Page 20 of Kings & Chaos

“Maybe it would be better to get it over with?” I suggested to Claire. “You said the games get harder as the year goes on right?”

I almost shuddered to think about it. Stealing the keys from Daniel Longboat’s house and then using them to take the medals from the glass case in the teachers’ lounge hadn’t been my idea of fun. The only good thing to come of it — if anything about the situation I found myself in could be calledgood— was that I’d found Daniel Longboat’s journalism textbook with the note about an investigative piece on corruption at Aventine.

Whatever that meant, because let’s be honest, at Aventine, it could mean a lot of things. I didn’t know what to do with the information, but I’d filed it in my mental cabinet of potential tools.

“True,” Claire said. “I keep hoping the petty bitch will pass me over for one of the freshmen, but I think she hates me too much.”

Quinn laughed. “It’s your own fault. You make yourself a target by baiting her.”

Claire sighed. “I know. I’m the worst.”

“I hope the game is a quick one,” Erin said. “The break always makes it weird.”

“Yeah,” Quinn added, “you either have to do it fast before Thanksgiving, or wait until you get back and hope all the other houses do the same thing.”

“I’m so excited to get out of this place for a few days,” Claire said. “Not that it’s much different at home, but at least there will be pumpkin pie.”

Claire had five brothers, all of them at various stages in their careers with the Irish Mafia. As much as she worried about the games, they were probably like Candy Land for her.

“Are you going home?” Erin asked me.

I finished chewing the sushi I’d just shoveled into my mouth. “Unfortunately. Neo and I have both been summoned.”

“Playing happy family with the new stepdad and stepbrother? That’s rough,” Quinn said.

I sighed. “You have no idea.”

Claire lifted her eyebrows. “Don’t pretend you don’t want to bang Neo Alinari. It’s okay. We all want to bang him. What better chance than a nice long weekend away?”

“With my mom and stepdad in the house?” I asked.

“That would be kind of…twisted,” Erin said.

Quinn nodded. “Gives new meaning to the wordincestuous.”

“Yeah, no thanks,” I said. “I wouldn’t fuck Neo Alinari if he were the last man on earth and every battery on the planet had been destroyed in a raging fire.”

Liar.

I tried to ignore the voice in my head, but it was getting increasingly difficult. There was something between us, something I didn’t think even he could deny. I hadn’t noticed all those years when we’d hardly spoken, but now that he was in my face every day, it was impossible to ignore. We had serious chemistry, and I was like some kind of mad scientist, throwing caution to the wind every time we were alone.

If I allowed it go any further, there was no doubt in my mind I was the one who was going to get burned.

Chapter7

Willa

Reva was in the kitchen using tongs to bread chicken breasts when we got home.

She looked up when we came in through the garage and a warm smile washed over her features. “The troops are home!”

Rock eyed the breaded chicken lined up on a sheet pan. “Wow, look at you. Making dinner for us again?”

“You’re too good to us,” Oscar said faintly.

I shot Oscar a dirty look for the half-hearted tone, then realized I was doing exactly what I’d once called the Kings crazy for doing — humoring Reva with her terrible cooking because I didn’t want to hurt her feelings.

“And there’s my girl,” she said, rinsing her hands and coming toward me. She put her hands on my face and gazed at me like I was the sun, moon, and everything in between. “Just sunshine in a bottle, you are.”

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