Of Princes and Promises

by Sandhya Menon

  Grey had been an outsider all these years by choice, a luxury that Rahul wasn’t familiar with at all. And now, just as RC was working as the key to all those impenetrable social locks he’d contended with all his life, he was supposed to go back to being himself? “I’m just changing things up. Nothing wrong with that, is there?”

  Grey and Leo exchanged a look, and Rahul knew—just knew—that they’d been talking about him behind his back. The thought stung more than it should have. It was pretty obvious to him now that Grey and Leo belonged together as friends, whereas Rahul never had. “There might be,” Grey said finally, his voice mild and even. “Depending on why you’re doing it and whom you’re hurting to get there.”

  Huffing a disbelieving laugh, Rahul walked to the chair at his desk, sat down in it, and crossed his arms. “I have to say, you guys are being a little selfish right now.”

  Leo’s jaw hardened, his fists clenching and unclenching. “ ‘Selfish’? By telling you we are worried about you? That we miss hanging out with you?”

  “I’ve never made a big deal about you guys changing.” Rahul uncrossed his arms and picked up a pencil, tapping the eraser side against the desk. “When you began to go out with Jaya, Grey, everyone saw a big difference in you. We didn’t needle you about it. And, Leo, when you and Sam began going out, you couldn’t stop talking about her. It was nearly incessant. That was irritating as hell, but I didn’t say a word to you.”

  Leo’s face closed off. “I am sorry I was so irritating by being in love,” he said, and Grey patted his shoulder once, as if in solidarity.

  “When I changed,” Grey put in when Leo didn’t continue, “I think everyone saw it was for the best. But this”—he gestured around Rahul’s room and then at Rahul himself—“doesn’t seem to be the same thing.”

  Rahul narrowed his eyes, his pencil pausing in its frenzied tapping. “What are you saying? That I’m—”

  “That you have become a big asshole!” Leo snapped, his accent twisting the word into something uglier, harsher. “And you have forgotten who your friends are. You have forgotten who you are.”

  They waited, staring at him, Leo breathing fast, Grey’s blue eyes implacable, watchful.

  Rahul tossed his pencil down. If they were waiting for an apology, they were going to be waiting a long time. He’d done nothing wrong. Nothing. He was finally seeing new possibilities for his life, and he wasn’t about to apologize for it. “Sorry you feel that way,” he said, making an effort to keep his voice level.

  Leo shook his head, turned on his heel, and stalked off, leaving Rahul’s door wide open.

  Grey lingered a moment longer, studying Rahul’s face. “Yeah,” he said finally. “Me too.” Then he left too, closing Rahul’s door softly behind him.

  Rahul clenched his fists and took a few deep breaths. When he felt calmer, he picked up his cell and texted Everett McCabe. What can I bring to the poker game?

  nothing just yourself brother, the response came.

  Rahul read the message over. With his new friend group, he didn’t have to explain himself. They accepted RC fully. He’d never had that—complete acceptance—before, not with his friends at school, not with his family at home, who had a stand-in because Rahul wasn’t good enough. He’d floated along all his life, desperate for a social connection that he never got, feeling adrift, a ship without an anchor.

  Now RC was his anchor. RC was his chance to right all the wrongs in his life. And if his friends couldn’t see that, then… He glanced at Everett’s message again. Maybe it was time for new friends.

  CHAPTER 13

  CATERINA

  She got the voicemail just as her AP Calculus class got out.

  “Caterina,” Oliver’s smooth voice traveled down the line, “I have the report.”

  Caterina went still.

  “Mia Mazzanti has moved a lot, as her father is a diplomat for the UN. Her mother is a homemaker. Her parents live in the Netherlands at the moment, but Mia herself has an apartment in the town of Rosetta. No scandals, no history of bribery, nothing of note. Please let me know if you have any other questions.”

  Caterina let out the breath that had built in her chest. Mia was clean. A diplomat’s daughter—that explained last season’s shoes and the slightly shoddier clothing than Caterina was used to. She should have no reservations in pursuing this friendship with the girl from her home city. She smiled to herself.

