Page 33 of Priest and his Anarchist

“You good?” River calls from the bedroom, and I turn to ask her if she thinks this whole mask thing is weird when I notice garment bags hanging from each hand.

She sets them on the bed. “So—” Her eyes fall to what I’m holding, and her smile drops. “He what?”

“I know.” I place it on the bed beside the dresses.

“Luna, he’s not supposed to give anyone that, much less, like”—she pauses—“someone not in the three.”

I unzip the first bag. “Trust me, I know. I don’t understand it any more than you do. On top of that, he’s also managed to force some guy to take me as my date.”

River clears her throat. “I’m sure that’s his self-destruction making those decisions.”

“I’m confused.” I stare back at the dress laid out in front of me. A hematic hue of silk. “He confuses me. He’s always been obvious with his hatred toward me, but today in his office, I don’t know.”

River doesn’t answer, lowering herself onto the bed. “He doesn’t hate you. Priest doesn’t quite have the same temperament as most humans, so he doesn’t hate you. Is he agitated by your presence? Sure. Probably.”

I blink. “How are you so sure?”

“You’re not dead.” She shrugs. “Which is what I thought you’d be well before your first year was up.”

“Means nothing.” I pinch the soft material as it sails over my finger. “It simply means that right now, he needs me alive.”

Silence. “It means everything, Luna. Priest doesn’t care for the politics of the business. He’s a King before anything else.”

“Exactly,” I say, placing the gown back down. “He’s a King.”

“No, you’re not listening to me.” She kicks off the bed and scoops up the mask. “He’s a King before he is anything. He’s rogue yet calculated. None of us truly know what his plans are once he takes the gavel.” Her finger slows around the edge of the sharp fangs that elongate from its mouth. “But we all know one thing, and that’s that he doesn’t plan to keep things how they are.”

When I reach the bottom step, the car door is already open. Even after the passing years, his warmth reminds me of a time when I felt happy.

“Hello, kiddo.” He fixes his suit and gestures inside the car. “Long time no see.”

“Looking dapper, stranger.” I grasp the edge of the door. He’s bigger than I remember. As if time absorbs everyone around me. It’s a reminder of how long I’ve spent living here in purgatory.

He bends down to gather the thin trail of my gown as I slide inside.

“Luna Nox.” My stomach coils into knots. I don’t know anything about this boy. Blond hair falls forward when he bows before he grasps a bottle from the side and pours a glass.

“Hello.” I rest the champagne flute on my lap. “What’s your name?”

“You can call me Frazer.” He relaxes into his seat opposite.

How do I remove the divider? I’d much rather chat with the driver than Frazer.

Bubbles evaporate on my tongue, and I turn to watch the passing trees outside my window. In all three years that I’ve been here, I’ve never ventured into town. I am doomed and stuck here to be—whatever I am—to Priest for as long as it takes. They’ve been training me, but for what? I’ve been told nothing. I watch as Priest does things while I draw pictures over a wall that's running out of space. On the off days, I play with my throwing stars, sharpen them, practice with them, but none came from Priest.

Three years of existing, not living.

Lanternslight the main road through Riverside township, showcasing each store in an illume of warmth. On the opposite side of the strip of shops is the pasture of the church, which takes up the entire distance of the shops. A botanical garden bedrich with foliage that’s been well manicured. Riverside wears its mask like a knight does its armor.

We pull up to high-wired gates that line Riverside Elite University, where light posts lead down the cobblestone drive. I remember Dad saying he wished he had pushed for me to attend this school. Sometimes, I wanted to because homeschooling became a bore, but that would have meant that I would have to live among people who existed in a whole different dimension from others. At the time, it was something that I wasn’t ready for, yet here I am. Wearing the bone of a Hayes on my face. Priest having me wear his means he wants people to know.

I reach behind my neck to massage the knot that’s forming when I notice the boy staring. When he realizes, he quickly shifts his gaze out the window. The car stops, and my door opens.

“Who is he?” I ask the driver casually, taking his hand. The one I’ve only spoken few words to but feel as though I can trust him.

“He’s a Lost Boy, kiddo. The best of them, too. You can trust him.” I don’t know anything about the Lost Boys, only that they help police Perdita, an island off the coast of Riverside that the Elite Kings run as a world of their own. I remember hearing Dad say that things are temporary there and that one day, it will be a breeding ground for everything it had started as.

I never knew what that meant. Why would a Lost Boy be taking me to this party tonight?

---