“Sunny, we’re friends. I’ll never betray you. You can talk to me.”

Leisel picked up my glass and handed it back to me. She clinked it again with her own glass, and we drank. I didn’t really want any more wine. It was making me sleepy. I set my glass back down and concentrated on the food.

“Jack didn’t behave inappropriately with you, did he?” Her question sounded more curious than suspicious. Was she testing me?

“No, not at all! In fact, he rescued me from an older man who was very drunk. Mr. Kenner is very kind.”

“And handsome! Don’t you think he’s just gorgeous? That dirty blonde hair and those blue eyes! I mean there aren’t many men in the Dome who look like that! I’m so lucky he chose me to marry him.”

“He is very handsome. And you’re very beautiful. You make a nice couple.”

“Do you have a handsome someone in your life?” Leisel asked.

I thought of Reyes. He wasn’t handsome in the rich, clean-cut aristocratic way that Jack was. Reyes had the dark hair and black eyes of most people who lived in the Pit, but his chiselled features and six-foot-four frame set him apart. Lots of girls were attracted to Reyes, but I was the one he wanted.

“Yes, I do.”

“Well, what’s he like?”

I found the question odd. She was the president’s daughter—why did she care who I was involved with? I thought I was there to talk about her.

“He’s tall and handsome and strong. He works in the mines,” I bragged.

I picked up more food and realized the plate I had been eating from was half empty. Leisel had only sampled a cake. I leaned back against the sofa and silently scolded myself for eating so much. I relished my last bite.

“Are you going to marry him?” Leisel picked up my wine and handed it to me.

I took a sip. The warm feeling from the wine intensified. “One day.”

“You don’t sound sure.”

“It’s complicated.”

I didn’t want to meet her gaze. My world was so different from hers. I needed to support my father until he met his fate in the Cull next year. Did she really not understand life in the Pit?

“I’m a good listener, and we have all night.”

She seemed to want me to be a true friend and share secrets with her. I wasn’t convinced that was a good idea, so I tried to tell her as little as I could. “My mother’s gone now, and my father just lost his job. I need to look after him, so marriage will have to wait for… well, until I’m available.”

“Then you and I have something in common. I lost my mother, too.” She leaned forward to hug me, and I tried not to recoil. I stiffly hugged her back. “She died shortly after I was born. She had a heart defect. How did your mother die?”

I shifted uncomfortably. How could she ask me that question? “She was thirty-five.”

“Oh, she was Culled,” Leisel said. She took both my hands in hers and looked into my face, her eyes bright with unshed tears. “I promise you that things will be different under Jack and me. We’ll change things.” She hugged me again, tighter this time. “That is, if I manage to live long enough to get married.”

“You mean someone is really trying to kill you?” I slapped a hand over my mouth, mortified by my outburst, but Leisel didn’t seem to notice.

“Yes. My guards tell me they’ve stumbled upon an assassination plot. Someone wants me dead! Someone doesn’t want me to marry Jack.”

“It doesn’t make any sense, though.” My voice sounded slurred. I tried to sort it all out, but my thoughts were getting confused. It must have been from the wine. I put my glass down.

“It makes perfect sense, Sunny. Jack and I don’t want to live with things the way they are now. We want change. But there’s someone out there who doesn’t agree with us, so they’re trying to stop the marriage by murdering me.”

Questions were trying to make their way into my muddled thoughts. Like why not kill Jack? He would be an easier target. She refilled my wine glass and handed it back to me. Dutifully, I took a sip.

“It’s all so hopeless. My guards think the assassins will wait until my wedding day, when I’m in public. Daddy’s holding the wedding in the main reception hall of the Dome so that everyone can come and watch. I’ll have no protection.”

“You’ll be defenseless!” I cried.

“I knew you would understand.”

“There must be something you can do. Tell your father. He’ll change the wedding plans.” It was as if someone else was talking on my behalf. I could hear myself saying the words, but I wasn’t in control of them.

“No he won’t. There’s been a lot of unrest in the Dome lately and our wedding is a political statement to show everyone things are still good. There’s no way he’ll change the plans.”

“I wish I could help.” Somewhere inside my head a little voice told me that was the very opposite of what I wanted to do.

“Perhaps you can help, Sunny,” Leisel said, her expression brightening. “Maybe you can take my place in the wedding.”

Chapter Five

I don’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that. Take her place? As in be the bride? I shook my head. It would never work.

“Just listen for a minute,” Leisel said, her tone suddenly serious.

I couldn’t really get up and leave, so I stayed and listened.

“We’re the same height, but I’m a little… well, healthier than you are,” she said of her figure. I had to stifle a smile. In the Pit, we called her plump. “My wedding dress is big enough for you to put a bulletproof vest on under it. We can cover up your hair with a wig, and I have a veil that will go over your face. No one will ever know it’s you and not me.”

“Your fiancé will know!” And the entire Dome would be watching the wedding. Someone was bound to notice.

“Jack!” Leisel called. “Can you come in here for a minute?”

A tired-looking Jack came into the room. His tie was gone, his shirt unbuttoned and wrinkled. It looked like he had been sleeping.

“Sunny and I have an idea,” Leisel said. I opened my mouth to correct her, but closed it when I remembered whom I was about to correct. “We were thinking that she could pose as me during the wedding. Now I know what you’re thinking—it’s a crazy idea. But she’s thin enough to get bulletproof clothing under the dress, and we’ll keep her face covered. No one will suspect a thing.”

“Is this about the assassination plot again?” Jack asked. He seemed irritated.

I was surprised that he would be so callous about his fiancée’s life being in danger. If my life were in danger, Reyes would do anything to protect me. I took another sip of wine.

“What else would it be about?”

“I think the guards have been filling your head with nonsense. I had some people check into the possibility of a plot and nothing’s been uncovered.”

“Are you accusing me of lying?”

“No. I’m saying someone’s trying to scare you.” He was beginning to look worried.

“My guards wouldn’t lie to me. And I can’t believe how easily you just dismiss it. Maybe you don’t love me, Jack. Maybe this whole wedding is a big mistake!” She burst into tears.

“Leisel!” Jack crossed the room and pulled her off the sofa and into his arms. “You know that’s not true. I want more than anything to be your husband.”

Not for the first time that night, I felt that I really shouldn’t be there witnessing their intimacy. Although I believed Leisel did have a point. Jack hadn’t exactly declared his love yet. I busied myself with my wine.

“If that’s true, then you’ll want to protect me. Do this for me.”

“But if she’s the bride, then I won’t be marrying you, will I?” Jack said gently. Leisel refused to look at him. He lifted her chin to meet his gaze. “Will I?”

“It will be me, just by proxy, that’s all. She can walk down the aisle and exchange vows with you—that doesn’t legally make you married to each other. We have to scan in and register to make it legal. So I’ll just meet you in the Registry room and exchange places with her. It will work.”