Page 87 of The Art of Exiley

“No,” Rafe says. “You’d better keep it for now.”

I pull it back over my shoulder. “Well, if we do this, is there anyone who would be upset? Maybe Mbali?”

“What does Mbali have to do with anything?”

“Are you guys, like…?”

“Oh, no. Absolutely not.” His face scrunches up. “I’ve been engaged to her sister three times since we were children. That would be extremely awkward.”

“You’re engaged?” I yelp.

“Not currently, no. But the Blood Crown and the Matriarchy of the Isles have been trying to form an alliance for years, and the coupling of their children has always been their favorite strategy.” He states this as if he couldn’t care less about such an irrelevant matter.

“But for the sake of our current discussion, I can assure you that, though I’m certain many hearts will be broken, there is no one who will be wronged by my involvement in a fake relationship with you.”

“But everyone knows that you hate me for being a weed—”

“Gravdammit, don’t call yourself that,” he snaps.

“Why not? You call me that all the time.”

“Yes, because I’m insulting you, but don’t demean yourself.”

“So, only you can demean me?”

“The point is that my idea is a good one, and you should agree with it. Not only will it help us get off this island, but you’ll be treated better if you’re associated with me. Don’t you want that?”

“In case you haven’t noticed, almost everyone besides you and your cronies treats me just fine. Besides, you don’t care how people act toward me. What is it that you’re really trying to get out of this?”

I’m right. He has an ulterior motive. But it’s Rafe, so he has no problem clearly explaining the way he would like to use me to his advantage.

“Rescuing my cousin is my top priority, but I won’t deny that this plan has an additional benefit for me.” Now I’m certainly curious. “Some moral crusaders have petitioned to have me removed from the hoverjoust league for bigoted behavior. I’m about to be promoted to captain of the team, and an alliance with you would demonstrate that—”

“Are you kidding me? Wouldn’t it just be easier to stop acting like a superior pig?”

He aims his eyeballs at the heavens. “They’re not actually coming from a place of morality; they just know that their own team can’t defeat me, so they’re trying to get me kicked off the league to improve their chances of winning.”

“Their motivations don’t matter if they’re right.”

He huffs dismissively. “Another reason it would be useful is that there are a few of my past partners who… don’t seem to understand that what we shared was a one-time thing….”

This boy is truly unbelievable. He wants to use me to keep his clingy conquests off his back and make him appear less reprehensible than he is.

“It sounds like you’ll be getting a lot more out of this than me,” I say.

“You want my help to get to the mainland, and this is the best way to make it happen. Are you in or out?”

“Would you even be able to keep it in your pants for that long?” I can’t believe I’m actually considering this.

“Honestly”—he thinks for a moment—“I don’t know.”

“Well, you’d better. I’m not interested in being the pathetic girl that everyone knows is being cheated on behind her back.”

“Understood. I’ll be respectful of your reputation. But we don’t tell anyone about this.”

“Nu-uh. I have to tell Georgie.” I don’t want to lie to my friend any more than I already have. I need her now more than ever.

“Unacceptable. If anyone knows, we won’t be able to control who else finds out. I can’t get us off this island with gossipmongers breathing down our backs. And Ineedto get off this island.”

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