Page 67 of Lust

I let out a long sigh, then realizing Remy is still looking at me, turn it into a yawn. “You didn’t answer my question,” I say, trying to figure out what happened with fake Quinn. “Why was kissing her such a bad thing? Everyone knows you are together, and there is nothing in the rules against kissing other people.”

“Yeah, kissing her is one thing in private, but doing it for the sake of a trial is pointless. You know whatever happens in here will be shown to everyone. The last thing I need is to turn my relationship with Quinn into a spectacle. But that’s exactly what she seemed like she wanted to do.” He leans forward. “I don’t understand her anymore. Things were fine until she started up with fucking Angelis.”

“She hasn’t fucked him,” I say a little too quickly. He gives me an odd look, so I quickly carry on. “I mean, I doubt it. He’s such a weirdo. Why would she want him when she has you?”

“Right,” Remy says with a heavy dose of sarcasm. “Because you don’t want to fuck his brains out? I thought that was your plan for this circle. I sleep with Quinn, you sleep with Dade, and get the bastard off my back.”

I’m surprised, but I don’t know why. Dade has groupies everywhere he goes these days. Why wouldn’t Candice be one of them? “Yes, well, I’m not sleeping with him,” I mutter. At least I know this part is true. Dade can’t stand Candice. He thinks she’s an empty-headed bimbo. And if there is one thing I know about Dade, it’s that he wouldn’t mess up his chance to get through the games by sleeping with Candice.

“Why not?” Remy asks. “I thought we had this all planned out? We’re already on the second trial, and even though we’re in the top ten, it doesn’t mean we’ll stay this way. We need to have a backup plan in case we fall off the leader board.”

Damn it all. My heart falls. He’s making a plan with Candice, and it seems that this has always been the case. Maybe I don’t know Remy as much as I think I do. “What’s the plan again?” I ask. It can’t be just sleeping with Dade for the sake of it. Candice might be okay with that, but why would Remy care? And how would Candice sleeping with Dade help him? I sit down next to him.

Remy sighs as he turns to me. “For fuck’s sake Candice, we’ve been through this ten times already. I wish you would pay attention. Dade knows stuff that we don’t. You need to get into his head so he tells you his secrets.”

Now I’m confused. Why does Remy think Dade has secrets? “If you think Dade is hiding something important, why don’t you just ask your girlfriend?”

“You know why,” he bites back. “Because I don’t think Quinn would tell me, even if she did know something. Quinn isn’t like you. She’s trustworthy. She’s probably keeping all that asshole’s secrets.”

I don’t know how Candice would take such an accusation of untrustworthiness, but knowing her, she wouldn’t give a shit.

“So, what exactly do you want me to do?”

“Damn it, Candice, please just pay attention. This is important.” He runs his hands down his face. His tone is exasperated. “Sleep with the moody bastard, find out what he knows, and then we’ll figure out a way to get him out of the games.”

My heart squeezes in my chest. “You do know that if Dade’s out, then so is Quinn.”

Remy shrugs his shoulders. “Yeah, I know, but there’s nothing I can do about that. You win some, you lose some.”

It’s like a knife piercing my chest to hear him talk about me like that. I feel tears prick the corners of my eyes, but there is no way I’m going to let him see them fall.

The buzzer sounds, leaving me bereft. Strike two. Once again, Noémi has got her entertainment. Felix secretly likes Rowena and Remy secretly doesn’t give a shit about me. The fans of the games must be going wild up there, learning all this juicy gossip, but down here, it feels like the hell this place is.

Remy runs his hand through his hair one last time and exits the room. I’m not surprised when, a few seconds later, Dade limps through the door. Of all the people to come in to talk to me, Dade, as my partner, was the only one I knew for certain would be here. He barely looks at me as he takes a place on the sofa. Unlike Remy and Felix, he doesn’t say a word, and it’s left to me to break the ice.

His aura is dark but cool in a way I’ve never felt it before and yet it’s definitely him. He wouldn’t have been able to trick me in this trial. I would have known him the second he came through the door.

I want to warn him about Candice, but I know if I do that, he’ll figure out who I am. Dade isn’t like Remy and Felix. He’s not so easy to fool.

I sit down next to him and lean into him the way I saw Candice do last week. He shifts his entire body away from mine.

I swallow back a lump in my throat as I say the words I expect Candice will say. It feels like I’m testing him when it’s the last thing I want to do. “Why don’t we forget our partners and do the last trial together?”

His voice is rough. “That’s not going to happen.”

There’s a silence and I wonder if it would be easier to wait for the buzzer without speaking. I’m desperate to ask how his leg is, but if I do that, I’d have to ask why he’s limping in the first place. I might know, but Candice doesn’t, and I don’t want anyone else to know either. Not that I think Dade would tell me the truth.

“If you don’t want to be my partner, I’ll find ways to get you out of the games.” As far as threats from Candice go, it’s pretty tame, but I hope it’s enough to make him wary of her. I stand up and step away from him.

He doesn’t even look up as he speaks. “You won't be the first, and you certainly won't be the last.” When he shifts his eyes up to me, his aura changes to something stifling. A shiver runs down my spine as he stares at me. “Instead of concerning yourself with me, why not direct your attention towards the company you keep? I think you need to concentrate on your own safety rather than worrying about mine.”

My voice chokes in my throat and I have to stand up and step away from him. “Is that a threat?”

He stands up and paces towards me. I keep forgetting how tall he is. Even with me in Candice’s body, which is a couple of inches taller than mine, he still towers above me. “I have no need to threaten you, Candice, because you’re managing to put yourself in danger without my help.”

My mouth falls open. “What’s that supposed to mean?” What does he know about Remy and Felix that he’s not told me? They are the only people I’ve ever seen Candice with.

I wait for him to say more, but then the floor shudders beneath us, undulating like an earthquake. “What's happening?” Panic surges through me as the ceiling directly above us begins to crumble, disintegrating into a cascade of debris. Within seconds, I find myself engulfed in darkness, and it takes a few heartbeats to realize that Dade has extended his immense wings, cocooning me from the collapsing ceiling. His head remains exposed as he bows down, using his wings to shield me. He pulls me close, tucking my head against his chest as chunks of ceiling crash to the floor around us.

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