Page 111 of Kingmakers, Year Four

“I’ll call in my favor with Miles Griffin,” I say. “The timing is perfect—Marko is due to see his accountant at the Four Seasons. Miles could meet him there.”

“Set it for tomorrow night. Take the Chancellor’s boat and meet me in Dubrovnik. Dom, Adrik, and Freya will pick us up with a plane. Don’t forget the scuba gear.”

“Do I tell Hugo I need to borrow his boat?”

My mother laughs. “Let it be a nice surprise for him.”

I leave the cluster of bare-branched trees in which I sequestered myself, walking in a daze across the chill, snowless ground. I almost plough into Nix, who’s striding with her usual aggressive speed, bright patches of color whipped into her cheeks from the wind.

“There you are!” she cries. “What are you doing way over here? It’s fucking freezing.”

“Artillery class,” I lie. “What about you?”

“Environmental Adaptation,” she says, abruptly adding, “Are you avoiding me?”

“No, of course not. I’m sorry, I’ve just had so much?—”

“Oh, save it,” she says. “Do you want to see me tonight or not?”

She tilts up her chin in her usual forthright way, demanding an honest answer of me. Her nose has a slight upward tilt to it, like a ski jump, which prevents her features from ever seeming truly severe.

I’d love to run my finger down that adorable curve.

But she’d probably bite my hand off.

“I want to see you,” I tell her. “Badly.”

I know it’s wrong, but I can’t help myself. I want one last night with Nix where she looks at me with those fierce green eyes, and kisses me with that relentless hunger, and blurts out one of her awfully penetrating comments that makes me feel like she pulled another private file out of my brain, rifled through, and read it back to me in question form.

I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow night.

All I know for certain is that things will never be the same between Nix and me.

She’ll know that I lied. That I used her. That I was her enemy all along.

After tomorrow, she’ll fucking despise me.

So tonight might well be our last night together. And I’m not missing it, not for anything, not even if it’s fucked up to do this to her.

Hedeon shouldn’t be a problem, he could hardly hold his spoon up at breakfast. I bet he’s asleep by 8:00.

“Meet me at the underground pool tonight,” I tell her.

I want one last look at myrusalkain her natural habitat.

All that afternoon and evening, I can hardly sit still.

“What’s up with you?” Leo rasps, still barely able to speak.

“Gonna see Nix tonight,” I mutter.

“That’s great, man. I’m really happy for you,” Leo says.

God I wish I deserved that congratulations.

I fucking hate what I’m about to do to Nix. I regret that I ever allowed things to go this far. But at the same time . . . how in the fuck can I regret anything at all? I’m crazy about her. I can’t wish we never met.

I have no choice in any of this.

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