Page 45 of The Heart Trials

A silence passes between us, and it doesn’t feel strange at all. I open my journal, considering. But how could I really choose him to betray, to risk putting a target on his back, when he has his own Serafina? Ronan watches my fingers flick the pages of my journal. Then, he offers me his journal first. I pick up the Scent on the table instead: Mutual Regard.

“You want to try it?” he asks.

I set it down. “No.” I can’t betray him. It feels wrong. So the last thing I need is him and me getting along well, mutually regarding one another any more than we are now. “I’m not right for you.” Who knew this would be so hard? For all the wrong reasons.

“How do you know that in just a few minutes?” He grabs the bottle. “I think we should try it.”

“No. We shouldn’t. Do you have your eyes on anyone?”

“I mean, I do now, yes.” He turns the bottle in his hand, watching me. We are deeply the same—he doesn’t care who he matches with; this isn’t about finding a truest-love match. He just wants to win, whatever it takes. But I won’t betray him. I can’t.

“I mean, we could try—”

“I don’t like you.” My stomach knots. “So I’m glad we got that out of the way early.”

He sits back in his seat, jaw slack, stunned.

“Good luck.” I rise from the table.

“At least give me a thumbprint. You can’t see yourself talking to me again?”

I hand him my paper begrudgingly and press my thumb to his page as well.

“Thanks,” he says.

“Sure. Still don’t like you.”

“Got it.” He watches me curiously as I wander off.

Caelus cuts through the dance floor, and I exhale, marching toward him. When he’s close enough to hear me, I mutter, “We need to talk now.”

“Stairwell,” he says as we keep walking past each other. I detour around the room, giving the festivities a wide berth. Contestants are reaching across tables now, some getting bolder, gloved fingers brushing, while others linger awkwardly in the space between. Those who were frozen on the dance floor now sway gently, some hands settling at waists, others fumbling to connect through layers of fabric.

Once I’m beneath the stairs, I wait. When Caelus appears, his knuckles are fisted so tight they’re blanched. “My father is trying to kill me,” he says.

“What happened?”

“This has to be fast. We can’t ever be seen together.” He peeks out of our stolen meeting spot. “We stick to the plan. You have to make it to the end. I’m still going to get us out of here somehow, at the Ascension Ceremony.” He tries to storm past me, but I grab him by the arm. His coat slips in my soft glove.

“How are we stealing the magic exactly? You never said. What does it look like? Where will—”

“I’ll tell you when the time is right.” It isn’t a suggestion.

“Well, is our cover blown?”

“Not exactly, but—”

Footsteps echo above us, heading in our direction. We descend the stairs, halfway down a floor. When the noise is gone, I ask, “What does he know?”

“He quietly had one of the contestants hanged. I don’t know why. He also somehow figured out that Lucent and I were trying to prevent the tournament from happening. But the only person Lucent told about our plans was Rhianne. She wouldn’t betray him.”

Hanged! I suck in a breath. “Who is Rhianne?”

“His fiancée. She’s one of the palace maids. Moving into the royal family after the wedding. But now that’s off, much to my father’s delight. I’m actually surprised she’s not here.”

“And your father knows the plan involved my Heartfillers?”

“No, I managed to keep that quiet. You’re safe.” His blue eyes trace me, and every hair on my body stands. “Our plan is safe, I mean. Just more complicated because now I’m in here with you.”