The Princess Purge: A young adult dystopian romance by Cordelia K Castel

Author:Cordelia K Castel [Castel, Cordelia K]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-05-27T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Cold shock hits me straight in the solar plexus, knocking all the air from my lungs. I glance at Violet, who stares at the screen with her mouth agape.

Stiletto raises a pointed blade to her chin and grins into the camera. It’s a practiced pose that makes her look both menacing and exciting.

Bitterness rises to the back of my throat. What on earth would motivate her into participating in a contest to hunt me like prey? The reason can’t be Cannon. Nothing about that man is worth fighting over.

Stiletto’s popularity rank appears at the bottom of the screen. 9372. Of course. Episode Three of The Phanglorian Bride just aired. She’s probably desperate to raise her popularity ranking back to single digits.

“We’re leaving.” Mauser taps a series of commands into the dashboard. “Grab the bags. Get ready to jump out.”

“What are you talking about?” My gaze fixes on the closeup of Cannon, whose mouth flaps open and closed like an old-style letterbox. It looks like he’d been telling the truth when he said he didn’t know the final contestant.

Mauser reaches into the back seat and grabs the nearest bag. “This vehicle is no longer safe. Get out.”

“Nobody’s going to jump out of a moving car just on your say-so.” Violet says. “Explain yourself.”

“No time.” With an annoyed snarl, Mauser opens the door, letting in a blast of cold wind. He leaps out backward, lands in a roll, springs up and waves his arms at us to do the same.

Anxiety quickens though my insides. The last thing we need right now is to lose our navigator and the only person who knows enough about the workings of these games to keep us all alive. I grab Violet’s arm. “We should go.”

She snatches one of the bags, and opens her door, filling the car’s interior with cold air, turns with her back to the open door, and throws herself out.

I wrap my arm around the last remaining bag, open my door, and wince at the blast of cold air. The snow suit protects my body from the brunt of the cold, but a circle of skin on my face immediately freezes. Clenching my teeth, I turn backward in the same position as Mauser and Violet did and leap out.

For a heartbeat, it feels like flying, until I hit the ice with a smack. Before the pain can register, I tumble to the side in a series of heart-lurching rolls that make me feel like I’m about to take off. Eventually, my body hits a bank of snow that breaks my momentum, and I stumble on shaky limbs to my feet.

“That was harrowing.” My voice trembles, the adrenaline coursing through my veins. This has to be the effect of the additives in our food and water. I wouldn’t normally be so calm after such a dangerous feat.

Violet stands hundreds of feet away in the middle of the road with her bag fastened to her back. Mauser is a tiny figure in a sea of pristine white that leads back to the snow-covered slums of Reindeer Hills.

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