Page 121 of Kingmakers, Year One

Professor Howell has already explained the rules of the second challenge.

Each team has a bomb. Not a real bomb—it’s a metal sphere tripped by a pull-tab and loaded with paint.

Likewise, our rifles are only paintball guns. But not the usual type of pellets—these paintballs are the size of a chicken’s egg and they fucking hurt. They’re closer to the rubber bullets shot at rioters. A direct shot could easily fracture a rib, and will certainly raise a bruise bigger than your fist.

Unlike in the first challenge, being shot doesn’t mean you’re out. You can keep going if you’re able. But a paintball to the wrong spot—to the balls, for instance—will knock you out of commission pretty quick.

I’d fire one right in Leo’s eye if we weren’t wearing safety glasses. They’re not much use in the rain—I can barely see out of mine, and they’re not even fogged up from running yet.

The goal is simple: get your bomb to one of the opposite corners and detonate it. First two teams to succeed are the winners.

Leo is muttering orders to our team, laying out his strategy. It sounds like he intends to make a spearhead to take the bomb across to the Junior’s corner.

“Why the Junior’s corner?” Hedeon says. “Shouldn’t we wait to see which side is easier?”

“Thatwillbe the easier target,” Leo says with supreme confidence.

Hedeon nods, going along with the obvious assumption that the Seniors will be harder to get past.

I’m not so sure he’s right. Pippa Portnoy is aggressive as hell. Speed and intimidation are her favorite weapons. I think there’s a good chance she’ll try to rush us again, like she did in Capture the Flag.

“Once we get through, our little battalion will split,” Leo explains. “I need the fastest runners to stay with me—Erik, Kenzo, and Thomas, you stay right up front. Hedeon and Silas, you flank us and run their defenders over if you have to. I want the best long-distance shooters to stay behind us—Chay, that’syou for sure. Why don’t you take Anna, Ares, and Zoe along, I know you all work well together.”

Anna gives Leo a quick nod but doesn’t say anything. Her pale skin looks almost translucent in the rain and the botanical tattoo on her forearm stands out like a brand. She’s stubbornly refusing to meet my eyes, though I know damn well she can feel me watching her.

“We got you covered,” Ares says to Leo. He’s got his arms wrapped around himself because, despite the rain, he’s only wearing a thin white t-shirt, no pullover. Probably ‘cause he can’t afford half the things he was supposed to bring to school.

He may be from one of the founding families, but nowadays the Cirillos are a disgrace. It pisses me off that his name still carries clout when he’s a fucking pauper, while I had to trade two years of my life to even get into this school.

“Dean, Bram, Valon,” Leo says, fixing me with a direct stare. “Keep your people here as defense, picking off attackers. Jules and the rest of the Paris kids will act as snipers on the edges. Remember to stay inside the lines.”

He thinks if he leaves the Paris Bratva with us, it’ll ensure we don’t let the attackers through too easily. Mafia honor dictates that you obey the orders of your boss, regardless of your opinions or feelings on the matter. Even if you didn’t pick this particular boss. Even if you hate his fucking guts.

I’d like to fire my full clip into Leo’s back the second he turns around.

But it is true that I can’t let anyone see me sabotaging the team. For one thing, most of the Freshmen genuinely want to win. Even the Bratva and Penose, who have no love for Leo.

The other issue is that the Yenin name isn’t exactly shining with honor right now.

My grandfather was KGB before he turned Bratva. And what Leo said on the ship had a kernel of truth to it—my grandfatherdid breach his blood oath with the Gallos. It’s a grave offense. One that would have ensured that he was shunned by the other mafia families until his dying day, had that day not come so swiftly after.

The part Leo wants to forget is that his family fucking deserved it. They lied, murdered, and stole from us for years. They transgressed every rule of our people, including when Sebastian Gallo defiled my grandfather’s one and only daughter. So they had it coming.

But it’s still a black mark on my name. I want to rebuild my reputation at Kingmakers. Not show myself as a traitor all over again.

That doesn’t mean I’m going to help Leo win, though.

I’ll do the bare minimum I can get away with.

And if I get the chance to stab him in the back secretly, without anyone knowing, I’ll take it.

Leo’s still staring at Bram and me, waiting for a response.

Bram grunts his reluctant consent.

I just give a half-smile that could mean anything. Leo narrows his eyes at me and turns away, the bomb cradled under his arm like a football.

All three teams crouch in our respective corners, our soaked sneakers making a squelching sound.

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