Oh, boy. Normally, I would be excited by the idea of a new game, but now that Ryder is here, I find myself being more nervous than excited.
“What’d you come up with?” Akari asks as she props herself up on her right elbow.
“Okay, so it’s called Truth or Consequence.” Amaya reveals a small bag and reaches into it, pulling out a piece of paper. “We’ll go around one at a time and pull out a piece of paper with a question on it. You have two choices: answer the question honestly or flip it over and do the consequence listed on the back. Of course, there’s a magical twist to it. I had one of the luminaries spell each paper. Once you pick out your question, you have to fulfill the task. Should you try to get out of it, the spell will trigger a sort of temporary truth serum that will activate and make you spill the truth whether you want to or not.”
She seems far too pleased with herself as the rest of us look to each other with a bit of wariness. The only one who seems to be thrilled about the added magical pressure is Emeric.
Amaya holds the red, velvet bag out in front of her. “So, who wants to go first?”
Emeric is already reaching for the bag before she has a chance to call someone out. I’m hoping I can go after a few people, so I at least know what to expect.
“Wow! Okay, so this is not what I was expecting,” Emeric tells the group.
“What’s it say?” his brother probes.
“Out of everyone in the group, whose ass do you think you could kick the easiest?” Em looks at each of us before stopping on Zane. “Sorry, dude. It’s gotta be you.”
Zane’s jaw drops, and he pretends to look overly offended. “Honestly, that’s fair considering everyone else in this group.”
“See, that wasn’t so bad!” Amaya says, passing the bag to Kane. “Your turn.”
“Here goes nothing,” he quips, reaching his hand in. “Who do you think puts on the biggest front? Hmm. I don’t know you all as much as you know each other, but there is someone here who I thought I knew until recently. I was pleasantly surprised, however, to find out that there was more than just a ruthless, dark prince behind those threatening shadows.”
Kane nods to Ryder, who offers one in return as if to say “touché.”
“I think Amaya should go next,” Zane insists, and we all agree.
“Fine!” She sticks her tongue out at us and pulls out a slip of paper. “Oh, no.”
“What’s it say?” Akari demands as the suspense builds.
“Who do you think is the biggest liar of the group? Yeah… I’m gonna have to go with Consequence on this one.” She turns over the piece of paper and reads it aloud. “You must now do your best impression of each person.”
By the end of her performance, we’re caught in a fit of laughter. Amaya can barely pull herself together to finish, but she finds a way. The only person not crying with laughter is Ryder, but even he can’t resist bursting out when Amaya impersonates Emeric. She takes a dramatic bow before sitting back down.
“Well done!” Akari cheers with a round of applause.
“Your turn, Bestie.” Amaya tosses me the bag of questions with a sinister grin that reignites my nerves.
I hesitantly reach into the bag and pull out my question. Before I even read it out loud, I glare at my evil sister. She only shrugs, attempting to appear innocent.
“Go on, Reign. What’s it say?” Kane urges.
I run the slip of paper through my fingers to straighten it. “Tell the person sitting two to your left how you truly feel about them.”
I don’t know how Amaya pulled this one off, but if I had to assume, there must be some magical spell that made it to where I was the one to get this question. Amaya isn’t the only one to blame, though. I can see by the smile Emeric is trying and failing to hide that he played his part when he motioned for Ryder to sit next to him.
“Well, what’s it going to be? Truth? Or Consequence?” Amaya chirps from the other side of Ryder, who looks just as uncomfortable as I do.
“Consequence,” I answer smugly.
I’m not ready to tell Ryder how I truly feel about him because the truth is I am in love with him. It just doesn’t feel right crossing that line when Damien still has no idea about any of this. Plus, when I finally do tell Ryder, it should be when we’re alone and not because of some silly game. He deserves that much.
“Consequence it is then,” Amaya replies, matching my smugness.
When I look down at the other side of the paper, I realize why she’s acting that way.
“Well, read it for the group.” Zane waves his hand around impatiently.
