Page 81 of The Order of the Bitter Hunt

I can hear the rapid patter of her heart.

“The food is wonderful.” We haven’t touched it. “Are you?”

“Yes!” she squeaks.

I lean in closer, tilting my head to the side. “You seem nervous. You didn’t come here to kill me, Daisy. Did you?”

“No.” She lets out a puff of laughter. “Of course not.”

“Who were you with before this?”

“No one!”

“Thank you for the information,” Jun says. Not that she gave any. He flashes a dangerous smile. “Have a good rest of your night.”

It’s a way of dismissing her—though I still worry she’s the killer. She would be a highly nervous killer and unlikely to win, but it may work in our favor.

Daisy walks away, approaching Augustin. I make a note of them together, just in case, but the answer comes sooner than expected.

Daisy lets out a retching sound, and I clutch onto Jun’s arm.

It’s an act, I remind myself—and not a good one. She’s overacting. Not that she cares. Not that it matters.

Daisy just lost her chance at immortality.

All around the room, eyes lock onto us. We were the last to be seen with her before she crawled off to die next to Augustin. He didn’t have time to act, so him being the killer is unlikely—in my book, he’s clear.

This doesn’t look good for us.

“Daisy is out!” My father rings a bell. “Please excuse yourself from the hall.”

She’s the first to be cut. I feel bad for her, but it’s clear she isn’t ready to be part of the Order.

She exits quietly, and the attention is still on Jun and me.

“They’re going to think we did it,” I say. “We were the last to speak with her.”

“Let them think it.” He lifts a brow. “Weknow we’re innocent.”

He’s right. A wrong guess this early in the game will get them out of the race.

Sure enough, Gio heads to the teachers to give his answer. He sits off to the side, and we don’t know who he guessed… but if it was us, he’s out.

We’re left with Selina, Janna, Arthur, and Augustin.

Selina is beautiful, with matching purple eyes and hair—likely a merperson or someone with fairy ancestry. She has the two men wrapped around her finger, and when she glances at Jun, I realize she wants to wrap him up, too.

Typical.

“Don’t,” I whisper, shaking my head at him. “Just watch.”

“I wasn’t going to?—”

Before Selina confirms my suspicion, Professor Fairweather speaks from the front of the hall. “Dance with a partner!”

Music swells. I’m not in the mood to dance, but we don’t have a choice.

The show must go on.