Akari nods enthusiastically. “Yes! Exactly that.”
My lips kick up in a smirk. Girl had the fae fever worse than I did!
The line moves agonizingly slow, all the while the tail end growing longer and longer as more of the Chosen make the Crossing. I’m starving and I desperately need to pee, but there isn’t a toilet in sight. Fuck, did they even have toilets? Was I supposed to squat behind a bush? Were chamber pots the go-to in this world?
My bladder hoped to find out real soon.
I try to distract myself by spying on the fae. Each one of them owns their ethereal beauty and superiority. I spy pointed ears of all different lengths, sharp vampire-like canines glinting from behind wicked lips, and lots ofskin. Despite covering their most private areas, the visible skin is tantalizing and verges on inappropriate. But I didn’t mind ogling them from afar. I might as well let my eyes feast while I can. I might hate them now, but I know I am fully capable of loathing them entirely, too. And by that point, I will be well and truly over the magnetic attraction they all seem to emanate.
Eventually, we get close enough to see the Chosen being marched onto a stage, twenty at a time. Here, they are told to turn to display all angles, then someone separates them into two groups. Watching this happen more and more, I search for a pattern distinguishing those sent to the large, circus-like tents from those herded into a fucking paddock, of all places. The paddock was obviously for the rejects. What they were being rejected for, however, was unclear. There didn’t seem to be any common denominator at all. I briefly wondered whether age, weight, or beauty had anything to do with it, but quickly dismissed the idea when a woman who could have been a supermodel was rejected, and a woman with the appearance of an ogre was sent to the tents. I saw beauty in both groups, age differences, and varieties of ethnicities. There just wasn’t a common concept that I could pick. And fuck did it frustrate me.
My thoughts evaporate so quickly when I spy Jabira and Jasmin taking the stage. They stand close together and survey a group of fae sheltered in a secluded area that practically screams: ‘We are important fae!’ I can’t see the group properly from this distance, but right now I couldn’t care less. I needed to know what was about to happen to Jabira and Jasmin.
Jasmin looks about ready to wet herself. She is pale and shaking like a leaf. Her eyes are wide and frightened as she stares at her own two feet.Jabira is confident in her stance, and her eyes are steady as she eyes the collective ofimportantfae.
Someone says something, and Jabira and six other women are led off the stage and herded towards the paddock.
“No!” I gasp.
Why was Jabira rejected? She was so damn beautiful and brave! Did they not like the courageous ones? Was that it?
I struggle to watch Jabira as she looks over her shoulder at a pleading Jasmin, whom someone pushes in the opposite direction. Jabira smiles encouragingly at Jasmin, nodding reassuringly at the feeble girl. It seems to have no effect on Jasmin. Complete loss has overcome her.
I lose sight of Jasmin as she enters a tent, but Jabira stays by the fence of the paddock, her eyes searching. I stand on my tippy toes and wave both of my arms in the air. It takes a moment, but Jabira’s warm brown eyes eventually find mine. She smiles and waves as I do the same. Akari jumps up and down by my side, and Jabira’s eyes turn to her. She seems to soften when she realizes we are together.
Jabira’s eyes never once leave us as we crawl our way towards the stage. I don’t know whether to be relieved or terrified when it is finally our turn. I reach out a hand, and Akari takes it gratefully. We climb the stairs together and walk to our places. An arrogant female stalks towards us and rips our hands apart. She is by far the shortest fae I have seen so far, and our eyes are level as we glare at one another. I sneer as she hisses in my face, flashing a set of small but pointy canines when I refuse to back down. I don’t break her gaze as I blindly reach for Akari. She accepts my hand again and I hold firm, even as the female’s eyes thin to slits.
She tilts her head suddenly, as if listening to something, then swears furiously. She gives me one last disdainful look, then stalks off the stage, leaving my line of sight free to finally see who the hell these important fae are.
Holy fuck, are they sitting on thrones? I blink in surprise as I take in the arrangement of obvious royalty. There are two groups, split down the middle, each with a large throne sitting in the forefront and a dozen smaller chairs just a step behind.
My eyes, on instinct, track to the pure white, almost opalescent throne on the left. I look over every fine inch of the high-backed chair, from the barely there rainbows that glint throughout the white when the sunlight glints in just the right spot upon it, to the cushioned seat and slightly reclined back that its owner lounges proudly and lazily within. And then my eyes findhimand fuck it all to hell, I Gods damnmelt.
He’s fucking perfect. I take back my earlier comment about the female from the portal.Thiswas the most beautiful being in all existence. And with the cocky slant to his perfectly plump lips? Yeah, he fucking knows it.
I lick my lips as I stare for far too long at his mouth, then run my gaze over the rather large canines I spy behind his growing grin. My eyes rove up his perfectly stout nose to his shockingly pale locks, like silver moonlight cascading in gentle yet unruly waves down to firm shoulders, then back up to his strikingly amethyst-colored eyes. Eyes that are locked on me.
I hastily pick up my jaw from the damn floor and harden my features. His smile only grows. I stick my chin in the air and pointedly turn awayfrom him. I scour the fae scattered behind him, but it is as if they all sit in shadows that my eyes can’t penetrate, and my gaze involuntarily slides back to him.
And he’s still staring.
Fine. I’ll bite.
He obviouslywantsmy attention, so I give it to him. We stare into one another’s eyes as if we are a part of some sick game that has the loser looking away. I am no loser. I feel my eyes thinning, my frown deepening, and my lips pouting the longer we stare at one another, while his grin only grows, and I swear his canines lengthen too. Perhaps it’s some kind of intimidation tactic the fae have adapted. Well, consider meunintimidated, Mr. High-and-mighty-fae-on-a-throne.
He raises an elegant eyebrow and tilts his head to the side like a curious cat. A dangerous cat.
Just then, I feel a hard tug on my hand, and I realize we are being led off the stage. I blink down at Akari, who is eyeing me nervously. I just missed our entire judgment. Did we make it? I turn and see a bunch of women being herded to the paddock, where Jabira waves encouragingly. I wave back. Akari and I had made the cut.
And fuck, I just lost the fucking stare-off.
Don’t look back.Don’tlook back.
I fucking look back.
He’s lost his grin, but his eyes remain fixed on me. He studies me thoughtfully, his eyes running up the long length of my legs, the sway of my hips, which I may have swished a little extra, the curve of my waist,up to my shoulder, and across my extended arm and the middle finger I hold up firmly in his direction.
He blinks…. Then throws his head back and laughs.
