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“Oh, my gods, Fallon!” Kendra squeaked as I opened the door to her dorm—my old haunting place now that the guys had moved us all into one space.

“It’s not mine,” I said gently, realising I was covered in blood. I’d come straight from Jeremiah’s office and hadn’t even thought to change. “I’m okay.”

“What the fuck happened?”

“We need to talk. I think Lou should be here, too.”

“She’s in the bathroom,” Kendra said with a wave of her hand. “I’ll get her, but do you want to shower first?”

“I don’t have my things,” I said with a shrug.

“Noah dropped off your stuff not long ago. He said you’d need us,” Lou said softly as she exited the bathroom.

Gods above, that man was a freaking saint.

He understood what a girl needed better than me sometimes.

After leaving Jeremiah’s office, I’d messaged all the guys letting them know that the ‘snake had been rattled’.

Weird lingo, but I knew they’d get it. Better to be safe than sorry in case anyone was monitoring our cuffs.

I knew Ace would hack the security feeds in the office building to remove any evidence of my being there after receiving the code. They probably wanted to see me straight away to make sure I was okay, but I needed my girlfriends right now.

After a quick shower to scrub off all the blood and wash my hair, I was once again with the girls, sitting on a bed with the two of them opposite me.

The three of us sipped our tea in our dressing gowns while I spilled the proverbial kind.

It didn’t take long to get them up to speed.

The only thing I left out was Zane’s meeting with my dad.

I didn’t know why, but I just couldn’t talk about that with them. Not yet anyway.

“Shit,” Lou said. “That’s…”

“Fucked,” Kendra offered. “It’s totally fucked.”

“You took the words right out of my mouth,” I said drily.

“So, basically, this whole trial has been rigged from the get-go?” Kendra said, still having trouble believing the amount of deception that had gone unnoticed.

“I think the intention was for all competition to be taken out, effectively ensuring Victoria’s win. That way, they would have been able to manipulate her decisions as the queen of Terrulia, giving them free rein to do whatever they wished. They’d be unstoppable.”

“Only, they were losing control over her, which made her a liability… What about you? What happens now?” Lou chimed in.

“Right. So, their last desperate measure was getting me on their side. But now that they know where I stand, I’m not sure what will happen next. Telling you this could put you in danger, but I figured you’d want to know the truth. And now you can better protect yourselves.”

“Protect ourselves? Fallon, you know we’ve got your back, right?

” Kendra said as she switched to my bed and bumped my shoulder.

“Do you really think I’m going to let you deal with all this armed with only a bunch of testosterone-fuelled dudes?

I mean, no offence, they’re great and they’re great for you, but someone here has to think with their brain head, not the other kind. ”

My lips twitched. She was deadly serious, which only made the laughter bubbling up my throat unstoppable. One shared look with Lou and we were cackling.

“I’m serious!” Kendra said as she crossed her arms.

“Oh, I know, that brain head of yours is thinking very hard,” I said between laughs.

“If guys think with their dick heads, then what’s the equivalent of our vaginas?” Lou said with a giggle.

“We don’t have an equivalent. We are actually capable of thinking with full coherency at all times,” Kendra said with a swish of her hair and a grin that was trying to make its way onto her stubborn lips.

“We can come up with a name later if you’re so determined, but for now…

” She stalked over to another bed, where a bottle of vodka lay waiting.

“Drinks! I know we’ve got a job to do tonight, but godsdamn, I think we’ve earned some fun, too.

I want to drink with you both, then dance with my stunning girlfriend at the ball before we fuck up this school’s vault. ”

Lou and I rose, both of us smothering Kendra with a bear hug.

“I love you both,” I said with a grin. “Now let’s wreak havoc at this shitshow.”

“Fallon, you look…” Ace’s voice trailed off as I sauntered past dancing Potentials, finding myself drawn to him like a magnet. I’d never found him at a loss for words before, which must mean I looked pretty dang good.

The auditorium was absolutely stunning. Within the span of a few days, Celeste had somehow transformed it into a ballroom, complete with chandeliers and royal blue banners depicting the crown.

Ice sculptures surrounded the room, vines and flower walls adorned empty spaces, fire-breathing dancers and acrobats performed daring acts, and men and women showcased their earth-shattering might in bouts of strength displays.

