Page 19 of Soulless Rivalry

“What was that?” He took a threatening step inside the room, his gaze colder than it was a minute ago.

Feeling a wave of courage submerge me—probably caused by sleep deprivation and frustration— “I said you need to get fucked.” I lifted my chin proudly so he would know I wasn’t afraid of him.

Of course, technically, that was a lie, but he didn’t need to know that.

“You better watch that mouth, Ayaari. Before I give you something to choke on.”

My eyes widened in surprise at the dark look that overtook his face. The bravery that filled me a few minutes ago all of a sudden disappeared as I found myself unable to hold his gaze.

I turned around towards the faucet and turned it on, washing away the sweet mixture clinging to my fingers.

I looked up at the wall where stainless steel pans were hooked. His distorted reflection was mirrored in it and I could tell he was still staring at me, unmoving. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and decided I would just get back to my room and ignore him. Fuck these cookies. Fuck baking. Fuck everything.

I’d just give the raw dough to Lorenzo, he’d eat almost anything as long as it was sweet.

The water turning hotter and heavier got my attention away from Konstantin’s figure behind me. I looked down and instantly felt like throwing up.

“What the fuck!” Yanking my now trembling hands from underneath the tap, I stared at them with wide eyes.

They were dripping in blood.

Konstantin was next to me in a heartbeat, alerted by the panic in my voice. He hurriedly grabbed my wrists and brought them closer to him, frowning in a mix of disgust and disbelief. His skin felt like a burning iron on mine. Even through my stupor, I couldn’t help but feel like his touch would leave a mark. Coupled with that musk and citrus scent that was so unbelievably him, it made me painfully aware of his presence.

“You’re not hurt.”

“Bitch, that’s not my blood!” I whisper-yelled, clearly panicking, before nodding at the sink.

Suddenly aware of how he was holding me, Konstantin released my wrists like I’d been burning him.

Shaking my head, I decided to put the thought aside and get back to the very concerning scene.

Deep red flew straight from the tap and splashed against the stainless steel sink. The flow seemed never-ending and looked darker as time passed. Konstantin silently put his finger under the stream, making me wince in disgust, before pulling it back and rubbing it back and forth between his index and thumb.

“What the fuck?” he whispered, eying the liquid in disbelief. I had never seen him look so… human. Surprised.

Really, few things seemed to shake him, he always wore that annoyingly blank look on his face, but for the first time ever, he looked at a loss for words.

We both watched the crimson liquid stream from the tap, hypnotized by the freakiness of it all, when all of a sudden, it started looking lighter and lighter.

“It’s disappearing.”

We both took a step towards the sink, eying the now pink water with interest until, eventually, it went back to being clear.

I exhaled deeply as Konstantin turned the tap off. Silence reigned between us, the only thing we could hear was the sound of our breathing.

“We didn’t fucking dream that, did we?”

He didn’t answer, but I could see on his face it wasn’t because he was ignoring me; Konstantin was frustrated because he didn’t have the answer to what the fuck just happened.

Suddenly, a bark echoed from the corridor right outside our door and our eyes locked again. A beat passed before we both moved in unison, rushing to blow out the candles before someone could see the light streaming from the swinging doors. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins, the possibility of being discovered made tension grow in my stomach, but I acted quickly.

Looking at the big clock on the wall, I frowned. The guards must have changed their schedule because they usually weren’t on this side of the castle at this time.

“Let’s go. Don’t touch anything,” Konstantin whispered, grasping my wrist and pulling me towards him as he stealthily got us out of the kitchens.

I yelped but followed him nonetheless because he seemed like he knew what he was doing. I kept my still-bloody hands to myself, although some droplets fell to the ground.

He crossed the corridor with assurance, like he couldn’t care less about being found by the guards, which was probably true. It wasn’t like they would do anything to him, after all.

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