a deep breath.
Yeah, this is gonna be bad.
23—PITTSBURGH (LARINDA’S BUS)
LARINDA
None of it makes sense and nobody will tell me anything.
I had to perform last night having no idea where Val was or why I hadn’t heard from him. Nash told me on the phone not to worry and they’d explain it all soon, but even he wasn’t going to be able to visit me for a while. He also reminded me not to break up with Jarvis for any reason, and if anything, make a public spectacle of how much I fake-love him.
That seemed impossible, so mostly I’ve done my best to avoid “my fiancé.” Paige is the only one allowed near me, apparently, but even she’s a vault of silence except for the little she’s authorized to say.
“So they’re here?” I ask, crossing my arms.
“In Pittsburgh, yes. But not on site.”