They’d managed to represent all cities. Annoyingly, Stormcrest was represented by scantily clad gorgeous men and women with wings, made to look like angels from pre-Terrulian times.

Puh-lease . I turned my attention back to the man before me, who looked utterly delectable in an all-black suit. His black hair had been raked to the side and his neck tattoos peeked out from beneath his black shirt.

“You like?” I asked, spinning in a circle.

As none of us had suitable attire for a ball, Celeste had ordered a veritable wardrobe of gowns, suits, jewels and shoes a few days ago. We’d even been measured to ensure a perfect fit.

I picked a satin red gown with a built-in corset, where the fabric gathered at the waist slightly on one side before dripping down to the floor like blood.

A small train and black heels with red soles completed the look.

Lou had done my hair in soft, glamorous waves, pinning one side up with a fine-tooth gold comb.

Rubies hung from my ears and around my neck and I’d chosen black satin gloves that went to my elbows to break up all the red.

Of course, I’d strapped a knife to my leg, too, just in case.

My telekinesis was strong, but I was taking no chances tonight.

Beyond dancing with the gorgeous man in front of me, I had a job to do—we all did.

“Like’ isn’t strong enough a word,” Ace answered as he looked me up and down. “You’re the most beautiful creature I’ve ever laid eyes on.”

Shit, his husky tone was nearly enough to make me blush. I looked down, smiling, but his bionic finger tilted my chin back up.

“Queens don’t look down for anyone,” he added.

“Queen? A little early for that, isn’t it?”

He shrugged. “Baby, I don’t give a damn who sits on the throne. Not when I can have the whole world sitting in my lap.”

Okay, now I really was blushing. “Keep on like that and I might start to think you’re getting soft.”

He took my gloved hand and subtly brushed it down his front as he pulled me to him. “I think you’ll find I’m anything but when it comes to you.” To emphasise that point he jerked his cock, as if it was saying hello to me.

I laughed, then circled my arms around him. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

He swayed, and I took his lead as the next song started and we began to dance to an upbeat quartet. “Noah and Dick are in position,” he whispered into my ear. “Kayden’s ready, too, but I don’t know where the merman is.”

I flinched at Zane’s name, having momentarily forgotten what I’d seen on that video recording.

Ace pulled me back just enough to read my face. “What’s wrong, Princess?”

My stomach rolled at the thought of Zane betraying me, us. At the fact that the man I was falling for could… I shook my head. “Nothing. I… It’s nothing.”

He sent the lightest pulse of electricity up my palm, which was just enough to pull me out of my downward spiral. “Fallon, tell me the truth.”

I bit my lip. Maybe it was time to tell someone and get their opinion. “It’s about Zane. Before I killed Jeremiah, he showed me a recording. It showed Zane meeting with my father. I think… I think they got to him, Ace.” Tears welled in my eyes as butterflies surged in my stomach.

“What?” Ace bit out. His grey eyes flashed like violent storms, threatening death to anyone who crossed him. Or crossed me.

“It looked like they were making a deal or sharing information. Zane seemed upset at first but then he shook Victrus’s hand. It…” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “It didn’t look good.

“I will kill him. I swear to the gods, I’ll fucking rip him limb from limb.”

“We can’t think about that right now. We have a job to do, and we need to stay focused. We need that weapon, Ace. The video was recorded in Jeremiah’s office, which means Victrus was here and could very well still be. We need to get to it before my parents.”

“And put our trust in that fucking leech in the process? No way! He could have told Victrus about our plans. We’d be walking into a trap.”

“We have no choice.” I looked around to see if I could spot Zane’s blond hair, but I found nothing.

“Zane might have betrayed me, but I have to believe he doesn’t want to hurt us.

There’s a good chance Victrus will wait for us to retrieve the weapon, rather than get his own hands dirty, and then take it.

So, we’ll have to be careful once we have it.

We can’t allow a power like that into his hands. He’ll be unstoppable.”

Ace sighed. “You’re sure about this?”

“If Zane doesn’t turn up to help Lou create a distraction, we’ll warn the others to be extra vigilant. I… I don’t know what I’d do if he stood against us. I can’t go there.”

Ace’s lips thinned in clear disgust, but he didn’t argue. Instead, he slid a hand through my hair and gripped the roots tightly. “I will never hurt you, do you understand? I will never betray you. And I’ll destroy anyone who does.”

“I know you will,” I whispered.