Page 257 of The Wishing Game

Four have failed so far and have been removed from the premises.

I'm in the middle. A few girls separate me and the high priestess.

My legs won't stop trembling from the anxiety, especially since I don't have Ze's voice to guide me in my head. I'm on my own. Yet I find that I'm not as worried for myself as I am about what Ze will do if he cannot reach me should he try to because hewillraze this place to the ground.

I don't doubt him just as I don't doubt the fact that he has the capacity to do so.

The high priestess approaches.

Drops of sweat form on my forehead, slowly dripping down my face. I swallow, trying to regulate my breathing. My heart is racing like crazy.

Will she find out about the pearl? Should I have taken it off? The questions continue to plague my mind, and I lose track of time and space, my hearing dimming until suddenly, the high priestess is in front of me, speakingtome.

I blink.

"What is your name?" she asks, her voice rough and husky.

"Luce," I murmur. Even my vocal cords are trembling, for God's sake.

I might be wearing a camisole and a pair of underwear, but that doesn't mean the rest of my skin isn't out there in the open—including my marks.

"This..." She brings her hand to my collarbone. "May I?" she inquires.

I nod, my tongue tied.

She lays one finger on the dark marks on my skin, tracing the flat designs.

"Why do you have this?" she asks, her gaze glued to my chest.

"I-I don't know," I stammer.

"Hmm..."

Her light eyes flash at me.

"Do y-you know what they are?" I find the courage to ask.

Her face screws up.

"It does not matter if you do not know," she says, half turning to move to the next girl. But something catches her attention as she suddenly stops.

She grabs my hand, her eyes narrowing as she peruses my bracelet.

Oh God! I'm freaking out on the inside and I'm doing my best not to show it, begging my muscles not to spasm uncontrollably—though that's exactly what happens.

I make a bad liar. I make an even worse criminal. And to think I was wanted by the police for fraud and whatnot. I almost snort at the thought.

The high priestess pulls the bracelet off my wrist, bringing the pearl closer to her face to study it.

"This." She purses her lips. "I will hold onto this."

She nods to herself, pocketing the pearl bracelet as she continues to the next girl.

I blink in confusion. That makes no sense. Half sentences that hold no real meaning to anyone other than her. She must have sensed that something was off with the bracelet, but I doubt she knows exactlywhat. Otherwise, she would have disqualified me. If she sensed Ze's energy, she wouldn't have been so calm.

I try to look at the bright side as the high priestess checks the rest of the girls. We slowly get dressed as she finishes, and to my surprise, all of us are good to go back. Yet as we exit the room, I can't help but feel the high priestess's heavy gaze on my back.

When we reach the courtyard, the priestess in charge divides us among the other lines, and somehow I end up in the same queue as Wyn. When she sees me walking toward her, her lips pull up in a wide smile.

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