Page 8 of Hell Storm

That was a side-effect I hadn’t anticipated, and my next thought was to wonder if he felt it too.

Stop being such a girl, Cori.

I dropped back against my bed and stared at the ceiling, acknowledging a truth I was nowherenearready to admit. However, my acceptance of it didn’t seem to matter.

If what I felt already after only having participated in the Claiming mere minutes ago continued to grow andstrengthen… keeping a clear perspective of the bigger picture might not be as simple as I thought.

What I felt for Julian was already beginning to eclipse my resolve. So, what hope would I have for holding on to it once I eventually bonded with the other three?

CHAPTER THREE

Silas

There wasn’t a single news outlet that wasn’t obsessed with our story. And it would suffice to say that the suddenly infamous reporter who threw gas on smoldering cinders, Jon Carlisle, was loving every second of the media circus.

As if my thoughts summoned him, his face popped onto the screen. It appeared most were more interested in whathehad to say about the matter, than hearing it straight from any ofourmouths. It shouldn’t have surprised me, though. After all, we’d spun more lies this week than I think I had in my entire life.

“Mr. Carlisle, what fueled your thirst for justice when you attended yesterday’s press conference? You were absolutely fearless in the face of our nation’s most revered Ianites. I think the rest of the world is just as eager to hear your response as I am,”the newscaster asked.

Carlisle donned a stoic gaze before replying. “It had nothing to do with fearlessness,” he began. “I’m simply a proud citizen of the Lydian Dynasty who demands the certitude and uprightness of the four reigning monarchs. That is neither an ambitious pursuit, nor is it unreasonable. It is our right as a people.”

“Oh, give it a rest already,” Levi scoffed, propping his feet on the dining room table. “We all know he’s doing this to get laid.”

Julian laughed from his seat across the table, but Roman had been quiet and stone-faced all morning.

“Or perhaps others aren’tas motivated by sex as you are,” I suggested. After speaking, I reached for the remote to turn up the volume a bit.

“Pity. They’d be far less temperamental if they were,” Levi muttered into a glass of wine. I shook my head as he finished off the last of it.

Apparently, it was never too early for that in his opinion.

“So, enlighten us please, Mr. Carlisle,” the newscaster went on to add. “What, in your opinion, is going on here?”

The camera switched to him again and we sat waiting in silence.

“Well, Natalie, I think what’s going on here speaks to this new generation’s dangerous infatuation with humanity. I believe the princes simply got too close to a girl who can only be described as toxic, and they’ve now had to go to extremes to save their own skin.”

When Jon finished explaining, you could have heard a pin drop in Julian’s dining room. Even the servers who’d been working diligently to fill the table with an elaborate spread had stopped to listen.

“If I’m hearing you correctly,”Natalie continued,“you don’t believe in this blood bond they spoke of?”

Jon shook his head fervently before Natalie had even spoken the full statement.“Not for one bit,”he concluded.“It’s all smoke and mirrors for whatever’s really going on. Mark my words—the truth will be brought to light soon enough. Even if I’m the one who has to expose it.”

Natalie’s eyes stretched wide with Jon’s claim, and she turned to the camera to close out the interview.

“There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. If thereisa hidden truth to be revealed, we can count on Jon Carlisle to uncover it.”

The air became thick in the room. Thick enough to choke on it.

“Turn it off.”

Roman’s deep voice grumbled, bringing my attention to my left, where he was seated. A dark gaze was set on the screen, and when no one acted quickly enough, his tone turned thunderous.

“Turn it off!”

A frightened server rushed to the wall-mounted television and did what was commanded of her. The three of us stared as Roman’s gaze stayed trained on the dark screen.

“This fool mocks us, undermines the great and powerful Dynasty our fathers have fought to build and protect, and no one does a thing to stop him,” he seethed. “But whyshouldhe be stopped? Especially seeing as how everything he speaks is the truth.”

---