Chapter 1

The number of messages on her phone made her want to throw the stupid device at the mirror. How could one phone handle so many incoming texts? Not just texts, but phone calls and voicemails and Musetunes updates? The smartphone should have exploded by now, right?

No wonder Ethan suggested she get a private phone separate from her regular one. There would be no way to tell what incoming information needed to be seen and what didn't.

She held it tightly in her palm, seriously considering running out back and chucking it into the palace pool so she could watch with satisfaction as the salt water destroyed the inner workings of the damn thing.

Just as the idea flew through her head, it buzzed against her skin. With a barely suppressed yell of frustration she yanked open her makeup drawer and shoved it in the back. Her anger didn't fade, even as she slammed the drawer shut.

Of the fifteen different sets of chambers in the royal palace of the Sarias kingdom, none of them had the appeal as the one she shared with the prince, Ethan. She'd moved in only four months ago. However, at this point she couldn't imagine being anywhere else. The set of rooms designed for the prince had originally been much different when she first arrived. But then Ms. Barbara, the palace head housekeeper, happened.

Ms. Barbara, upon learning Chloe would be staying with the prince, demanded she be able to redo the entire chamber. Ethan didn't give up much of a fight because he wanted Chloe comfortable and happy and if that's what would do it, then he was all for it. And Chloe, at the time intimidated by Ms. Barbara, didn't say anything. She'd been keeping the palace clean, organized, and decorated for the better part of 30 years. Chloe wasn't about to step on her toes.

The changes Ms. Barbara made weren't bad though. Actually, she quite liked the new bathroom and bedroom. She couldn't say much about the little sitting room they had. She never had time to sit in it anyway.

The bathroom had a warm, homey feel to it. The walls were a nice shade caught between a light orange and a yellow that brought out the heat from the swirling crystal chandeliers. Dark beige marble covered the floor and crawled up the shower walls in the back corner by the Jacuzzi tub. An electric fire place rested in the wall opposite the jacuzzi tub. She quite enjoyed that small fire place. It kept her bare feet warm.

The round copper bowls made to use as sinks stood against the wall. A set of mahogany cabinets topped by black granite held them up. The area could only be complete by a double set of mirrors. The mirrors themselves were specially made to incorporate both hers and Ethan's Acemarks in the frame.

The matching green spiraling Acemark on her wrist stood out in the mirror. At the moment it looked dark and nothing more than a tattoo. Yet it held so much more. The connection between Ethan and Chloe existed because of the mark.

Every Ace in Sarias had one of these marks, each unique to every individual. The mark served like a birthmark. Families often had a common theme running through their marks—for Chloe's family that would be the star. Her star sat in the middle of her forearm and had swirling designs curving on her skin that appeared to come out of the star.

Not everyone in Sarias believed in the idea of mates. A lot did though, and in Sarias a mate could only be found by singing. It was believed that when a child is born, they are born with an essence or spirit, something that makes them who they are and gives them their own individualistic qualities. This spirit recognizes who their other half is, their mate, by hearing their voice. Occasionally, when the connection is strong enough the individual's Acemark even glows when their other half sang. Chloe's did.

It was her Acemark that changed her life. Almost a year ago, Chloe began posting to a website called Musetunes, a website where young adults could post their voice and see how far they rose to the top of the charts. She'd only really started because of her passion for music. She wanted to be heard. And boy, was she heard.

Her numbers kept climbing and climbing. Her music began to hit the radio. And no one had even known what she looked like. She never put a picture up.

Of course, now there was a picture, but that was only because she'd finally decided to go public. Before, she wouldn't have dared. Her father would've killed her.

Only four months ago she found out that her father wasn't really her father. In reality, Frank Leighton had been jealous of her real father's position and her connection with the prince. He had taken it upon himself to take her from her real family and raised her in a new life dripping with lies.

Brown eyes stuck out behind auburn bangs in the mirror. She brushed her bangs to the side, watching as the mirror copied every movement.

A knock came at the door. "Lizzie?"

Since she came home, her family had slowly begun to call her by her real name Elizabeth. It took a lot of getting used to, but the name Chloe still felt better to her. She was just so used to being called that. However, having Jackson call her Lizzie always made her heart warm a little.

"Yeah?" She called out through the door.

"Eli and Ian's ride fell through and I have a little bit of time on my hands. Would you like to come with me to pick them up?"

