Page 124 of Kingmakers, Year Four

Slowly, I start to apply pressure to her neck, holding her still while she rages and struggles against me.

She’s clawing at my arm, kicking with her legs, squirming in my grip, trying to scream against my palm.

She’s strong.

But I’m so much stronger.

I bear down on her throat, cutting off her air so I can subdue her without injuring her any more than necessary.

I murmur in her ear. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to hurt you . . . but you have to come with me.”

I start to drag her over to the door.

Only to be intercepted by Sabrina Gallo.

Sabrina steps in front of me, arms folded over her chest, gray eyes fixed on Nix, who’s still bucking and kicking—though weaker now—trying to wrench out of my grip.

“I don’t think she likes that,” Sabrina says, coldly.

“Oh, fuck,” I mutter. And then I call out, louder, “Leo!”

The door cracks open. Leo pokes his head out. “Need some help?” And then, his eyes fixing on Sabrina, “Oh, shit.”

“Oh shit is right,” Sabrina says, eyes narrowing at the sight of her cousin. “What the fuck are you two doing?”

I’m still dragging Nix toward the stairs, not wanting to be interrupted by any more unwanted guests.

Sabrina looks between me and her cousin. She’s trying to calculate exactly what the fuck is going on, but she’s coming up empty. Uncertain, she darts after us before the door can close in her face.

I enter the dark stone staircase, Nix finally going limp in my arms from the extended headlock. I loosen my grip enough for her to breathe, but not enough for her to squirm free.

Kade, Dean, Hedeon, Leo, and Anna all wait in the gloom. A pile of scuba suits and a dozen tanks lean up against the wall—Leo faithfully bringing everything I asked. And something I wasn’t expecting.

“What’s Anna doing here?” I demand.

He shrugs guiltily. “I tell her everything.”

“You should have told me yourself,” Anna says to me, with a stern look. “I thought we were friends.”

“We are friends,” I say. “Or at least, I hope we still are.”

“Why’d you bring Sabrina?” Kade asks me.

“No one brought me,” Sabrina says, eyes darting from person to person as she tries to make sense of the madness. “I saw Anna leaving our dorm dressed like a fucking cat burglar, and I was curious. I thought you guys were doing something fun without me.”

“We are,” Leo says, bluntly. “So go back to your dorm.”

“I’m not going anywhere! And I’m especially not leaving Nix,” Sabrina says, with a furious look at her half-choked roommate.

“Sabrina’s too young to come with us,” Leo says to me. “Plus her dad will murder us.”

“I don’t fucking want her,” I say.

The minutes are slipping away. We’re on a tight schedule—I don’t have time to deal with Sabrina Gallo, or any other interruptions.

With no clear understanding, but an intense desire not to be left out of anything exciting, Sabrina declares, “I AM coming with you, and if you try to stop me, I’ll wake the whole goddamned school up.”

I round on her, still supporting the limp and dazed weight of Nix.

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