11:00 p.m.

*

Yoleta rushed into the brownstone with tear-stained clothes.

Grew-Ella and Quig bolted awake and jumped out of their chairs.

Shrieks emitted from Yoleta's mouth. "My supervisor, Lana, was murdered. I should have escorted her..." she paused.

"Did Stanton kill her?" Avery-Joy asked.

"Sean-Mack ordered her death. Claiming she was a traitor. He isn't hiding it and blogged that he planned to execute her ten minutes ago," Madd-Ox said as he straightened his black guard uniform.

Yoleta gagged, ran up the stairs, and she descended wearing clean clothes, burning hers in the fireplace even though they were not blood-stained. "Avery-Joy, your ex is a terrible person."

"Who killed your supervisor?" Avery-Joy grabbed Yoleta.

"I'm not sure who did it because I wasn't there, and my witness isn't telling me anything." Yoleta pulled away and turned to Madd-Ox. "Flirty, I need you to work extra shifts all next week."

"Nope, Junior, Delia Orchid, and I have plans. Don't pretend that you forgot." Madd-Ox patted her hand. "And what gives you the right to call me Flirty when you hit on Quig? Isn't your ex-husband younger than you?" Madd-Ox's eyes narrowed. "I refuse to date the elite women you set me up with."

"My youngest daughter throws herself at you. Like you, her title isn't from a stupid beauty contest. Stop acting like all grand elite women are scum."

"Lana supported me," Madd-Ox said.

Yoleta's face wrinkled, and she batted his hand away. "My boss just died, and this isn't an appropriate conversation. And for your information, my ex-husband is one year younger than me, not eleven. We met at the royal beauty contest."

"But why can't Trent run again?" a random guard asked.

Yoleta snorted. "He can run in smaller contests, but Trent broke the rules and is barred unless he convinces a grand elite female to enter with him. I bumped him down to be a village viscount because he slaughtered Cutter and Avery-Joy punished him. It's illegal in the main contest to take the lives of lesser citizens unless you're made king or you're defending yourself, no matter what the contest's rules claim. It's why Vex didn't kill the son of his enemy himself."

Madd-Ox spoke. "That is why Trent hasn't attacked Avery-Joy. He's a coward to anyone with real power."

Yoleta glanced at her feet. "I was forced to enter, but at least I met a sweet man. I'm fake flirting with Quig, but I won't after he marries Zill."

Madd-Ox groaned to himself. "I wouldn't wish her on my worst enemy. Don't you remember what she did to Grew-Ella?"

"What did she do this time?" Karen asked.

Madd-Ox grunted to himself. "Yoleta and Dad won't believe me, so we'll talk in private."

Yoleta frowned. "Chase is a bad influence on her."

"Zill didn't need anyone to make her an awful person," Madd-Ox said angrily.

Quig grimaced. "Madd-Ox is right. Yoleta, there are limits to my nobility."

"But you didn't answer my question. Why are you flirting with Quig?" Madd-Ox asked.

"The media reported he has had a crush on Zill, but Quig isn't interested," Karen said.

Yoleta pounded the dining table with her hands. "Quig, you're the perfect ringer. Carry a nuptial bracelet at all times. We don't know when you'll be required to propose."

"I'm not marrying or fake dating her." He showed the beaded circle of sparkling crystals briefly.

"Honey, would you want her to live in a workhouse factory?" Yoleta asked.

Quig's entire mouth collapsed into a frown, and he involuntarily gagged. "Of course not, but Grew-Ella's sister uses people."

Yoleta rested her hand on her hip. "Then find another unacceptable woman. Think of your courtship similar to the ancient Earth show, The Bachelor, or our kingdom's most beloved show, The Chosen Bride. Only the girls you don't marry are forced to work in glorified sweatshops. Quig, you're classified as a broken elite."

"Quig should be on TV," one of Yoleta's guards said.

"Yoleta, how about you give me broken elite status? I'd pick the woman I love," Madd-Ox said.

"No," Yoleta snapped. "But Quig is perfect for the show. Grand elites only date each other."

Madd-Ox stuck his tongue at her. He turned and poked Quig's shoulder. "Vex's workhouse board underlings are planning to arrest ten million men and women because the government is broke, and they steal profits from workhouse manufacturing. They'll still be in power. This might be the last chance for you to get married." Madd-Ox frowned and glanced at Yoleta.