Outside? How fun. In the last week she couldn't even remember the last time she got to go anywhere. Ethan was so busy all the time, she usually found herself wandering the palace.

"Give me two minutes."

☆

The academy Ian and Eli studied at put her old Academy, Rayne Academy, to shame. For one, their uniforms were hip and did not look like they'd been attached to the back of a car and dragged through old paint like Rayne's.

At this academy, Jostlin Academy, the girls got to wear a simple pleated navy skirt and collared polo while the boys enjoyed their stay in a simple set of black jeans, white under shirt, and suit waistcoat (which Chloe thought was a dumb word for vest).

After her own big blow up, Jackson and Ethan decided it would be best to pull her from Rayne Academy, her previous school, to be tutored. She'd been all for that. The idea of facing all the people she knew at her old academy made her want to cringe. Especially now everyone knew who she was. At one point she'd discussed with Jackson her college plans, but until they could find a suitable place, she'd had to put her college plans on hold. Not that she even needed college at this point. Her mate would give her a privileged life and help her in the financial department. She was one of those fortunate souls who wouldn't have to keep a job to relieve financial stress. Yet, the chance to experience college was something she definitely wanted to do.

Due to the moderate temperature outside and the powerful rays of sun lighting up the sky, a lot of kids hung around in the courtyard next to the main doors of the academic building. Cars came and went as kids got picked up—a decent amount of them being shiny black limos that screamed "I'm important and have money!"—while other kids hung around with their friends and soaked up the rays.

Chloe peered through the dark windshield in the backseat. "Should we park somewhere and go on a hunt for them?"

Jackson pulled his sleek silver sedan through the black iron gates and through the rows of the parking lot. "We're not making any scenes today."

Since when did she ever make a scene? "Come on, Jack, it'll only be for like two seconds. I can see Ian's bright blonde mop already."

"I don't think—"

"Please? I just want to meet their friends." She'd been spending almost all her time lately strolling the palace or trying to get the dish on her family's lives. After missing so many years of birthdays and friends and engagement parties it was the least she could do. And what kind of sister didn't torment her little siblings? Creator knows her former stepsister Danika did, and they weren't even technically related.

She poked the shoulder of Dan, the beefy stone-faced body guard in the passenger seat. "Tell him Dan."

"I'm not getting into this." Dan replied in his usual monotone voice. Did the guy ever get pumped about anything?

"Jack, we'll be fine. Dan is here. He'll scare the pubescent teens away. Won't you Dan?"

Dan grunted in reply. She took that as a yes. "See?"

Jackson gazed back at Chloe through the rearview mirror. "Lizzie, if anything happens to you..."

"It won't. Besides, you can't keep me locked away in some tower the rest of my life. I'm not Rapunzel."

Jackson stared hard at her. Then he sighed. "Fine." He said, "But if people start to freak, I'm getting us all out of here."

"Yes!" Chloe fist pumped the air. "If it makes you feel any better, I can wear your sunglasses with this baseball cap laying around back here."

"Good idea."

"Yup. Except, who the hell is a Knight fan anymore?"

He pulled the car around to an open spot next to the front door and as close to the court yard as possible. Probably for an easy getaway. "Lizzie, just put it on your head."

"Aye, aye Cap'n."

Stepping out into the early afternoon sun was like throwing on a warm sweater after sitting in the cold all day. The heat coated the outside of her skin. It would take a while until it warmed her insides. She had tucked her hair carefully in a bun and into the cap. Jackson's aviator glasses felt light on her face and made her feel just a tiny bit cooler.

Students hung around the courtyard talking and laughing. A couple groups sat under trees and some sat in the grass cross legged to discuss the day's happenings. Metal round picnic tables had been set sporadically around the area and it was one of these tables that she spotted Ian goofing off with a group of friends.

Lucky for her, Ian's back was to them. With Jackson and Dan on each side, it was hard to look normal and unsuspicious but she knew that with their training at least they'd stay quiet. She crept up behind him, meeting the eyes of the girl sitting across from him through Jackson's glasses. She held a finger to her lips, hoping the girl would keep quiet.

"—and Professor Hannigan wouldn't even take my notes from the lecture." Ian said to his friends.

Chloe stepped up right behind him. She jerked her hands forward and gripped Ian's shoulders hard but suddenly, making him jump. "Whatareyahdoin'?" She laughed into his ear.