  Feeling buoyant, she sent a text to her dad she’d been meaning to send since yesterday.

  Papa! Pietro showed me the new Bugatti! Custom?? You didn’t have to do that!

  The reply pinged back a minute later as she was packing her books into her bag. I was missing my little topolina. I can’t be there, but maybe the car will make things a little happier.

  Laughing lightly, Caterina picked up her cell phone and perched on the edge of her desk for just a moment as she texted him back. Her dad’s love language was definitely gifts, and if she were being honest, it wasn’t one she minded at all. This one, though, was a little profligate, even for him. There are other ways to do that than buying me a custom Bugatti:)

  Ah, but I heard Geoff Lodge talking about how he couldn’t afford one for his son. Then I knew I had to get one for you.

  Caterina’s smile dimmed. So he’d gotten her the car because of his decades-old rivalry with some stuffy businessman? Her dad had just wanted to parade his wealth. The gift had almost nothing to do with her at all. She typed out a quick reply—I have to get to class, talk later <3—and got to her feet, slinging her bag onto her shoulder. So what? she told herself. He still loves you. He was still thinking of you. There was a pit in her stomach, though, that she didn’t much like.

  “Caterina. Hi.”

  One foot out of the classroom door and shrugging into her coat, she turned to see Rahul at her side, nervously twisting his tie around his bony fist. Her heart lifted, both at his familiar face and at the somewhat endearing anxiety she’d missed seeing lately, since he’d become RC. Strange, that.

  Then, remembering the kiss they’d shared in the car and hadn’t spoken of since, her cheeks went warm. She hadn’t really known what to say about it. To be completely honest, she wasn’t sure if she wanted it to happen again. On the one hand, it was all she could think about. But on the other… she’d just gotten over Alaric. Was she really ready to be diving back into those waters again? “Hi.” She kept walking, knowing he’d follow her as everyone always did.

  “Are you—where are you going? Do you want to grab dinner in the dining hall later and talk about the next event? I’m game for whatever else you want to do. To give the media something to talk about.” He cleared his throat as he did when he was nervous and fiddled with his wire-frame glasses.

  “Actually, I have a better idea,” Caterina replied as they went around a group of seniors, all of whom called out to her. She nodded at them as she went, not wanting to get stopped. She smiled at Rahul over her shoulder. “I just got a new car, and I’ve been dying to take it out for a drive. Would you like to keep me company? I want to get used to it.” A drive in the Bugatti—even if she didn’t love it nearly as much anymore, after her chat with her dad—was harmless, wasn’t it? They’d be talking. They’d plan the next event. There definitely wouldn’t be any kissing; she’d need to keep her eyes on the road, after all.

  Rahul smiled in that beguiling way that made her heart beat a little bit faster than was completely normal. “That sounds awesome. I—I can’t wait.”

  “Wonderful. I have to get to my next class, but I’ll text you.”

  “Yeah.” Rahul nodded several times. “Sure. Okay.”

  Caterina flounced down the stairs and out into the cold, knowing he was watching her as she went.

  RAHUL

  He checked his hair in the mirror, grimacing. It looked awful, limp and flat. Picking the hair gel jar off his desk, Rahul unscrewed the lid and peeked inside, considering his options. No. There was barely enough left. He couldn’
t risk using it now and not having any for an actual big event. He adjusted his sweater collar, wanting to rip it off his body. Being in this body, being Rahul 98 percent of the time, just wasn’t cutting it anymore. Not when he knew he could be RC, the guy he’d always wanted to be, the guy the world liked so much better.

  It was the day of his drive with Caterina in her new car, and while he was ecstatic to be spending time with her, he was also uneasy. Maybe even a little afraid. She was so used to seeing RC, to having RC’s witty repartee in her ear all night. What if going as himself just made her realize how little she liked the real him?

  His phone dinged with a text from Caterina.

  Outside, was all it said.

  Well, there was no time to think about that anymore. Grabbing his wallet and stuffing it into his ill-fitting jeans, Rahul sighed and walked out of his room.

