“So you light up for anyone yet?” Ory asks me, and my brow dips in confusion.
“Um no, am I supposed to be?”
He gets a mischievous grin on his face and shakes his head at me.
Fuck. How long have I been standing here? How much more time do I have to put up with this dude?
“They’ll give you more time with me,” Ory tells me cryptically.
“Who will?”
“Your Marn and Tok. They will give you more time with me because our match would be the most beneficial to them.”
Whatever I was about to say falls silently out of my open mouth. I just stare at him, replaying his words in my head.
“I have Chosen,” I answer simply, trying and failing to not feel bewildered.
Ory shrugs again. “I didn’t say I was interested, I just explained why they would give you more time with me.”
Irritation simmers in me, but for the first time since I met Ory, it’s not for him. I release a deep sigh and shake my head. All the Grier talk focused around her place and that she was the next in line. Their dismissal of my Chosen. Fuck, they get my name wrong a quarter of the time. They want me to pick up where Grier left off. I sigh.
“So are they thinking they can convince me to ditch my Chosen and choose new ones? That’s a thing here, isn’t it? Or are they hoping that I’ll just add a few advantageous matches for the fun of it?” I ask him flatly.
“From the looks of things, they’re just waiting to see if you’ll spark up for someone,” he tells me, and suddenly their eager looks and hawk-like observation make sense.
“I’m so dumb,” I confess. “It was all there, right in front of my face, and I just didn’t see it.”
I growl internally at myself.
“They’re ambitious; there are worse things out there,” Ory observes dismissively.
I shake my head and try to push down my frustration and anger. “They’re myChosen,” I snap at him. “I love them. Tok and Marn can’t just dismiss that or them like it’s nothing. Not when they’reeverythingto me.”
“They’re doing what they think is best,” Ory tells me, and I bristle.
When are people who don’t know me going to stop thinking they know what’s best for me?
“Despite what they think, I’m not Grier,” I tell him. “Maybe she wanted this life, but I don’t.”
“It’s in your blood; you may not have much choice in the matter.”
“There’s always a choice,” I counter. “Besides, you wanted to kill me a week ago, but now you’re going to wax poetic about my destiny and place here? That makes zero fucking sense.”
“I wasorderedto kill you; there was nothing personal about it,” he corrects, still scanning the crowd over my head.
“Riiight,” I drawl. “Well, I wish I could say this was fun, but it wasn’t. I’d say have a good night, but I really don’t hope you will. Nothing personal,” I quip with an amused smile and step away from him.
Ory chuckles as I turn around and walk away from him in search of my Chosen. I’m officially done with this night. I maneuver my way through the crowded ballroom, ignoring invitations to stop and talk with people I’ve already met throughout the night. I approach my guys and give them a huge smile.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” I tell them.
“Finally,” Bastien states with a relieved sigh.
Knox’s “it’s about time” makes me chuckle.
And Torrez’s “thank fuck” has me raising a hand as if to say preach.
“You okay?” Ryker asks me.
