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“Boudica knows what I’m talking about. Do you think she sees you as an imposter?” Gabriel scratches her under her chin. Boudica’s eyes close and she tips her head back in ecstasy. “Look at that face – she’s not thinking about her birth mother right now. She lives in the moment, and the moment is chin scratches and warm bodies and the possibility of tuna. A few months ago this house was just a bunch of brick and marble and heinous modern art. You made it a home for all of us.”
Gabriel holds up one of the dolls and pretends to walk it across my stomach. Queen Boudica’s eyes widen and she leaps away, her tail bristled. He laughs. His fingers tug on a tag around the doll’s neck.
“‘To our daughter Mackenzie. Happy tenth birthday’,” Gabe reads aloud. He shakes the doll and it makes a dull rattling sound. Its eyes swivel inside its porcelain head, open and unblinking, always watching. “What sadistic person sees this creepy poppet and thinks, ‘the perfect gift’? They’re not even filled with sweeties. Maybe Mackenzie uses them as voodoo dolls, or brings them to life at night to do her bidding. My point is, you’re better off without Howard-Turn-My-Daughter’s-Life-Into-A-Cheesy-Halloween-Movie Malloy as your dad—Hey, if your birthday is January tenth, that means it’s coming up soon.”
“Mmmm.” I don’t want to think about my birthday. It’s supposed to be the day I turn eighteen and Antony and I put in our claim on the house under California’s squatters’ rights. Only I’ve had a legitimate claim to the house all along. A shudder ripples through me. The money we made from selling this place is supposed to buy our freedom, but because of what I’ve done, it’s useless to us now. Antony may be free, but I’m shackled to Nero and Constantine, and the thought of it makes me want to curl up and die.
“I know.” Gabe’s face lights up. “I’m going to throw you the mother of all birthday parties.”
“Gabe, I don’t think—”
“Relax. I’m not going to embarrass you or invite your future husbands. It’ll just be for us. But it’ll be the best birthday you’ve ever had. Please? I’ve never had a girlfriend to spoil rotten. I promise it’ll be amazing and you’ll love me even more…”
I close my eyes. If I watch him looking at me with his haunted, earnest eyes for one more moment I’m going to fall apart. “I don’t need a party, but I do know exactly what I want for my birthday. Write me a song.”
“You don’t need a song.” He kisses my forehead, so softly I might have imagined it. “You’re what unites us. You are the music.”
Gabriel helps me off the floor, brushing dust and stray doll hair from my gown. I stare down at the rumpled dress, reeking of blood and sweat and Nero’s cigars and the rich food from the council feast. Some Imperator I am. I’m a mess.
“You’re beautiful.” Gabe tucks a strand of hair behind my head. The way he looks at me gives me the strength to drag my wobbling legs down to the ballroom. Raised voices echo through the house.
“We’re not even going to talk about it?” Eli yells. “She’s being forced to marry them.”
“What do you think they’ll do if she refuses?” Noah shouts back. “It’s like you assume I don’t give a shit because I didn’t start spraying bullets and get us all killed. You’re so busy trying to protect her that you won’t trust her. She has a plan. She—”
I rush into the room. Eli and Noah stand nose-to-nose, their hands balled into fists. Eli’s face is red with rage, his lips puckered, his jaw clenched hard. Noah towers over him. His eyes betray how close he is to snapping. The air crackles with tension. Gizmo sits atop the cat castle, her tail flicking with anticipation.
“Oooh, a cockfight.” Gabe slides onto the sofa and drags me onto his knee.
His flippant, Gabe-ish comment slices the air like a blade. Eli winces and steps back. The anger falls away and all I see is the raw hurt – a hurt that runs so deep I’m not sure I can heal it.
“Do you want to marry them?” he asks me.
“Eli, fuck off,” Noah snaps.
“It’s a simple question. Is Noah right? Was this all part of the plan?”
I clutch my stomach. Eli’s words knock the wind out of me.
I can’t find the words to answer him. I shake my head.
“But we’re going to stop it,” Noah growls. “We’ve got control of the August family now. There’s some arcane clause in your father’s rulebook that forbids this…”
I shake my head again. I can’t look at them. I stare down at my trembling hands. “The only way to get out of this marriage now is to take Nero and Constantine out. If we bring down the Triumvirate, then—”
“Jesus fucking Christ.”
Eli storms out, slamming the door behind him. Tears spring in my eyes. He’s right – it’s ridiculous to think we can go up against Nero and Constantine. I’m trapped in this marriage, which leaves my three princes with… what exactly?
I’ve fucked this up.
I make to go after Eli, but Noah clamps a hand on my shoulder.
“Let him go,” he says.
“I can’t leave things between us like this.”
“Unless you go back on your promise to Nero and Constantine, there’s nothing you can do right now. Eli needs to stew for a bit. He’ll come back in a day or two with some scheme to help get you out of this. We have to wait for him.”
