Page 14 of Hell Storm

Confusion washed over me.

“Oh, right! You haven’t heard yet.” Levi’s smile grew with the statement.

“Heard what?” I peered up at Julian after asking. I hopedhemight fill me in, since the obnoxious one hadn’t explained. That is, until he surprised me again.

“I’ve volunteered, Love,” Levi crooned. “I thought it’d be fun for you and I to get … better acquainted. Shall I pencil you in for tomorrow morning?”

Hearing this news stirred a strange feeling in my gut, one I couldn’t easily nail down. It was like a mixture of apprehension, curiosity, and dare I admit …excitement.

“Oh, goody! Can’t wait,” was the sarcastic response I offered as my voice trailed off. The tone was not lost on Levi.

“Joke all you want,” he smirked. “But mark my words—give it a week, and I’ll have you eating from the palm of my hand.”

When I drew in a breath, he stood again and walked closer. So close, we were suddenly sharing one another’s air. Unable to stop myself, I gazed up the length of his tall frame and couldn’t move.

A cool finger pressed beneath my chin, and the devilish smile he donned made my entire body quiver. Beneath his stare I felt …naked.

I would have bet my right arm that was his intention.

“Be ready, Love, because I’m not Julian,” he leaned in to whisper. “If I decide to pay you a midnight visit, I’ve never been the kind of guy to change my mind.”

Shaken, I forced my stare to meet his. “And what will you do when I turn you away?”

There was so much confidence in the smile he offered when I asked. Almost as if he’d been hoping I wouldn’t give in so easily.

“If hearing me beg would bring you pleasure, your wish is my command,” he teased, wetting his lips. “However, I have a hunch that when the day comes, waiting and playing childish games with the others’ feelings will be the last thing on either of our minds.”

CHAPTER FIVE

Corina

Levi’s words stuck with me and I hated it, hated how they repeated in my thoughts. He was utterly impossible to deal with.

And maybe a little hard to ignore too.

I’d never met anyone like him—someone so outspoken and sure of himself. Someone who seemed to care so little about what was, and wasn’t, socially acceptable. He was just perfectly at ease being Levi.

I thought this walk around the grounds would clear my head, but it hadn’t yet. Elle suggested it to Julian when she saw me storm out of the dining room, likely thinking it had something to do with the argument with Roman. However, if I’m being honest, it was actually Levi who had me flustered—and not because he made me angry.

He had adifferenteffect on me.

One I had a hard enough time admitting to myself, let alone others.

My face warmed again when I heard his declaration so clear it was as if it had been spoken right into my ear. Even now, I felt his breath against it and a chill shimmied down my spine.

It was inconceivable to imagine being withanyof them in the way he suggested. Only, now Ihadimagined it. Couldn’tstopimagining it, actually.

“It’s quite lovely out, isn’t it?” Elle piped.

I peered up with a shrug. Autumn was settling in, so there was a bit of a chill to the air. Not to mention, the endless cloud cover Ianites perfected centuries ago—to protect their sensitive skin from sunlight—it completely blocked it. I’d never had the privilege of seeing more of our star than a glowing outline.

Mother used to speak of uninhabited islands she encountered in her travels, back when there were more scouting missions thanrescuemissions. There were a few locations where Ianites hadn’t wasted their resources to shield the atmosphere. It was no small feat to produce and emit the chemical concoction that canopied the Capitol and other densely populated areas.

On those islands, she said the sky was as blue as my father’s eyes, and the warmth of the sun left her skin a beautiful shade of bronze. I glanced down at my arms, imagining it. To answer Elle’s question, compared to those places my mother spoke of, itwasn’tsuch a lovely day.

“It’s fine,” was all I said. She didn’t seem to mind the short answer.

A gentle breeze rustled tree branches as we passed beneath them. I couldn’t believe Julian had agreed to this, letting me outside the palace, even with a chaperone. The grounds were so vast, spanning several dozen acres. We neared a beautiful garden being tended by the groundskeepers. As we passed, their gazes fell upon Elle and I. It was likely they first heard about me from other staff members gossiping, and later heard more once the story about Julian and I went national.

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