The Luna Choosing Game

“How long did you wait, Piper? A week? Two? It couldn’t have been long.”

He sounds like he’s jealous. Or was that an illusion? He doesn’t care about me and is just mad at me.

Maybe the latter is more logical.

His dark eyes burned into me, leaving my heart in scorched tatters. Never in a thousand years would i

have thought Nicholas would be so vicious to me.

“It wasn’t like that.” I said, to try to defend myself.

He crossed his hands over his chest. He wasn’t going to listen to me,

“Why even come here?” he asked me.

“My application was selected…”

“Why even apply? Were you trying to get to me?”

“No,” I said.

“Maybe you regret your child’s father. Maybe you want me back.” He laughed once, bitterly. “Like you

have a chance.”

The words sliced into me as surely as if he’d been holding a knife. He had changed since I’d known him.

Three w

years ago, he’d been kind and patient. I’d given him my heart and he’d gently cradled it. So many

nights, we’d laid under the stars, trading kisses and stories.

Once, when he’d spent all night looking at me, I had told him, “You’re missing the

starlight.”

He’d replied, “I can see it in your eyes.”

The man before me now was nothing like the one I had known. The man here was arrogant, indifferent. and imposing in how he carried himself.

Breaking up with him had never been something I wanted to do. It hurt me still, thinking upon it, so I had tried to push it to the back of my thoughts

on like work, and caring for Elva, that I could

with him now and seeing what he had become, brought all those feelings crashing back into Tome so hard, they stole my

+15 BONUS

that I couldn’t help but wonder if I was misremembering the past. Maybe he’d never been kind. Maybe I had been too

wasn’t that young,

want,” I said, adding some bite to my own voice. The hurt made it

mistake, and I intend to correct

that a chill ran along my spine. “You are the only woman who ever dared to break

then, walking out into the sitting room, and then out into the parlor. I thought he might slam the door

Elva continued resting, undisturbed.

to hate him.

but he liked children. He’d been

hate

to my knees beside the couch where

would have been our child. If we had stayed together, maybe he would have revealed his secret in time. Maybe the three of us could have been a happy little

a nice

wasn’t reality. My reality was very far from these golden

I needed to go home

I

was so

own eyes

me Excuse me,

blinked open

over me. I beg your pardon, miss, but the King Luna, and princes have arrived, I suggest you hurry

from my

I looked up again, he was already disappearing out of the room.

the couch, watching me with curious eyes. “Is it

my softest smile. It is. We have to be quiet though, okay? No one

Luna are talking.”

“Okay”

pulled Elva into my arms

the royal family was standing atop some

his Luna on one side. The three princes flanked his other

on the bills in my purse. He was pale with hollowed out

well and his voice camed far, like he was accustomed

said, calming the crowd and gaining their

pleased by your presence and look forward to becoming more

whispered something in