Page 148 of Double Bucked

“You’re beautiful,” they say.

“You’re so strong.”

“You’ll be okay.”

Tight, strained smiles.

“Thank you,” I hear myself say. “Yes. I know.”

My body bumps into another in my wild dancing.

I spin right into the arms of Maeby. Queen of ’94. She doesn’t look at all like the Maeby from behind the bar—her eyes are deep-set in dark eyeshadow, her hair done back in beautiful braids.

She sees me, and her mouth falls open. She holds my elbows, and I hold hers. Together, we spin.

“Claire,” she says. Her voice is breathless.

“Maeby.”

She pulls me in close. So close I get an airless breath of her flowery perfume.

Her voice shakes in my ear. “You shouldn’t be here,” she says. “Get out.”

I feel myself stumble backward. Her words pierce through my daze like an arrow.

She doesn’t wear their fake smiles. She just stares at me, standing in the middle of the dance floor, as though she’s seen a ghost.

For the first time in the whole night, real fear grips through me.

What if I’ve overplayed my hand?

Outnumbered. Trapped. At their mercy.

A hand slides over my shoulder, and I nearly jump out of my skin. When I whip around, I come face to…

Faces.

It’s him. My Belleflower King. And the double-faced mask, grinning wickedly down at me.

My heart hammers in my chest. He lowers himself down to a single knee.

Slowly, he reaches up and takes hold of his mask. He pulls it from his head, removing it, and sets it down on the floor.

“My Queen.” Loren Dagney smiles up at me. That self-satisfied smirk curls the mustache over his lip.

My throat goes tight. I can feel my heart in my neck pounding.

“My King,” I whisper.

His blue eyes gleam up at me. He offers a hand.

I stare at his palm, feeling the rage rising in me like a storm.

The same hand that murdered my father.

I take it, and he pulls me in for a final dance.

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