Poppy sweated bullets. His gaze flickered from me to Gaius, to the onlookers, to the cameras. He swayed on his feet. “V...violet?”
Oh, poor sweet Poppy. He’d mixed me up with my freak brother. If he couldn’t even handle being on stage, he wouldn’t last a second with Viol.
I nudged Gaius with my elbow and mumbled, “This is torture. Let him go.”
“Time’s up, Poppy! That was a good effort, we’ll give you half a point for that,” Gaius said, leading Poppy off stage with a smile. “Up next, we have Muzo Zavala!”
I resisted the urge to groan. How many times did I have to do this? I risked a glance to the front row. Matteo wasn’t too far off. Only a couple more contestants until it was his turn. Out of everybody, he knew me best. He’d win for sure. Then we’d put this challenge to rest and get down to business. As in, me plowing him into next Tuesday.
Unlike Poppy, Muzo basked in the attention. He pranced onto the stage and took the podium. “Yay, I love game shows!”
He was cute, but so not my type. None of these omegas were my type except one. And the longer I spent apart from him, the more I wanted to rip my hair out.
“Muzo! Here’s your first question,” Gaius began, clearing his throat. “What is Thystle’s age?”
Muzo blinked rapidly. “Uh...”
I practically heard the static noise in his brain. How was he supposed to know? I’d barely spoken to him.
“Can I get a hint?” Muzo asked with a sheepish grin.
Gaius nodded, checking his cue cards. “Sure. Thystle is six yearsyoungerthan his favorite celebrity. You have thirty seconds to respond.”
That comment stunned me. Jade really did his homework. He must’ve stayed up all night writing the questions after I asked him for help.
The clue did nothing to help Muzo, who had no idea. But I caught Matteo’s expression changing from the corner of my eye. Of courseheknew the answer. I couldn’t stifle a smirk. As each second crept by, I grew more eager for him to take the stage.
Gaius imitated a buzzer noise. “Sorry, Muzo, time’s up.”
“Aw, man,” Muzo grumbled as he moped down to the front row.
“Next up!” Gaius swept his arm. “Alaric St. Clair!”
I steeled myself. I’d heard all about the haughty cat shifter from Taylor’s stories. Alaric had been determined to beat Taylor and earn his place as Crimson’s mate, which obviously didn’t happen. Was he just as tenacious and keen to sink his claws into me?
The white-haired twink sauntered to the podium. There was no fear in his eyes like Poppy, and no silly vibe like Muzo. But Alaric’s gaze was only hard, not predatory. Did he sense I wasn’t interested?
Gaius held the mic to his mouth as he read off the card. “Alaric, here’s your first question. What is Thystle’s color as a dragon?”
Alaric’s odd eyes flashed. “Amethyst. Next question.”
The crowd rustled in excitement. That was the first correct answer, but it was an easy one. I made no effort to hide that fact.
Gaius was all worked up. “We got a hot one, folks! One point for you, Alaric. Can you win another?”
“I don’t know, can I?” he asked sarcastically. He shot me a dry, unimpressed look, as if this whole thing was rigged.
In a way, it was. I felt sorry for him. Alaric had been through this once before with Crimson, and now with me. It couldn’t be easy for an omega craving love to be rejected twice in a row. Hell, I hadn’t even formally rejected him yet, but Alaric wasn’t stupid. He’d already figured out I had no desire to be with him. The Dragonfate Games seriously needed to start offering consolation prizes.
Gaius was immune to the negativity brewing on stage. He was as upbeat as ever. “That’s up to you, my friend. Here’s your second question. Maybe you can answer one from earlier. So, I’ll ask again: what does Thystle hoard?”
I watched Alaric, curious to hear his response. He was shrewd, sure, but we’d barely spoken. If he knew, he would’ve found out through a third party.
But Alaric shook his head. “Eyeliner?”
Gaius made another buzzer sound. “Sorry, Alaric, your reign ends here.”
Huffing, Alaric trudged off stage. I didn’t know if he knew the answer and blew it on purpose as a ‘fuck you’ to the whole charade, or if he genuinely had no clue, but I felt bad for dragging him into this either way.
