Page 102 of Vicious Kings
What could possibly go wrong?
"Listen," I say, trying to channel something resembling reassurance as I begin to subtly pull my hand back, because that's enough fuzzy warmies for the day. "If any of them make you uncomfortable, if anything feels off, you get the fuck out. Don't worry about being polite or making a good impression. You hear me?"
"Billie…"
"I'm serious." I lean in again, dropping my voice to barely above a whisper. "You feel threatened, you fight dirty. Go for the eyes, the throat, the balls. Doesn't matter how big they are or how strong,everyonehas weak points."
Her eyes go wide. "You want me to assault my boyfriend's packmates?"
"I want you tosurvivemeeting your boyfriend's packmates." I sit back, crossing my arms. "Big difference."
She's quiet for a moment, then that brilliant smile returns. "You actually care. Under all that prickly hunter bullshit, you actually give a damn."
"And here I was starting not to hate you."
"Your secret's safe with me." She releases my hand, going back to her notes with renewed focus. Then, without looking up, "So when are you going to admit you've bagged the three most eligible alphas on campus?"
I nearly spit out my coffee. "Excuse me?"
"Prince Corvinus is in almost all your classes, carrying your bag, basically following you around like a giant lost puppy despite you rejecting him." She ticks off on her fingers. "Tallon Fairfax went full alpha-mode defending you from Isabella. And Professor Drakiss?—"
"Is a professor who barely tolerates my existence," I cut in. "Not exactly a conquest."
"He let you break Prince Corvinus's nose without consequence." She raises an eyebrow. "That's basically a marriage proposal in this world."
"Or he was just entertained by watching his prince get taken down a peg."
"And then there's Prince Caelyx." She leans back, studying me with those too-perceptive eyes. "Who's basically stalking you at this point."
My blood runs cold. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, come on." She gestures vaguely toward the windows overlooking the courtyard. "He's always around when you are. Watching from the shadows like some kind of creepy guardian angel. It's actually kind of romantic, in a serial killer sort of way."
More like he's keeping tabs on his investment.
Making sure I don't blow our arrangement before he gets what he wants out of it, even if he can't be bothered to tell me what his next move is.
I'm not even sure hewantsto work with me anymore after he found me and Corvinus in the bathroom. He hasn't left me any messages or tried to arrange a meeting.
But he hasn't turned me in, either.
It's an uneasy truce that could end with both our heads on a pike, but it is what it is.
"I'm not interested in any of them," I say firmly, more to convince myself than her. "Not Prince Corvinus, not Tallon, not the professor, and definitely not Prince Caelyx."
If she had any idea I let Corvinus eat me out in the school bathroom, that insistence would lose all its bite.
"Sure you're not." Her smile is all knowing. "That's why you turn bright red every time one of them is mentioned."
"That's anger."
"If you say so."
I want to argue, to explain that everything about this situation is fucked and the last thing I need is romantic complications, but isn't that what I've agreed to do?
Just because Caelyx hasn't said a damn word about the plan in over a week doesn't mean otherwise. And even if he has ditched me, I have to stay the course. It's the only way I'll get my vengeance.
"How are the alpha classes?" Olivia asks, mercifully changing the subject. "You surviving being the only omega?"
