Page 47 of Vicious Kings
"None taken." He steps closer, and I have to resist the urge to step back, considering there's nowhere left to go but through the wall. His body is almost touching mine, and the heat coming off him is nearly unbearable. "Though I am curious about something."
"Just one thing? That's showing remarkable restraint."
"You're a hunter omega," he says, and his voice has dropped to something that makes my insides twist into a pretzel. "Raised to kill creatures like me. Trained from birth to see us as the enemy. And yet here you are, in the heart of our territory, surrounded by everything you've been taught to hate."
"Your point?"
"My point," he says, and now he's close enough that I can see the flecks of gold in those red eyes, "is that it's awfully convenient, don't you think?"
"What's convenient about it?" I try to inch toward the door, but he moves with me, casual as a cat. "I got outed as an omega and shipped off to finishing school. Not exactly a master plan."
"No?" He plants his other hand on either side of my head, caging me in. "A trained hunter with access to the university? To the royal family? That doesn't strike you as perhaps too fortunate to be mere coincidence?"
My heart is hammering so hard I'm sure he can hear it. "Are you accusing me of something?"
"Should I be?"
"I don't know. Are you always this paranoid, or am I just special?"
He leans in, and for one terrifying moment I think he's going to put those fangs to use. Instead, he inhales deeply, his nose barely grazing my neck.
It's all I can do to suppress a full-body shudder, and not entirely for the right reasons. Heat floods through me, pooling low in my belly, and I have to bite back a sound that would be absolutely mortifying.
These fucking suppressants are messing with my head.
"Yousmelllike an omega," he murmurs against my skin, more to himself than me. "But then, I suppose that could be faked."
"You—" My voice cracks. I clear my throat and try again. "You think I'm pretending to be an omega? That's your grand theory?"
He pulls back just enough to meet my eyes. His have gone darker, the red deepening to something that looks like fresh blood. "I think you're dangerous. Omega or not."
"Pot, meet kettle."
"The difference being," he says, and his smile shows those too-sharp teeth again, "I'msupposedto be dangerous."
"And I'm supposed to be what? Helpless? Harmless? A good little omega who does what she's told?"
"That would be the traditional expectation, yes."
"Yeah, well, tradition can kiss my ass."
He laughs, the sound rich and dark. "Oh, I really do like you, Billie. This is going to be very interesting."
"What is?"
But he's already stepping back, giving me room to breathe. Room to think. Room to remember that I'm here to kill his brother, not engage in whatever the fuck this is.
"I'll see you around, Billie Moreau," he says, heading for the door. "Try not to assassinate anyone before dinner."
I clench my jaw, resisting the urge to dignify that with a very profane response.
And then he's gone, leaving me alone with my scattered papers. I slide down the wall until I'm sitting on the floor, headin my hands. This is not going according to plan. I'm supposed to be flying under the radar, playing the grateful omega, getting close to Prince Corvinus without attracting attention.
Instead, I've made enemies of half the omega population on campus and caught the interest of Corvinus's brother I didn't even know existed until two—sorry, one and a half—hours ago.
Fucking fantastic.
Fifteen
