Star Daughter(59)

18


One step into the champions’ dining hall, and Sheetal was regretting her decision to have dinner here. It had seemed so smart when she’d persuaded Nani not to risk alienating the other houses too much. The more Sheetal came off like any other champion, she’d said, the better. It was true, even if she’d really just wanted to get away from her grandparents and be around other humans, who couldn’t read her feelings. And remember she still counted as one of them.

Sort of.

She flinched. What exactly had happened back there in Nani’s and Nana’s apartments?

Savory aromas enveloped her, their promise of tasty things a reminder that, no matter what else might be happening, she still needed to eat. She rubbed her forehead and hurried to find their source.

The way Nani had derided it, Sheetal had pictured the cafeteria at school, all white cinder blocks and buzzing fluorescent lights that burned out half the time or, when they worked, turned everyone a delicate shade of about-to-vomit green.

Yeah, not quite.

The dining hall was decorated in the palatial style, with all twenty-seven nakshatras emblazoned on the walls, shimmering peacock feathers in iridescent vases, a heaping snack bar made of crystal, and a large fountain that flowed liberally with skyberry cordial. Servers in uniform zipped back and forth, taking orders and delivering entrées to the champions and their companions, who were seated on the mirror-worked cushions dotting the gleaming onyx floor.

According to Nana, the space was big enough to comfortably fit up to twenty-four people. But they’d all still pushed their cushions into a rough circle in the center.

A circle with no place for Sheetal.

Her eyes were searching for the exit before she realized it. Where was Minal, anyway? It was stupid, but Sheetal couldn’t help feeling abandoned.

Dev, though, was right here, so hot in that black-and-silver sherwani, laughing with Jeet. In fact, everyone was deep in conversation but her. Just one big, happy family.

She remembered how her heart, her lips, had sought his. She heard him ask shyly if she wanted to go upstairs and listen to his song.

The song she had inspired. The silver flame at her core flickered.

Fine, she thought, irritated at him, annoyed at herself, and plunked down on one of the cushions nearest to the exit. Her whole body was hyperaware of Dev’s presence a few feet away, pulling at her like a magnet, but she made herself ignore it.

As she tried to catch a server’s eye, a familiar voice called, “Look who deigned to eat with us mere mortals!” Then, unmistakably, Priyanka quacked.

Sheetal wanted to die. Someone must have traded her heart for a hummingbird’s, the way its beats blurred together in her chest. Could stars turn invisible? Better yet, could she morph into a black hole and swallow Priyanka in one bite?

“Hey, give it a rest,” Jeet said, sounding annoyed. “Why were you listening in on her practice session, anyway?”

That was decent of him, Sheetal conceded. Dev had been right. You couldn’t help your ancestry.

She should know.

As if he’d heard her thoughts, Dev’s gaze found hers, softening with that hopeful glint, and the corners of her mouth started to lift. But then his face closed off again, and he turned away. She actually felt cold, like the embers at her center had died out.

Sheetal couldn’t deny the pang in her chest or how her hands—her lips—longed for the warmth of Dev’s, how much she missed his dorky jokes and the way his playful expression went distant when he was thinking. Oh, Dev.

Sachin glanced at her. “Jeet’s right. Surely we’re above mocking our rivals?”

Leela waved. “Sheetal! Come sit with us. You can’t eat alone.”

Sheetal hesitated.

“Yes,” Sachin said, “pull that pillow over here.” The pale blond man next to him scooched over to make space. That had to be his manager, the one who apparently liked to babble as much as Sachin did.

Priyanka scoffed. “Brilliant. Sleepover in my room! Let’s build a bonfire and make s’mores! That’s why we’re all here, right, to be besties?”

Until then, Sheetal hadn’t noticed Priyanka was the only other champion without a companion. Probably too self-centered to bother with one. Or maybe no one in her life wanted to come. With her attitude, who could blame them?

Sheetal forced a grin, like there was no place she’d rather be, and wedged her cushion in between Leela’s and Sachin’s. “Hi.”

It felt so weird, like they were all friends hanging out, instead of rivals. Like some of them didn’t deeply begrudge her claiming a spot among them. She made sure to meet every single pair of eyes, even Priyanka’s scorn-filled ones.

Well, almost every pair. Dev stubbornly stared at his plate.

Sheetal felt the brush-off like a blow, and her grin turned brittle. How could the entire dining hall not feel the tension between them? It hung dense and stifling as smog.

Look at me, she thought, mentally retracing the curve of his cheek beneath her fingers. I’m sorry.

Jeet sipped his drink, watching them both. He hadn’t missed the tension, in any case.

“So what brings you all here?” she tried, and immediately wanted to wire her jaw shut. The prize, obviously. Why couldn’t she be more like her mom or Minal and not keep embarrassing herself?

Priyanka made zero effort to curb her snort, and Dev’s mouth twitched. The others pretended not to hear.