Page 6 of Soulless Rivalry

Konstantin was the worst out of all his siblings. There was no soul in those bottomless eyes, just anger and darkness.

He fell in hate with me first, for something as petty as academics.

He couldn’t handle the fact that he wasn’t the best in class, that no matter what he did, we always tied. It drove him crazy, not being able to beat me.

I took pleasure in that too, being his forever rival, making him angry when he was usually so controlled… but then I fucked up.

Two months ago, before summer break and during finals, I fucked up.

And he caught me.

My stomach wavered but I kept on holding his gaze, not letting him see the tension that grew within me. Showing just the slightest bit of fear to a Korolov was like swimming in a tank full of sharks after cutting yourself bloody.

They could smell it a mile away, and Konstantin, more than any of his siblings, had a weird affliction for fear.

I knew it from experience.

His gaze didn’t waver from mine either; he sunk his eyes into mine and I noticed a satisfied glint in them. My heart was threatening to come out of my ribcage from the way it violently beat against it. His eyes held a promise.

He remembered what happened last year and I would be paying for it now.

My hands clenched as I willed them to stop shaking.

This stupid rivalry had taken on a new turn, to my disadvantage.

He kept looking at me silently until he and his brothers walked right past us and he went back to acting like he didn’t notice anyone.

“He’s so dreamy,” Mia sighed, looking at Dominik’s retreating form down the hallway.

Lorenzo made a sound at the back of his throat. “They’re nothing but a bunch of psychos.”

“His brothers, maybe, but not Dom. He’s got some kindness to him. I feel it.”

I bit my tongue and tried hard not to roll my eyes. The last thing I wanted was to hurt my soft cousin’s feelings, but the truth was, Dominik wasn’t any different from his siblings.

All Korolovs were the same.

ELYSSA

Two months ago, the night before the last final.

The cold wind against my skin made me regret not bringing a jacket. I tended to forget that, despite it being spring, the weather wasn’t getting any hotter on Longfield Island.

I sighed and tightened my arms around myself.

Where the fuck was he?

My stomach was in knots, not only from the fear of getting caught and what that would mean for me, but also and most importantly from shame.

I was ashamed of what I was about to do, but I didn’t have a choice.

Biting my lip to keep from crying, I decided closing my eyes, taking a deep breath and counting to ten was the way to go.

The last few days had been hell. Mom’s state, grandpa calling me and reminding me of how grateful I should be to be here. To be alive at all. More than once, I thought about just saying fuck it and disappearing.

But I couldn’t, because I knew the ones that would pay for it were mom and aunt Matilda. Especially the latter, since she was the one who convinced the others to let me study here with her kids.

No, I decided, I couldn’t disappear and let her take the blame. God knew mom had already done that once and Aunt Matilda still had the scars to prove it.

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