Page 16 of House of Lilith

“Of course,” she says, smiling as she face-palms herself. But then she frowns. “Ours or theirs?”

I have to fight not to start laughing and I only end up blowing one subtle chuckle through my nose.

I see Max roll his eyes, but Nikolay stays with her. “Both, for crying out loud,” he tells her. “The winner is the Academy with more players left, right? So it wouldn’t mean anything if you just said we’d have three players left, not unless you say that the shifters will only have one.”

Hilde is still a little tipsy so she just lets out a little chuckle and says, “I see. Then I say it’ll be twenty to eighteen in our favor.”

“Perfect,” Nikolay replies. “My guess is thirty to eight. What about you, Nyx?”

I just shrug my shoulders. “How in the name of Lilith would we even be able to make a guess? There’s a hundred of us on each side.”

“I neither know nor care what your method will be, oh sister darling.”

“I say forty nine to three,” Max cuts in. “In favor of Grimm Academy, of course.”

I turn to look at him with my eyebrows raised and a slight smile on my lips. “Optimistic.”

“Well, their Academy is dirt poor, their players were all chosen by their wacky Pied Piper instead of a series of tests likewewere,and…”He leans a little forward to rest his forearms on his thighs.“Let’s just say I have a hunch.”

“Wow,” I chuckle, “you’ve actually managed to list all the mostirrelevantfactors possible.”

“Make your own guess then,” Nikolay challenges me.

“I’m sticking to what I’ve already said.”

“Which is nothing,” Max protests.

“Well, excuse me, but have you ever looked up any of the previous Games? BecauseIhave. In 1852, the Academies were so tied, it all came down to two people. The very next year, our Academy was so much stronger, we ended up having two Games instead of five. It’s all so unpredictable. What kind of game will the Box throw up tomorrow? We’ve no idea. How many of us will make it into the Second Game? We’ve no idea. Not to mention the most important factor of them all.” I pause for effect. “We may haveseenthem all, but we knownothingabout our opponents.”

By the time I finish my rant, they’re all looking at me as if I’m some tiresome adult who’s just taken their toy away from them.

“Thanks, Mom,” Nikolay says mockingly. I look to Max for assurance, but he just shrugs his shoulders with a grin on his face.

“Fine,” I spit out. “If we’re basing this on nothing at all, then fifty one to forty nine, in favor of Grimm Academy.”

And I lean back in my chair, folding my arms and feeling myself start to fume, but Max catches that, leans a little forward and says, so Nikolay and Hilde can hear him as well, “I think you’ll be a little more excited about it all once you find out how much money I already put on you staying until the end.”

Now that makes me frown, a smile dancing on my lips. “You didn’t. And the betting hasn't even started yet.”

“I have my ways,” he adds with a smile from ear to ear, getting up and motioning for me to follow suit. “And you know how much I believe in you, cupcake,” he leans in to whisper.

I do, giving him a playful shove on his shoulder with a grin on my face. Hilde cheers and I catch a funny look that Nikolay throws me, but I’m feeling too good for it to bother me.

And I guess it’s time for us to go up to my room, but before we do, Hilde leans a little forward to tell me, all flustered with excitement, “Nikolay says Irina told him she’s expecting both of you to make her proud tomorrow.”

Fuck, I think as my own excitement deflates somewhat.

And I give her a forced smile and I let Max lead me away from our spot and through the crowd..

But all I can think about now is the pressure. Suffice to say, in the entire history of the Games, there hasn’t been a single Romanov that hasn’t made it into the Second Game.

And I sure as hell don’t want to be the first. I know I’d never hear the end of it.

*

When I wake up in the morning, Max is no longer in my bed. Instead of him, I find a single black rose with a note saying, “Last night was amazing, cupcake. I’ll be coming to get you in time for the Game. Love, Max.”

I roll around in bed, looking out the window as my mind swarms with impressions of yesterday’s events. The Opening Ceremony, the party, the engagement…

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