Page 124 of Kingmakers, Year Two

The daybefore theQuartum Bellum,I leave my final note. I place it right on Rocco’s pillow where he can’t possibly miss it. I tell him the time and place to meet me, and I instruct that he brings $5000 to ensure my silence.

Of course, I don’t expect him to bring any money.

The money is a distraction.

I can’t tell if my plan is reasonably clever or extraordinarily foolish. I’ve been moving through the motions in a kind of daze, doing what I feel must be done, while not actually believing I can go through with it.

I’m not a killer. I never was.

And yet, I have to kill him.

I haven’t told Zoe what I plan. She can’t know, and neither can Miles. It’s the only way to keep them safe. If something goes wrong . . . well, I can’t think about that. My sister was willing to sacrifice her life for mine. She was going to marry Rocco to keep me safe. I have to risk the same for her.

As I hurry down the stairs of the Octagon Tower, I forget to listen for footsteps coming up. It’s a small mistake, but one that proves disastrous when I run directly into Dean Yenin.

He seizes me by the throat, slamming me up against the curved stone wall.

Instantly, I’m back in the bathroom of the Keep, where Dean confronted me with a rageful, tear-streaked face.

He must remember the same thing, because his hand tightens around my throat until I let out a strangled scream and claw at his fingers.

“What are you doing in here?” He snarls, his breath hot on my face.

“Nothing!” I squeak, trying to pull his hand off my neck. I might as well try to bend steel. His fingers only dig in further, until my head is swimming and my legs disappear beneath me.

“Why are you here? Are you looking for me?”

I have done nothing but the exact opposite since that day in the bathroom. I’ve avoided Dean Yenin like he’s Medusa and his very gaze upon me would turn me to stone.

“No!” I gasp, my head starting to loll as the world goes black around me.

Dean loosens his grip enough that I can breathe, but he still keeps me pinned against the wall with his cable-like arms on either side of me.

“Why are you here, then? Don’t fucking lie to me.”

“I was just looking for Miles!” I lie at once, with all the appearance of being too terrified to do so. “I had a message from Zoe.”

“A message?” Dean sneers. “Are you their errand-mouse?”

He lets go of my neck. I massage my throat, trying to swallow.

“She’s my sister,” I say. “They’re dating, you know.”

“Of courseI know,” Dean says, rolling his eyes at my idiocy. “The whole school knows about your slut sister.”

“Don’t call her that!” I snap. My indignation is undermined by the fact that my voice comes out a raspy little squeak. Still, Dean rounds on me with fresh fury, startling me so badly that I stumble backward and fall on my ass on the steps.

“What the fuck are you gonna do about it?” He hisses, fists clenched at his sides.

Down at ground level, I see my opening—I dart under his arm and sprint off down the stairs. Dean doesn’t bother to try to catch me.

My heart really is racing like a little mouse as I keep running all the way from the Octagon Tower to the Undercroft. It was a narrow escape—and I’m damn lucky that was Dean instead of Rocco.

The morningof theQuartum Bellum,I’m too nervous to eat. I have to go to breakfast, however, as it forms a crucial part of the plan.

I sit at Zoe’s table, along with Miles, Leo and Anna, Ares, Chay, and Hedeon. Chay is looking more cheerful than I’ve seen her in weeks, and she’s started wearing makeup again. Hedeon, by contrast, is as glum as ever. He picks morosely at his food, only looking up to glare across the dining hall at his brother, who’s shoveling down a half-dozen eggs and twice as much bacon.

“Eat up,” Leo urges the Sophomores. “I need you all in top shape for the challenge.”

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