Yoleta turned to Avery-Joy. "I want you and Odin to pretend to date. Fake dating makes you both seem less suspicious, but if you don't, I'll dump bodies over a cliff to save Betsy."

"They better not attack my niece." Quig stumbled, and Grew-Ella ran to him and propped him up.

"No, this is weird. Before Odin married his wife, Ida, we dated and almost married," Avery-Joy said.

"They're divorced, and we can't talk about this here..." Yoleta paused. She handed Avery-Joy a laser gun. "These newer guns go up to stun."

"I have the last ten weapons you gave me. You don't understand, I'm not afraid of a fight. This is disrespectful to Ida," Avery-Joy said.

"They're divorced, and she'd hope you'd protect him. Do you want Betsy to live without a dad?"

"I'm a journalism teacher and a college romance columnist, not an actress." Avery-Joy tucked the small weapon into her camera bag.

Yoleta put her foot on a chair. "You're the former queen and a revolutionary."

Madd-Ox stared at a wall clock. "When is Zill coming? She is never on time."

Grew-Ella pointed at the faux marble stairs as Zill descended with Prince Chase Vice.

Zill dabbed her neck with perfume and tucked the bottle into her purse. She peeked at her sister's stomach for a moment and attempted to embrace her.

Grew-Ella flinched.

Karen sniffed the air and scrunched her face. "I smell paint thinner. Zill, there are natural and safer products."

"The scent is in your head," Zill said.

Chase frowned at Quig, his eyelids lowered, and he mouthed, 'I hate you,' to Quig.

Quig spoke loudly, "Chase tried to grab Grew-Ella. He has been banned from the university, and he shouldn't be allowed here."

"We know that, but we have questions to ask him," Madd-Ox said.

"You and Dot are liars. My baby didn't do anything," Zill said.

Quig's limbs shuddered as the caustic odor Karen described entered his nose, but it didn't smell as terrible as paint thinner. He couldn't recognize the fragrance at first, but then a flash came into his mind of Trent beating him.

Grew-Ella poked his hand. "Zill is prettier than me, but the government calls her hideous."

"We both need a fake engagement." Zill touched his waist.

Quig brushed her hand away. "I can't fake that I'm attracted to you."

She snorted and slammed her fist into the wall, leaving a hole. "Quig is Grew-Ella's awkward bestie, not mine. His school articles pander to the workhouse board's love life, so they won't lower his status. That traitor wouldn't be willing to help me or any woman out. He and his sister, Dot, are heartless. I asked her to pretend to be my wife last year."

"Liar, I only write those workhouse board romance articles to help Avery-Joy avoid Stanton. And... um... don't bring Dot into this. If both my sister and I rejected you, maybe the issue is you," Quig said.

"Zill, you're married to Chase," Avery-Joy said dryly. "I made sure it's documented, so he can't claim he is engaged to Grew-Ella anymore."

Chase strutted toward Grew-Ella and spoke to her. His fingers bobbed wildly as he talked. "You told Avery-Joy."

"I didn't even know you two got married. Of course, I'm shocked by this news and don't believe you're the worst man in the world. Your relationship is true love, and I helped you be together." Grew-Ella pulled Chase close and whispered into his ear. "You control what I say, but not how I string my words together. I'm offering forgiveness, but only if you and my sister leave me alone. We'll trade kindness for kindness. Can't this be over?"

"It'll never be over," he blurted.

"Don't you dare talk to my sister like that! If she says it's over, it's over. And I'll take your engagement contract and stuff it down your throat," Madd-Ox said.

"There is no contract." Chase stepped back.

"Grew-Ella was not my source. Maybe you're more dangerous than Stanton." Avery-Joy rushed at Chase. "I'm not keeping your secrets if you plan to use my friends."

"We don't use people." Zill showed the cheap nuptial bracelet off. "Well, it's out now. I always dreamed I'd be a special, amazing, Chosen One Princess in an online romance story."

"The government won't accept a marriage between an elite prince and an unacceptable woman," Karen said.

Madd-Ox scrunched his mouth and snorted. "Chase is a broke reality TV star prince. I'm a royal, and I work for a living. He has a billion only good, at Captain Cardboard's Magical Pizza."

