“I’m no longer dizzy or feel like I’m going to pass out. I still feel weak and tired, even though I got at least a few hours ofsleep. I’ve had a slight headache all day. I can’t hear the twins in my head, and the ability to mind link is still gone. No storm magic either.”
Anders searches my face. Worry lines etch into his forehead. “No storm magic? It’s completely gone?”
“Yeah. It’s a weird feeling, like an emptiness just under my breastbone.”
Anders’s eyes widen in fear. “Jessica, this is completely different, compared to what they did all those years ago.”
“I know…”
“There’s an easy remedy to all of this. We just excise the implant before it hinders you further,” Sodie says from behind me. “They won’t know it’s gone, and I can take it out in less than fifteen minutes.”
I step away from Sodie and sit on the exam table. “What if we leave it?”
“Are you insane?” Sodie snaps. “We have no idea what they’re using. What if we leave it, and it has a more permanent effect than the last time?”
“That’s the chance I have to take.” I pause. “I don’t like it either. If whoever planned this realizes that I’m not weak or without magic, then we won’t be able to get behind this. I know you don’t like it, but I have to play the part to draw them out. Last night was a test. They saw the way I interacted with the twins, with Joe. They saw how the guards responded.”
Sodie folds his arms over his chest and shakes his head. “Anders, talk some sense into her. This is dangerous.”
“You were on board with my plan this morning,” I protest.
“That was before I realized that the drug took away all your magic.”
I turn my attention to Anders, his face still laced with concern. Will he change his mind? Disappointment starts to settle in my chest.
“I trust you anticipated something like this?”
“I did. I didn’t see the implant specifically, but I figured drugging me was a possibility again, especially considering it was quite effective before.”
He nods and takes a step closer to me. “The moment I feel like you’re losing control of this game, I want that fucking implant removed. So help me, Jessica, if I have to hold you down and remove it myself, I will.”
Feeling a little triumphant that he didn’t immediately shut everything down, I press my lips together to prevent myself from grinning like a fool. “Got it.”
He turns away from me. “Why couldn’t I have had three boys?” he mutters under his breath.
“I heard you,” I reply to his back.
He doesn’t acknowledge me as he makes his way out of the suite.
I’m in the home stretch. Soon, I will meet the last three contestants. I rub the towel through my wet hair. The hot shower helped ease the tension in my shoulders and the headache forming in my temples. Resigned to wearing only a robe, I head down to hair and makeup.
I'm curious to see how the production team sets up the introduction for the remaining three men. I like knowing my surroundings ahead of time. If something happens, I can make a quick decision on an escape plan. Let’s just say it’s a habit I developed since being caught in many threatening situations.
I take the long way to hair and makeup, observing the surroundings, seeing in my head where the guards will standpost, imagining possible escape routes if I need to flee. As I near the gathering room where the men wait, Marcus and Wills stand in the corridor, talking in low tones. Before they see me, I slip into a room, leaving the door slightly ajar so I can hear.
“We need to form an alliance, get as many of the LS Alphas on board. We can’t let a Northern A Alpha win. Territory Seven belongs to us, not some outsider,” Marcus says. I would recognize his annoying voice anywhere.
Wills chuckles. “So, you’re going to make friends with Shadow, then? I have to see that.”
“Shut up. I’m not here to make friends with anyone. Besides, Shadow and I share a common goal. He’s here to gain the Alpha Princess’s trust and take over Territory Seven, but I don’t just want Territory Seven. I want the Alpha Princess.She’s mine.”
A stinging pain shoots straight to my heart, and I slowly shake my head in disbelief. I almost believed Shadow’s declarations last night, his claim on my body when he made love to me. I guess I was right initially. He is here to kill me, after he wins my hand in this game.
“You sure about that? My resource tells me otherwise. I was told that they had something going on between the two of them, right before he was forced into a betrothal agreement when he was reinstated as Young Alpha. That’s why I had his name placed on the list for the first five to be eliminated tonight.”
“Doesn’t matter. Like I said, I’m not worried about him. He might have a relationship with some of the Resistance followers, but he doesn’t have the resources that I do. Iamthe Resistance. My family has been a part of this group from the beginning. Shadow is a has-been, a Resistance wannabe, a working alcoholic who can’t keep his own territory in line.”
Wills snorts. “Functioning alcoholic or not, I’m not taking any chances. Don’t forget there are still three more men she’s meeting tonight.”
