Page 78 of Rejected Mate

Hours passed. I alternated between sitting in my chair by the window and pacing my room. What was going on outside these walls? What was taking so long?

A few hours later, the door opened, and I got up, thinking it was Maurica, but it was some other vampire maid.

“Where’s Maurica?” I asked, staring at the vampire. She had thin lips and dark black hair slicked back into a bun.

The servant glanced up at me. “I don’t know who you are talking about.”

“The maid. The one who was assigned to me before?”

She shook her head, set the lunch tray on the table, and left.

So even she’d been taken from me? Was I being punished for something?

I picked at my food, my appetite long gone.

Finally, after nearly a whole day had passed, my door opened again. The same maid walked in with a garment bag over her arm.

“What is this?” I asked, getting up from where I’d been dozing by the window.

“Put this on. Be ready in thirty minutes.”

“For what?”

But she didn’t answer.

I walked to the garment bag and found another fancy dress. I was perfectly capable of getting ready myself, but I wondered what it meant that no one was here to help me. Were we done with glamorous appearances, or was I truly being punished? For some reason, I suspected the latter.

Did William know what Ares and I had done? That we were developing a true connection and didn’t feel like playing his game?

I dressed and did my hair as best as my trembling fingers would allow. I put a simple necklace on, knowing the one with all the power was hidden under my mattress. No one could know I had it. Not until I knew how to use the blasted thing.

A half an hour later, the guards opened my door and beckoned me into the hallway. I followed, my heart in my throat. A fancy dress meant dinner or a date, but with whom?

I was relieved when they stopped in front of the dining hall and voices echoed inside. The guards pulled open the doors to reveal another table set for royalty. But, instead of clocking the delicious meal or the goblets full of wine, my gaze went right to the people at the table. Laurel, Nanette, and Loba were there, each in a different color dress. Situated between them were the vampire suitors in black. Ares caught my eye immediately, then Callan. The other two males were Emilio and Henri. Four males and four females. The symmetry was not lost on me. These were the remaining couples. If I didn’t win Ares, would I be forced to marry one of the others?

I’d like to see them try.

The vampire guard pointed to a chair next to Henri. I glanced down the table at Ares but took the seat I’d been directed to. Thankfully, Henri was occupied with Loba on his other side, leaving me to my thoughts.

I spent the meal paying attention to everyone around me: who was flirting with who, what was being said. I watched as the cameras bobbed around, capturing conversations and highlighting contestants. They came to me, but quickly found my lack of engagement boring. I wasn’t here for the cameras. I was here to claim Ares and be done.

But how did I do that?

On the other end of the table, Laurel talked Ares’s ear off. She knew what she was doing, flirting with him. On her other side, Emilio kept trying to get her attention, but to no avail. I reminded myself that it didn’t matter. Ares was mine.

“How do you feel about the game tomorrow?” a voice said.

“Huh?” I turned to find Henri attempting a conversation once again. “Oh, yeah, great.”

“Do you think you will get the match you are hoping for?”

Match? I turned my attention to him. “What do you mean?”

“The mate?” he said, his accented English slow and deliberate. “Do you think you will get the mate you are hoping for?” He raised a dark brown eyebrow. He had slender features, a pointed nose and chin, sharp cheekbones, and flat brown eyes. He was handsome by any standard of the male form, but he was definitely not my type.

“Sure, I hope I get a good mate,” I said, trying to blow him off again.

“It’s the last trial,” he said. “I’m sure it’ll be interesting.”

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