Page 99 of Goddess of Mayhem

I snort. “So, they keep saying, but I’m not the one currently injured, am I? And I’m not one to tuck tail and run, so here I am.”

“Why are you here, Malia?” Akila asks again.

My lips purse. “I just told you.” I groan when I realize what she really wants to know. “Fine. Fuck.” I sigh. “Look I’m not good with this feelings bullshit…”

Akila snorts then crosses her arms against her chest, leaning back against the headboard. “I distinctly remember you telling me that you’d rather take a shot of arsenic than talk to me about them.”

I bark out a laugh because I feel the same way in this moment. “You were there for me that day. It was you next to Lion with her chin held high at my back when we walked into that ballroom.” I roll my eyes because this is literal fucking torture alright. “You’re also important to him and that means something. Lion doesn’t let everyone in, Akila, and not only is that a feat within itself to manage you also stuck around despite the bullshit.”

She laughs and shakes her head. “Has anyone ever told you how incredibly bullheaded and frustratingly alike you and Lion are?”

I give her my best smile at the compliment. “Heard it all our lives. Lucky you, yeah?”

She shifts slightly. “Hasn’t been so bad,” Akila says with a shrug and smirk.

I sigh, thinking of what Akila just went through. How Lion must have felt when he saw her. “He’ll pay for what he did to you, Akila. There’s vengeance and then there’s pissing off Lion Castello.” I smirk and she meets my eyes. “And you certainly don’t put your hands on what’s his.”

Akila narrows her hazel eyes at me. “I’m not property, Malia.”

I really like this girl.

I chuckle and she purses her lips. “I know all about what it means to be owned by someone.” Walking over to the bed, I sit by Akila’s outstretched feet with a huff. “There’s being owned like property and there’s being claimed by someone who loves as fierce and rare as Lion Castello.” I shrug. “You’re as much Lion’s as I am. Only you get the fun bedroom stuff. I get the childish sibling rivalry.”

I waggle my eyebrows suggestively and Akila laughs.

“I was waiting for the other shoe to drop,” she says through a chuckle.

I give her a mock bow. “Glad I could deliver.”

Akila fidgets with the blanket that covers her as we sit in silence for a short time before she breaks it. “So, does your little speech mean you’ve accepted Liam’s claim on you?

My face twists up and I give her an exaggerated disgusted look while shaking my head. “Absolutely not. Do as I say, not as I do.”

We both laugh then I worry on my lip.

“It’s not so bad,” I mumble with a shrug.

“No, I guess it’s not,” she responds with a smile.

I groan dramatically, throwing myself down on the mattress. “Well, now that that conversation is thankfully over, how about a drink?”

“I can’t drink.”

I sit up quickly nearly choking on my own spit. “Christ, are you fucking knocked up?”

Akila just blinks at me for what feels like forever then she bursts into laughter while shaking her head. “Pain medication, Malia.”

I let out a long breath because thank god, I’m too young to be someone’s aunty. “Right, well. You can watch me drink then.”

Standing from the bed, I walk over to where Lion keeps whiskey in his room.

“I watched you drink yourself into a hole for weeks”

I flip over a crystal tumbler and pour myself a shot. “Good thing you had a sexy as hell view, yeah?” I say over my shoulder.

“Frustratingly alike,” Akila mumbles.

I turn, leaning on the dresser and cross my ankles while raising the glass in a mock toast. “Lion and I do have stellar qualities.”

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