Page 149 of House of Lilith

Don’t know. Around.

And every time, I try to swat them the hell away from myself, but they just keep coming back, bringing this coldness with them that seems to seep straight into my bones.

How horrible it is, I bitch to myself, that right after he makes me let myself go so much, I end up fucking kissing him,thishappens.

Angry, it would’ve been so much better if he were angry. It’s this sudden and total indifference that’s making me want to pull my fucking hair out.

So when it’s time to leave for the Fourth Game, I almost forget I still haven’t told brother darling about the change of plans.

And I’m finding it hard to control myself and my anger at my own despicable behavior today, but it’s not like I have a choice. Dressed in my uniform, I go down the stairs and into the Common Room, where I find him and Ricky talking in hushed voices.

As soon as they spot me, they go silent and Nikolay scowls at me. “What’reyoulooking at?”

I ignore him and turn to Ricky instead, practically hissing at him, “Don’t you have to get going?”

He just blinks at me for a second. “Sure, Nyx,” he says when he snaps out of it. And he gets up and starts walking away. “Dahrian’s probably waiting for me anyway.”

Just the mention of his name makes a knife twist in my stomach.

But I force myself to dismiss it and turn back to my sour-faced brother. After all, I have the Game in less than an hour. So I clear my throat and I say, forcing a flat voice, “I came to tell you I won’t be walking to the Game with you after all.”

Nikolay just looks at me for a second. “I couldn’t care less,” he spits out.

I turn on my heel and start walking away.

“Did you hear me?” he shouts after me. “I couldn’t care less.”

But I just keep walking, feeling as if I’m wading through some kind of bad dream.

Unthinking and restless, I go down the stairs, but just as I’m about to walk out of Lilith Tower, I spot him moving for the main door with one of his sycophants.

Max.

And before I can stop myself, I’m already walking over to him. Pissed, I’m so pissed that he’s pushing himself into the picture with the land like this.

He spots me, stops and waves his ‘friend’ away, squinting.

“Might I have a word?” I ask as I come to stand in front of him.

And I don’t really know what I’m expecting, but it’s definitely not the simple, sweet, “Of course” that he gives me. “Let’s walk to the Game together.”

I frown, but I nod. And I let him open the door for me, and I walk out and into the crowd outside, with him at my tail. It’s the Dame Gothel statue we’re headed for, from where we’ll be following the crowd into the next Game arena.

“Look, Max,” I say when he falls into step with me, forcing a polite voice, “I don’t think there's any need for actual hostility between the two of us. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Who’s being hostile?” he asks.

And he throws me such a confused look, it leavesmeconfused for a second as well. “Iknowyou helped Nikolay restart the sale process,” I finally say, my anger at him starting to surface again.

“I…” He shrugs, throwing me an apologetic look. “I may have pulled a few strings, yes.”

“Well,” I say, fighting not to grit my teeth, “I need you to tell me what you asked for in return.”

“In return?” he echoes, throwing me this funny little smile. “Sure, we’re no longer together, but I did it tohelp, Anastasya.”

For a second, I stay silent, fighting the urge to yell. Then I make myself take a deep breath.

If he’s going to be like this… “Well,” I say, shooting straight for his weak spot, “as a prince, I’d think you’d be able to do more than find my brother new buyers.”

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