“The worst,” I agree with a laugh. “But at least ours weren’t the worst. Did you see that mess Dahlia came out with?”
I shake away the memory with an echo of the words resonating through me. As I take my spot at the back of the crowd, the clashing giggles of Asher’s flirty companions stir another surge of jealous fury.
I clench my jaw against the sensation.
I knew he needed more than I could give him in both realities I’ve been a part of. I should be glad I wasn’t the death of him in this one. That has to be enough.
My friends fall into place around me, Madison brushing herself off, Stella giving a little shudder.
“I hope it doesn’t get any worse than this,” she says.
Something in me cracks. The words pop out before I can think them through. “Yes, wouldn’t want to have to face any real struggle in your life.”
Stella blinks at me, her mouth freezing half open. The other girls stare.
I stiffen too, on the verge of chuckling and pretending it was a joke.
But it wasn’t.
I wanted to poke at my friends, didn’t I? See if I can provoke them into revealing any hint of a conspiracy against me.
Why not now?
I wave toward the obstacle course. “This is only the first challenge, and you’re already complaining. What the hell do any of you know about what’s actually hard?”
Cadance scoffs, her tone bored. “And you do, Elodie? Come on.”
My head ticks toward her. “I know better than you. I had to fight for my life, didn’t I?” More than once, but they don’t know that.
“Elle,” Madison starts.
I yank my attention to her. “You pretend like you’re too good for all this, but I bet you’d be terrified if anyone threw you into a real fight instead of just a sparring match. And you.” I focus on Stella again. “You talk like you believe in our duty as lucents to protect the rest of the world, but as soon as the going gets tough foryou, all that matters is letting someone else do the heavy lifting.”
Stella’s expression shutters, her eyes dulling, her lips pursing. Without a word, she turns away from me and walks off around the crowd.
The other two girls keep staring at me.
I swallow hard, more guilt blooming in my stomach. But nothing I said was a lie.
These friends aren’t reallymyfriends. I don’t need them—they never helped Other Elodie either.
All that matters is getting to the bottom of this mystery, one way or another, before my matches and I end up dead.
Twelve
Elodie
Other Elodie’s group chat has gone silent as an unexcavated tomb. I peer at the phone that’s now mine as if new messages might pop up that I somehow didn’t see before.
No one’s said anything since Friday morning. Since before I went off on three of my supposed besties during the supplementary training session.
Did my brief tirade accomplish anything other than offending them? Should I reach out to Stella and see if I can prod anything useful out of her while she’s off-balance?
Isshe even off-balance or just pissed off? They’ve probably started a new chat excluding me to grumble about what a bitch I was.
Sighing, I flop back on the bed. I pushed myself through my usual workout, meditation, and shower, but I don’t feel at all ready to meet the day.
A tinkling bell from downstairs announces that theDevines’ Saturday brunch is ready. Even as I grimace, my stomach gurgles.