“I don’t think Ruby has ever had a plan… for anything,” Mila added far too dryly for my liking.

“I did have a plan and it was successful.”

“Successful?”

“Yeah, the doors are unlocked… my plan ended there.”

Hunter chuckled nervously. “You should probably think up another one… and quick.”

I curled my fingers around the chrome handle and pushed. Everything was quiet and all eyes were on the car as I slipped from it. I shut the door and it seemed to echo. Eli’s stare penetrated me and strangely, it had me regretting my decision to leave the car. On second thought—no—no, it didn’t. There was no way Eli would have stayed in the car. No way. I put more weight into my legs, making me feel more confident.

I shouted to the man still holding his gun firmly in Eli’s face. “Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to point things in other people’s faces? You might take one of his eyes out.”

“He’d be lucky if I only take his eye,” he responded with a sardonic smirk.

“Shoot his foot.” I shrugged. “I like his eyes. They’re pretty.”

While the elites laughed, Eli scowled. He shouldn’t be so mad. I was only buying time. Mila and Hunter were right, I didn’t have a plan, but if I kept talking, the others would think I did. Giving them a false sense of security was better than what I really had planned—absolutely nothing. Eli could tell that I had no plan and I hoped he was the only one.

“The council wants us to go back,” Mr. Aleksandrov announced.

“And what have you decided?”

“It’s not up for debate,” the head elite interrupted but I ignored him.

“Mr. Aleksandrov?”

Mr. Aleksandrov shifted in his robe, pulling more of the fabric around to the front. “Get Hunter and Mila. We’re going back.”

***

Helicopters. We were flown back to the council in helicopters. I wasn’t one to complain (much), but the helicopters were definitely not as flashy as the jet we arrived in the first time—or as smooth. For appearance purposes, I sat next to Hunter and threaded my fingers through his, as a normal girlfriend would. I would have been able to really sell the boyfriend- girlfriend thing if Eli and an elite guard weren’t sitting directly in front of us. This time, our flight to the council was different, not just cosmetically, but emotionally, too. The first time, there was uncertainty. We didn’t know what was going to happen. This time, we were all certain we were going to die, which posed the question, why didn’t they shoot us on sight? Why were they bringing us back? We were right where Mr. Aleksandrov wanted us to be, but suddenly I wasn’t so sure and the ‘running’ idea definitely felt like a better plan right now. I didn’t want to spend my last moments holding Hunter’s hand…as bitchy as that sounded.

The flight seemed to be over before it started and I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing because I felt nauseous being so high up, or bad because our problems were only just beginning. My palm was slick with sweat and mixed with Hunter’s, but neither of us let go. In front of me, Eli leaned forward and watched the floor while his elbows were planted firmly on his thighs. He seemed a lot more distressed now than he had been with a gun pointed in his face. He glanced up at me then with a clear look of sympathy in the gorgeous depths of his eyes. I frowned as I studied him… what did he have to be sorry for? Hunter cleared his throat and Eli’s gaze shifted to him, hardening into a look of distaste. Hunter laughed once under his breath before his fingers twitched around mine. Out of principle, I took my hand from his and folded them tightly across my chest. Now was not the time for Hunter to gloat. The helicopter landed and my seatbelt bit into my stomach as we landed with a jerk.

“Time to go,” The ‘head’ elite guard said, reaching forward and unclipping my harness. The gesture made me feel like a child and I didn’t appreciate it.

“Would you like to hold my hand and escort me off of the helicopter as well?” I asked, earning a warning glance from Eli. God, he was good at those. I didn’t want to be snarky, or at least, I didn’t intend to be, but there was only so much I could take before my defense mechanism kicked in.

“If you want to be a child.” He grinned. “I could always drag you by your hair kicking and screaming.

“You could try,” interrupted Eli, freeing himself from his chair and standing up. Eli was only slightly taller than the elite, but a hell of a lot more intimidating. The elite’s lips pulled tighter.

