Page 82 of Spearcrest Knight

I spring away like I’ve been electrocuted. I sprint all the way back to my house, my steady, calming jog forgotten.

My lungs burn and my heart pounds. I’m sick to my stomach, acid burning inside me. I concentrate on the way my body feels, trying desperately to keep my mind empty, my thoughts safe.

When I get to the house, my hands are so cold I can barely grip my key, and my fingers shake as I try to get the key into the lock.

In a burst of frustration, I throw the key at the floor and slam both my fists against the door with a yell. The hoarse sound echoes through the courtyard and fades amongst the pine trees. Then it’s quiet again, and all I can hear are my panting breaths and the deafening pounding of my heartbeat drumming in my ears.

I sink down, sitting with my elbows resting on my knees, my head dangling down. My vision is obscured by my sweat-drenched hair, but that’s fine. The porchlight turns itself off, plunging everything into darkness anyway.

“Fuck.”

My voice is hoarse and pathetic in the darkness. The anger has seeped out of me, leaving me breathless, exhausted, completely empty.

Sophie didn’t lie. Shedoeslike someone else. And in a way, I’d already guessed this was the reason Sophie of all people would flaunt a school rule. This isn't just any job. This is a jobwith the guy she likes. I couldn’t really make him out through the window, but I know I also correctly guessed she liked an older guy.

This one seemed in his twenties, with a similar carelessly elegant style to Sophie. Exactly the type I knew she would go for.

The exact opposite of me.

It hurts like I’ve been physically stabbed in the heart. I grip my chest with a groan. What a fucking idiot I’ve been. I’ve been so busy treating her like shit to make sure nobody at Spearcrest would covet her that I pushed her right into the arms of some random nobody out in the real world.

I’ve truly cut my nose to spite my face, and now I’ve got nothing left to do but cry into my own blood.

No.

Since when have I become the kind of guy to think like that? I’ve never backed down from a fight before. I’ve never accepted defeat just because it hurts. I’m Evan fucking Knight, and if there’s one thing the Knights aren’t, it’s a bunch of quitters.

So Sophie likes this other guy. So fucking what? Sophie hasn’t liked me ever since I turned my back on our friendship, but I’ve never let that get in my way before. She might like this random nobody, butI’m the one who gets under her skin.

She can hate me all she likes, but she can’t deny how good my kisses made her feel, or how hard I made her come.

So fuck it. If she wants this other guy, she can work for it. I’m not going to lie down and let her walk right over me on her way to this guy’s arms. She’s going to have to go throughmeto get tohim, and if she wants to do that then she’s going to have to get her hands dirty and actually fight me.

And I’m ready to fight as dirty as I need to.

25

Royal Subject

Evan

There’snopartythisweekend—which is good because I’m really not in the mood for fake insouciance and forced socialising. Instead, my friends and I head off campus and into London for a night of hard drinking in one of Soho’s most exclusive bars.

Luca’s personal chauffeur drives us from Spearcrest in a black limousine, and we start drinking the moment the limousine door closes on us. From the looks of things, I’m not the only one whose sorely in need of drowning my problems: Sev looks restless and irritated, shadows gathering under his eyes, Iakov’s knuckles are red raw with bruising—really living up to his nickname “Knuckles”—and there’s a brand new cut in his eyebrow, and Zachary, normally the most measured and mature one of us all, is moody and monosyllabic.

Only Luca appears amused and relaxed—but that’s probably because Luca is a psychopath incapable of real human emotion.

“What a glum assortment you all make tonight,” he sneers, leaning back against the white leather seats. “Not girl problems, surely?”

None of us reply. We all sip our drinks and wince—we made a deal tonight was going to be a liquor night, and the burn is real.

Luca laughs.

“Really?Allof you?” He raises his cup towards Zachary. “Even the Bishop?”

“I don’t want to talk about Theodora,” Zach snaps.

There’s a moment of silence in the limousine. Finally, my bad mood cracks. I grin at Zach. “I hate to tell you this, Zach, but nobody mentioned Theodora.”

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