"I earned the arcade cash, acting. Thieves robbed our accounts," Chase said.

Zill ignored the comment and rolled up her sleeve, exposing tiny scars. "The tracking beacon was found with a sassy note. I'm a folk hero."

Chase opened Grew-Ella's purse. "We're leaving with Grew-Ella. Ghoul Flint is picking us up. We also have a fake marriage planned for her. You don't have to pay him."

"You're placing my daughter's life in danger." Karen's eyes moved around anxiously, glancing from person to person.

Zill grinned and winked at Karen. "That is why we are here. Vex could grab my sister because he can't find me."

"I'll take Grew-Ella to the Ivy Kingdom," Quig said.

"You stay out of this." Zill hit the wall until cracks appeared.

Yoleta read the words as they flashed on her temporal watch's display; Stop Them. Surrounding people only noticed the time. She spoke. "There isn't enough room. Flint brought his family."

"We'll pick her up in two or three weeks," Chase said.

Flint knocked on the door and entered.

"Are you sure there is no room?" Zill asked.

"No, she is staying behind." He guided them out of the brownstone.

Future memories of Grew-Ella being dragged by distorted figures entered Yoleta's mind. "Grew-Ella, stay at Avery-Joy's apartment for the rest of the week. New clothes and underwear will be delivered before we pick up your things in a few days."

"I planned to take my Royal Moth Car. I won my luxury ride in the beauty lotto, but I'm selling it," Grew-Ella said.

"Trust me." Yoleta pointed at the door.

Grew-Ella wrapped her wings around herself for warmth as they left her family's home.

Quig drove her to the campus parking lot. "Did you hear how Zill spoke to me? Chase and I despise each other because he is evil, but he is perfect for her. Your lovely mother can't stand him, and she has amazing taste."

"My mom is more than amazing. Dad divorced my bio mom before she knew she was pregnant with me, and my bio grandfather sold me to a workhouse because I didn't come out beautiful. My mom, Karen, never made me feel lesser due to my deformity."

"Your grandfather was wrong."

Grew-Ella stared at the floor of the station wagon. "Social workers can't send unacceptable girls to foster homes unless family or friends sponsor us. I don't remember it. My mom pawned jewelry to save me. Mom had just married my dad."

"That isn't fair." Quig's unbroken wing expanded, and he offered to wrap it around her.

She lowered her head. "Removing my extra toe might cripple me. I love my bio mom. Zill was twenty-five and already married to Trent when my parents divorced. He wasn't murderous back then, and he accepted her boys with open arms. She had multiples with Vex, but still lies about it."

"I've always wondered if Zill was your bio mom. Your dad isn't that old," Quig said.

"No, my parents were thirteen when they had her. My dad's parents raised her, and she grew up in a safe and happy home."

"My birth mother only texts me when she is arrested," Quig said.

"Mom and Dad sponsor four girls a year. They inherited the joint brownstones from Mom's great-grandmother. They don't have huge housing costs. I live in a festering pit to sponsor girls with my salary and still save."

"Vex denies it, but his people tried to grab Betsy's best friend, Magpie, and shove her in a workhouse."

Grew-Ella appeared more disappointed than enraged. "My family paid a huge fee with beautification promises and eventual homeschooling. Chase is part of the political system I hate. Don't tell anyone."

Quig hugged her tightly. "You can trust me. I'd like our friendship to be the way it was before you started dating him. Dot told me he tried to kidnap you."

"She can legally tell you more than I can. Maybe he'll leave me alone, now that everyone knows he is married," Grew-Ella said.

Avery-Joy tapped on his window. "Well, I guess I'll say congrats because of how you were holding each other at the party. Yoleta's crew have been moving Odin's and Betsy's stuff in."

Betsy slept in her dad's arms.

Grew-Ella exited the vehicle. "We were protecting each other."

Odin's face softened; his lips spread into a sly grin, and his eyes twinkled for the first time in over a year. "And you said you weren't involved. Betsy informed me that Quig sat on your lap."

"We brushed each other's hair, and he fell on me," Grew-Ella said.

Odin shrugged. "Betsy claimed it was an accident, but I'm teasing you."