Page 25 of House of Lilith

My mind lingers on him. He’s one of those people I’ve known my entire life, but now that I think about it, I know practically nothing about him. He’s a Professor here, he teaches Blood Magic, he likes Schwarzwald cake and he’s the Guardian of the Obscura.

I barely notice it when we get to the Common Room. We have to elbow our way to our spot, that’s how many people have come to discuss the explosive, unexpected end of today’s event. But right now, I don’t mind. In fact, I’mgratefulfor the feverish chatter.

Because it’s kind of terrifying to think about, the possibility of the whispers being true. Uncle aside, that’s how it all started a hundred and fifty six years ago. And by the end, there were so many casualties, there was barely anyone left.

It’s Hilde who snaps me out of it. She wiggles her way out of the crowd gathered around the betting board and throws Max a tentative smile. But it’s me she comes to greet, looping her arm through mine and making me slow down a bit.

“Are you okay?” she asks in a low, worried voice, making my eyebrows pull down. “I saw that alpha giving you trouble.”

Blood instantly rushes to my face. I throw a glance at Max before I say in a voice barely above a whisper, “He wasn’t, don’t worry about it.”

“I don’t know,” she insists, “seemed like he was intentionally getting in your way. Maybe you should think about reporting it. You never know what someone’s strategy is.”

I have to fight to keep myself from raising my voice. “He wasn’t doing anything that’s not allowed.”

“Are you sure?” she asks, making me grit my teeth. “I mean, for a second, it almost looked like you were flirting, but then I saw you needed to use force.”

My ears burning, I throw another glance at Max. Thank gods he didn’t hear this, I think when I see him greeting people passing by. Still, I snap at my cousin a little, wanting her to drop it as soon as possible. “Well, who doesn’t need to use force during the Games?”

There’s a second of silence before she says, “Alright alright. I was just worried about you.” And she lets go of my arm, sulkily, just as we finally manage to elbow our way to our table.

There, Nikolay is already waiting for us. As soon as he spots Max, he eagerly sits up straighter.

“Bloody hell, guys,” my brother expels as the three of us throw ourselves into our chairs. “What the fuck just happened?”

“It’s simple,” I hear Max say.

My muscles aching even more now that I’m sprawled like this, I turn to look at him. There’s such smug conviction on his face as he declares, “Their players got too cocky.” Anger flashes through his eyes as he motions in the direction of the Arena. “Did you see them out there?”

I frown, but I don’t sit up. This is just too comfy for me to renounce it.

“Yeah,” Nikolay drawls, slowly nodding away without taking his eyes off Max. “I see what you mean. Could be, could be.”

“What’re you talking about?” I chuckle, sitting up after all. My eyes sweep over all three of them, but lock on Max’s. “I was watching the entire time. There was absolutely no recklessness in the way they were catching those balls. They’re really good,” I say with conviction. “Like,reallygood.”

“So what is it then?” Max leans back and drawls. “Enlighten us.”

And I don’t really want to be repeating it, but it does sound like the only logical explanation. Not without hesitation, I find myself saying, “Someone rigged the whole thing.”

“Oh come on,” Max yells out, throwing his arms up and turning to throw me an incredulous stare. “You, too? Why the fuck wouldweneed to rig the fucking Games?”

“The balls,” I start through gritted teeth, trying to keep my cool, “they only started exploding once theshiftersstarted taking the lead.And—”

“Bloody hell,” my brother cuts me off, making me take a deep breath to calm myself. “I did hear one of the little Dukes say the same.”

“So fucking what?” Max asks with a scoff.

“I don’t know,” Nikolay mutters, suddenly all confused. “I mean, I guess it’s worth considering the idea.”

“I think Max is right,” Hilde chimes in. There’s fear written all over her face. “If not…” Her voice gets a little choked up as she looks around for reassurance. “What would that even mean? Like, everything starting all over again? Will they cancel the Games or?”

“If they’re smart—”

This time, it’s Max who cuts me off. “They won’t be cancelling the fucking Games, come on.”

Embarrassment renders me speechless. As blood rushes to my cheeks, I try to catch his eye to see if he’s going to acknowledge not letting me finish my sentence.

But then Nikolay spits out, “I think they should send those filthy shifters back to the hole they crawled out of.”

---