Page 76 of A Game of Love and Betrayal

The hand gripping the phone trembled, and a cold sweat broke out on Brynleigh’s forehead. This was why she had risked breaking the rules to call Zanri. This was the reminder she needed. She’d expected the words, but the pain…

She hadn’t expected it to feel like a wooden stake piercing her heart.

“Focus, Brynleigh!” Zanri barked. “Rule number ten?”

Brynleigh closed her eyes and ran her tongue over her fangs. She took a deep breath and forced the words out of her dry mouth. “Once the game has begun, losing is not an option. The only alternative to winning is death.”

Her voice trembled. Brynleigh knew the rules. She had agreed to them, having never even considered the consequences of losing. Her victory had been assumed… until she met her mark.

But now?

Now, doubt was an ember in her belly. It was warm and glowing, growing brighter by the day.

“Again,” her handler demanded. “What is rule ten?”

Brynleigh briefly wondered why Jelisette and Zanri insisted on this course of action. Why were they pushing her so hard to kill Ryker?

But then Zanri barked her name, and she forgot those doubts. “Once the game has begun, losing is not an option,” she repeated. Her voice was harder this time, and the doubt was further away. “The only alternative to losing is death.”

Each word was crisp as it settled in her soul.

“Again,” Zanri ordered for the third time.

She complied. Ten times, she repeated the rule. Soon, her voice was bolder. Firmer. That ember of doubt flickered and dimmed until it was nearly extinguished altogether.

Zanri was right. Losing wasn’t an option. Ryker killed her family. He was responsible for their deaths. It didn’t matter that the man wasn’t what she expected. He was still a murderer.

Finishing the game was Brynleigh’s only option.

“One more time,” Zanri demanded coldly. The harshness in his voice was good. It reminded her of the realities she would face outside of the Choosing.

The box holding Brynleigh’s emotions was fortified. She drew in a deep breath. “Losing is not an option. The only alternative to winning is death.”

The ominous tenth rule rang through her head long after she’d hung up the phone and returned to her room.

Zanri was right, and rule ten was clear: Ryker Waterborn had to die.

CHAPTER 20

Retribution Would Be Hers

Ever since her phone call with Zanri two days ago, Brynleigh had replayed rule number ten through her mind until it was the only thing she heard. He was right. Losing was not an option.

Last night, under the cover of darkness, the participants of the Choosing had returned to Golden City. During the journey, Matron Lilith had explained that while they’d been in the north, the unrest in the Central Region had continued. As a result, the guard around the participants would be doubled. Other measures were being put in place, precautions to ensure everyone’s safety.

Even now, a soldier was stationed outside Brynleigh’s room. The vampire sat on her bed, brushing her hair and wondering what would happen if she dismissed him. It wasn’t that she didn’t appreciate his effort—she did. She’d be lying if she said the rebel activities weren’t worrisome.

It was just that Brynleigh was antsy. Between everything going on with Ryker and the soldiers’ presence, she couldn’t find peace. Her fangs ached, and despite having imbibed in multiple pints of blood since returning to Golden City, she was starving.

Something was missing from her life, and she couldn’t figure out what it was.

She wanted the guard to leave because she was itching for a fight. She would find Valentina, except getting kicked out of the Choosing hours before the Masked Ball seemed ridiculous. She’d done all the work to get here. Fighting that fiery bitch wasn’t in the cards, but if a rebel showed up, Brynleigh would gladly take them on.

Someone knocked on the door.

Brynleigh’s brow arched. What were the chances a rebel stood on the other side, serving themselves up on a silver platter? Slim, probably, but a vampire could hope.

Placing the hairbrush on the bed, she strode to the door and cracked it open. “Yes?”

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