Gameboard of the Gods (Age of X #1)(83)
Author: Richelle Mead

“Really?” asked Rhea. They all looked impressed, and Tessa swelled up with pride. “He’s gonna be consul.”

“And he’s hot,” added Poppy. “The senator, I mean. Well, and the guy you live with too. I don’t have a problem with older guys, you know.”

“Everyone knows that,” said Rhea’s boyfriend, eliciting snickers.

They walked a few more minutes and came up on a large stone wall surrounding several city blocks. “What about this?” Tessa asked.

“The National Gardens,” Dennis told her. He looked down at his ego. “You should start heading home.”

“You need to come here in the day, when they’re open,” said a girl named Sibyl. “Awesome place to make out.”

Rhea had come to a halt and was staring at a tree farther down the wall’s side. “I heard you can get in if you climb that tree.”

The others turned on her incredulously. “That’s crazy,” said Poppy. Tessa was pretty sure it was the first time she’d ever heard her friend describe anything that way.

“No, no. My friend’s cousin told me.” Rhea pointed. “Look, it almost touches the wall. You climb it and jump over, then you’re down. It’s easy.”

“That drop isn’t easy,” said Dennis. He tugged Tessa’s arm. “Come on.”

“There’s a bench on the other side,” Rhea insisted. “You just aim and land on that.”

Even Poppy wasn’t on board. “I don’t think you could get over from the tree.”

Tessa blinked the world into focus and studied the tree in question. “No, no…you can. Look. You have to swing onto that branch off to the side, then that’ll get you up to the limb by the wall.”

Despite Cynthia’s constantly saying a prætorian wasn’t a realistic instructor, Quentin and Tessa had kept up with tree-climbing practice. Even if they’d never developed Mae’s easy skill, they’d both managed to finally get up the tree on their own.

Emboldened by that success (and the alcohol), Tessa thought Rhea’s proposal was perfectly reasonable—aside from one small flaw. “How do you get back out?”

“The inner wall is textured,” Rhea said promptly. “Get back on the bench, get a handhold, and you’re back on top to the tree.” She caught hold of Tessa’s arm. “Want to do it?”

Dennis displayed the same panic he had with Mae’s gun pointing at him. “No! You can’t. Do you seriously think it’s that easy? The whole place is rigged and monitored! You can see the guards right there.”

It was true. Scattered along the wall were gray-and-maroon-clad military, keeping watch on their surroundings. Rhea was unconcerned.

“You guys distract them. Make a big scene. We’ll go over.”

Poppy clearly was wavering between her normal impulsive instincts and a logical voice that had apparently decided to show up tonight. The former won out. “Okay. We’ll help.”

Rhea grinned at Tessa. “You in?”

“I’m in.”

“You guys!” exclaimed Dennis.

But everyone else was already in motion. Poppy led the others over to a soldier while Tessa and Rhea slinked off in the other direction. The group laughed uproariously and stumbled more than they had earlier. Tessa heard Poppy say, “Hey, mister soldier guy. Do you know where we can get some tapas around here?”

“I don’t want any f**king tapas,” said Rhea’s boyfriend. “You said we could get pie.”

“You always want pie,” said Sibyl, earning more laughter.

The soldier said something Tessa couldn’t hear, probably about how they all needed to go home. Another soldier strolled over to see what the commotion was, and Rhea shoved Tessa. “Let’s go.”

The tree didn’t have nearly as many branches as the one at home. Tessa scraped her hands trying to get ahold of the lowest one, which wasn’t as sturdy as she’d thought. Her disorientation didn’t help matters, and she nearly lost her balance twice. Still, she was pleased that she did a better job than Rhea and actually jumped to the wall first—though not without nearly falling again. She managed to hold on to the top of it as she crouched and willed the world to stop spinning. Once her rapid breathing calmed down, she moved over, and Rhea joined her.

“Fucking awesome,” said Rhea.

Tessa had to agree. The gardens spread out before them, so beautifully designed that they didn’t seem real. Hedges were trimmed to perfection, lining stone paths that wound around everything. Trees Tessa had never seen before swayed gently in the evening breeze, with beds of flowers surrounding them. She couldn’t quite make out the colors in the poor lighting. The gardens had the same kind of spotlights as the front of the senate, but they were pointed up at statues of important historical figures scattered along the path.

And just below them was Rhea’s bench.

“It’s really there,” said Tessa, not realizing until that moment that she hadn’t been sure. It didn’t look quite as high as Rhea had led her to believe.

“Yup.”

Without further warning, Rhea jumped. She actually managed to land on the bench but couldn’t get her footing. She swore as she fell to the ground but soon stood up and gave Tessa a thumbs-up. “No broken bones.”

A reasonable part of Tessa was beginning to sober up and tell her this was a terrible idea. But Rhea had already invested in the venture, and peer pressure ran strong. Tessa jumped with similar results, hitting the bench and falling. Unlike Rhea, Tessa felt pain shoot through her ankle as she landed ungracefully. Rhea helped her up and had that big grin on her face again.

“What should we do first?”

Shouts told them they wouldn’t be doing anything. Tessa spun around, wincing as her ankle yelled at her. Still, she was about to jump on the bench and climb out when she noticed something important.

There were no handholds on the wall. It was perfectly smooth. Her jaw dropped, and she turned to Rhea.

“You said—ahh!”

Something big slammed into her body, forcing her to the ground and knocking the wind out of her. A nearby cry suggested Rhea had met the same fate. Strong hands jerked Tessa upright. A dark figure peered down at her and sighed.

“It’s just a f**king kid,” he said.

“Mine too,” came a female voice. “So much for the world’s best security.”

“It’s not like they got into the senate itself,” said Tessa’s captor in a surprisingly light tone. He steered her forward. “Come on.”