Page 16 of Dark Rebel's Fortune

Max looked at the pictures, trying to see if Kyra could have guessed who was who by their ages, but it was hard to tell who was the oldest and who was the youngest. "I guess that the heart remembers what the mind forgets," he murmured. "They look like you. Same eyes."

She picked up a photo of the eldest sister—Soraya, the mother of Arezoo, Donya, and Laleh. The woman was perhaps in her mid-forties, lines of care etching her face, but still beautiful. In the image, she stood in a market, examining produce with adistracted air, unaware of being photographed. A single guard could be seen in the background, not even attempting to be inconspicuous.

"We need to get to her first," Kyra said. "I have notes from each of her three daughters, so she will believe me, and she's the eldest, the others will listen to her."

6

FENELLA

The morning sun beat down on Fenella as she stood in line along with Jasmine and her cousins at the entrance to Universal Studios.

She shifted impatiently from foot to foot, adjusting the borrowed sunglasses perched on her nose. After fifty years of wandering the globe, she'd somehow never made it to a theme park, and now she wasn't sure it had been a wise idea to let Jasmine convince her to come.

Most of those standing in line were Americans, some speaking English, some Spanish, and here and there, she could spot German, French, and Italian. Everyone looked ridiculously excited about parting with a large chunk of their money for the dubious privilege of baking in the hot California sun and trudging from one silly attraction to the other.

Fenella would have much preferred staying in thepenthouse and lounging by the pool with a fruity cocktail in hand.

"How much longer?" she muttered to Jasmine, who was consulting a map of the park while the four girls huddled together, whispering excitedly in rapid-fire Farsi that Fenella couldn't follow even with her translation earpieces.

"It won't be long now." Jasmine folded the map and tucked it inside her oversized satchel. "They're moving the line pretty quickly."

Fenella had to grudgingly admit that Americans were very efficient when it came to moving crowds along. Everything was also clean, which was quite an achievement given how many people passed through these grounds each day.

What made the whole thing worth the trouble was watching the girls bounce with excitement. They didn't look traumatized or scared while standing in line to get in. They looked thrilled, like other young people their age, eager for the fun that awaited them beyond the gate.

Arezoo tried to maintain a veneer of sophisticated disinterest, but Fenella caught the way the girl's eyes darted around, taking in every detail. It was an act Fenella recognized all too well—the careful pretense of being above it all.

Ell-rom stood slightly apart from their group, his tall frame and otherworldly beauty drawing curious glances from passersby, which was obviously making him uncomfortable.

"Don't worry about it." She sidled up to him. "This is Universal Studios Hollywood. They think you are an actor, just another prop as fake as everything else here. Plastic plants, painted concrete made to look like stone, and a man who is too pretty to be real."

He frowned. "Was that a compliment? Should I thank you? Or should I be offended that you compared me to a plastic plant?"

Jasmine laughed. "From her? It's a compliment." She wrapped her arm around Ell-rom's middle and smiled at Fenella. "You're not fooling anyone with your indifferent, snooty act either, you know. For someone who claims to be unimpressed, you've been rubber-necking worse than a first-time visitor to Times Square."

Fenella opened her mouth to deliver a retort, then closed it with a huff when she realized she had indeed been craning her neck to see over the crowd ahead of them. "I'm merely assessing my surroundings. It's an old habit. Always know your terrain."

"Of course," Jasmine agreed, her tone making it clear she wasn't buying it.

"I don't understand the purpose of this place," Ell-rom admitted. "Why are people so excited to visit these structures?"

The poor prince was even more out of his element than she was. Seven millennia in stasis followed by a crash course in modern life on Earth was not the best way to prepare him for a visit to a theme park. Naturally, it would be bewildering.

"It's about the movies," she said. "Did they have those where you come from?"

He nodded. "I wasn't privy to them, but I knew of their existence. I've also watched a lot of television since arriving here, so I know what movies are."

"Good. That makes it easier to explain. So, Universal Studios makes films, and to make even more money from them, they build attractions in this park based on their most successful movies, so people can enjoy feeling like they are inside their favorite stories."

Ell-rom frowned. "So, it's like a physical manifestation of storytelling?"

"Something like that," Fenella agreed, though she suspected he didn't fully understand yet.

"Next!" called an attendant, and suddenly, they were at the front of the queue. Jasmine handed over the tickets she'd purchased online, and moments later, they were through the turnstiles and into the park proper.

The main plaza was ringed with shops, restaurants, and entrances to various themed areas. Music played from hidden speakers while costumed characters posed for photos with excited children.

"Where to first?" Jasmine asked, consulting her map again.

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