I blink at her, confused, but Pol just nods. Selene puts a finger to her lips, which… doesn’t help explain anything.
“Aliens on one side, humans on the other,” Ken appears in front of us, and Selene gives him what might be the most murderous look I have ever seen in my life.
And I’ve seen murderers on trial, so… that’s saying something.
“Choppity hop,” Ken adds, clapping his hands.
“Do you mean chop chop, asshole?” Selene asks drily.
“You leave me no choice,” Ken tells us sadly, and suddenly Vael’s ripped out from behind me, while the other two aliens are removed to the other side of the room.
A wall slams down from the ceiling, slicing directly through the center of the green room.
Lucy and I hold each other, and Selene stands on shaking legs.
Our three Draegon warriors on one side, and leaving Lucy, Selene, and me on the other.
"The viewers feel the female contestants are holding back their emotional venting in the presence of their Draegon partners. Time for your reality TV confessionals, ladies."
Fucking hell.
Muffled roars of the Draegons sound from the other side of the wall, which makes Ken laugh.
“Your muscles are no good in this challenge,” he says. “Ladies, be as disgustingly human as you wish. Turn on the foul water in your eyes.” With that, he disappears.
I turn back to the couch, the weight of my guilt crushing me as I slump onto it.
"I am so sorry," I say, my voice cracking. "I am so, so sorry, Lucy. I dragged you with me. I thought I was saving us all. I thought this was our way out. I didn't know there was a homicidal AI. I did this to you. If anything happens to you…"
The room goes quiet, save for the sound of my ragged breathing. I brace myself for the worst.
Instead, the cushion dips beside me.
Lucy wraps her arm securely around my shoulders, pulling my head down onto her shoulder, while Selene lets out a loud snort.
“Please shut up," Selene tells me.
She cracks a purple melon open with her bare hands. "What’s done is done. Crying about it is a waste of time. Besides, you didn't build Ken. There’s no way you could have known what was going to happen. Earth is fucked, anyway. I wouldn’t have signed up on my own for this, but I also didn’t sign up to get abducted a few years ago." She scoops some of the pink flesh out of the melon and chews thoughtfully. “Not bad.” Selene holds out the melon.
Lucy recovers first, shaking her head, then turning to me.
"She's right, Poppy," Lucy tells me, smoothing a lock of hair away from my forehead. "You made some bad choices, yeah, but we signed those papers. We’d talked about doing something like this for years. Was doing it drunk great? No. Could we have said no? Yes. I think we could have. I think we all wanted what this was supposed to be, even if we weren’t ready for the original show, yeah?"
I sniffle. “But it’s so much worse now.”
“Lily and what’s her name, Ellison? They’re alive.” Selene shoves a piece of the pink fruit directly into my mouth. "Now eat. We need the calories if we’re going to fucking get out of here."
CHAPTER 30
POPPY
The alien fruittastes like a cross between a Starburst and static electricity, which isn’t a combination I thought possible. It works immediately, though, and I can feel the jolt of energy. Lucy walks over to the buffet, picking up the frosted pitcher Ken left for us.
"Before you got here, Ken said these were authentic Earth margaritas," Lucy says, sniffing the yellow slushy before pouring it into three glass chalices. She takes a sip and immediately wrinkles her nose in total disgust. "This is literally coconut cream and pineapple juice. There isn't a single drop of tequila in here. It's a virgin piña colada." She shrugs. “Honestly, I think I might swear of alcohol from now on anyway.”
“You know?” I ask Lucy, stunned. “You know they got out? How?” I chug the sugary slush Lucy hands me.
Selene plops the platter of fruit down on the floor, and we converge around it in a tight circle.
