Chapter 8

"Attention, contestants! As soon as you hear the command 'action' and the music starts, you come out one by one toward the fountain, each from your own side, and stop for one second at the yellow line. The camera takes you in close-up, then you meet your partner and line up right here, on the left side of the grounds. Joy, nerves, light flirting: all welcome. Your task is to show emotion and be memorable to the viewer. You have to be interesting! And remember the invited experts. They will comment on every episode. Is everything clear?"

Clear? Nothing was clear!

I exhaled slowly and looked over the broad grounds and the camera operators frozen by their cameras, feeling bubbles of panic begin to boil in my chest.

Yellow line? What flirting?!

And, of course, there was no one nearby to reach out to for help and ask them to explain everything in tiny words.

I exhaled again, sharper this time, tightened my back, and clenched my hands into fists. "You are an adult woman, Diana, you can handle this," I had only just managed to tell myself when the command "Action!" rang out, and in the same second the show's upbeat musical intro began...

"First couple, your entrance!" the coordinator's voice sounded. "Second, get ready... Go!"

...And the yellow line turned out to be much closer than I had thought. Only about ten steps straight ahead. I just had to forget about the cameras, move from my spot, and everything would work out.

Someone moved.

"Meet Kate and Bogdan..."

"Meet Margot and Vlad..."

"Meet Nastya and Arthur..."

Music played, cameras moved, and I kept standing in place, letting the third couple pass ahead... then the fourth... then the fifth.

"Meet Oksana and Mark..."

If my motor system did not switch on immediately, I risked wrecking everything again. Please, I needed to pull myself together. Now or never.

"Diana, wake up!" nimble Rita appeared at my side and hissed fiercely into my ear. "Do you want to derail the shoot and get kicked off the show? Remember your guy! Go already!"

"M-my who?"

But she had already shoved me in the back, and I went...

"Meet the final couple: Dennis and Diana!"

If panic had clouded my mind, it only lasted a minute. The moment I saw Demond heading toward me, it immediately cleared and, frankly, saw the prospects.

He walked with the expression of a man on his way to a criminal meetup to avenge his brother. And there was no one in his path but me.

Wonderful. All that remained was to walk up, offer him my neck, and let him shake me by it. Then remember to claw his cheek in return, because I was no less thrilled to see him. Really, truly. In caps: VERY.

I walked the ten steps to the yellow line and stopped. Noticing the camera moving in on me, I stretched a smile at the lens... and immediately shifted my gaze to Demond, turning serious. He kept coming, and I forgot about the filming and tensed for real, bracing for impact. And since I was not used to yielding to him, I also took steps toward him.

We approached each other, stopping against the backdrop of the winter fountain, and Demond predictably reached a hand toward my neck... But instead of grabbing me by it, he suddenly smiled his most arrogant, charming smile. What? Then he pulled me closer and brushed his lips against my cheek.

"Hi, Diana!" he said loudly enough for the microphones to hear him for sure. "You look stunning. You're like a spot on the windshield of a car with broken wipers. Impossible to wipe from memory. I haven't been able to forget you since the first time we met!"

I blinked in shock and froze.

"Have you lost your mind?" I parted my lips and hissed quietly. "Step away right now and let go of me! Ever tried wiping your memory with bleach?"

But instead of letting go, Demond leaned even lower, and my indignantly flared nostrils were tickled by the scent of men's cologne, warm and fir-needled. His familiar raspy voice, the kind that makes normal girls' knees go weak, warned without kindness:

"Easy, Catkin. Don't you dare ruin everything. Either we play by the rules of this stupid show, or we both walk out of it. Right now. But keep in mind, if you trip me, you'll fall first, and claws won't help."

"Dream on!"

"Then you have one second to fix it. Otherwise we tell the director there won't be a continuation. But I promise, tomorrow at university I'll become your personal poison: slow and inevitable."

One second? If he knew about Astralia, he would understand I had far less time than that.

Already pushing him away from me, I was smiling widely at him. I opened my eyes playfully, laughed brightly, and exclaimed in an intonation calculated for the microphones:

"God, Dennis! I have no idea how you manage to be so funny! We only met yesterday, and I'm already in love with your sense of humor. Has anyone told you you're terribly amusing? Please don't repeat out loud the joke you just whispered in my ear... or I'll have to give you a T-shirt that says 'Walking Wit.' Fine, I agree to be an unwashable spot, but only on your heart!"

And I fluttered my lashes with such languid delight that Demond's eye twitched from my smile.

One second. Another...

The camera on the crane took us in close-up and began to glide away, giving us back the ability to breathe. That was enough. I exhaled and turned away.

"F-funny?" Dennis ground out through his teeth as we moved from the spot and headed toward the edge of the grounds. "Me?"

"You. Touch me without permission again or decide to threaten me, and your little poison vial, shape-shifter, will end up in the place you pull your genius ideas from. Broken. I can't stand you!"

"You'll have to."

"Better keep quiet!"

We took our place at the edge of the parade ground, where the other couples had already lined up, and froze, waiting for the show to continue. Before us rose a beautiful mansion with columns and a wide porch. At that same second, at the director's command of "Applause!" new music began, the doors flew open, and the magnificent Valentine stepped onto the porch. There was no other word for him.

Today he wore a black tailcoat, a snow-white shirt with a scarlet bow tie, and a hat, and he held a microphone in his hand. Coming to the edge of the porch, he removed the hat and smiled dazzlingly, sweeping us with a demanding gaze. Then he spoke into the microphone, and his voice sounded across the whole grounds:

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Welcome to your second date at Pleasenville Palace! Today you are not just couples. Today you are the heroes of an interactive story inspired by the spirit of an English estate, the drafts of castle legends, and notes of hunting flair. Ahead of you lies a palace quest you must complete together to prove your compatibility.

Valentine descended the steps dramatically and came out onto the grounds. He stopped, looking over the couples.

"The Trust Maze awaits you, along with a walk through the park, a test of aim, and... a royal task for true knights! Not everything will be decided by points. And not everything by the viewers' sympathy. But everyone will have a chance to win!"

He made a meaningful pause and winked, one after another, into three cameras. Then, with no small amount of pathos, he swept his hat and said: