Page 96 of Her Devils

“Kiara,” I say, unable to hide my distaste for her, “can we please try to stay out of each other’s way? And Anna, like Kiara just said, JeanLuc invited Sarah, which is his prerogative since we’re staying at his house.”

Kiara has never known when to shut up. “Sure, but then don’t try to sell this as a work trip, since Sarah doesn’t work for the Angels.”

I roll my eyes. “Based on that, you shouldn’t be here either. You’re an intern, and you work at reception. I don’t see Rachel here.”

Anna comes to her defense. “She’s here because she’s my brother’s girlfriend. Or did you forget how you threw yourself at him twice and he still chose Kiara?”

Her words shouldn’t bother me, but deep down, a pang of old hurt rises to the surface.

I know better than to engage with these two, but I’m sick and tired of the way they treat me when I’ve never done anything wrong to either of them.

I’m about to tell Anna that I dodged a bullet, since Darrius has been cheating on Kiara at every meet we’ve attended.

The words die in my mouth when the rest of our group comes out at the same time as two black limousines pull over at the end of the massive driveway.

Maybe it’s better this way. I don’t think anything good will come out of letting these two provoke me.

Everyone’s attention is commanded by JeanLuc, who claps his hands to get our attention. “Mesdamesandmessieurs, welcome to my humble abode. I’m sure you’ve all had time to settle into your rooms. I’ve arranged transportation to the tower, so we can check out the details for tomorrow’s exhibition. It’s going to be a fairly big event, and the world’s attention will be on BASE jumping, so we want to make the most of it. To capitalize on the exposure we’ll receive by jumping from the top of the Eiffel Tower and from its closure to tourists while the event is ongoing, our sponsor, Wild Horse, has decided to make all of us a part of their dedicated blog.”

I’m impressed by the scale of the event, and I guess Wild Horse didn’t become the world’s most popular energy drink by accident.

I have a lot to learn from the way they run their campaigns, and this time is no exception.

JeanLuc explains that a portal dedicated to the event has been created. The access to it will be free for everyone, and that’s smart because obviously the portal itself is a prime spot for advertisers.

Tomorrow’s invitational will be streaming on the portal, but its appeal goes beyond that.

In the bid to create buzz around each of the athletes who will be jumping and their regular teams, each of us receives a smart phone connected to the portal.

“Log into your social media accounts on that phone, and everything you post in the next seventy-two hours will automatically be shared on the portal.”

That’s incredibly smart, because there will be a lot of content for the fans to access in addition to the actual event.

Especially since for the next three nights, Wild Horse has organized one glitzy party after another.

Invitations to those events are incredibly coveted, and only French and international A-listers made the cut.

“Post everything you see and do and your own live videos from tomorrow’s jumps and from the parties. This will help us get a huge spotlight on BASE jumping, but it will also be great for your own social media presence. I’m sure we’ll all gain a lot of followers in the next three days.”

Everyone is offered a sleek, black smartphone except me. I’m given two—a personal one and one to use to launch the new social media for the merged Cove Angels.

***

Channing

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IRUSH TO CLIMB INTOthe limo straight after Lenley, making sure we take a seat between Peyton and Penn to keep them apart.

J and I caught them outside their rooms earlier on the verge of a fight.

The tension between them is at an all-time high, and even as everyone is busy logging into their social media on the new smartphones, those two are glaring at each other.

I hope Gina and Ken weren’t wrong when they thought that they could get them to work together by merging our teams and eliminating the very reason for their rivalry.

The way I see it, joining forces benefits both our teams. Obviously the Angels have better facilities, bigger sponsors, and a legacy that everyone in the skydiving world looks up to.

However, the Devils bring a lot of talent to the table, especially if we’re going to get into BASE jumping in a serious way. The Cove Angels have shied away from the most dangerous stunts after Patrick’s death, but his famous stunts were what made his team the legend it is to this day.

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