Page 43 of Forsaking All Others

“And now we come to the matter at hand,” Gerry stammers, “ah, the losers of the contest, Viscount…”

“They have to be killed,” Starlen finishes for him. “Bitten.”

“That won’t happen.”

“Ah, well,” Gerry and Starlen exchange knowing glances as the former bumbles on. “We’ve kind of come up with a workaround.”

“A workaround?” I glower at the pair.

“Yes,” Starlen says, shoulders straightening as he tosses his hair and looks supremely happy with himself. “My idea. You ask them to accept your bite, they comply, then we pan away. I swoop in afterwards and have a little snacky-snack.”

I stare at him and grit my teeth.

“You want to snack upon my potential brides?”

“Technically,” Gerry jumps in, “they aren’t potential brides if they lose the challenge.”

They nod in unison and smile at me.

“I can bite as many as you like, up until the final two,” Starlen shrugs, “the last one you’ll have to kill, no matter your sensibilities. It has to happen on camera.”

“You both disgust me,” I snap, turning from them and making my way towards the limo waiting to take me back to my accommodation.

A week from tonight four contestants will be leaving the hacienda in body bags, four women who gave up everything to risk their lives for me.

The thought makes me sick.

33

“A week isn’t long enough to prepare,” I groan as we sit in our room and contemplate the contest details, limited as they are, before us.

“If this trial is being held in the former torture chambers of The Inquisition, and it says the task involves ‘knowledge,’ then presumably we need to brush up on our Spanish history,” Evelyn murmurs as she paints her toenails.

“Or they could mean knowledge about one another…” Thorun starts, “like you mentioned before. We don’t really know each other.”

“Yes,” Sona says in her sing-song voice, “after all, the Inquisition was all about gaining information and confessions from their victims. Perhaps we have to confess things to one another.”

Thorun smiles, her eyes bright.

“Like truth or dare. I’ll start.”

“Thorun!” I snap, exasperation leaching into my tone, “I told you, that’s not how this Game is played.”

“You said knowledge is power,” she shrugs.

“Yes!” I shout, gesticulating wildly to punctuate my words. “It gives power to other competitors!”

“But this time we’re collaborators,” Sona shrugs. “Thorun and I agree. Two against one.”

“Of course you do,” Evelyn snipes, “but so far all I’ve heard you two gasbag about is Thorun talking about fish and you talking about all the kinky sex you’ve had. Two against two.”

“But is it kinky?” Sona asks in her little girl's voice. “Many men like being choked…”

“Sona!” I groan. “Please, no more. No more stories.”

Thorun starts giggling, and Evelyn curses. Presumably having messed up a nail.

We all look up at a perfunctory knock on the open door as Miranda steps into the room.