Page 45 of Soulless Rivalry

“Second of all, how would you four dying be beneficial to us? We don’t give a fuck about your organization. Although I will say they’re fools for not teaching you how to fight.”

Mia gulped. “They were bigger than us, we were unarmed, what should we have done?”

“My sister Dinara would have broken their neck within three minutes of being in their vicinity. Again, that you’re unable to do the same speaks volumes about your so-called mafia.”

A small smirk stretched my lips.

Mikhail didn’t take many things seriously but one of them was the security of our sisters. Back home, he taught them how to fight and handle weapons. He was particularly insistent on his twin, but only because Katarina had such a soft heart.

Mia didn’t say anything else, suddenly more interested in her feet instead of us, like an admonished child. I got the feeling she wasn’t used to someone standing up to her, giving it to her straight.

“Royal will walk you home.”

My eyes found my friend’s and he nodded once, still gripping the new girl’s hand like his life depended on it. She looked just as sick as before but was doing her best not to look at the dead body now.

Speaking of, Mikhail sent me a look before making his way to it and getting his phone out, probably calling Asher to help him get rid of it.

When I noticed Elyssa starting to walk back to the castle along with her friends and Royal, I frowned.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”

She turned around, like a deer in headlights, confused and unsure what I meant. I decided I’d make it clearer.

“You’re not going anywhere. You and I are gonna have a talk about the consequences of fucking with me.”

ELYSSA

My heart was seconds away from bursting out of my chest. The sun was starting to set as we walked through the woods, or rather, as Konstantin strutted through them clutching my hand while I did my best to follow his pace.

My breathing was ragged and I was panting but, somehow, I still couldn’t talk. A mix of shock, fear, and excitement was churning in my stomach, it was hard trying to make sense of all these emotions.

When the Church came into view, just as scary in the daytime—or what was left of it—as it had been on the night I entered it for the first time,that’swhen I suddenly came back to my senses.

Yelping, I tried to break free from Konstantin’s grasp on my hand, intending to run in the other direction, to hide in the comfort of my room. When the blond’s grip on me wouldn't budge, that’s when it dawned on me: I was alone in the woods with Konstantin Korolov and he was pissed at me for planting drugs in his stuff. Not only that, but I had also witnessed him killing a guy in cold blood.

Although for some reason, that part didn’t bother me as much as it should have. Blame it on my mother’s family, or onthe fact that the guy he had killed had been seconds away from sexually assaulting me, but I was glad Konstantin had slit his throat.

Now,thatthought bothered me. No matter how many aspects of my life involved death, I had never had any hand in it. I had never killed anyone, and until today, I had been lucky enough not to witness any murder either.

The sound of the wooden door being pushed open startled me, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Konstantin, wait?—”

But he didn’t. He barged in and let the door shut behind us with a loud bang. We didn’t make it far after that because he had me pinned to them almost immediately. For the longest time, none of us spoke, we simply watched each other silently, both our chests heaving, me in fear and exhaustion, his in anger.

“You disobeyed me and went out of your room even though you knew the shit that’s been going on in the castle,” he stated, fuming. “You tricked me by planting drugs in the box you gave me. You had me taken to the Dean’s office like a fucking thug where they called my parents.” I gulped, suddenly feeling bad about my actions.

I had no idea what his parents were like but surely, their reputation preceded them. Plus, if they’d raised psychos like Mikhail, Dinara, Roman and Konstantin, they must’ve been pretty fucking lethal themselves. The thought of them hurting Konstantin because of what I did didn’t sit well with me for some reason.

“I had to lie to my mother to save your ass,” he growled, his head somehow getting closer to mine with each sentence.

“Save my ass?”

“Do you know what Adna Korolova would have done to you for that little trick you pulled?”

Shudders traveled down my back but I did my best not to show him how his proximity affected me. Not to mention, the thought of his crazy mother coming after me wasn’t pleasant either.

“Why did you lie to her then?” I whispered, willing my eyes to stop dropping to his lips every time they moved.

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