Page 42 of Let Me Win You

The animal shrank back, flapping his wings. I gripped the reins tighter, struggling to keep him in place.

“Nic?” Invi slipped over his own line in the sand.

“Nuh-uh!” Pandora raised her arms, signaling him to back off.

“I’m good,” I assured him quickly, afraid he might get penalized or even worse, disqualified, for breaking the rules.

Our gazes crossed, and I held eye contact, unable to let go. I wished to say something special to him, just to him. But I didn’t want to make it too obvious that I felt closer to him than to anyone else here. I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to have favorites in this contest.

“Thank you,” I said, running a hand down my skirt. “Thank you for the dress. I really like it.”

“Hey!” Gul roared. “You gave her a dress? I didn’t know we were allowed to give her presents like that.”

“Oh, spare the outrage,” Pandora groaned. “Like you didn’t bring her cannoli the other day.”

Ira glowered at Gul, clearly unaware of Gul’s cannoli offering.

“That was just a little treat,” Gul explained, scratching behind his ear apologetically. “To welcome her to the neighborhood, so to say.”

A low growl vibrated threateningly deep inside Ira’s wide chest, like a rockslide rushing down.

“Alright, alright.” Pandora raised her hand again. “Save all that energy for the race. Now, has anyone seen Lux? He promised to be here.”

“He changed his mind,” Invi smirked.

“Invi.” Lowering her voice, Pandora squinted at him the way my dad used to look at me when he knew it was me who painted our cat’s tail green. “What did you do to your brother?”

“Nothing.” Invi shrugged innocently, “Lux is fine. Avar will let him out when he’s back.”

“Out ofwhere?” Pandora threw her hands in the air, exasperated.

Despite his confidence about winning the race, Invi obviously decided to improve his chances by eliminating at least some of the competition. And for that, I was grateful to him. The peculiar nature of the Sin of Lust alone would increase myworry exponentially if there were even the slightest chance of him claiming me as the prize at the end of this race.

The heavy metal gate rumbled and screeched on its hinges. Thick, black smoke rushed out through the gap of its opening.

“It’s starting!” Charity yanked at her reins, taking off on her pegasus.

“Quickly, Nicole,” Kindness urged, lifting off into the air too. “The race is about to begin.”

“Time to get out of here.” Pandora hopped back into her saddle.

“Nic!” Invi rushed to me, smudging the line in the sand with his tail. “You need to leave. It’s not safe for you on the ground.”

“If it’s not safe, how about you?”

“I don’t have a body to lose, remember?” With the swing of one arm, he lifted me off the ground then deposited me into the saddle. “Go. Stay safe. I have a race to do.”

I leaned from the saddle to him, catching his gaze.

“Win this thing, Invi. I want you to win.”

A wide grin curved his lips.

“Will do.” He winked, then slapped my pegasus on the rump, making him flap his wings and rise into the air. “Trust me, Nicole dearest, you will be mine.”

12

Nicole

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