“Here I was assuming the boyfriend would defend her.”

I rolled my eyes. They were going to turn every little thing that Eli did into an act of undying love.

Beside me, Hunter shrugged. “You don’t have to be romantically involved to defend a woman’s honor. Besides, he’s already started and I’m not going to stop him.” Hunter rose to his feet and extended his hand to me. “I’ll help you out.”

I forced a smile and put my hand in his. “Thank you.”

I ignored both Eli and the elite and focused solely on the stable patch of grass as Hunter led me from the helicopter. On the field fifty yards down, Mr. Aleksandrov, Mila, Xavier, and Lyric stepped down from their helicopter. I sagged in relief. Thank God they’re all okay. I looked around the open field. Large light posts lit the grassy area, practically turning night into day. I didn’t mind it too much, I’d rather see everything than nothing at all. Hunter squeezed my hand as Eli strolled up beside me.

“They’re taking us straight to the court house.”

“What for?” I asked.

“The council wants to know where we went and why we fled.”

“They’re not serious? They know exactly why.”

Eli nodded. “We told the elites everything. They claim the council had nothing to do with it.”

I opened my mouth to reply, but the elite interrupted me. “Move. Cesare has no tolerance for tardiness.”

I continued as if I never heard him. “The elite that tried to kill me. He referred to the council.”

“Prove it, the elite demanded. “You didn’t even get a name and the council is not going to take your accusation lightly. If your attacker was an elite, that means Mr. De Luca here killed one of his own. That is not acceptable, nor is it the first time he has taken matters into his own hands.” The elite leaned a little closer, his face softening. “Watch what you say in there. What happens next will depend on every single word that leaves your mouth.”

I frowned. “Be careful, you actually sound like you’re trying to help us.”

He drew himself to full height. “People like you and your little group. You’ve all been through a lot and I admire that… in a way. Other elites? Not so much.”

He turned away from us and started forward, towards the beautiful stone buildings. At night, they had an alluring golden shine to them, and it made me wonder why. Why did they go through so much trouble to build such a majestic place if no one outside of this city was meant to see it? It seemed to me to be a huge waste of effort.

The elite didn’t allow us to wait for the others, who were making their way over, so we didn’t. We kept on walking, hoping something—anything—would help us out of this mess.

***

Unlike last time, we weren’t subjected to any frisks or assessments. We were dragged right into an empty courtroom. No spectators. No bright lights. Only the council, us, and the elite guards that brought us here. I sat between Eli and Hunter and I fought the urge to press myself against Eli for comfort. My empty stomach began to churn as the council filtered into the room from a side door. Their faces were neutral—not angry, not thoughtful, not even guilty, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d believe them if they said they had nothing to do with the attack.

They sat in their chairs, dressed in their business attire. They looked like they belonged in a modern office, not in this ancient courthouse. We sat for a small eternity analyzing each other. Mr. Aleksandrov was the first to speak. He cleared his throat and rose to his feet. I swallowed hard, anxiously waiting for the outcome of this situation. There were only two options—death or life—and quite frankly, I wasn’t liking the odds.

“Councilmen—”

“Welcome back,” Cesare said, purposefully cutting Mr. Aleksandrov off. “I hear you ran into some difficulties.”

I gritted my teeth.

“Yes, our trip home was… eventful.”

“Your actions are shifty, Ivan. You ran, disappeared off the face of the Earth after your hearings.”

Mr. Aleksandrov chuckled, shrugging off Cesare’s implying tone. “We didn’t run because you refused to change the relationship laws. We ran because we were attacked.”

“My elites tell me you ran from one little intruder?”

“It wasn’t the intruder we ran from. We ran from the threat he delivered.”

Cesare ran his skinny index finger across his lip without a flinch. “Threat?”

