Diamonds were cut but didn’t bleed. Clocks had hands that didn’t grab. But I couldn’t figure out what would be licked but not eaten.
I doubted the clue led to Max’s abs.
The last line made me think of a greenhouse, but I didn’t know where to find one inside Camelot Court.
What did a girl have to do to find a map of this hellhole?
My eyes widened. Merle had already given me one before the Honor Challenge. I’d need to look through my bag and see if I still had it.
I growled at the tiny scrap of paper in my hands. “What the hell do you mean?”
A soft chuckle behind me alerted me to Izzy’s presence. She sat on the lawn beside me. “No luck?”
I groaned. “Not yet, unfortunately. Are we allowed to put our heads together?”
“They didn’t say we couldn’t, but I’m not sure it would help us much.” She nodded toward the clue on my scrap of paper. “Our clues are different.”
“Oh.” I wondered why and how they differed, and how they’d align to get us to the same place, but I didn’t need to know any of that. “At least there’s no time crunch, right?”
Laughing again, she leaned back on her elbows and turned her face toward the sun. “None at all.”
I eyed her relaxed posture, cocking my head as I stared at her. Eventually, either curious as to my silence or feeling the heat of my stare, she cracked open an eye to peek at me.
“What’s wrong?”
I gestured to her casual pose. “You look oddly relaxed for someone playing the same cryptic and life-altering game as me. What gives?”
She shrugged. Sitting up, she brushed the grass off her arms and stared out at the lake. “Ever since meeting Tristan, sometimes I just tire of playing, you know? Following their rules. Doing exactly what I’m supposed to do.”
“I get that.”
“When that happens, I like to play this game I made up instead. Imagine what my life would be like if it were a fantasy novel. Or a contemporary romance. Monster erotica, when I’m in that kind of mood.” We shared a laugh. “Anything but this, really.”
“That’s why you and Gia get along so well. She has similar eclectic tastes in her books.”
Izzy smiled broadly. “She seems great. You’re lucky to have a friend like her.”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “I’d do anything for her. And her, for me.”
Izzy had mentioned distrust between her and the other girls at Camelot Court. I’d seen them all get along, but the bond I shared with Gia was harder to come by. When you didn’t know who might sell you out or stab you in the back, and when you understood the pressure they faced, it was harder to have that kind of friendship.
“I can’t imagine not having her, Izzy. That must’ve been really lonely.”
“Yeah.” She forced a smile. “So, anyway. I close my eyes, and then I’m a princess being rescued by my Knight. Or a warrior fae, rescuing him. Different each time, but it always leads back to the same place. Who started the game for me.”
Her lower lip trembled, and she bent her knees and leaned forward to rest her head on top of them.
I reached out slowly and touched her back, and when her body shuddered, wracked by quiet tears, I trailed my fingers back and forth to soothe her.
The way my Knight, who’d started this game for me, had always done when I needed it.
While we sat there, I traced Landon’s familiar pattern on Izzy’s back, soothing myself with the gentle motions.
Eventually, she sat up, and her watery smile compelled me to wrap her in a hug.
She sniffled. “Thanks, Quinn. It’s nice to have a friend here.”
“It’s been really nice to have a friend here, for me, too.”
