“Excuse me!” I tapped him hard on the shoulder, wishing Dacian would step in and handle this for me, but his view was clear and his eyes were glued to the arena, not missing a thing. “Do you mind? I’m trying to watch the battle, much as you are, but unlike you, I can’t
see a thing, you are completely blocking me!”
The stranger turned, pushed his flop of hair away from his piercing green eyes, revealing himself to be the one from last night, only dressed far more appropriately in a blue-and-white toga that fell to his knees.
My mouth grew dry, my throat went all hot and tight, as my head swirled in a way I couldn’t quite identify.
I mean, yes, he was cute.
Seriously cute.
Incredibly cute.
But no cuter than Dacian.
No cuter than my new boyfriend Dacian.
So why did I care? Why was I feeling this way? It just didn’t make any sense.
“I didn’t realize you were such a fan of the games, Riley. Usually you get completely grossed out by that much blood and gore. Usually you have a lot more respect for human life. I guess I misjudged you.”
“My name isn’t Riley,” I snapped. It was the only thing I was sure of.
“Isn’t it?” He looked at me, regarding me closely. “Well forgive me then, you remind me an awful lot of someone I once knew. Someone I’m very worried about. Someone I’ve been searching for.”
“My name is Aurelia,” I said, unable to break my gaze from his.
“Ah.” He nodded. “And I am Bodhi.” He reached for my hand, though as tempted as I was to take it, I held back. Dacian may be engaged in the games, too busy to notice, but I still wasn’t sure if I should go through with it.
“You two together?” Bodhi asked, his eyes darting between Dacian and me.
I nodded, rubbed my lips together, and then nodded again.
“I won’t keep you then,” Bodhi said. “Still, I’m very pleased to meet you. I don’t know many people in these parts, so it’s nice to see a familiar face.”
“Familiar?” I quirked my brow, unsure if he said that on purpose, or if it was an honest mistake.
But he was quick to dismiss it, laughing easily as he said, “Is that what I said? See, I guess you really do remind me of my friend, Riley Bloom. I meant to say friendly. It’s nice to see a friendly face around here. This can be a tough crowd, in case you haven’t noticed. Though you’ve seemed to fit in quite easily, haven’t you?” His eyes squinted when he smiled, and he offered his hand once again.
I peered at Dacian, seeing he was still engrossed in the games. I reached forward and placed my hand in Bodhi’s. Watching as he lowered his head, brushed his lips against the top of my hand, then lifted his eyes to meet mine, shooting me a saddened look that was soon interrupted by the roar of the crowd.
Theocoles had gone down, and the next thing I knew, the stranger, Bodhi, was racing toward the arena, racing toward Theocoles, as I turned to Dacian and said, “What is going on? What is he doing?”
“He’s fallen,” Dacian said, shaking his head in pity. “The Pillar of Doom has fallen.”
I glanced from Dacian to the arena, saying, “No, I mean that guy, the stranger from last night—what is he doing down there?”
Dacian squinted, his brow creasing in confusion when he said, “I have no idea.”
I jumped to my feet, pushed my way to the edge of the box where I watched as Bodhi knelt beside Theocoles, speaking urgently into his ear.
“I don’t understand,” I said, turning to Dacian who’d made his way to me. “What are they doing down there? What’s going on around here?”
My eyes darted wildly, wondering why no one else was bothered by what I could so clearly see.
“I think the heat and spectacle has gotten to us.” Dacian laughed, grabbing my hand as he led me away. “It’s a tragic turn of events, completely unexpected, to be sure. What do you say we find someplace quiet to sit, someplace where we can cool down. Night will fall soon, and once it does, we can search for our favorite constellations again.” He looked at me with a face so open and hopeful it seemed impossible to resist.
And yet, I managed to pull away, managed to push my way back to the front of the box so I could peer into the arena. Surprised to find Messalina down there, following Theocoles, who followed his own dead body as it was dragged out of the arena and back behind those heavy iron gates. As Bodhi remained standing in the middle, his gaze locked on mine, telling me something I couldn’t quite read no matter how hard I tried.