Their Vicious Games(29)

“What does that mean?”

Leighton doesn’t hesitate again. “I am aware that you left your room last night and attempted to leave the estate.”

My heart crawls into my throat and stops. I don’t breathe, bolted down in place, my fingers crushing into the velvet sofa beneath me.

“Adina,” she says, sterner now, her voice demanding my attention. “From the beginning of our conversation, have I ever indicated that you are in trouble?”

“No…” I trail off, my voice ending in a horrified wheeze.

“Exactly,” Leighton says. “You attempted to leave, and Miss Liu drew you back upstairs. This was the right thing for her to do. So ultimately no rules were broken. But if they were, broken rules result in consequences. For all of us.”

“What kind of consequences?” I whisper.

Leighton looks far away again, like she’s remembering something she’d prefer not to. “They would try to hurt you. The Finish can only exist this way because to be invited, one must volunteer information about herself and her family. To reveal assures mutual destruction between the families that have offered their daughters to compete and the Remingtons, if the results don’t go their way. You have no secrets. But you do have people. People that you love.”

Toni. My parents.

“No!” I declare, shaking my head. “No, no, no—”

“Adina, play by the rules, as I have done, and no harm will come to them. Keep your head down and remember you are not like them. They are cruel and vicious for cruelty’s sake. This is just a game to them. But… not to you. Never for you,” Leighton says swiftly, sliding forward in her chair and taking my clammy hand in her cool one. “Do you understand?”

“Yes,” I whisper. “Yes, I understand.”

“Good,” Leighton says, and she smiles, so gentle that I try to smile back. It falters, and Leighton sighs again, shaking her head. “I am your ally. I will make sure that you get through this. I’ve done it before. I made it out alive and whole and with the world at my fingertips, not just a Remington husband. Will you trust me to help you?”

Finally, my vision clears and I feel the possibility of survival stir within me, stoked by the threat to my family. I will play by the rules to the best of my ability. I will get through this with my hands clean, with my conscience clear, with my family safe, maybe even, if Leighton is telling the truth, all that I desire. And I will because Leighton did. Whole. That must mean she didn’t have to hurt anyone. If I win, it will not be because I was a game or an amusement for anyone. It will be because I am here for what is mine, like Leighton. Let the others fight over Pierce.

“Yes, I will, Dr…. Aunt Leighton,” I confess.

Leighton leads me to the rotary phone on her desk and leans against it, her hand strong and reassuring on my shoulder. “Go on. Call your parents if you want reassurance.”

I reach for the phone hungrily… before I let my hand drop to my side.

I want to make my mother proud. At graduation, she promised me that she was. But I could’ve made her prouder. I should’ve made her prouder. Now I have the chance.

All that veiled disappointment will go away, after this. Even though the stakes are now higher than I ever imagined, after everything my parents have sacrificed to get me here, in this position, I still might finally be able to deliver on that promise to be better, to have better. To be twice as good.

“No,” I say, meeting Leighton’s eyes, recognizing the test, and nervously I decide, “I… I’ll play the game.”





CHAPTER 11





JODHPURS ARE THE MOST UNCOMFORTABLE pants in the history of existence. They cling tightly to my thighs and cut awkwardly into the skin at my ankles, and wearing them, even in just the mild summer air, I feel so hot.

“Have you ever ridden a horse before, Adina?” Leighton asks as we walk across the green toward the stables.

“Does one trail ride count?” I did that once, on one of my trips up to Esme’s country house with the other girls. It was uncomfortable, not just being up on a horse, but also because I was the only one who didn’t know how, and no one had thought to teach me. I vowed to never do it again.

Leighton laughs to herself. “Well, that’s one area in which our backgrounds differ.”

Another thrum of pride calms me. This woman—tall and blond and perfect—sees herself in me. Enough that she wants me to win this godforsaken competition. And wouldn’t that just be cosmic justice, in the end?

“So… the Ride is literal, then?” I ask. I’m not sure if I’m pushing my luck, asking for information before it’s given to the other girls, but Leighton has already made what feels like strange allowances.

“Yes, quite literal. And it’s less of a ride and more of a race. But the Ride sounds far more elegant, doesn’t it?” Leighton says.

Every answer turns into a question. Leighton is worthy of her medical license.

She says nothing else until we reach the stables. She stands taller the moment the other girls spot us, and I do the same, determined not to shrink into myself anymore even as I can feel their curiosity on me like jagged little knives. “Go and join the girls, Adina, dear.”

Quick to follow her command, I walk ahead, and Saint steps to the side, allowing me to slot in next to her. Her fingers wrap around my wrist and she leans in, quick to hiss, “What did she want? Are you in trouble?”