Her mouth dropped open. She shook her head more adamantly, her eyes wild and hair flying as she fought the urge to rip it out. “You wouldn’t do that! You wouldn’t?—”
“Fuck!” I pounded my fist back against the stone. “You’re so fucking stubborn. Why can’t you just?—?”
But the familiar click of heels alerted me to my shadow’s presence, and the words died on my tongue.
I snapped my mouth shut.
Red lips curved into a sinister smile. “Am I interrupting?”
At the sound of Victoria’s sickly sweet voice, I almost lost it. Having her so close, having Quinn standing right beside?—
“We were just talking,” Quinn said curtly, unable to curtail all her anger at me. “We’re not done, if you don’t mind.”
Victoria’s eyebrows rose, and she arched a brow. “Actually, I’ve been sent to gather Max here for the vote. Time’s up, Sir Mordred.”
I turned my head, enough to snub her attention but not far enough to lose sight of her. She tilted her head, assessing me and then shifting her gaze to Quinn.
“And you?” she asked. “You are…?”
“No one,” I snapped at the same time she answered, “Quinn. Quinn Everly.”
“Ah.” Victoria clicked her tongue against her teeth, as if that was brand new information. “Nice to meet you, Lady Everly. But you need to get back inside.”
Victoria waved Quinn away like she’d done a hundred times to students loitering in the halls of Camelot Academy.
“Go now. With the other Maidens.”
But Quinn wasn’t from our world. She didn’t know what monsters lurked behind the most appealing smiles. She didn’t understand the danger here.
The risk.
So, she bristled at the order to leave, especially since she wasn’t done giving me a piece of her mind. Arms crossed over her chest, she opened her mouth to argue.
“I’ve told you I’m not interested, alright?” I smirked, hoping to sell it. “You took a chance. You failed.”
Her mouth snapped shut, those big, brown eyes flashing with indignation. “You?—”
“Wouldn’t slum it if you paid me.” I scoffed. “Which you can’t, by the way.”
Brow furrowing at my sudden rejection and the cruel words she didn’t understand, she frowned.
“Fine.” Then she redirected her steely gaze to Victoria. “He’s all yours.”
She nodded before turning on her heel and walking away. Victoria smiled like she’d received an unexpected gift, and my stomach clenched, rolling with each step Quinn took away from us even as the distance brought relief.
With one last look over her shoulder at me, she shuddered out a breath and shook her head. Then she went back inside Camelot Courtyard. I breathed easier when she did, but I averted my eyes forward as quickly as I could.
Victoria caught it anyway.
She appraised me as she walked closer, her stilettos clicking on the terracotta stones.
Black-clad hips swaying like a rabidly feral cat that needed to be put down, and her long, dark brown hair tied in a twist at the nape of her neck.
But my gaze snagged on another flash of bright red as she traced her finger over her bottom lip.
She ran it slowly, attention shifting to the spot where Quinn had just been, as if she were considering something she hadn’t seen before. Though, we both knew she’d kept that card safely tucked in her back pocket since the minute Vivian ran home with news ofThe King’s Maiden.
“She’s a pretty girl.” Each word grated on my nerves as she spoke slowly, with an air of seduction that never left the throaty tenor of her voice. “Soft. Delicate. Almost…fragile. Appealing to one with a protective streak. Or a villain.”