  * * *

  “Wow.” Rahul was unable to keep the sheer awe and wonder from imbuing his voice.

  Caterina was pulled up to the curb outside the main building in her new car, a glossy, duo-chrome lime-green and gold Bugatti with a vanity plate that said QUEENCAT4. The paint job was obviously custom. Rahul ran a reverent hand over the hood as he walked to the passenger side.

  “Do you like?” Caterina asked through the open window, her eyes shining. She was wearing a car coat, a pine-green turtleneck sweater, and black pants, looking absolutely like someone who’d drive a car like this.

  Rahul sank into the cream leather seats, taking care not to sigh in absolute blissful pleasure. “It’s pretty nice,” he said in what he hoped was an offhand way, to make up for his very uncool impressed air from just a few moments before. And because he couldn’t help himself: “Did you know Ettore Bugatti, the founder of Bugatti cars, comes from a family of artists? His dad is a jewelry designer.”

  Caterina gave him an amused smile. Her face was perfect as always, her makeup of professional quality. He caught sight of himself in the rearview mirror and tried not to frown. The difference between the two of them was stark enough to be funny. “I did know that, actually. My father is good friends with Herbert Diess, the CEO of the Volkswagen group; they own Bugatti now. But the Bugatti family was cursed, in a way. It’s a really interesting story. I’ll tell it to you sometime.”

  “Oh, right. Sure. Of course.” It wasn’t surprising she knew way more about all of this than he did. Bugatti was a Caterina thing like chess was a Rahul thing. He should’ve known that.

  Caterina continued to smile. “But thanks for the compliment, and the fact. Buckled in?”

  He nodded, not able to speak for a moment. He was so massively underdressed, underprepared, and underequipped to be out and about with Caterina LaValle.

  “Good.” She put the car in drive, oblivious to his thoughts. “You’re going to need that seat belt.” And then she squealed out into the road, leaving Rosetta Academy in their dust.

  * * *

  They’d been going for about forty minutes, leaving behind the town of Rosetta, driving in the wilderness between it and Aspen. As they wound up into the surrounding hills, the air turned positively chilly and they rolled up their windows.

  “I have no idea where we are,” Caterina said, glancing at her GPS. “But I’m having so much fun driving that I don’t even care.”

  Rahul grinned at her as the world flashed by outside his window. So far, she didn’t seem to mind him so much. They hadn’t talked a whole lot, both of them engrossed in the drive and Caterina’s playlist. “Was this a Christmas present?”

  “More like a just-because present. My father likes to surprise me with gifts when he’s traveling and misses me. It’s his way of saying he’s thinking of me even if he’s not there wi…” She drifted off as giant snowflakes began blowing against the windshield of the car. “What the hell?”

  Rahul suppressed a chuckle; it was the first time he’d ever heard her say that. It was so… human and un-goddesslike, somehow. “It’s snowing.” He glanced up at the sky, which was rapidly turning into a solid wall of dove gray. “And those are nimbostratus clouds. It looks like it’s going to be snowing for a while.”

  As if the weather had an ear pressed to his car window, the wind began to buffet the car, snow covering the windshield and windows until visibility was nearly nil.

  “Shit!” Caterina’s hands were clamped around the heated steering wheel, her face white. “I need to get off the road!”

  “Yes,” Rahul agreed, glancing into the rearview mirror. There was almost a solid wall of white all around them. “Visibility is poor enough that other drivers likely can’t see you, just as you can’t see them. It’s probable that we’ll plow into someone else or vice versa. Seventeen percent of all vehicle crashes happen in winter conditions.”

  Caterina gave him a withering look, just for a second, before returning her eyes to the invisible road. “And what do you propose?”

  Rahul squinted out the window, trying to catch a glimpse through the flying snow. “There,” he said, pointing. “I think there’s a small road about three hundred meters ahead to your right, and it looks like there’s a cabin down there. I’m not sure if it’s empty, but it might be worth checking out.”

  He’d barely finished the thought before Caterina had swung her steering wheel around and they were making their way down the small road to the right.

