THE LUNA CHOOSING GAME - Season 6 Episode 6

I “Veronica!” I shouted with excitement I and, holding the coconut, rushed closer to her side. “You did that so easily!” I Veronica did not seem to mirror my level of joy. In fact, she seemed utterly dissatisfied, frowning at herself. Her breaths were shallow. She seemed winded.

“It’s not good enough,” she grumbled.

I sat down at her side and watched her curiously. “How can you say that? You are getting so much better, and in sucha short amount of time.” She shook her head and reiterated, “Still not good enough. Just doing this, right now, has taken so much out of me. I can only imagine how taxing it must be to teleport an actual person, let alone a person and myself.”

I When Hawk had escaped the palace with Jane, he had been able to sneak himself onto the palace grounds, likely { I teleporting, and then immediately teleported again, this time with Jane in I tow.

I “He’s likely been teleporting his entire life,” I said. “You just started to train.” “I need to get better,” Veronica said. “I need to catch up to his skill. If we ever face him… that might be our only chance of taking him down.” Her words give me pause. Face… Hawk? Leader of the Underground Organization? Did Veronica really think we would need to do that? Though, given her background as an escapee from the underground organization, I supposed I couldn’t blame her, I too saw shadows around every corner. And I knew that as soon as I left the palace, Elva and I could be in danger.

. Iwas more comfortable now in my ability I to protect us, what with my wolf restored, but it was still unnerving. If the I underground came for Elva in large 1 numbers, I didn’t know if I would be I enough to keep them all at bay.

[would have felt much more comfortable if we could destroy the underground organization, but I didn’t dare dream we would have the power. With Jane’s defeat, and my wolf restored, I felt we at least crippled them.

Jane. God, when was the last time I had given thought to my sister? She had tried so desperately to kill me, to kill Elva. I couldn’t fool myself into thinking that she cared for either of us, as 1 had once been so desperate to do.

But her hatred of me did not change my feelings for her. To me, she would always be that pig-tailed little girl who followed me around. I hated that now, to protect Elva and myself, if I saw her again, I’d

I likely have to fight her. And I wouldn’t be able to hold back, knowing she would not grant me the same curtesy. I I wished things could be different. I never wanted to hurt my twin sister.

I Icouldn’t help but wonder where she was now, or what she was doing. How was she living her life? Was she safe? None of it should matter to me, not after what she’d done.

But I couldn’t help but care about her. I feared I always would. Even if I never saw her again. Even if I lived to be one- hundred. I’d be an old lady in a nursing home and I’d wonder where my sister was. I’d mourn her if she was dead. It would pain me to not know where her gravesite was.

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“111 get better, Piper,” Veronica said, and made it sound like a promise. She didn’t have to make any vows to Ime, but she likely knew that so I didn’t feel the need

I to tell her so. Veronica was set in her } ways. “I’ll be ready when the time comes.” I ( When. Not if.

Veronica was so certain.

I She was usually right about things.

Maybe I should start preparing myself, for the inevitable reunion with my traitorous sister.

Eventually, the sun crept down the horizon line.

Elva found Jessica’s sandcastle more impressive than Julian’s, likely because Julian didn’t reinforce his with enough water and it crumbled in half near the end. I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d done it on purpose to make Elva laugh and lift Jessica’s spirits.

julian did nice things like that, sometimes, when he thought no one would notice.

I After the sandcastle competition, I took } Elva upstairs to bed. Then I returned I downstairstoa cocktail and a I comfortable cushioned chair on the back deck.

I” From here, I could watch the boat I carrying Nicholas and Bridget sail out on the water. The anchor was down. It was just drifting out there, rocking back and forth on the waves.

I couldn’t see the deck. I had no sense of where Nicholas and Bridget were, or how they were getting along.

I didn’t want to wish for either of their unhappiness, but my heart secretly, treacherously hoped that they were continuing to not get along.

I sipped at my fruit-flavored boat drink and watch the waves carry the boat up and down. I became lost in them, the gentle rise and fall. It was easier than thinking about anything else.

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I Julian appeared then and plopped down I in the seat next to me. He carried a beer in his hand and took a long swig. I was i I grateful for his presence, happy for the I distraction, even if I knew the inevitable I topic of our conversation would be what was going on just offshore.

il “What do you think they’re doing out there?” Julian asked.

«1 don’t know,” I admitted. Truthfully, I didn’t want to think too much about the specifics. “This must be unpleasant for you.” “Not half as much as it must be for you, trust me.” That answer surprised me, and I glanced at him with wide eyes.

Catching my expression, he shrugged. He took another swig of his beer, longer this time, and then spoke again. “What Bridget did out there on the island…

When she left you in that pit… None of

I that madeit to the live broadcast. But] I still saw it from the control room. I saw I allofit.” I I I froze in surprise.

I “Of course, they never pushed it to air. All {of Bridget’s clips aired with a delay. They had to make sure they painted her in the perfect light so the public would always love her. But to cut those clips down, they have to view the entire raw footage first.

And I was right there. I saw it.” Looking at Julian now, I could see a fundamental change in him. He seemed harder now, talking about Bridget, not at all like the defeated man he had been speaking of her so many times before.

«1 saw what she did to you.” “Julian,” I said, almost wishing I could take it back for Bridget, to spare Julian from hurt. But maybe this was what he truly needed. Maybe this was the moment that would break his image of Bridget

, forever.

“she’s not the person I thought she was,” he says. “The Bridget I knew: maybe she never existed. Maybe I imagined her. She would have saved you without hesitation. This Bridget now…

I She’s not the person I want.” I was listening to him, hearing him say the words, and I still couldn’t believe my ears.

vet when he looked at me, I saw the hard seriousness in his usually mischievous gaze.

He wasn’t lying. He wasn’t defeated.

He was confident and sure.

“1’m ready to move on.”