Page 60

Chapter

Sixty

Reina

" I still can't believe you didn't tell me," Serge said, adjusting the lapels of his chartreuse suit jacket as his tangerine platform boots clacked rapidly on the polished floor. “Not one word about your little matchmaking scheme. Not. One. Word."

I sighed, as we made our way down the bright white corridor toward the hangar bay. "I've apologized seventeen times since yesterday, hon. Would you like me to make it an even eighteen?"

"No need." His spiky hair quivered as he shook his head, though I noticed the pink had finally receded from the roots.

"I begrudgingly admit that it turned out perfectly.

Perfectly! And now we'll have Morgan and Tivek's wedding to plan.

" His eyes lit up with the particular gleam that appeared whenever he contemplated brides and grooms.

"They're not getting married anytime soon," I reminded him, walking briskly to keep up even though his legs were half the length of mine. "Morgan's still a cadet, remember? Plus, they might want to have the ceremony at the Academy."

Serge stopped dead in the doorway to the hangar bay, one hand pressed dramatically to his chest. "At the Academy? With all that black stone?” He swooned against the door frame, eyes closed in apparent distress.

I couldn't suppress my smile. "Think of it, though. You've never planned a castle-themed wedding before."

His eyes snapped open, the remaining pink in his hair receding almost instantaneously as excitement took over. "Castle-themed! I hadn’t thought of that. You did say there’s a grand staircase, right? And a bluff overlooking a sea?

I nodded, not clarifying that the sea was usually raging and the bluff was more like a perilous cliff.

I followed his rapid footsteps through the doorway and into the cavernous hangar bay, the exposed steel beams crisscrossing overhead and the scent of scorched fuel sharp.

I carefully avoided the splotches of slick oil that scattered the floor as we wound around barrels and fighter jets.

“I envision swags of white roses,” Serge continued, barely pausing for breath “with the dinner served by costumed page boys and serving wenches. And the cake could be a castle itself, with towers and a working drawbridge made of icing!"

I decided not to mention that Morgan and Tivek had never expressed any interest in castles. It would only upset Serge, and it had taken long enough to get him back in my good graces.

“Wedding plans aside, I’m glad they're not leaving right away," I said. "Even if they should return to the Academy soon."

Serge's hair flared pink at the roots so suddenly I almost laughed.

“I don’t think we should discuss precisely why they haven't left their suites," he said primly, his voice dropping to a scandalized whisper despite there being few workers around us to hear.

"I've made a note not to put any of the new tributes in the South Pacific bungalows. It might scare some of the humans.”

I doubted any of the women from Earth who were volunteering to be tributes for big, burly Drexian warriors would be scared by some enthusiastic moaning, but I didn’t say that to Serge. He liked to think of all the tributes who arrived as innocent darlings.

“Sound does travel over water," I admitted.

"I suppose it's to be expected." Serge straightened his flared collar. "And I don't mind that you used me in your elaborate web of lies?—"

"I wouldn't call it a web?—"

"—as long as the end result is a wedding for me to plan." He patted my arm with surprising gentleness. "Now, tell me about these other couples at the Academy while we await our new arrivals. I need to start planning my calendar."

I smiled, thinking of the matches that had formed during my time there. "There are four new couples, but I can't imagine there will be any more for a while.”

I'm glad you're back, Reina.” Serge squeezed my hand with surprising strength, his small fingers wrapping around mine in a brisk, affectionate gesture. "It hasn't been the same without you, darling.”

A lump formed in my throat as I squeezed back. "I'm glad to be back too," I told him. “Even if I'm a bit sad my Academy adventures have ended."

At the far end of the hangar bay, the energy field that kept us from flying into space hummed as a ship entered and touched down, skidding to a stop near us.

Serge's eyes sparkled as he released my hand. "Oh, darling," he said, his voice dropping to a dramatic whisper, "your adventures on the Island have just begun."

I turned toward the ship carrying new tributes and new possibilities, and I felt the familiar flutter of anticipation in my chest. Perhaps he was right. Perhaps the best adventures were still to come.