The devil:Take the front row. Bring popcorn.
“Really?” Claire said, surprised. “Why? She’s earned it.”
“The part that mattered most was that I finally told him. And that he believed me.”
“Good,” Claire said. “Saves me the cost of a plane ticket and a shovel.”
Bea laughed, but the sound felt frayed. Like thread pulled too far. “You know, I can’t stop thinking about it.”
“What?”
“That it wasn’t me.”
“What do you mean?”
“That I wasn’tThe Story. I was right on the edge, Claire Bear. Between Catherine. And Rafael. And then dancing with Victor and Laurent? All it would’ve taken was one misstep.”
“And then Cassian walked in and detonated the room.”
“Exactly.” Bea closed her eyes. “He walked through the doors and stole the whole weekend in one move.”
“You sound relieved,” Claire observed.
“Iamrelieved.” Bea looked up. “I’ve never been so grateful to be eclipsed.He didn’t just steal the spotlight. He erased the sketch they were making of me.”
“Who’sthey?” Claire asked. “Gage’s parents? Everyone?”
Outside, the wind shifted. Trees bowed in the dark.
“I don’t even know. The collective elite?” Bea tried, wryly. “In fairness, Gage’s parents weren’t terrible. Even the dance with Victor was…fine.”
“Definefine.”
Bea let her head fall back against the headboard. “Basically he said that I’d done better than expected.”
Claire snorted. “He says that to Gage too, doesn’t he?”
Bea smiled. Her next words came slower. “He said the real test wasn’t this weekend. It’s when Gage and I realize he carries four generations on his back. And I have to decide whether I’ll carry it with him.”
“So you need to start lifting?”
Bea laughed.
Claire went quiet. Serious, now. “He wasn’t warning you off, was he?”
Bea shook her head. “It was a straight shot of whisky.”
“So…are you?” Claire asked. “Ready to carry it with him?”
“How could I know?” Bea whispered. Her voice sounded small, even to herself. “He also told me that soon I’d have to choose between the life I imagined and the one waiting for me.”
Claire took a deep breath, considering her. “Do you know what he meant?”
Bea bit the inside of her cheek. “I think so.”
But she didn’t say it out loud. Not yet.
Ever since the Harvest Summit, her mind had been drawing new lines between old truths. Things that used to be fuzzy were sharpening like glass.
