Page 159 of Kingmakers, Year One

It’s hard to tell what Dean is thinking. His shoulders are hunched and his eyes narrowed almost to slits. His face looks pale and tight.

“I know what you did,” I say, quietly. “I have proof. I’ve got the regulator you cut.”

“You have a broken regulator?” Dean says, coolly. “What does that prove, exactly?”

“Stay away from us,” I hiss at him. “If I decide to kill someone . . . I’ll actually succeed.”

Dean just laughs.

“It’s you who will come find me again, Anna. Once you realize what a mistake you made.”

“I’d rather swim back to Dubrovnik.”

“Maybe you’ll get your chance,” Dean says, softly. “Watch your step on that ship . . .”

I turn and stalk away from him, feeling irritated and unsatisfied. He’s right—the regulator is flimsy evidence. It’s mine and Leo’s word against his. And I’m sure he’s got some asshole friend who would provide him with a fake alibi.

I head into the dining hall so I can grab a quick lunch before it’s time to board the ship. The meal is simpler than usual—bacon sandwiches, fresh fruit, and unpasteurized milk. No other options. That suits me fine—the bacon cured on the island is the most delicious I’ve ever tasted.

I take two sandwiches and sit down with Matteo and Paulie to eat. Hedeon plops down next to us a moment later, his plate piled high with food. He’s not a big fan of Matteo or Paulie, but apparently he likes us better than eating alone.

“Excited to get back?” he says to me, mouth full of an enormous bite of sandwich. He ignores Matteo and Paulie.

“Yes,” I say.

I’m not really thinking about heading home—I’m remembering the night I visited Leo in the infirmary. When I saw Hedeon sneaking down to the Undercroft.

“Did you ever meet up with that girl after the second challenge?” I ask, casually. “The Accountant?”

“Yeah, I did,” Hedeon replies, smoothly. “She was quite the wildcat, too. Don’t be fooled by those shy little Accountants—they like the kinkiest shit.”

It’s so odd watching him lie. If I didn’t know what I’d seen, I’d be completely fooled. His expression is as calm and confident as ever, he answers without hesitation.

I press just a little further. “I thought I saw you later that night, going down in the Undercroft.”

Now I spot it—an infinitesimal twitch at the corner of his right eye. But his smile only widens.

“Must be some other tall, dark, and handsome guy,” he says. “I’ve never been down there.”

“Ah,” I say, as if I believe him. “It was pretty dark.”

Hedeon changes the subject to our final grades, a topic on which Matteo and Paulie can’t resist chiming in.

The whole exchange is over in a matter of seconds.

I haven’t clarified what Hedeon was up to. But I have discovered something interesting . . .

He’s a practiced liar. And he’s hiding something.

As we climbup into the wagons, there’s an air of nervous excitement and also a strange kind of regret. Kingmakers was our home for almost a year. Isolated as we were on the island, it feels strange to leave.

Plenty of students are doing a last-minute exchange of numbers, which we have to scribble down on paper since we don’t have our cell phones back yet.

We ride down to the harbor where the ship waits, much larger than any of the fishing boats moored next to it.

“I forgot how big it was,” Leo says. He’s sitting next to me on the bench seat, his arm loosely draped behind me to protect my back from the jolting of the wagon.

Ares sits across from us, looking up at the ship with a strange expression. I thought he’d be excited to see his family again. Instead he looks almost as if he’s dreading it.

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