I laughed and we got in line in front of the stand that Reginald and the Sinclair pixies were manning, with Oscar fluttering over to help them out. Tonight’s menu was barbecue, which meant meat and lots of it. Pulled pork, pulled beef, smoked brisket, and lots of grilled sausages slathered with this spicy barbecue sauce Reginald told me he’d gotten from a restaurant called the Pork Pit. I piled a plate high with meats, then another one with coleslaw, onion rings, baked beans full of bacon, and some delicious sourdough rolls to sop everything up with.
Devon, Felix, and I went over to a table and sat down. I wanted nothing more than to eat my food in peace, but to my surprise, folks from all the different Families came over and congratulated me on the tournament yet again. Nobody said that I would get Deah next year, though, so I didn’t have to break out my best scream on anyone.
I smiled and made the appropriate noises, but the congratulations only made me feel even more like a stupid, stupid fool. Yeah, I might have done the right thing, but the aftermath was torture. Especially since Deah was in the middle of the lawn, surrounded by her adoring admirers, with that gold cup glimmering on the table beside her like a neon sign flashing HERE SHE IS! SHE’S A WINNER! ISN’T SHE GREAT!
I focused on the cup. Maybe I could go over and swipe it while everyone was paying attention to Deah. Too bad I didn’t have my spidersilk coat with me. It would have been perfect for hiding that gold cup and smuggling it away from here.
Blake and the rest of the Draconis might be showering Deah with attention, but not everyone was happy about her win. Some of the other competitors were giving her sour looks, including Katia, whose eyes glittered an eerie green. I frowned. Something about her gaze bothered me—
Devon bumped his shoulder into mine. “What are you thinking about?”
The thought, whatever it was, vanished back into the bottom of my brain. I shook my head. “Nothing.”
He stared at me, his eyes shining in his face. He leaned down and wet his lips, as though he was about to ask me something, and I was suddenly aware of just how hard my heart was hammering in my chest. Especially because this time, I was going to tell him yes.
Yes, I cared about him. Yes, I wanted to be with him. Just . . . yes. To everything there was between us.
“Well, well, well,” a familiar, unwelcome voice sneered. “If it isn’t the first loser, hiding out with the rest of her loser friends.”
I looked up to find Blake standing beside our table. My hands curled into fists in my lap. More than ever before, I wanted to wipe that smug smirk off his face. Devon put a hand on my arm, warning me against doing anything.
“Did you really think you could hide over here?” Blake said, his voice booming out like thunder.
Folks stopped what they were doing to stare at us, and I realized that Blake wanted me to get mad. He wanted me to look like a sore loser. Well, it wasn’t going to happen.
I shrugged, not rising to his taunting. “I wasn’t trying to hide. Just wanted to get some food.”
Deah had heard Blake, and she grabbed her gold cup off the table and walked over to stand by her brother. Of course she would. She might have Sterling blood, but she was Draconi through and through.
“Blake,” she said. “Leave her alone. I won. That’s the important thing, right?”
Blake gave her a cool look. “Of course you won. You were always going to win. You’re the best fighter in town. And now that you have won, you need to show everyone else what their place is—below you. Below us. Below all the Draconis.”
Deah bit her lip, looking back and forth between Blake and me. Her eyes cut to Felix for a second as well. She didn’t want to go along with Blake, but I knew she would. She always had before, even if she knew her brother was a bully and hated the way he looked down on everyone else.
She sighed. “Blake, let’s just go. Okay? There’s no need to be mean about things.”
He frowned. “You weren’t saying that last year when you won. You spent the whole night telling the other contestants to suck it, and rightly so, especially Katia. So what’s different this year? You won again, and we should celebrate. Why aren’t you on board with that?”
Deah glanced at me, and my soulsight kicked in, letting me feel just how much she was struggling with this. She might have won the tournament, but she hadn’t done it fairly, and it was eating at her. Her gaze fell to the gold cup in her hand, her fingers tightening around the handle.
“Come on, Sis,” Blake said, that sneer creeping back into his voice again. “Everyone knows that you’re the best. I just want to make sure these Sinclair losers realize it too.”
“They’re not losers,” she said in a soft voice, her fingers tracing over the snarling dragon crest stamped into the cup.
“Sure they are,” Blake said, his voice growing louder and louder. “Especially Morales. He didn’t even get picked by his own Family to enter the tournament because they all know what a loser he is. He wouldn’t have even made it through the first round. Scratch that. He wouldn’t have made it through the first minute without getting bounced out of the tournament.”
“Don’t talk about Felix like that,” Deah snapped. “He’s never done anything to you.”