Skylar could practically taste the tension between them, the not so subtle fizzle of electricity hovering in the air. And she would have sworn that Anders looked tempted, that he was already drawn to her. She could see it in his eyes clear as day.

And inside, she did a little dance. Things were progressing very well.

Anders leaned down, his lips almost brushing her own. She started to close her eyes, but then she felt him pull away at the last second.

She tried not to let her disappointment show as Anders glanced away, scratching the back of his neck. “You’re brave to face down this fight with me.”

Skylar wracked her brain for what Zariel would say—something cool. “Well…you did hang my freedom over my head.” That felt in character.

Anders turned back, smiling as he got to his feet. “I suppose I should rest up—good night.”

“Night,” she said, hoping she didn’t sound as jittery as she felt. No way was she getting any sleep right now. She was way too full of energy for that.

Shaking herself out of the daze, she pinched herself. Calm down. This is not how the game is played. I can’t deviate from it. That’s not going to win me Anders’s heart.

The relationship between the two of them would need to build—but, on the other hand, her plan was working! That alone left her feeling powerful in a way that she never did in the real world, at least not compared to perfect Sera or any of the people at work who didn’t even know who she was.

Feeling content, she watched the sun rise until her eyelids grew heavy and she had to lean against the nearby tree, eyes fluttering closed…

She jolted awake. Someone was shaking her. “Penny?” she mumbled.

“I can’t believe you slept here all night!” Penny said. “Get up—we need to get moving.” She shoved a bowl of rations into her hands.

Skylar stared down at the food, a gloppy mess of…well, who knew what was in it. Definitely not the same caliber of food as last night. Hmm. Maybe not everything about this world is the best…

But still, she would need the energy for what came next. She forced herself to eat the gruel as Penny plopped onto the grass beside her.

“So…” she began, propping her chin in her hand. “I can see that you seem to be drawn to our charismatic leader. I caught a glimpse of you two talking last night. What happened?”

While in reality, all Skylar wanted to say was—OMG, I can’t believe the man of my dreams believes I’m special and is attracted to me and wanted to kiss me. ME! No one ever wants to kiss me!—she had to settle for playing it cool as Zariel.

“It was nothing,” she told Penny, remembering the line from the script. “We were talking about the mission ahead.”

“Attention, everyone,” Anders called, breaking up their conversation. “Let’s see what type of group we’ll be. This will be our first mission: saving a town that is regularly threatened with the Masked Emperor’s forces at the border. These people have been trapped with nowhere to run.”

One of the others handed Skylar a shield and sword, and she immediately sagged, nearly dropping both. Whoa. She had to carry both of these? This shit was way heavier than it looked on the screen.

But wait a minute… I’m Zariel, and Zariel is built. She felt into her body, leaning into the corded, lean muscle of Zariel’s figure, relieved when she was able to hold both the sword and shield steady on the second try.

Skylar fell into step with the others, ready to follow Anders on horseback as they made their way to the first mission. To her secret delight, there were a limited number of horses, which meant Anders ended up pulling her onto the horse with him again.

I can’t believe I’m getting this lucky again! To be so close to him…wow.

As they started to head out, he turned back to her. “Are you ready for what’s ahead?”

She wrapped her arms securely around his waist. “I have no fear,” she recited.

He smiled slightly and flicked the reins, letting the horse take off toward the town.

The ride was almost too short, because it wasn’t long before they were galloping into the town—which was already under siege.

“Concentrate on pushing them back!” Anders shouted. “We must force them to retreat!”

Knowing what she had to do, Skylar leapt from the horse, ignoring the slight jolt to her ankles as she landed with a grunt. Okay, maybe not all of Zariel’s strength and skill is in me yet. But as a kid who was constantly bullied in school, she knew how to duck and weave to save her own skin.

She looked over at Anders, who, of course, was in the midst of heroically and skillfully fighting off three men at once. He looked just as good as in the game—no, better.

She was so caught up in staring at him that she missed the soldier coming up behind her until he’d shoved her to the ground. It hurt, but not as bad as she would’ve thought.

Using the strength of her hips, she shoved him off of her, lashing out with the sword. It missed him, of course, but at least it got him away from her. When he moved toward her again, she pushed out with the shield, somehow managing to knock it against him and catch him off balance enough for her to sweep her sword in a jagged line across his front.

She had to consciously remind herself that she was Zariel, and Zariel could fight well—but damn, she couldn’t believe how strong some of these guys were up close.

Knowing Zariel was supposed to fight side by side with Anders, she rushed toward the three-on-one fight. Using surprise to her advantage, she swung her sword and beheaded one of the men from behind—score!

Ugh, that looks terrifyingly real.

That action got the attention of the second soldier, who turned around to fight her. She tapped into the part of her brain that remembered how to dodge and weave expertly through chaos, running on pure adrenaline. It’s fine since I only have to do this for a bit anyway—what comes next should happen soon.

Even though Zariel could fight, her big moment wasn’t being a swordswoman or expert with weapons. It was what she knew was coming—and soon, if Skylar had to guess.

Anders and the army were in the process of defeating the enemy soldiers when it came to her—the “vision,” a brief glimpse in her mind of an oncoming threat.

“Anders! We need to get everyone to shelter. A ballista is coming!”

Anders met her eye across the sea of battle and nodded. “Find shelter!”

Working with the others, Skylar helped to herd the townspeople to safety in a nearby ditch. The explosion would happen very soon, and it was the best place for them—at least according to her knowledge of the game. And if fighting gave her a bit of an adrenaline rush, saving people definitely did.

She was feeling incredible, totally living in the moment. It was easy to forget then that this was all a game. It could’ve been real, because all of it was so heart-pounding and exciting and dangerous and just…wow.

Ducking into the ditch with the others, she waited. The ballista hit less than a minute later, just as her vision had predicted. But everything was fine. No one would be caught in the crossfire.

The crowd cheered. “Anders! Anders! The golden hero! The true prince!”

Skylar felt drunk on the moment. This was a huge victory in the game, and living it was just as good as she ever could have imagined—better, actually.

“I’m not the true hero here,” Anders told the townspeople. “The true hero of today is Zariel!” He turned toward her, and another cheer went up.

“Zariel! The hero of the day!”

Penny hugged her. “Great job, my friend!”

The other members of the gang, their army, the townspeople, all of them were coming up, shaking her hand, smiling and thanking her, calling her a hero. A hero…her.

She couldn’t stop herself from relishing the moment. What a rush it was to be a hero for once, to be appreciated like this.

She turned to Anders, knowing what came next and greatly looking forward to it.

He approached her, smiling, and then he was hugging her. “For saving me and everyone else,” he said, his breath warm near her ear.

She sank against him, completely caught up in the moment. This…this was all she had ever wanted. I could definitely get used to this…

Over Anders’s shoulder, her eyes caught on something in the distance—a lone man standing on a hill watching them. And she realized with a jolt of excitement that it was the main villain of the game—the Masked Emperor.