Break (The Last City Book 2) by Dylan Steel

Author:Dylan Steel [Steel, Dylan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2023-09-14T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

The four decoys and I scattered down the stairs that spanned the front of the dais, each of us scurrying in a different direction. The crowd surged around me, sweeping me away until I lost sight of Mercedes. I could barely even see the stage anymore, but she was no longer on it.

Panic hooked inside my chest, and I felt a hand gripping my elbow. I jerked away, the whites of my eyes flashing as I held my hands out, loose but ready, and spun on whoever was trying to control me.

“Easy, Strawberry.”

My shoulders sagged. It was just Luke.

“You didn’t think I’d actually let you disappear, did you?”

Without really thinking, I threw my arms around his neck, pressing my cheek against his chest. He stilled. I pulled back quickly.

“Relax,” I said lightly as I scrambled to come up with an excuse that didn’t make me look weak and needy. I leaned in and made sure to speak just loudly enough that only he could hear. “They want a long party. This should make people think one of the other girls is the bride. When they decide it’s someone else, they’ll swarm her trying to hide her, but really, all they’ll be doing is showing Rhys the first place he should check.”

Luke stared at me for a beat. “Right.”

Man of many words, that one.

“There you are!” Mercedes appeared behind Luke, rescuing me from the strange awkwardness that had settled between us. “You took off so fast, I almost lost you.”

“Isn’t that the point?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. Not that she could see it. The mask hid half my face.

She huffed. “I know you aren’t thrilled to be here, but—”

“No, seriously.” I couldn’t have her saying stuff like that if I wanted to sell the illusion. “I have every intention of enjoying myself tonight. But I thought I was supposed to be hard to find. If Rhys gets here and sees you talking to me, it’ll be pretty obvious.”

“Hon, he’s not going to ruin the party early even if he figures out who you are the second he walks in.” She looked me up and down. “And honestly, he probably will. You look seriously plush tonight.”

I couldn’t say why, but I stole a glance at Luke right then and could’ve sworn I saw appreciation flash over his face. It was gone an instant later. I had to have misread it. If anything, he was just agreeing that Rhys would help keep the party going. Yep.

“The whole point is for him to find me,” I protested.

“A technicality.” She waved her hand and accidentally smacked the back of someone’s head as they shoved past us. She grimaced but didn’t apologize, and they moved on without even noticing, already wasted. “The real point is the party, and Rhys knows that. Besides, this is the last time he can flirt with anyone other than you and not have anyone hold it against him since he can’t be sure it isn’t you. Hate to break it to you, but that’s half the reason it’s always a masque.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.