Page 7 of A Game of Love and Betrayal

Gently picking up the yellowed piece of paper she sought, she studied it for a long moment before folding it on the creased lines. She worked carefully, not wanting it to rip, then slipped it in the clutch beside her phone and charger. Her packed duffle bag was on the floor by the front door. It would be sent to the Hall of Choice and arrive a few hours after her.

Brynleigh did not shed a tear as she left her room for the last time, nor did she worry about what she was leaving behind. Sentimentality was for the weak, and this was but a stop on her road to revenge.

Jelisette and Zanri were sitting at the chess board when Brynleigh entered the living room. Jelisette had changed and wore a long black sweater and a flowing skirt. Her sleeve slipped as she cupped her chin, revealing a thick black marking on her wrist.

Zanri, wearing his usual jeans and t-shirt, looked up. His eyes darkened as they swept over Brynleigh, and he whistled.

“I’ll be damned, B,” he said appreciatively. “If I didn’t bat for the other team, I’d be all over you. No one will be able to resist you like that.”

Brynleigh laughed, and her shoulders loosened as Zanri’s comment diffused some of the tension running through her. “That’s precisely the point.”

Just because the Choosing was a blind love competition didn’t mean Brynleigh couldn’t let her competitors know she was willing to do anything to win. She was young and beautiful, confident in her body, and she didn’t care who knew it.

Jelisette moved the knight before looking up. “Do you have everything?”

“Yes.” Brynleigh’s voice was cold and emotionless, like her Maker’s.

“And you remember the plan?”

Another nod. “Of course.”

They’d gone over it a hundred times. Brynleigh knew what she was doing. She would seek out Captain Waterborn and make him fall in love with her.

Zanri moved his bishop and folded his hands. “Your turn.”

Picking up her rook, Jelisette slowly moved it across the board with predatory ease. “Very good. And remember, you can’t?—”

“Trust anyone.” Brynleigh snapped her wings tight against her back and lifted her chin. “Yes, ma’am. Rule number one. I know.”

She’d memorized the rules and knew them backward and forwards. This was her game to lose.

Jelisette released the rook, removing Zanri’s knight from the board. The shifter cursed quietly under his breath, frowning as he studied the game.

Zanri would lose.

There were three paths to Jelisette’s victory, all attainable within five moves.

“Then you’re ready.” Brynleigh’s Maker stood and produced a golden envelope from her pocket. Handing it to her progeny, she waited until Brynleigh met her gaze. “Your ticket in.”

The thick paper was cool to the touch, the embossed metallic filigree pressing into Brynleigh’s fingers. “I won’t let you down.”

Brynleigh’s shadows pooled at her feet, and she prepared to leave.

The last thing she heard was Jelisette’s melodic murmur, “See that you don’t.”

Brynleigh sat in the back of the limo her Maker had procured, her fingers lying flat on her thighs as she stared out the window. The chauffeur wasn’t talkative, which was fine with her. She was wholly focused on her task and happy to watch Golden City’s sparkling skyline pass by.

The namesake triple arches rising above the city gleamed against the starless sky. Their gilded glow shone brighter than any other lights burning through the darkness of the night.

Golden City was the largest urban area in the Republic of Balance. It was the capital and housed the governing body that looked over the welfare of the entire Republic. The Council of Representatives met here, and millions of citizens called the sprawling urban area their home. It was one of the most prosperous regions on the continent, and the golden arches symbolized its wealth.

Some people said this was the most beautiful city in the Central Region. Others claimed there was nothing like it anywhere in the Republic, that its beauty was unmatched. Once, she’d even heard someone say that Golden City rivaled the ancient Emerald Palace in its resplendence.

Brynleigh did not see the beauty. She did not see the appeal of the golden arches or the glimmer of money found around every corner.

All she saw was a city fueled by bloodshed and deception.

No amount of gold could hide the broken aspects of this world. No money could stop the cracks in the gilded veneer from showing. The beautiful illusion of Golden City hid the inequality that reigned in this place. Death often visited those who were less fortunate.

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