Serah glanced back at us, grinning at each other, “Since when did we all become best friends?” She demanded, but there was a flash of mischief in her eyes.

“Excuse me?” The boy approached and snapped his fingers in front of Serah’s face to get her attention. I choked as I took a sip of my drink.

“Uh…” Was all that Lydia managed.

Pure hatred filled Serah’s eyes as she turned and snarled at the boy, “And who do you think you are?”

“Just Blaze.” He said, seemingly unaffected by her glare.

“Well…Blaze. What brings you crashing in here?”

“You stole my captain.” He pointed at Etta.

“Wrong.” Serah snapped, “She is no captain.”

“She’s my captain.” Blaze said protectively.

“That’s sweet.” Serah said, her voice practically dripping with sarcasm.

“Okay, but the real question is, why did you come to Serah to get the emerald?” I asked.

“Well the guy who wants it said look for a pretty blonde pirate captain who’s ship name is The Predator.”

I noted that when he had said pretty and blonde he had sent sidelong glances at Serah, looking her up and down. She didn’t seem to notice it, instead, she was watching Etta. Perryn however, saw it and crossed his arms, glaring at the boy. I snickered, and he shifted his glare to me.

“I’m not helping you.” Serah said coldly, returning to the boy and ignoring Perryn.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Instantly Etta turned to Henry sharply, “Can you—“

“None of us will.” Serah snapped, irritated.

Etta glared at Serah, “You are not the boss of—“

Serah’s self control snapped. She lunged at the girl and knocked her over, “I am the boss of everyone in this room.” She snarled.

I blinked in surprise. It was obvious; Serah was our leader. But she didn’t like to push everyone to do what she asked, it was more of a ‘please can you do this’ or ‘do you have time to do this’ type of relationship. I had never heard her out loud say to someone that she was our leader. I grinned proudly, she was becoming more brave.

The girl pulled herself to her feet again, a look of defeat on her face, “Fine. We’ll find someone else to help us.”

“Fine.” Serah replied.

“Fine.” The girl snapped, as she walked past.

“Get out!” Serah roared.

The girl and her buddy quickly scrambled from the room. Serah marched after them, to make sure they were really gone.

A few moments later, Serah reappeared, looking weary and miserable.

“Why'd you bring her here?” Henry asked.

“She works for someone who is against us." Serah replied, plopping down in the circle.

“How do you know?" Amber asked.

“She had this." And with that, Serah lifted her hand to reveal a sparkling necklace. The chain was made of silver beads. The charm of the necklace was a rustic anchor. In the center of the anchor lay a sparkling green jewel.

I frowned, “Why was she asking you to lead them to the emerald if they already had it?”

“It was a trap.” Serah said shrugging as everyone seemed to settle down once again. Serah passed the necklace to Tanner, who quietly slipped it into his pocket.

“What is the emerald?” Amber asked curiously watching Tanner.

But Serah shook her head. The emerald was a secret and was to remain a secret.

Tanner caught her drift and returned his gaze to Amber, his usually cold facade returning, “Who knows.”

It was a simple answer, but I could tell none of the royals wanted to test Tanner. Serah and Tanner both had the same disguise. They were infinitely cold and ruthless, but could be sweet at the same time. I could tell Serah was slowly warming up to the royals, but Tanner wasn’t. He preferred to stay his distance, and quietly assert his dominance. He was protective over those he cared about and even though he knew the royals weren’t a real threat, he stuck to our original plan: Get rid of them.

“Don’t get attached.” Serah had told us, the first week with the royals. I could tell she was drawn to the prince, despite her dislike for normal princes.

Her eyes sparkled with mischief whenever he was near, and she was normally more relaxed.

My eyes narrowed in suspicion; I needed to know if something was going on between them.