The Crown (The Selection #5)(41)

He held out the ring to me, but I shook my head. “I can’t take that! It’s an heirloom.”

“Yes, but it’s a very fortunate heirloom. It’s guided several people to their soul mates. And it’s only temporary. Until you get to the end of the Selection, or Henri and I leave. Whichever happens first.”

Hesitantly, I slid the ring onto my finger, noting how smooth it was.

“Thank you, Erik.”

I looked into his blue eyes. It only took one charged second to hear the heart that I’d had so little faith in. It was taking in that piercing stare and the warm scent of his skin … and it was shouting.

Without considering the repercussions or the complications, without knowing if he felt anything similar to what I did, I leaned into him. And I was thrilled to find he wasn’t pulling away. We were so close I could feel his breath across my lips.

“Have we made a decision?” the tailor asked, springing back in.

I jerked away from Erik. “Yes. Please finish the suit for us, sir.”

Without looking back, I hurried into the hallway. My heart was racing as I found an empty guest room and darted inside, slamming the door behind me.

I had felt it growing, this feeling that had been hiding beneath the surface for some time now. I’d seen him, this person who never intended to be seen, and my faulty, silly, useless heart kept whispering his name. I clutched my chest, feeling my heart racing. “You treacherous, treacherous thing. What have you done?”

I’d wondered how it was possible to magically find a soul mate in a random group of boys.

But now I couldn’t question it.





THE NEXT FEW DAYS PASSED in a whirlwind of preparation for the coronation. I did my absolute best to stay in my office and take meals in my room, but even so, I couldn’t avoid Erik completely.

We had to go by the church and practice the procession, in which he was forced to participate in order to even out the number of people walking behind me. And he had to stick by Henri as we walked the Elite through the Great Room, explaining how best to circulate at a formal party. And I had to approve the final fitting of their suits, which I managed to do without making eye contact but which still was much, much harder than I’d have thought.

The coronation would be one of the most important moments of my life, and still, all I could think about was how it might have felt to kiss him.

I was running late. I never ran late.

But my hair wouldn’t curl the right way, and a seam popped under my arm, and though I’d picked out sensible heels earlier in the week, once I tried them on with the dress, I hated them.

Eloise took deep breaths as she got my hair right, practicing with a mock crown to check that everything would look as beautiful as possible when the actual moment arrived. Neena was busy making sure people were dressed and ready, so it was Hale who dashed in at the last moment with a needle and thread to make sure everything with the dress was fixed.

“Thank you,” I breathed.

He tied off the last stitch. “Any time.” He looked at his watch. “Though I really wish you’d have asked earlier.”

“It didn’t pop until I put it on!”

He smiled. “I gave everything a once-over, and it looks like that was the only weak spot. Better we caught it now than in the middle of the day.”

I nodded. “I need things to be perfect today. Just once I’d like to come across as put together but not so put together that I hate everything and everyone around me.”

Hale laughed. “Well then, if it happens to pop again, roll with it.”

Eloise went to fetch something from the bathroom, and I took my chance. “How’s Ean?” I asked in a whisper.

“Good. Stunned,” he answered, almost giddy. “We both want to help you in whatever way we can. You’re making our futures possible, so we owe you one.”

“Just help me get through today, and that will be plenty.”

“Something every day,” he reminded me.

I hopped off the pedestal and hugged him. “You’ve been incredibly worthy.”

“That’s good to know,” he replied, returning my embrace. “Okay, I’m getting my suit jacket and heading downstairs. Let me know if you need me today.”

I nodded, trying not to tense as Eloise came back to do her final touch-ups.

“He’s a nice one,” she remarked, spraying the last of the flyaways.

“He is.”

“Personally, I’d pick Kile,” she commented with a giggle.

“I know!” I shook my head at her. “I still haven’t forgotten how you let him sneak into my room.”

She shrugged. “He is my favorite. I have to do what I can!”

Finally everything was in place. I made my way downstairs, the tail of my cape draped over my arm. The foyer was a mass of people. General Leger on one side holding Miss Lucy’s hands to his lips, Josie and Neena in matching pale-blue gowns that would look lovely as they held my train down the aisle, and the five remaining Elite in a circle toward a corner, with Erik wearing a tie that was a shade of blue slightly brighter than the others.

But I only had eyes for one boy in the crowd. As I reached the middle of the staircase, I caught sight of Ahren. He was here.

I rushed through the herd, elbowing my way past advisers and friends, running not into Ahren’s arms, but Camille’s.