One ring is a priceless heirloom; one is a replica; one is a stolen jewel in disguise.
Little Red must choose one ring as her legacy, knowing that every generation before her has chosen the heirloom ring.
Before she chooses, Little Red hears that the stolen jewel opens a door to a hidden world, the replica ring is the one her mom always wore in public, and the heirloom ring now bears a curse.
The ring in the blue box reminds her of her dad; the one in the green box catches the light; the ring in the black box has the darkest stone.
Which ring does Little Red choose?
As with all the riddles and tests before, Claire’s answer was the same: Not enough information. She would swear there was no way to know, except for the fact Margot consistently got them right and Ren was answering correctly half the time.
How did they know? How did they so easily see what needed to be pointed out to her in hindsight?
Claire didn’t know what in the world she’d been thinking when she got on the helicopter with Malachi that night, but she wasn’t ready for this. The past several hours had been proof of that.
She couldn’t do this. Literally.
Two-for-thirty. That was her track record so far. Malachi had thrown her a few soft pitches to try to up her confidence, but they’d only made her feel more stupid.
“Draw the picture in your head,” Malachi said. “Start with the girl. What do you know?”
Nothing. She literally knew nothing. Claire was about to open her mouth and say as much when the latch on the main door popped open, echoing through the massive, stone chamber. They all looked over as the monstrous doors swung open in complete silence, revealing a man dressed in a navy suit.
Malachi stood from his chair. “Pardon me for a moment,” he said before stepping away from the table to go speak to the man.
Claire waited until he was a few steps away before turning to Margot. “I’m so sorry.”
Margot squeezed her hand. “For what? Don’t be sorry.”
“I’m useless at this, and I made you miss the ball,” Claire said, hating that tears were appearing in her eyes. She tried to blink them back.
“No,” Margot replied, tracking Malachi for a moment. “This was good for me.”
Claire laughed. “Sitting in a giant room, watching me fail?”
Margot shook her head. “That’s not how I see it. Also…” For the first time since Claire had known her, Margot looked uncertain. “Let’s just say there is no place I would have rather been tonight than right here in this room. I promise. You did me a favor.”
Claire believed her, but it didn’t make her feel any better. No matter what nice words Margot said to her right now, it didn’t change the fact that, in a very short amount of time, a small boy would likely stump her in a room full of royalty and she would lose her chance to work with Jack.
Forever.
All because she didn’t know which ring Little Red would pick. How could she possibly know that? Even if she knew which ring was which, she wasn’t psychic.
There was no way to know for sure.
“You know the only real weakness Malachi exposed tonight?” Margot asked.
Claire let out a bitter laugh. “That I’d make a terrible oracle?”
“No,” Margot said, handing her a handkerchief. “He’s addressing your tendency to overthink.”
“I’m not overthinking,” Claire argued. “There just isn’t enough information.”
“Isn’t there?” Margot said, looking like she wanted to say something, but holding back.
“What am I missing?” Claire asked, hating the frustration in her voice despite knowing there was no reason to hide it.
“Motive,” Ren said, speaking up for the first time in at least an hour.
“Motive?” Claire echoed, and both Margot and Ren nodded.
Claire pointed to the riddle, baffled. “There’s no motive given in this riddle.”
“The motive is built into the character,” Ren said.
“Little Red,” Margot agreed.
“From the fairy tale?” Claire asked, still confused.
Again, they both nodded.
“How can I know her motive?”
“Because you know her story,” Margot said gently, and Claire almost felt like she had a glimpse of what kind of mother she would be. Patient. Kind. Unflinching.
Claire was about to reply when Malachi stepped to her side. “The prince will call for us soon.” He looked across the table to Margot and Ren. “Give us a minute?”
Margot stood and Ren cleared the chair away so her dress wouldn’t hit it as she moved. Claire also stood, only to find herself swamped in fabric, thanks to the collapsed frame under her dress.
Margot saw her predicament and gestured to the two assistants from the jet walking her way. “They’ll take care of that,” she said, giving Claire’s hand one more squeeze. “I’ll see you in the main room, okay?”
Not if Claire found a hole in a rock to hide in first. She didn’t say that, though. She just squeezed Margot’s hand back, exchanged nods with Ren, and watched them start toward the door.
One of the assistants cleared Claire’s chair away while the other started ratcheting her skirt back into shape.
“I was selfish with our time tonight,” Malachi said from her side. “But that is because I don’t know when we’ll see each other again. I wanted to leave you with questions, not overconfidence.”
“Well … mission accomplished,” Claire said, trying for a joke but forgetting the smile.
“You’re going to do fine with the prince.”
How could he say that? She’d just failed for nearly three hours straight. Nothing about that was “fine,” but Claire said nothing as her skirt started ballooning back into shape.
“Look at me, Claire.”
Feeling smaller than she ever had as a child, Claire looked up into those vivid green eyes and couldn’t help but wonder what they saw when they looked back at her.
Given how useless she was, why was Malachi working so hard for her?
Motive.
