As I watched him sit next to Matteo, my heart skipped a beat. He was next.
It was him. Only him. He’d win this challenge, and the entire Games. I knew that because he’d already won my heart.
My eyes caught Matteo’s. Sparks exploded in my chest. Instinctively, I knew he felt the same way. An invisible magnetic bond spanned between us, linking us together with cosmic force. I gripped the arms of the throne hard, forcing myself to stay seated until Matteo made it to the stage. Pinning him to the stage on TV was probably a no-no.
But as Matteo rose from his seat, Talon’s arm thrust out in front of him. The other man stood confidently and raised a hand.
“I have a proposal,” Talon announced.
My heart sank. What the fuck was he prattling about? I wanted Matteonow, dammit.
I didn’t bother wiping the petulant scowl off my face as Gaius shot me a questioning look. Seeing he wasn’t getting any help out of me, Gaius faced Talon with a polite smile.
“Sure. Let’s hear it,” he said.
Talon mirrored Gaius’s flashy grin with his own. “As the winner of the first challenge, wouldn’t it make sense for me to be allowed to cut the line? That way, my accomplishment earns a real benefit in the Games.”
My heart plummeted further, dropping like an anchor to the ocean floor. I tried to telepathically beam the word ‘NO’ into Gaius’s brain, but there was no light at the end of the tunnel. In the battle between two charismatic loudmouths, Talon’s wiles had won this battle. Gaius couldn’t refuse him without making the Games seem ultra rigged, which Alaric had alluded to moments ago—and if the Games weretoorigged, future applicants may not be interested.
“Fair enough,” Gaius conceded. “Come on up.”
I noted with amusement that Gaius didn’t mention his name at all. The gryphon clearly didn’t like Talon showing him up like that. I took solace in the fact that we were on the same page about Talon being a smarmy smart ass.
Talon strode up to the podium. He oozed confidence in a way that made me want to gag. It wasn’t the quiet, calm confidence that Matteo had. Talon’s aura throbbed like a migraine-inducing nightclub, loud and over the top. He looked like he wanted to induct me into a pyramid scheme.
“Hello, Thystle,” Talon greeted.
I hated this.
“Hi.” I couldn’t force a smile, but hey, I got the word out in one piece.
Talon didn’t seem to notice my sinister mood, but Gaius did. He distracted the crowd by dramatically sweeping across the stage, putting his showmanship on blast.
“What a shocking new development!” Gaius announced. “Will our contestant earn points, or will he crash and burn? Let’s find out.”
The corner of my mouth tweaked into a smirk. Damn, Gaius was savage when he wanted to be. I recognized he was throwing shade at Talon, but his cheerful host voice was so charismatic and mesmerizing that I doubted anybody in the crowd thought anything of it.
“I’m ready,” Talon replied, his hands coolly tucked into his pockets.
I ignored him. My gaze connected with Matteo’s in the front row.
He wasfuming.
I’d never seen him look so pissed. He radiated fury, his eyes diamond-hard and narrowed into daggers. Fuck, that turned me on.
I willed Gaius to lob impossible questions at Talon so we could get this shit over with already. If I didn’t plunge my dick into Matteo soon, I’d explode.
“Let’s start with a question everyone else has failed,” Gaius began. “Talon, what does Thystle h—”
Talon cut him off with an arrogant grin. “He hoards music.”
Gaius’s grip on the cue cards tightened ever so slightly.
Oh, yeah. Gaius was pissed, too.
I withheld a snort of laughter. It took alotto anger Gaius. He was the definition of laid back. Hell, when he wasn’t working, the guy wore Hawaiian shirts and drank margaritas on the beach all day. Something about Talon must’ve rubbed his feathers the wrong way. The feeling was mutual among his fellow winged shifters. Me, Gaius, and Matteo all disliked the guy.
Gaius let out a tilted laugh. “Eager to spit out that answer, eh?”
