Page 62 of We Are the Match
It is a different type of cliff I stand on now. A different steep drop, a different danger.
A different freedom waiting for me here, too.
I take the plunge.
“My father is cruel,” I tell her. “And dangerous, and often unstable. The Family needs a new head.”
She tips her head back and looks at the sky, eyes sparking as she laughs, full-throated and bright. “And you want it to be you.”
I bristle. “And who else would it be?”
“Does it have to be anyone?” Paris is looking at me intently now.
I startle.
The end of the Families? The end of this industry that has funded half of this country’s politicians and much of those in Europe and beyond?
Who would smuggle drugs, or weapons, or steal secrets, or move behind the scenes of elections when necessary? Who would step into that kind of power vacuum, if not me?
“Oh, is ending their rule not something you even considered?” Paris gets to her feet, brow furrowed. “I should not be surprised that you think you could be a lesser evil—that the problem is your father, and not the power itself. So that’s it, Princess? Instead of helping you escape, I’m here to help put you on that throne?”
I stand, too, facing Paris. Confusion stirs in my chest, replacing the excitement that had risen when we blew up the warehouse together. “And why not?” I ask her. “You have no love for my father. No loyalty,either. You have not hidden that once.” My eyes flick down to her hand. “I would be a ruler that ruled differently. I would not have—”
“You would have to grow a pair to be able to do that,” Paris says, dismissing me. “But very well. And what do you propose we do? Test Altea’s loyalty and see if she, too, misses Troy?”
My heart thunders against my ribs.
It is treason. The kind of thing that would get us killed. That may yet get us killed.
“Yes,” I breathe.
Find the queen, but not for my father.
Find the queen, so that we may see if, though her loyalty is no longer to my father, it may yet be to me. I am not just of this island. I am not just of Zarek.
I am Lena’s daughter, after all.
And that makes me a daughter of Troy.
Chapter 21
Paris
So the princess wants to rule now.
That was not entirely unexpected, though the disappointment I felt when she told me certainly was. Helen trying to dethrone Zarek will only help me in destroying him, her connections and money and power and access to weapons unmatched.
If only I can forget the light in her eyes when she told me she wanted to live, to rule, and she wanted me at her side as she did.
If only I could forget the way she looks when she grieves her mother.
Helen stares breathlessly up at me now. “What—where do we start?” she asks as the attendant dips her head and retreats, giving us space to talk in private as she waits by the elevator. She stands again, wobbling a little before taking my hand. “Do we try to gauge Altea’s loyalty? Because I can tell you Altea likes to interrogate people on her shooting range.”
I tilt my head, looking at her until she explains.
“Not with us downrange,” she laughs. “That’s more my father’s vibe. She just likes to outshoot you and prove who she is.”
“So can you outshoot her?” I ask. “Because while you do that, I’ll have a look around.”
