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“Your highness,” he all but croaks to Kaz, blushing.
“My lords,” he says in greeting to Tai and myself as he shakily rolls up the sleeve of his right wrist and extends it to each of us in turn to lean in and take a long inhale.
When it’s my turn, I get hints of lemon, stronger than I scented before now that he’s close up and I think maybe I judged too harshly…but as the lemon fades there’s something more like pond scum in its wake, and it’s all I can do not to rear away.
Yeah, that’s a no from me. Thanks.
At least with all of the Omegas on a rigorous heat suppressant and scent blocker regiment we won’t be overwhelmed by any scents too strong—goodorbad.
I give the Omega, Stephen, a nod as he descends the dais.
Looks aren’t supposed to matter much in this thing, but let’s get real. Of course they fucking do. To me, at least.
A few of the Omegas who approach for us to scent are attractive, but their scents don’t really tempt me. There’s one, Casey something or other, a pretty girl who looks like the sweet type, who has a nice scent. Warm and vanilla-like, like she bakes cookies in her spare time and the scent has permeated her very blood.
When I glance at Tai and Kaz, they’re both wearing softer expressions than before, so I know they feel the same way. None of us reacted primally or viscerally to her scent, but it’s not bad. I could get used to it. And she was cute, too.
Antonio Ramirez doesn’t have a horrible scent either. It’s strangely aquatic and makes me think of all things summer. With warm eyes and a hard body, I think I could get on board with that.
We’re almost to the end of the Omegas now, I think. Thank fuck because their scents are all starting to run together and I’m getting bored as hell.
“Maddison Darling,” the announcer calls next, and something sparks in my hazy memory of watching the televised selection yesterday. Wasn’t she the one who looked like she wanted the floor to open up and swallow her? What had the queen said?
Poor thing looks skittish. Like a spooked deer,she’d tutted.That one’s not fit for court.
Maybe it’s because I know the queen wouldn’t approve, but I sit up a little straighter, wanting to give this one my full attention. I sniff hard to clear my nose, already catching something absolutely delicious wafting in from below the dais as Maddison Darling ascends to meet us.
SIX
—
M A D D I E
Fucking hell,I’m so sweaty, that’s all they’ll be able to smell. Sweat—and not the musky, clean kind. The horrible anxiety kind. The kind that’s sour and bitter.
I can’t help it, though.
Today has been an ordeal to say the least. As I stare at myself in an ornate mirror out in the hall, I’m not even sure who I am anymore.
The girl staring back at me now looks completely different to me. Even my freckles are covered, but now that they are, I’m not sure I like them being gone.
Even so, I’ve felt like an impostor since I was selected, so I might as well continue being someone other than myself. As Headmistress Hartigan pointed out, I won’t be here long enough for it to matter.
It’s for the best too.
I doubt I’ll be going home with my ankles intact if I do stay very long. The heels they put me in are sky high. Well, maybe three inches isn’t sky high to other women, but I might as well be expected to balance on the pointy ends of two blades.
My ankles wobble even while standing still.
Walking through the castle halls from my chambers without snapping a femur was a feat. I feel like an unsung hero for having achieved it. I tried to tell Mary, my lady-in-waiting, not to put me in these, but she insisted and the look on her face told me she would broker absolutely no argument.
I wished I could have tucked myself beneath the fluffy-looking covers on the bed in the bedroom I barely had a chance to properly get a look at before Mary rushed me away to what they called the ‘staging area.’ Apparently, we’ll be able to get ready for the other events in the privacy of our rooms, but only once the scenting ceremony pairs down the candidates, allowing one ladies’ maid to each Omega.
Today, I had to share Mary with a girl called Casey. Lucky for her, she didn’t need nearly as much time with the tweezers and curlers and beauty treatments and makeup as I did or Mary wouldn’t have been able to finish with both of us in time.
“Maddison Darling!”
I freeze when I hear my name being called.Oh, crap.
