Starlet - Book 2 - Mate Games

I hug Mikey so tight. "How?... When?... How?" "It's alright. I'm back. I was given the choice. I didn't want to leave you alone. You're my twin sister." Thora runs in. "Window open for departure." Marcus and Dipak tackle each other in the window. Marcus jumps up first. "Are you alright?" Dipak pulls me away from Mikey. "Who the hell are you?" "Prince Michael Alexander Cole, Mike." I wiggle away from Dipak. "He's my brother." "Your brother died." Dipak grabs me again. "All the brain said was an unknown male was in your office." Thora scratches her head. "You do look alike. Same eyes." The Goddess appears next to Mikey. "He has chosen to return to this life. He is Michael Cole." Dipak finally lets me go. I hug Mikey again as the Goddess disappears. "Where?... I..." He hugs me. "We'll figure it out." "I WANT TO SHOW YOU MY HOUSE." I pull him towards the door. Thora jumps in front of me. "HE CAN'T BE A PRINCE THERE. WE'RE NORMAL." She grabs a box. "Go up to my office for now." Dipak jumps out the window. "Yea, we're going to have to figure out some things." Marcus goes right after him. Thora hits Mikey with a box, and he turns into a king in a black suit. He's got a crown on. "Well, that wasn't the right button." We argue over the box while we go to the elevator. Mkey follows watching us. By the time we get to Dipak's office, he's in swim trunks with a towel over his shoulder. Tre nods and stands up. I smack Mikey quickly with the box, and he's a king again. Tre takes the box away from me. "I'll do it. Go sit down." Nadine moves over to Dipak and everyone shifts around. Mikey sits at the visiting end. Thora and I sit at his sides. Then Coral shoves Collin at us. He sits by me and I hold his hand. "Where were you going?" "Village. Going to show him the house." "This should work. Touch here." He touches the box, and he's in a normal suit. A bit much for the village, but it'll work. Dipak stands up. "This is Mike Cole. He is Star's brother." Omar about falls off his chair. "Dipak, he died." "He has been returned." Mikey looks at me all confused. "How old are we?" "391." I smile big. "You are both 392." He stares at the brain. "What the f**k are you?" "Artificial intelligence." Omar nods. "Dipak got another kid." He shakes his head. "No. Marcus got another kid." Tre gets out a paper and Marcus stands up. "We're giving you an apartment in the castle. You need to be tested for magic. We'll sort things out. I need a minute." "Why can't I go home?" "Home is kind of rubble, Mikey. 70 years is a long time." "I want to see where you were held." I shake my head. "I don't." "We'll deal with that later. We're all in shock and have no plans made to go forward with this. So, for now, you'll get an apartment in this castle. We'll figure out where your education is. We're going to move slowly. Let you get used to things." "That's a good plan. Why are you holding his hand, Whisp?" "He's my boyfriend." I plop my head on Collins' shoulder. "No. You need to wait on..." "She would be waiting a hell of a long time." Thora glares at him. "Yea, I didn't think about that. Still though. Stop touching. I need a minute." He drags his hands through his hair. "Talk about something else." Dipak stands up. "The mate games are going forward. They will start three weekends before the opening of your play. The first event, we will meet the men who want to join the mate games. It is simply an event to get them into the castle and signed up. We can have some sort of dinner. They can see you. They will have no alone time with you. It is simply a meet and greet." Nadine jumps up. "And you are not going to be you. We don't want you to have to hide from i***t stalkers who will be trying to get your attention. The person who is searching for a new mate is Princess Elizabeth Vivian Canmore. She is called Evie for short. I made her on the box." She changes into a princess. She has dark hair like me. "This is what she looks like. We can change her and make her more what you like, but I wanted to get a start. So, this is Princess Evie. This also allows Thora or myself to be Princess Evie during certain times, so you can be yourself and see how they act behind your back." I shrug my shoulders. "Am I prettier?" "Yes. But we need something." Thora nods. "We want the winner to be happy surprised when he sees the real you. And honestly, she kind of looks like a mule. We'll have to fix her." Tye cracks up laughing. "She really does. I didn't want to say anything." "I designed her Tye." Nadine glares at him. "Sorry babydoll, she's lovely." Her tiara flies at Tye. "I AM WATCHING YOU ASSHOLE." Dipak puts his hands up. "Plans for the mate games are not final. But you will have 6 meetings for them. Each of them will be a challenge or a way for you to get to know the men better. In one of the final meetings, you'll be able to go on a date with them. We'll have to see how things go." Tre looks at me. "I want to point out now, we will be holding the mating ball two weeks before the opening weekend of your play. The mate ball is not part of the mate games. Anyone over 400 without their mate is invited to that ball. It is not part of the games. Do not get that confused. It is a different event. Some of the men in the games may come to the ball. But it is not part of the mate games." "What the hell is a mating ball?" Mikey gets out paper and a pen. "It's something the werewolves do. One pack hosts it every year. It lasts a weekend. Every adult werewolf without a mate is invited. They have all kinds of events and things to do. People do events and shows, whatever they like that is offered. The goal is that some of the werewolves will find their mates at it. So, we made one for vampires. It really is a fun weekend. I was invited to the werewolf mating ball. That's where I got the idea to make it for us too." "And what are the mate games?" "To find your sister a mate. Men are put through challenges or games. Events. Whatever the hell we want. In the end, Whisp can pick a man to be her mate. The Goddess will tie their souls together, and they will be real soulmates." "I need another minute." Mikey bounces his head off the table a couple of times. I nod. "What events are at the mating ball?" "We have a little bit of everything. We are expecting a massive number of people. There are shows. A petting zoo. Tye's putting in a roller coaster and a big pool. Tre is adding a spot to ride camels. There's a fireworks show on Saturday night. There is a lot going into it. We'll have the event list ready at some point." My hand shoots up so fast. "CAN ME AND COLLIN GO?" "Yes. The kids in the castle will be allowed over with their guests. You and Luke can fight over Collin, I guess. It's going to be on the school campus. It's taking over all of it. School will be out during that time." I jump up and drag Collin out of the chair. "Let's do that." Marcus shakes his head. "It's not on now. You have to wait." "BUT I WANT TO GO NOW." I throw myself on the floor and cry. Collin picks me up and cuddles me. "Let's talk and listen to this first." Mikey stands up. "I need to visit my office." "I know how to get there." Thora runs over to the door frame. "OVER HERE." "NO. ALL OF YOU SIT DOWN. WE ARE DOING THIS NOW." Coral is pointing to the end of the table. She waits for us to sit back down. "Dipak, you have very little time." "I've noticed." Collin snuggles me and rubs my back. I shiver. He's so warm. "What do you need from your office, Mike?" "I have maps in there. I need to get them. We were getting ready to set out for a big treasure. We knew exactly where it was. The maps are hidden in my office. There's no way those assholes found them." "I'll give you an office here. You'll be on the 3rd floor. You'll have an office that way. We'll go over and let you clear out anything you want." "Thank you." Collin wakes me up in time for play practice. Then we relax the rest of the evening.