Page 70 of House of Lilith

Fuck, the Game. I motion for Howe to follow me, we say bye to Brighid and start walking away.

I pick up the pace once I glance at my watch and see we’ve only got a couple of minutes left. We cross the room as quickly as possible.

“So,Lady Romanov,” Howe says as we jump into the Elevator just as a group of cooks step out of it, “do you spend a lot of your time in the kitchens?”

“Of course,” I reply, making my tone as sarcastic as possible. “One needs to keep the commoners appeased, don’t you think?”

“What?” I ask, frowning, when he squints at me funny.

But he doesn’t say anything, he just keeps smiling like an idiot.

The elevator door opens, snapping me out of it and making me get a move on. I dart out, hearing the contraption disappear back into the ground. Instantly, sudden noise drowns out my very thoughts and makes me stop midstep, sensing Howe do the same. There's Lycan Forest to my left and Graf Hill to my right, but they both have bleachers set up along them, every seat already taken. On the far side, in the direction of the castle, there's the booth with the Pied Piper and the Archon, the Guardian of the Obscura's chair placed below.

And almost right in front of us, there’s the podium with all the players waiting for the start of the Game in somber silence, their backs turned to us.

I turn my focus back onto the bleachers, from which the crowd is making the hellish noise. But why are they so high?

I sense Howe come to stand closer to me. “Finally, the rematch,” he says.

I turn to look at him only to find him grinning once again.

“You’re an idiot, you know?”

He tilts his head, squinting at me with soft eyes. “You’ve finally figured it out.”

I throw him a smirk. “I don’t know if I have. But Idoknow I’m about to leave you biting the dust.”

“You wish…” And he breaks off, as if stopping himself from finishing the sentence.

I roll my eyes at him as soon as it hits me. “Go on, fuckingsayit,” I tell him with an annoyed smile.

His eyebrows shoot up, but he doesn’t hesitate. ”You wish,” he repeats, leaning in a little with this spark in his narrowed eyes, “Your Highness.”

It almost makes me laugh out loud. But the very next moment, my self-consciousness kicks in when my eyes dart ahead and I notice all the eyes on us.

All the players, craning their necks to stare at us, including Nikolay.

And Max.

I sense Howe tense up beside me, just before Max disappears from the platform and appears right in front of us, throwing daggers at him.

“Isn’t her work here done?” he demands, his eyes darting from me back onto him. “Or do you need her tofightfor you as well?”

My heart pounds in my chest and I throw a quick glance at the alpha standing beside me.

I notice him grit his teeth, but when he speaks, it’s in a low, controlled voice. “Can’t imagine anyone who wouldn’t want her on their team.” He pauses, squinting at my fiance with this weird, slightly menacing smile on his lips. “But you’re right, I best leave you to it.”

And he throws me a quick glance and walks away, heading straight for the other players. I don’t say anything, I just watch him deftly jump onto the platform and disappear into the crowd.

“You know, Anastasya,” Max says in a low voice, making me turn to look at him, “I’d expect something like this from your moron brother, butyou?”

The tone — theaccusingtone — instantly makes my eyebrows pull down. “Whatare you talking about?” I ask, softly.

“Straight to the Game, remember?” he snaps at me. “You think it was for no fucking reason we agreed on it?”

“That’s exactly what I was trying to do,” I insist, starting to feel pissed now because it washisfucking wishes I tried to respect when I decided we wouldn’t be waiting for the Elevator.

He throws me an incredulous look. “Andthisis how you chose to do it?”

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