  “I just want to get off this godforsaken road and out of the car,” Caterina muttered as they bounced down the road. “I love my Bugatti, but I can already tell she’s awful in adverse weather.”

  Rahul saw he’d been right; there was a small log cabin tucked away in a nest of pine trees. Its dark wood stood out, stark against the white curtains of snow. Caterina put the car in park and they both got out, hunkering against the blowing, roaring wind. “Should we just knock on their door and ask to be let in?” Rahul yelled.

  “Yes!” Caterina shouted back, her steps long and lithe as she crossed to the front door. Even hunkered down into her coat, she had an easy confidence to her that Rahul could never muster, except as RC. She reached the door first and authoritatively knocked twice.

  Rahul came to stand beside her, under the eaves of the roof, somewhat sheltered from the snow. His hair was wet and hung over his forehead in limp strands. He tried not to fidget, but he’d kill for a mirror, just to make himself a little more presentable. At least in the car, Caterina was focused on driving her new car. But here, in this cabin, they’d be face-to-face. There’d be no distractions.

  Rahul realized his hands were freezing; he hadn’t thought to bring gloves. He tried peeking in the window next to the door, but the curtains were drawn tight. “What if a murderer lives here?” he asked, the thought occurring to him suddenly and rather unpleasantly. “Don’t they usually live in rural areas like this, away from civilization, so they can chop people up in peace?”

  Caterina raised her hand and knocked again. “A murderer wouldn’t dare murder me.”

  She said it with such serious conviction that Rahul laughed in spite of his uneasiness. “Because you’re Caterina LaValle?”

  She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Precisely,” she said before reaching out and twisting the doorknob.

  The door opened silently inward.

  CATERINA

  “What are you doing?” Rahul asked, his eyes wide behind glasses that were coated in melted snow. “This is someone’s house.”

  Caterina wanted to laugh at his outraged, shocked expression. Rahul was obviously someone who was very used to following the rules. Whereas Caterina had learned from a very young age that the rules were only meant for certain people and that the LaValles were not certain people.

  “Hello?” she called, stepping into the dim, cold interior, which was still dozens of degrees warmer than outside. Caterina felt instantly drier, protected from the wind.

  The sun-bleached drapes had been drawn on every window, and the house had a smell of disrepair and abandonment about it. Every surface was coated with dust; there was no f
urniture in the minuscule main room or the attached kitchen. On the kitchen counter, there was a butane lighter and an old cup containing brown sludge that Caterina didn’t want to examine too closely.

  “Well.” Rahul closed the door behind him and stood in the middle of the room. “Doesn’t look like anyone lives here, at least. We can probably rule out the serial killer. Unless he only drops in occasionally.”

  He wasn’t entirely joking, Caterina could tell. He seemed uneasy, uncomfortable somehow. Was it just the idea of a lurking murderer or something else? Maybe something to do with her? Surprising herself, Caterina found she didn’t like that thought; she wanted Rahul to feel comfortable in her presence. She pulled her cell out of her pocket and looked at the screen. “Signal’s nonexistent, probably thanks to the storm.”

  Rahul checked his phone too. “Yeah. Same here.”

  “I guess we’ll just wait it out in here until the storm passes. The Bugatti won’t be able to make it back, so Pietro’ll have to come pick us up.” She looked around, squinting in the gloom. “There’s a fireplace. Do you know how to build a fire?”

  Something very much like relief passed along his features as he put his phone away. “I do. I know six ways, in fact.” He strode across the tiny room to the fireplace. He was bundled into his too-big black coat, and his jeans were baggy at the knees, but there was a determined set to his jaw. “I’ll take care of it, don’t worry.”

  Caterina bit her lip to hide a smile. Something told her he was trying to play the part of the protector, the one who could take care of her when things got dicey. She didn’t need it, of course, but… but she had to admit it was nice. Being here, stuck in a snowstorm with Rahul, felt like a salve for a pain she hadn’t realized she had. Which was nonsense, obviously. She was being sentimental and ridiculous, and the thought alarmed her.