Page 57 of House of Ydril

“For crying out loud,” she interrupts me, her face flushed, her arms lowered to her sides and her hands balled into fists. “If you’re going to say no, just fucking say it. I want no part of your lame power trip.”

My skin burning and my fangs fighting to be released, it takes all I have not to jump up andgrabher. Instead, I force my voice to remain flat as I say, “Alright. Thenno.”

She just stares at me for a second and then moves to walk away. Before I even realize it, I’m off the sofa, blocking her way out. “Why do you want to join?” I ask in a low voice.

“That’s none of your business,” she replies coldly.

“So it’s a whim.”

“No, it’s not,” she snaps at me. Now, that made her tick. I enjoy seeing her press her lips tight in an effort to control herself.

She hesitates for a second. “If you really need to know, I’m bad at using magic and I’d very much like to survive the Trials.”

“The truth,” I demand, being so close to her, especially with that flush on her face, becoming a bit too much for me to handle. “I want thewholetruth.”

“Forget it,” she snaps at me and turns to walk away.

I move to grab her arm and force her to come back, but at the last second, I flinch and take a step back. “Wait,” I hear myself say.

She stops, but she doesn’t turn around.

“I’ll tell them you can join,” I squeeze out, despite the fact that it’s the last thing I need, to have more ofherin my life.

She looks over her shoulder and I see suspicion in her eyes.

“But you need to promise to respect my authority as the leader of the group.”

I fully expect her to say no. It surprises me when she thinks for a second and then says, “Fair enough. I promise.”

Before I can do or say anything else, she turns on her heel and walks out of the room. Once she’s gone, I let out a breath and throw myself on the sofa. When I look down, I see that my hands are shaking. And all the blood in my body seems to be going straight to my dick. Perfect. That’s all I needed today.

I jump up and go straight to the bathroom. I’m going to take the coldest fucking shower ever and I’mnotgoing to let her inside my head again.

But they test my willpower, the images of her that keep assaulting me as water runs down my naked body. The ones from the Ball are the hardest to keep out of my head. The way that her dress clung to her body, the way that her ass felt when I squeezed it, the way that that little moan that escaped her lips made me want to rip into her until I could no longer feel anything other thanher.

The shower doesn’t help. Even after I’m out, my dick is throbbing, but I’m not planning on doing anything about it. Instead, I pace around the room, telling myself I’d sooner die than let myself fantasize about that rash, emotional, vulgar, naive, human-bred…girl.

It takes me a moment to realize that I’ve opened a hole in the wall with my fist. Pissed and tired at the same time, I yank my hand out and I go straight to bed, wanting the day to end as soon as possible.

I’m already under the covers when my phone pings, making my heart skip a beat. But it’s only Amelia.

“Exactly how late do you plan on being?” the text says.

Fuck. I forgot. “Sorry, Amelia, I’m just too tired.”

“But I’m wearing a super slutty dress.” There’s a winky face at the end.

“Tempting,” I text back. “But why don’t you go on without me?”

I can tell she’s upset by how long it takes her to reply with a simple, “Fine.” But the very thought of seeing her is off-putting at the moment.

I put my phone away and let out a sigh. Why did I do it, I scold myself. I said I’d refuse and yet, I didn’t. What do I let her keep doing this to me? I roll to my stomach and I bite into my pillow, letting out a low groan.

But I know what I need to do. I’ll just stop coming to the Vipers’ training sessions. At least for a while, until I’m back in control. And back in control I will be.

Chapter twenty-five

WhenNualafinallymeetsme in front of the Library, I’m determined not to say anything until we’re already there.

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