Page 42 of Kings & Chaos

Then he let the silence breathe. He had presence, and he knew how to work the crowd, how to set the mood.

He was also fucking beautiful.

I was as mesmerized by him as everyone else. His sharp cheekbones and intense gaze screamed movie villain, but I knew better. He might be a villain, but he wasn’t just that.

Not anymore.

I’d remembered him as a child, afraid and alone, risking more harm to defend me against his father.

I’d seen him in the middle of the night, chest bare in his bed.

I’d felt his lush mouth on my skin, the stroke of his fingers inside me, his breath hot against my neck.

He might be a villain, but he was also a flesh-and-blood man, and fuck me if I didn’t want to fuck him.

“Welcome to Game Night!” Neo shouted. "Famiglia oltre il sangue!”

“Famiglia oltre il sangue!” I joined everyone in repeating the student body’s motto because if you were going to infiltrate a cult, you kind of had to act the part.

A murmur rolled through the crowd, and Neo paced in front of them like a panther.

“As you all know, the first game was won by Rock and Willa for the Kings’ house. Tonight we kick off the second game.” He paused again, then stopped moving as he faced the crowd. “It’s time to do some damage.”

“Fuck,” Claire said next to me. “I hate shit like this.”

I didn’t have time to ask WTF she was talking about before Neo continued.

“The next challenge is to fuck someone up,” he said. “Said fucking up must be severe enough to spill blood.”

“Damn,” Quinn said next to me.

“Wait a second,” I said, “are we actually talking about hurting someone here? As part of thegame?”

“Can it be someone who deserves it?” Matt asked from the crowd.

“Good question,” Erin said. “That would make it easier."

“That’s up to you,” Neo said in response. “The only rule is enough damage to spill blood. Pics are acceptable proof.”

“Of the damage or the blood?” someone yelled from the crowd.

“They should both be in the same pictures.” Neo sounded annoyed, probably because that was such a dumb question.

“What…?” I couldn’t formulate a question out of the panicked thoughts crowding my mind, because I refused to believe Neo was suggesting we should all go out and hurt people to win a stupid game.

Because that would be fucking sociopathic.

I turned to look at the girls. “What’s happening right now?”

“Game two is hurting someone,” Quinn said, like I was hearing-impaired instead of freaked.

“Yeah, I heard that part,” I said. “I just don’t under—”

“Whether you complete this game before or after the break is up to you,” Neo continued, “but the first house to complete it wins this round and a thousand points.”

Excited conversation rose up from the crowd, and Erin swore next to me.

“That’s double the last game,” she said.

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