Page 55 of Spearcrest Prince

And then she runs off.

Chapter 20

La Cigarette

Séverin

I’msmilingtomyselfon my way back from the library when a voice speaks up from the darkness.

“Having fun?”

I turn around. Iakov lurks in the shadows like an expressionless statue, his shoulder propped against a cedar trunk. A cigarette dangles between his lips, and he’s in a T-shirt and jeans despite the icy cold. A flurry of new scratches and bruises mark his face, neck and arms.

“What do you mean?” I ask, veering off the path to the sixth form boys’ building to join Iakov under the tree.

He hands me a cigarette and shrugs. “With your girl.”

“She’s not my girl.” I take the cigarette and light it. I can already tell I’m going to need a cigarette for this conversation. “What kind of fun are you talking about?”

“Any kind.” His expression is so neutral that I can’t tell what his end goal is. To tease me? Mock me? Lead me into a trap?

“No fun. We’ve just been paired up for an assignment, that’s it.”

“The assignment from your trip?”

I shrug. “Yeah, that one.”

“The trip you drove her to?”

“Yeah, that one.” I cast him a glare. What is he trying to get at?

“What happened on that trip?”

“Nothing.”

“Right.”

Iakov nods slowly, his gaze resting on my face. What’s with the interrogation? I would honestly rather deal with Evan’s dumb questions or Zachary’s dry, devastating remarks over this stone-faced questioning. It’s like having a conversation with Anaïs, minus the unbearable sexual tension.

I narrow my eyes at him. “What is it? Spit it out.”

“What’s going on between you two?”

“What’s going on between us two? Nothing, absolutely nothing. What could happen? She’s pretentious and annoying—and she’s, she’s not my type, anyway. I didn’t choose this engagement—you know I didn’t—we’ve just been paired up for this stupid assignment, but it’s done now, so things are back to normal.”

“Right,” Iakov says again. “Pembroke told everyone he was her original partner, and you made him swap.”

That prick. Although it doesn’t surprise me that he’s running his mouth, it still pisses me off. I make a mental note to give him a little reminder to stay out of Young King business.

“Who cares what Parker fucking Pembroke is saying?” I ask, hoping my tone carries nothing but disdain.

“He wants your little fiancée,” Iakov points out. “I can tell.”

“He’ll have to kill me to get her,” I snap.

Iakov lifts a black eyebrow. His grey eyes are piercing. “Right…”

The silence stretches and lingers like cigarette smoke. It becomes heavy and stifling. I flick the ashes off the tip of my cigarette and let out a sigh of irritation.

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