Page 60 of The Heart Trials

“You were a Mercyenforcer, right?” I ask.

He shifts in his seat, the gleam in his eye gone. “I was.”

“What made you enter the tournament?”

“To find love, Axira. Isn’t that why we’re all here?”

“How new are you at this love thing? I’ve heard stories about the things Mercyenforcers get away with,” I say. Half my Heartfiller clients were Mercyenforcers.

His mouth pulls up at one side. “Enough to know why it’s worth being here.” But Kade’s not talking about love. I haven’t seen him even try to bond with or touch anyone. I bet he is talking about citizenship. Sly, this one.

He leans across the table now, his confident smirk back. “You’ve never slipped off your gloves and held someone’s hand at a parlor?”

“Never.”

The rules are the rules, but in every lowborn district there are touch parlors, back alleys, dark corridors, and places in the thickest trees on the island where no one can hear anything for people who would break the rules, not caring if they live or die. I didn’t have that privilege.

Kade’s fingers walk across the table toward mine. I shove my hands into my lap. The more time I spend with him, the less I like him. Maybe that makes him a good choice. Talia and Jace are still talking a few seats down, holding cards as well. But now, her hands rest on his shoulders. He laughs at something she says. Their time is far more interesting than ours. Kade hasn’t made me laugh once.

Caelus has moved to the firepit, sitting by himself, fending off contestants who keep stopping by to talk with him. He is polite, smiling at them, but they don’t stay long. Jace and Talia catch my eye again. His hand slips behind her neck. His thumb grazes her jaw, then traces her mouth. Heat flushes up my neck.

“Axira?” Kade says.

“Sorry, did you say something?”

“I asked what you are looking for in a mate.”

“Uh.” I glare at the fragrance bottles again, considering spraying myself. But no, I need to keep my wits about me. “I need it to make sense.” That’s a real answer.

“Make sense how?”

“I shouldn’t have said that. I meant, er, uhm…” My parents come to mind. I shove the thoughts away, and they’re quickly replaced by thoughts of Caelus. I blink hard.

“Are you alright?” Kade asks.

“I’m fine. I just, uhm, hate blond hair. This isn’t going to work.” I get up. Kade’s brow furrows. His gaze sticks to me as I walk away. That was awful. Just awful. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I don’t trust Kade. He and I definitely don’t have any connection. I couldn’t fake it if I wanted to.

Ivy is still near Rhythe, actually talking now. Well, she’s talking to him while he looks in an entirely different direction. Orrick has given up trying to talk with Lira. Instead he’s tied all the licorice together on the table and is feeding it into his mouth like a long rope. I consider him for a second. I honestly do. But no. That’s a definite no too.

Caelus hasn’t moved from the fire. Our cut-short conversation from earlier taps at my brain like an ice pick. I join him, trusting that everyone is sufficiently tied up enough so that they won’t notice us chatting. I sit down beside him, facing the opposite direction.

“You’re going to sit here all night, turning people away?” I ask.

“Did you have enough seaweed for your wounds?” He doesn’t look at me.

“I did.” I watch the line of his jaw instead of the flames.

“Good. And yes, I think I might. The fire is nice.”

“Is the plan for only me to make it to the end, then?”

“You’re the thief.” He says it with a half-smile.

“Smuggler.” I lean closer. “So then what is your plan?”

His hands flex in his lap. “I’m not sure, Axira. I’m hoping to find a way out of here, I guess. I’m hoping my father changes his mind.”

“That’s a terrible plan.”