Maybe it really was her blind spot.
“You know everything you need to know to succeed tonight,” he said as if he believed it.
“No—”
“Yes,” he said. “My apologies for leading you to believe otherwise. Like I said, that was selfish of me. But I allowed myself to indulge in that because your strength has always been real-time scenarios. You proved that before we even arrived tonight.”
What? How? She’d literally done nothing but get dolled up by strangers.
“Remember,” he said, as one of the assistants started touching up her hair. “Heed reasonable fears and factor all the details into your answer. When you dismiss nothing and everything still fits, you will know the answer.”
“Right now my reasonable fears say I’m way out of my league here and should quit while I’m ahead.”
His green eyes looked sad. “That would be a loss. For everyone. Don’t let your courage fail you just because you see an uphill climb in your future. Show up. Do your best, believing the future will be all the better for it. That’s all any of us can do.”
Okay. As far as pep talks went, that wasn’t terrible. It still didn’t wipe away three hours of failing, but it did ease Claire’s urge to seek out holes in rocks.
It did not erase King Arthur’s words from earlier, however.
“What if your dad’s right?” she asked softly. “What if I’m dangerously unsuitable?”
Malachi studied her as the assistant finished with her skirt and started running a lint brush over his suit. “What if you’re one learning curve away from perfect?”
Nice sidestep, but Claire wasn’t accepting it. “Your dad says I’m not good enough.”
“I say you are,” he replied with an arched brow. “Care to prove one of us wrong?”
“Not if I’m dangerous,” she said, Arthur’s words still swimming in her mind.
&nb
sp; He let the assistant finish running the lint brush over him before he replied.
“You have only one decision right now,” he said, once again seeming to look right into her soul. “Follow your genius or follow your fears. You can’t do both.”
How did he do that? How did he put all the heckling voices in her head in their place like that?
He stepped up next to her, offering his arm like he had when they first arrived.
“Now,” he said with a sly grin. “Let’s go see if we can outsmart a prince, shall we?”
Chapter 25
Jack
Everyone in the main hall perked up out of their party slump when six men carried in an object the size of a small closet up the six stairs to the platform. Jack heard whispers of Malachi’s name before the herald had a chance to announce the gift. People started drifting away from the lounge areas to circle the stairs—every eye trying to get a closer look.
For the first time that night, Prince Abed descended the six steps to the pedestal of his own volition to get a better look. When he gestured to the advisers to do the same, they were all quick to follow.
The smooth, metal container looked like it had been cut with a blowtorch from something much larger.
“This is definitely from Malachi,” the prince said, excitement replacing fatigue in his eyes. “Do any of you know where it’s from?”
General Zao ran his hand over it, his expression incredulous. “This material is exclusive to 5-Tek, Your Grace.”
Even Tiki looked un-bored by that. “5-Tek? That’s a blind spot for the fae. That explains why I haven’t seen this before.”
The prince looked at Jack, who nodded toward Tiki. “I’m with the fae on this one. I’ve never seen this material before either.”
The prince looked back to the general. “Does 5-Tek sell it to anyone?”
The general shook his head. “Not that I know of. And having a fae who has never seen it makes me more confident in saying it is not yet available on any markets.”
Jack didn’t experience awe very often, but the feel of the metal was unreal. It felt like touching a wall of air he couldn’t push his hand through. It was neither warm nor cool, smooth nor rough. It just felt like a wall of air.
Across the way, Jack saw King Augustus and Queen Valentina sharing urgent whispers. They seemed to know exactly what they were all looking at. Unfortunately, their insights would not be allowed to help the prince.
“What do they use this material for?” the prince asked the general.
“Anything they want to cloak,” the general replied, tracing his hand over the metal with an expression mirroring Jack’s disbelief. “It’s invisible to current technology, making it indefensible in warfare. Targets never see this coming. Its impact would be perceived as a ground-level bomb.”
“Kind of a weird present for a kid’s birthday party,” Tiki observed before shrugging cheerfully. “I wonder what he cut it from?”
The prince looked at her. “Can you find out?”
“Oh. Yeah,” she said and disappeared.
Seriously. How does she do that? Jack thought, fighting the urge to look around.
“Jack,” the young prince said, running his fingertip along one of the jagged edges. “Do you—”
“A missile,” Tiki said, reappearing. “There’s a missile in the main hangar that wasn’t here before. It’s made of the same stuff.”
General Zao paled at the update, growing quiet.
“Jack,” the prince repeated, looking his way. “If anyone can figure out what Malachi’s up to, it’s you.”
Jack resisted the urge to panic visibly. He hadn’t met Prince Abed before tonight, and he hadn’t seen Malachi since Margot’s wedding more than twelve years ago. He’d gone to school with Malachi and Osment when he was young, but he had spent no time with them since graduation. He didn’t know Malachi the man.
It seemed a little late to inform Prince Abed of his miscalculation, so he asked a question instead.
“What advantage do you perceive me having with regards to Malachi?”
