Page 40 of Trial of Thorns
My stomach drops. My heart hammers in my chest.My betrayer. Why do the most beautiful girls have to be evil?
Brielle also seems rather annoyed at how good she looks. “I cannot wait,” Brielle whispers as we watch her gain the attention of everyone in the room, her eyes still dull of life, her expression blank. Bored. Too good to be here. “To snuff her life from this earth.”
I snicker in return, but I’m glad that my ally isn’t examining my face as I watch my enemy enter the ball. I can’t pull my eyes from her, the black jewels on her dress glimmering as her hips sway gently. On her shoulder is a black bird. It watches the crowd with as much disdain as she does, its wings glistening with hues of purple and blue.
Brielle suddenly pulls me away from the staring, silent crowd, toward the drinks.
“What are we going to do about her?” she whispers.
“You know what we’re going to do.”
“But how? We need to make a plan. Now. I need a plan.”
I sigh. She needs something to focus on before she explodes. That I can sympathize with. She grabs a bubbling purple drink and hands me one. I wave it away. “I can’t.”
“You’re expecting to get through this night entirely sober?”
I chuckle. “I told my father I wouldn’t drink until the end of the next challenge. He didn’t believe me, so now I must prove him wrong.”
She smiles. “He’s manipulating you. He only said that to make sure you don’t drink.”
That very well may be true, actually. I shrug. “I’ll keep it in mind for the next time. The challenge is tomorrow, though. So, I can also see the benefits of withholding for another twenty-four hours.”
She raises her eyebrows. “I don’t know. Knowing the content of this next challenge, I say a bit of drink might be a good thing.”
I chuckle at that.
The Shadow Court black bird flies over our head and into the moonlight out the window above the courtyard doors.
I watch as it settles on a crystal lit tree of the terrace, watching through the windows.
“What are you looking at?” Brielle asks.
I pull my attention back to the room. “That bird,herbird, watching us.”
Brielle rolls her eyes. “Ravens are always creepy dicks. Don’t worry about it.”
I turn back toward the ball, knowing she’s probably right.
