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“I’m taking it up with you,” she growls.
I knit my brows together. “What’s your problem? You’ve been bad-mouthing me for weeks to the press. You can’t still be pissed about the show.”
Lacie leans down, close enough that I can feel her hot breath against my ear. But unlike when Xavian did it, this isn’t sexy. This is downright terrifying, because I know what’s about to come next.
“Oh, I’m still pissed, you little cheat. And one way or another, I’m going to make sure the entire universe knows what a scam artist you truly are. You’re going to go down in flames, Kallista.”
Her words send a chill down my spine. That’s as good as a threat. She already threatened a CEO and got away with it, so if she wanted to hurt me, she probably could.
She places a palm on my chest. “I hope you can swim.”
And then she pushes me into the deep end of her luxury, PH-regulated heated pool.
10XAVIAN
The last I saw of Kallista, she was making her way through the hoard of aliens dancing in the living room. The steady bass pounds in my head. A headache threatens to bloom at the back of my skull while liquor-soaked partygoers laugh and scream. I’ve been to dozens of post-game parties in my day, but none of them were ever fancy. They were mostly just out of control, and someone was always brawling over a game of flip cup.
Margot is perched on the black settee near the fireplace, cozying up to a much older man in a suit. Probably an exec or something. Luckily, she’s too distracted by the gentleman to notice I’m panicking in the crowd, trying to keep up with the woman I’m being paid to protect.
And then I hear Kallista’s name, whispered on the lips of the same Acara female from earlier. I approach her as she grinds up against a Human man, beer glass waving about her head.
“Excuse me,” I say, leaning toward the woman’s furry ear. It pricks forward, and her long, fluffy tail thumps against my thigh.
“What?” Her eyes narrow on mine. Clearly not intimidated by me, then.
“Have you seen Kallista?” I ask.
The Acara’s dance partner shuffles off to find someone else to rub up against, and she slips out a dozen expletives as she watches him move on. Then she turns back to me, her tail thrashing.
“Outside,” she says, nodding at the doorway on the other side of the room. “With Lacie.”
Lacie? That name was familiar. Wasn’t she the woman who ended up taking second place inUniverse’s Next Top Talent? My mind races through the blurry details of evening reality television as I push through the crowd.
Just as I finally fight my way to the garden entrance, there’s a splash. The crowd of a dozen or so aliens in front of me erupts in gasps. Some start to laugh; others sling colorful insults.
“Can you please move?” I snap, pushing a fellow Terran aside. When I break through the crush, I’m surrounded by a group of people, drinks in their hands while they do absolutely nothing about the woman thrashing in the pool’s deep end.
Strands of wet pink hair fly around the woman as she waves her arms, then float limply in the water when she stops struggling. Lacie stands by the edge of the pool, wearing a cruel smirk.
Kallista’s head slips beneath the surface of the water, and before another thought can enter my mind, I’m diving into the pool. Her tiny, fragile body floats down, down, to the bottom like a stone. Fear grips my heart, but I can’t hesitate. Kallista needs me. Needs me to keep my shit together. Have to save her. Have to help her back to the surface before time runs out.
Thanks to the adrenaline surging through my system, it takes all of two seconds to snatch Kal and get her back up to the surface. I don’t think, I just bridal carry her body out of the pool and place her down on the grass.
Kallista sputters and coughs up the water, along with her drinks. Red liquid, the color of her cocktails, tinges the walkway around the pool as she loses the contents of her stomach. All I can do is rub her back in gentle, circular motions.
“Good girl. Get it all out,” I murmur as I lean over her, protecting her body from the surrounding onlookers. “I’ve got you. I’ve got you.”
At some point, the music stopped playing. Why did the music stop playing? Kallista continues to choke and sputter into the grass, and when I look up, dozens of eyes are staring at us. And right at the back of the garden, staring us down with the most menacing of glares, is Margot.
Lacie barks a laugh and points at Kallista while pap drones whirr overhead. When did they get here? The unmistakableclick click clickof their shutters pull Kallista back to reality, and she shields her face with her arms.
Margot hurries around the pool, her heels clacking along the pavement, her hands balled into fists at her side.
“What. The fuck. Happened.” Margot grabs Kallista’s arm and yanks her up from the ground. Kal’s soaked hair clings to her forehead as beads of water dribble into her eyes. Margot rounds on me with a scalding glare. “You were supposed to be watching her.”
“He was,” Kal mumbles. “He was, Go.”
Lacie flanks Margot within seconds, all smiles and sunshine to hide the venomous viper beneath the façade. “Oh, my god! I am so sorry, Kallista! Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”
