Page 21 of Ruling Destiny

Slowly, I lift my gaze to meet his.Am I really that transparent?

“Not to worry.” He gives a quick wave of his hand. “I find it charming when you get all feisty like that. Just consider it one more secret we’ll keep between us. Though, I might say, they’re really starting to pile up. Still, for now, it’s best if you try to relax so you’ll be in the right frame of mind when you see what comes next.”

Something about the way he said that gives me pause.What exactly does come next?

Without another word, Killian leads me down the tunnel before stopping at a door that manages to merge so seamlessly with the wall, I could’ve easily walked right by it and never noticed it was there. Even the keypad beside it blends in. “Brace yourself,” he says.

My belly clenches with nerves. “I’m not sure how to take that,” I say.

Killian regards me from over his shoulder. “If I were you, I’d take it seriously. And, for the record, you should always takemeseriously. Except when I’m joking, of course. But I’m sure you can tell the difference by now.”

There’s an undeniable charge in his voice, and there’s no missing the flame in his gaze that burns brighter than ever. I have no idea how to read him; my anxiety is getting the best of me, and Killian notices immediately.

“Look,” he says. “I get that you’re feeling out of your depth. But I promise, you’re safe. So you can stop looking at me like that.” He veers so close I can feel the warmth of his breath wafting over my cheek.

“And how exactly am I looking at you?” I ask, striving for imperious and missing it by a mile.

“Like you can’t decide whether you want to kiss me or whack me over the head and run for your life.”

In an instant, my gaze turns to frost. He’s trying to keep me as unsteady in my thinking as I am on my feet. Killian lives for moments like this. But we’ve played this game before, and he’s not nearly as crafty of an opponent as he obviously thinks.

“Trust me,” I say. “Kissing you is not on the menu. I mean, no offense, but once was more than enough.”

Killian’s lips pull into a grin. “Actually, you kissed me twice, Shiv. But no need to split hairs over small details.”

Against my better judgment, I roll my eyes and huff under my breath.

“Oh, and one last thing—you still got yer slab?”

I nod, not sure I understand what he’s getting at.

“Then you can set your mind at ease.” He nods. “Nothing terrible can happen to you so long as they’re able to track you.” Reading the confused look on my face, he says, “You think Arthur gave you that tablet as a convenient way to send messages and read his inspirational quotes every day? He’s tracking you, Shiv. Tracking all of us. Of course, this place is loaded with surveillance cameras, but the slab makes it that much easier to keep tabs on your whereabouts.”

If that was meant to comfort, it pretty much did the opposite. And though Braxton once told me something similar, when he said it, it felt more like a safety precaution and less like an alarming privacy infringement.

But before I have a chance to respond, Killian presses his thumb to the keypad, the door swings open, and with a quick intake of breath, I step into a whole other world.

If life is a game of cards, we are born

without knowledge of the rules.

Yet we must play our hand.

—Niki de Saint Phalle

12

How the other half lives.

It’s the first thought that springs to mind, even though I’m not entirely sure what it means, much less who this other half might be.

My gaze wanders down a wide hall with cobblestone floors and quaint, old-timey storefronts with colorful shutters and doors. In the distance, there’s a cluster of cute, thatched-roof dorms, and I can’t help but wonder if it’s another one of Arthur’s holograms.

As if reading my mind, Killian says, “It’s all real. Well, except for the sky, of course.”

He points toward a ceiling that’s painted to mimic a nice sunny day. Just after he’s said it, the hologram clouds begin to shift as a light breeze suddenly kicks into play. When those same clouds cover the beam of light standing in for the sun, the entire space dims.

I look at Killian and say, “I feel like we’ve just traveled back a few centuries, but we did it by golf cart instead of the launchpad.”

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