The Glass Arrow(39)

“What?” he asks, beady eyes now full of interest.

“I’m freezing. I need that fur you’re wearing.”

He feels it between two fingers. “Okay, sure. I don’t like it anyway. My dad makes me wear it.”

“Give it here, then,” I say. My voice is a bit higher. If we don’t do this soon, I’ll miss my window.

“I want the sucker first.”

I scowl. “Fine,” I say, and pick it stealthily out of the basket. Then I hold it tightly against my side. No one responds. No one has seen what I’ve done.

“Look at the ground. Like you’re not doing anything,” I command as he reaches for it. “Then take off the fur.”

He follows my directions. I’m a step ahead of him now. There is only one final girl before me. She’s checking herself in the mirror and smiling for the cameraman, who waits just before the stage. My heart is thrumming.

He tosses me the cape, I pass him the sucker, and I’m up.

The frowning cameraman waits to take my picture, but I don’t let him, because I’m too busy wrapping the fur around my shoulders. I hold my breath. It’s wolf hide I’m wearing.

“Sorry, Brax,” I mutter. I take one quick glance in the mirror. Curse those Pips and their everlasting makeup. Only a special scrub will remove it. It’s not damaged in the least from my sweaty escape attempt. Neither is my hair, which is still swept gracefully behind my head.

And then it’s one step up. Then the other. And I’m walking across the wooden stage, the splinters prickling my bare feet, just like in my dream.

The lights are nearly blinding, but below, I can see two hundred men and even a few women cheering. They’ve all got miniature texters in their hands so that they can submit their votes to the Governess’s counting box, which is dead center before me, back about thirty paces. I see her hand slap her forehead as she sees the modifications I’ve made to her outfit, and almost smile.

On either side of her booth are two arching rows of grandstands. There, the Magnates sit in their expensive business suits with their associates and servants. Almost every seat is filled for me, and it’s no question why. Everyone wants to see the wild girl. Everyone wants to tame her. Everyone wants that healthy boy child they know I can make.

She’s not worth the credits, Sweetpea had said. I must make that true, be so undesirable that they overlook my golden insides and realize I’m more trouble than they care to take on.

I’m supposed to walk to the center of the stage and do a slow circle. Instead, I face the back of the stage, looking at the high screens that showcase my statistics. One screen shows a live feed of my picture—the back of my head right now. The next screen shows the black outline of a female body, with lit-up stars next to the different parts. My scores today will be averaged with my past scores. It looks as though my legs have earned seven and a half stars. My breasts are a four—nowhere near the size of Sweetpea’s. My waist is an eight. My face is an eight and a half. My outfit has been awarded a dismal two, which I regard with some pride. I’m probably one of the highest scoring girls to not yet have been Promised.

The final board is blank. Typically this would show my breeding credentials.

I turn back towards the crowd now, regarding the booths on either side without much interest. That’s where the outlying townspeople sell their wares. Where Silent Lorcan would have sold my jewelry before.

I look out into the crowd, and my heart stutters. I stand tall. I must not show my fear.

I focus on two people directly across from my position on the stage. In the grandstands, in the front row, leaning over the railing, is the boy from the candy store. Next to him is a man in a suit, with a scarf covering the bottom half of his face. His keeper, I imagine, though I don’t know why he’s wearing the wrapping. If there’s something wrong with his face, his Magnate boss should have had it removed with surgery.

I can see even from this distance that the boy’s mouth is surrounded by a sticky red ring from the sucker I stole for him. Again I think of Tam. Someday I’ll get him a piece of candy. All I have to do is get out of here.

I roll my head in a slow circle and my cheeks brush against the soft wolf’s fur. And now I’m thinking about Brax. Sleeping on his neck. When he first told me his name; “Brrrrax!”

I grin at the boy. And bark.

“Ruff! Grrrr! Ruff! Ruff!” Just like a dog. Just like a wild animal. I bark and snap my jaw and bare my teeth. I fall onto my knees and crawl around growling. I bat at my face with my white silk glove. I hear the dress rip at the side seam, and when a piece of fabric falls off, I snatch it between my teeth and shake my head. I slobber. The drool oozes out of my mouth.

The boy is laughing hysterically. He’s pointing at me and clapping his hands. This makes me go at it even harder. I make myself as undesirable as possible, keeping my eyes on the boy the whole time. It’s almost fun. Almost like it’s just us two and we’re playing or something.

I hear the screens behind me clang as the power diverted to them shuts off. The Governess has done this no doubt. Though I can barely see her beneath the lights, I can tell she’s running out of the booth. The air is filled with resounding boos. The sound makes my soul sing.

My Watcher approaches from the exit side of the stage, and I begin to crawl towards him, growling and threatening to pounce. He hauls me up from the midsection, holding me away from him as I snap my jaws.