“I really hope you weren’t behind the attack, Cesare.” The tips of my fingers began to ache and I realized I was digging them into my seat. “Your plane ran out of fuel. We landed by a lone motel that had no one in it and yet it was all set up perfectly. A lot of thought and planning went in to what happened.”

Cesare shifted forward in his seat. “We are very busy people, Ivan. So we didn’t agree on something, that is no reason to kill you—besides, we need the girl.”

“You had absolutely nothing to do with the attack?”

“No.”

“So then why are we here? Why were there guns pointed at us upon our return to the motel?”

“Our elites handle situations however they deem fit. You disappeared off the grid. Our elites treated you how they’d treat any suspicious persons.”

Mr. Aleksandrov shrugged. “Fair enough.”

“You’re here because I wanted to make sure you’ are finished with this ‘law change’ business. I can’t have the higher power running around behind our backs.”

Mr. Aleksandrov shook his head. “I want to further my cause. I want to give you proof that changing the relationship laws has nothing to do with Mr. De Luca and Miss Moore, and therefore detaches me from the cause and makes my application for change acceptable.”

Cesare smirked. “And how are you going to prove that?”

“Hunter Reeves and Ruby Moore will get married here, within the month.”

My whole world froze. What did he say? I glanced at Hunter and he looked as shocked as I did. I attempted to push myself to my feet, to object, but Eli grabbed my arm, stopping me from completely straightening my body.

“Go with it,” he uttered under his breath. I looked at him and he had the same sympathetic look on his face now as he did in the helicopter. Mixed in with that sympathy was desperation, desperation for me not to mess this up. He was in on it? This was their plan? To marry me off?

“Miss Moore,” Cesare called my name and caught me off guard. I whipped my head in his direction. It was so quick, I almost pulled a muscle. “You look surprised.”

“Uh…” I cleared my throat and swallowed. “I-I am surprised.”I pulled my arms free from Eli’s grip and turned from him. My hands began to tremble and I balled them into fists. “I didn’t know that our wedding plans were going to be made public.” I growled the last few words at Mr. Aleksandrov, who watched me calmly.

“So you do want to marry him?”

I didn’t even hesitate and my absolute devastation towards Eli helped me sound calm and confident. “Absolutely.”

“If they marry, then Ivan has proved his detachment and his application would be viable,” the tiny, curly haired woman next to Cesare said.

To me, it made no sense. Lucian created the law because his wife cheated on him with a guardian, but Mr. Aleksandrov can’t break it because he’s attached to Eli and I? I inwardly scoffed. Politics.

Cesare pondered the thought and when his eyes fell back onto me, they even flared a little, like he knew something we didn’t. “Fine. Ruby and Hunter can marry within the month, here in the city, but then and only then, will your application be accepted.”

My insides deflated. Well, shit.

Chapter Thirteen

“Are you angry?” Mila asked as I slumped against a wall in the main sitting room to my new ‘lovers’ suite. Not only were they forcing me to marry someone I didn’t want to marry, but they were also making me spend every night with him and I checked every room in this suite… there was only one bed. I found myself blaming Mila for this. Because of her strange love/hate relationship with Gabriel, she was now carrying his illegal child and I was getting married to the wrong man. I sighed, clearing my head. I couldn’t be mad at her. She’d done so much for me, it was only fair I do something drastic in return.

“I’m…” I searched for the right word, but came up with nothing. “…tired. I want to go to bed.”

Everyone sat awkwardly in the living room, avoiding eye contact with me. I preferred it. If anyone looked at me wrong, I’d probably lose my mind.

“I’ll take care of this,” she whispered to me.

Mila turned from me and lifted her arms in a display of dramatic tiredness. “Ahhh,” she yawned, rubbing her face. “I’m exhausted. Bed? Please?”

Mr. Aleksandrov and Xavier jumped to her aid.

“It is quite late. We can go over our game plan in the morning.”

They left. The lot of them—except Eli and Hunter, of course. I didn’t move from my position on the wall.