Page 68 of The Heart Trials

“A convincing kiss is your surest bet to avoid being disqualified. A kiss that means something is made by more than the act of kissing. If you used your cards correctly, hopefully you have identified someone you enjoy being around. Some of you may have already kissed. I’ll remind you, the act of kissing doesn’t make it mean something. To not be eliminated, we need to be convinced the kiss means something to at least one of you. A long embrace is also acceptable if it appears genuine. If you think you can fake a connection to get it past us, we will weed you out.”

My stomach is doing all kinds of things. I should have skipped the fruit I had for breakfast. The world sways as we’re shuffled into a line to hear rankings.

“The contestant with the highest number of votes as most desirable will come forward when they hear their name and choose who they are taking on their day date. Talia.”

She lets out a shaky breath, still unable to look at Dreth.

“Your pick?” he says.

“Jace.”

“Jace, do you accept?” Dreth asks.

But he’s already beside her.

“Next, Caelus, your prince,” Dreth says.

I don’t move. Of course he was ranked high.

“I don’t think this is fair, Dreth.” As Caelus steps up to the captain of the Mercyenforcers, he puts his back to the contestants, speaking in a voice too low for us to hear. They talk quietly for a moment, but then Dreth ends the conversation abruptly, saying, “Sir, with all due respect, you must pick. Or you will be detained. Your father’s orders.”

Don’t pick me. Don’t pick me. Don’t pick me. I glare at him.

“Axira,” Caelus says.

The walls in the arena must be closing in.

“Do you accept?” Dreth asks.

“No!”

Caelus shakes his head at me subtly. He glances at the papers Dreth is holding—the scores. I must be ranked last.

“Yes. I meant, yes!” I drag myself to stand beside him. People whisper, watching me. Rhythe’s stare burns my skin.

“Next, Kade.”

No surprise he invites Lira on a date, and she accepts. The longer I stand here, the more my foot taps. Dorian is next up, and he and Mae are already paired before Dreth can get the question out. When Ivy is called, she picks Rhythe. To my surprise, he accepts. Irritation sets my jaw, and I can’t explain why. Maybe it’s because he makes demands of me but is dismissive all at the same time. Or maybe it’s because he doesn’t seem to care one bit about anyone helping him. I don’t know what Ivy sees in him. The matching continues, with Finn and Orrick ranked dead last, after Fiona and Titus, and a girl I’ve hardly said a word to. Contestant Thirty-One, Callie, a mousy Stonebound with short, dusty-brown hair, is called forward to make her pick. She shuffles on her feet.

“Both Orrick and Finn received the same number of votes, so it’s your pick,” Dreth tells her.

I’ve never heard this girl speak. She hesitates, and Orrick fidgets, noticeably antsy.

“Pick, Contestant Thirty-One,” Dreth says, and his harshness makes my flesh feel hot. Hot like fire.

“It’s always this way.” Orrick’s voice cuts through the dark like a knife.

“No one wants to hear your sob story,” Finn snaps. “You chose to come here. You weren’t forced to be here and suffer for it like me. Go play with your sticks, weird boy.”

Flames flicker across Orrick’s furious face, and it curdles my blood.

“Don’t talk to him that way,” I say, and it surprises even me. Caelus urges me to be quiet with just a look. But Orrick has never done anything to deserve that.

“Yeah,” Mae says, backing me up. “You don’t get to be cruel to everyone because you didn’t want to be here. That’s not our fault.”

Finn throws up his hands. “Of course you’d stick up for him.”

“Watch it,” Dorian barks, now stepping forward.