Once An Eve Novel

we can make it for the next show.” He glanced across the table at the King. “Do you mind if I steal your daughter for a little while?”
    At the suggestion, the King’s face relaxed. “No—you two go. Enjoy yourselves.”
    As they watched us walk away, Reginald turned to Clara, his notepad still in his hand. “Perhaps you saw one of the Palace workers?” he asked.
    “I know what I saw,” Clara hissed. She looked at Rose, who shook her head slightly, signaling for her to let it go.
    I followed Charles through the marketplace, around the wide, sparkling pools, thankful when we were far from the table. He led me across the Palace’s marble lobby, where the old gaming machines still stood, shrouded in gray cloths. All the while two soldiers trailed behind us, their steps keeping time with ours, their rifles swinging on their backs. “I’m sorry about that,” he said as we stepped into the sun. We crossed a narrow bridge to where a massive fountain spread out toward the sidewalk.
    “What are you sorry about?” I asked.
    “I have a feeling I had something to do with that.” A tuft of thick black hair fell across his forehead. He smiled, combing it back with his fingers.
    “Not everything has to do with you,” I snapped. A cluster of people on the street turned, studying us, the soldiers gesturing for them to stay back.
    “I think what you mean is, Thank you, Charles, for rescuing me from that inquisition.” He threw his hands up in defense. “I’m just saying. I think maybe—just maybe—Clara has a little bit of a crush on me. At least that’s how it’s seemed since … always.”
    I looked at him. Charles’s face was so sincere, his pale cheeks flushed. I couldn’t help but laugh. “Maybe you’re right,” I admitted. Even if Clara had seen me leave last night, I doubted she cared what I did with my free time. She seemed to take more issue with Charles sitting beside me at meals, or the way he leaned forward when he spoke to me, so there were no more than a few inches between us.
    “We grew up together in the City,” he added. “The last ten years we’ve been the youngest people living in the Palace. Clara is incredibly smart. She’s talked about studying at the teaching hospital to be a doctor. Her mother is steering her in a different direction, though.” He raised his eyebrows, as if to say, Toward me .
    “I see.” I nodded, thinking of the cold, calculating look Clara had given me when we first met.
    People gathered along the rim of the great fountain. I stared at our reflection in the water, two shadows rippling with the wind. Charles didn’t take his eyes off me. “So how have you found the City? You don’t seem in love with it the way everyone else is.”
    I thought of Caleb’s arm around me last night, how music and smoke had filled the room. Our bodies pressed together in the doorway. I smiled, the heat rising in my cheeks. “It has its advantages.”
    Charles inched closer to me, his shoulder pressing against mine. “Can you keep a secret?” He studied my face. “My father would have chosen nearly any city over this one. Despite what he told the King, he wasn’t convinced until a few years into the restoration that Las Vegas would work. It was my mother who knew this was the right place. Most of the hotels were empty at the time of the plague. The buildings were easily stripped of advertisements. It’s so separate from everything else—a haven. She always knew.”
    “Women’s intuition?” I asked, remembering a phrase I’d heard at School.
    “Must’ve been,” he said. He stared out over the fountain. A little boy with a plaid cap was kneeling on the stone ledge, peering into the water. “She’s been having a hard time without him. She keeps to herself a lot. As bad as this sounds, part of me wants to know what it’s like to love someone that much.”
    I stared at the tiny stones piled up in the bottom of the fountain. I’d thought of saying it to Caleb before, of saying those three specific words—the ones the Teachers had warned us about. I’d decided in the stillness of Maeve’s house, the quiet night surrounding me, that I meant those words for Caleb. Nothing was as persistent, as relentless, working its way through me, pulling at every thought.
    When I turned, Charles was still looking at me. “Sometimes it’s terrifying, though. The idea of being so close to someone.” He searched my expression. “Do you know what I mean? Am I making any