Ian turned around, his look of shock melting into one of ease. "Hey." He eyed up Jackson and Dan. "You suck them into one of your shenanigans?"

Chloe mock scoffed. "It's not a shenanigan. It's Operation: Obtain the Little Brothers."

"I think you need a better title."

She gazed around carefully at each of his friends as she replied. "It could have been Operation: Save the Wimps from Educational Damnation, but..." She dropped the sentence. "Who are your friends?"

Ian glanced at his friends like he'd forgotten they were there. "Oh. Hey guys, this is my sister. Liz, this is Cam, Ziggy, Sarah, and lastly, Havana." He pointed each in turn. Cam took up most of the table with his brawny shoulders and floppy blonde hair. Ziggy was a small kid with curly black hair holding a video camera whizzing about at everything around him as it happened. Sarah seemed like more of a punkish girl with streaks of bleach blonde and pink going through her dark brown hair. Havana seemed like a sweet little girl sitting daintily at the table. Chloe took definite note of how Ian put a different tone to Havana's name.

"Hey everyone. Nice to meet you." She gave each one of them a firm handshake and looked at Ian questioningly who gave her a confirming nod. Happy, she took the cap off and pushed the glasses to the top of her head. "It's so cool that Ian has friends like you guys."

Unfortunately, Chloe didn't realize none of them knew who she was. Repetitive looks of shock and awe appeared on their faces. "What?" She asked, patting her face as if she had something on her cheek.

"You—you're—" Ziggy pointed a shaking finger at her. "You're you."

"I'm sorry?"

"Anonymous." Cam breathed.

It still freaked her out when people realized who she was. After all, when starting the process of Musetunes she never put up a profile pic next to her name. In turn, she was always able to go out whenever she wanted and do the things she wished with a certain anonymity that each individual has. When meeting new people, every other regular human being didn't get excited or shocked or awed reactions.

"I thought you told them." She lightly scolded Ian.

Ian only shook his head. "Jack encourages us to keep our personal life as secret as possible. Right Jack?"

Jackson only grunted.

"Well then, it's cool that Ian trusts you guys enough with secrets." She tapped on Ian's shoulder to get him to scoot over and then sat on the bit of extra space he gave her.

Despite her rugged image, Sarah's face brightened as she leaned forward. "I can't believe this. I've followed you ever since you put your first cover on Musetunes. You're amazing." She breathed.

Chloe laughed awkwardly. "Thanks, I guess. That's really nice of you."

Ian saved her from more flow of compliments by switching the subject. "Eli is over by the popular table near the back corner of the courtyard."

"Really?" She twisted to look behind her. Indeed, Eli sat in the far corner surrounded by numerous other teenagers. "That's surprising."

"Eli's really good with the ladies." Ian muttered. "It pisses me off."

Chloe nudged her shoulder into Ian's. "Want me to go embarrass him?"

Across the table, Ziggy pushed his handheld camera closer to her. "Are you kidding? You couldn't embarrass anyone. Dude, Ian, your sister's Anonymous."

Ian only snorted at Ziggy.

So much energy flew through the kid that he practically vibrated with it. "Can I get a shot with you? It'd be great for my short film."

A pencil flew at Ziggy, who barely dodged it. "Hey!"

"Leave her alone." The words came from little Havana at the end of the table. Chloe was grateful. She seemed to be the sanest of the group, and kept a normal disposition. "The girl goes to the bathroom and sleeps just like the rest of us. Ian's trusting us right now and you're ruining it."

Ziggy frowned at Havana. "It's just a little question."

"You're acting stupid, Ziggy."

The cameraman sighed heavily and dropped his camera arm. "Sorry."

Chloe shrugged. "It's okay." She threw her arm around Ian's shoulders. "You guys should come over sometime. I'm sure Ethan would love to meet you all."

At the other side of the table, Sarah's eyes widened. "The Prince? You call the prince Ethan?"

"...yes?" What else was she supposed to call her mate?

Jackson tapped on her shoulder. "We need to get going."

Chloe jumped up. "Sounds good." She smiled at Ian's friends. "It was really nice to meet you guys. Come hang out sometime."

From a distance erupted a loud girlish shriek. "Oh my Creator! Anonymous!"

"Time to go!" Chloe latched onto Jackson's arm. "Ian go grab Eli. We'll meet you at the car." She waved over her shoulder at Ian's friends then jogged with Jackson and Dan back to the vehicle.