Page 24 of House of Lilith

A pang of disappointment shoots through me when I see she’s out of my line of sight.

That quickly changes into excitement when my men and women keep scoring points like crazy.

Now that they know what they’re doing, they’re unstoppable, their beasts manipulating the balls into slamming into the shields and keeping them pressed against them until they’re neutralized with such ease, it’s a delight to watch.

At one point, the screen shows Brogan’s face. To my surprise, she’s not smiling. She’s frowning, her lips pressed tight.

But the score on the board keeps changing from second to second, five to one, seven to two, twelve to two. All in our favor.

I watch Fiona catch a neutralized ball and I grin, waiting for her to throw it through the goalpost.

But this time, the ball explodes.

I frown, jumping from my chair. What the… They’re supposed to be harmless once they’ve been neutralized.

I keep standing there, waiting for someone to intervene. On the other hand, maybe it’s part of the game…

Then it happens again.

And again.

I clench my fists, all the muscles in my body tensing up as my fox starts emitting a growl.

If it’s part of the game, it would be a bitch move to stop it.

Reluctantly, I move to get back into my chair.

When it happens again. And this time, the scream of one of my pack is so piercing, I fail to stop myself. O’Malley Junior. It was O’Malley Junior.

No, this can’t be part of the Game. I make a snap decision. I jump over a few people nestled in their chairs, I land on the little path between the rows and I start running straight back into the Ring.

Just as I’m about to leap over the wall, a voice coming from the speakers makes me come to a screeching halt.

“Enough,” I hear Brogan order in a stern, determined and a little aggressive voice. I see all the players stop what they’re doing and start turning around, looking for the source of the sound.

“The Game is officially over,” she declares.

I hear a murmur coming from all around me, booing as well as loud agreement, but I don’t give a fuck. I change my course, starting to move to the booth where Brogan and their Pied Piper are sitting.

I see her walk out of there, a pissed-off look on her face. She catches my eye, growls, “I’ll take care of it,” and pushes past me.

I watch her march down to the Guardian’s spot. I see him sitting there, looking all innocent. Ludwig something. Ricky did tell me, I just didn’t commit it to memory. But now, I think as my eyes narrow into slits, now that I know there’s a game he’s playing, I’lllearn.

And I keep standing there, throwing daggers at the guy, wanting to see Brogan give him what he deserves.

But the very next moment, the people all around me start getting up, I hear more than one monotonous voice explaining where all the exits are, and I realize we’re being thrown out of the Arena.

Fuck. But there’s nothing I can do about it, so I start leaving, scanning the crowd for members of my pack.

As I leave, somewhere near the main entrance, I spot the little vixen. I squint to take a better look, but the very next second, someone takes her by the upper arm. A tall, dark figure with a frown on his face. That vampire prince. He leans in for a kiss.

My eyebrows pull down.

I guess it was the prince’s fiance I’ve just tried flirting with.

Chapter 5 - Nyx

Mymindbuzzing,Ifollow Max back to Lilith Tower. The sounds of all those people screaming are still echoing through my mind. But it’s the whispers I heard afterwards that are even more disturbing. Someone rigging the very first Game and that someone being no other than Uncle Ludwig.

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