Page 43 of Kings & Chaos

“It’s always that way,” Claire said. “This one’s harder, for more reasons than one.”

“Teams of two, just like last time,” Neo said. “As usual, discretion is the better part of valor. In other words, don’t get caught, and if you do, keep your fucking mouth shut. Any questions?”

No one said anything, but groups were already forming as each house commiserated about who to assign to the challenge.

I was glad not to be part of it. I felt sick, both that this was a thing at all and that the other students at Aventine accepted it so readily.

I looked at Claire, Erin, and Quinn like I was seeing them for the first time. They were my friends and they’d backed me at Aventine, but I didn’t really know them.

I thought about the Kings and felt my stomach turn again. How could two guys like Rock and Oscar, who’d been so tender and protective of me, want to hurt people?

The question felt dumb even in my own mind. What did I think they’d been doing when they were working with the family in Sicily before coming to Aventine? What did I think they would be doing when they officially joined the family after they graduated?

It took me a minute to realize some of the houses had already nominated their teams.

Alexa was at the front of the crowd, making a big show about the power she held as head of the Queens’ house.

“The Queens nominate Claire and Lucia.”

Everyone looked from Claire to the dark-haired girl from my English class.

“Fuck,” Claire muttered before plastering a smile on her face.

“It’s okay,” Quinn said, already in strategy mode. “Just go for a cut. Stitches are better than beating the shit out of someone.”

I couldn’t imagine Claire doing either, and I had the sudden desire to run.

To leave this place and never look back.

I forced myself to breathe.

“Yeah, and Lucia’s super nice,” Erin said. “She won’t want to do any real damage anyway.”

“Can’t you just let someone else win this one?” I asked.

They stared at me like I’d grown a second head.

“Alexa would torment them until graduation,” Quinn said.

Right. Alexa.

Claire stepped closer to me and spoke in a lowered voice as the Saints chose their team. “Listen, I know this is hard to understand, but the games are like… preparation.”

“Preparation?” I felt dumb repeating the word, but it was all I could manage under the circumstances.

“For the shit we’ll be around, the shit we’ll have to do, when we leave here,” Quinn said, like it was obvious.

I tried to make sense of what she was saying.

Game one: steal something.

Game two: hurt someone.

“It’s practice,” I said, finally getting it.

“Exactly,” Quinn said.

“Consider it an after-hours class,” Claire said, like she was explaining something to a five-year-old about to lose her shit in the candy aisle. “Our parents know. It was the same when they went here. This is how they make sure we don’t shit our pants when we join the real world. Their world.”

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