The prince took his hand off the container and faced him. “He’s always looking your direction, so it follows logic that he may have gotten his idea for my challenge within the framework of your world.”
Malachi watched him? Why? That made no sense.
“Has your world touched up against 5-Tek anytime within the past year?” the prince asked.
Jack shook his head. “Pimpernels serve the common people. We’re fixers. 5-Tek is way beyond our clearance level.”
The prince looked disappointed but seemed to accept his answer before looking at Tiki. “Can you tell what’s inside?”
Tiki looked genuinely frustrated. “I can’t blink to places I’ve never been before, and no one here has seen inside.”
Blinking? So that’s what fae called their disappearing act? Well, now he had one hint as to how they pulled it off.
“No hinges,” she muttered. “No latches. But something is definitely inside.”
“Agreed,” General Zao said, just as Jack’s hand sensed a seam.
He couldn’t see it, but there was a slight ridge about four inches in from the edge. He tapped it. “This side pops off, like an eject feature.”
“Perhaps to release a parachute,” the general added. “That would make sense if this came from a rocket.”
Six steps down from where they stood, the buzz of conversation picked up as more Royals gathered around, clearly itching to examine the piece of metal. They held back, though. There were still twenty minutes until midnight, and today was still Prince Abed’s day.
Jack was about to return his attention back to the gift when he spotted Margot in the crowd, standing with Selene. If she was back, that meant Claire was no longer with Malachi. His eyes instinctively searched the room for her, finding nothing.
Just then, the herald’s staff pounded into the ground three times.
“His Majesty welcomes Malachi, Son of the North.”
The whole room hushed and turned, watching Malachi walk in with Claire on his arm.
Why did he keep doing that?
Yes, escorting a lady was appropriate manners for the era, regardless of personal relationship, but Jack really hated the association it created between Claire and Malachi.
Claire was with him. Not Malachi.
The crowd parted, allowing Malachi space to walk to the base of the stairs, where he took his leave from Claire and moved up the steps and immediately dropped to one knee when he reached the top.
“I see you’ve had a chance to inspect my challenge, Your Highness,” he said.
“I have,” the boy said, walking back up to his throne. Jack joined the other advisers in doing the same. Once he was seated, Abed gestured for Malachi to rise.
As he stood, Malachi visibly took note of the three empty seats to the boy’s right. Jack let his chin come up in pride at their undefeated status.
True, most of those victories were owed to Tiki, but the track record was the same.
“May I commend His Highness on his success this night,” Malachi said graciously. “You clearly chose your advisers well.”
“Thank you,” the prince said, eyes still on the container. “Although it would seem that the most elaborate challenge was saved until last.”
“You honor me,” Malachi said, tilting his head deferentially.
Enough with the niceties! was all Jack could think. The suspense was killing him on what Malachi intended to ask, but the prince seemed content to keep up airs as they moved to the topic at hand.
“Tell me, Malachi. What is your challenge for me on my Day of Anemone?”
Malachi touched his hand to the container. “As a ruler of earth, it is your role to detect changes in assets around the globe. So that is my challenge to you, Your Grace. I have moved three assets tonight, two of which can be found in this box. Name either one of the items in this container, and I will consider you the victor of my challenge.”
Jack’s heart sank.
Two things? Somehow it was worse to go from deducing any one thing to any one of two things.
Relief rushed through him when Abed looked Tiki’s way, not his, and the fae disappeared on cue. Jack wasn’t sure it was a planned move until Tiki reappeared and shook her head.
“Nothing’s missing,” she said. “It’s nothing of yours or your family’s.”
Prince Abed looked to the general next. “Thoughts?”
General Zao looked baffled. “It’s not two parachutes.”
The man probably didn’t mean for his answer to be funny, but it earned a chuckle from the crowd anyway. Everyone was leaning in, anxious to see what was inside.
If someone besides Malachi knew what was inside, they weren’t showing it. Genuine intrigue filled the room as more and more people drew in closer.
Jack had heard Margot speak of Malachi’s reputation among the Royals before tonight. She made him sound like a rock star, which was weird to Jack since Malachi had always been the quieter twin back when they were kids. Yet it seemed that the two brothers had switched roles in their adult years. Osment had been all but invisible the entire party, and everyone had their eyes on his little brother.
Jack hadn’t seen the twins since they were teens, but he never would have guessed that Malachi would grow up to be the charismatic one. Seeing that was almost as unsettling as not knowing what was in the container.
“What about you, Jachin?” the prince said. “Do you have a sense of what Malachi moved under our noses today?”
“Only that whatever is in there came straight from 5-Tek, Your Grace,” he replied. “I don’t see how Malachi could have handled the items between here and there.”
“Agreed,” the general said.
“Yep,” Tiki said with confidence. “He didn’t see this until he walked in. We saw it first.”
The prince took their comments in stride, drumming his finger against the arm of his throne as he considered his options. “Do you have any hints for your king before he guesses, Malachi?”
The question seemed to amuse Malachi. “Only that I imagine it would take you sixteen questions to guess one of the items correctly, Your Majesty.”
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