Sovereign (5 page)

“I love you, Sin.”

Her words were a balm and a barb. Just as she had always been both.

I slid out of her, hating the loss of her tight warmth. I dropped onto the bed next to her and pulled her to my chest. She lay her head over my heart. Could she feel my fear in its rapid beat?

I had to stop it all. To bottle my feelings back up and stow them away. Was it even possible anymore? “I have to do things, Stella. I have to hurt you. The spring trial.”

“I know.” She said it as if it were simple, as if me harming her were as normal as the sun shining or the breeze blowing. “And now I know why.”

“I have to win.”

“Yes.” She nodded against me. “
We
have to win.”

I clenched my eyes shut. “You don’t understand.”

“I do.” She craned her head back to look me in the eye. “I will do anything to keep Teddy safe. Just tell me what to do. Tell me about the trial. Give me the rules. All of them.”

“They won’t help.”

“Then what will it hurt? Tell me.” She pushed away from me and sat back, pulling the sheet to her neck.

I wanted to yank her back down and cover her body with mine, but I stayed my hand.

Her jaw was set and she cocked her head slightly to the left. I knew the look—it meant she wasn’t going to relent, no matter what I said or did. Her stubbornness was beyond even my comprehension.

I took a deep breath and let out a shuddering exhale. “The trial has to do with some sort of physical contest. I believe Cal’s year was an obstacle course that turned into a grueling competition for the Acquisitions.”

She nodded against me. “I can train for that. I’ll start tomorrow. Do we know anything else?”

We
. The word was so small, but nothing had ever held more meaning for me. “Red told me at Cal’s party that the competition is to be held at Fort LaRoux.”

“Hmm, that’s familiar.” She quirked her lips as she thought. “I think I know which one you mean. I thought it was abandoned to the state as some sort of historical site.”

I laughed, the sound hollow. “The governor has no problem allowing use of government lands for this little game. He’ll likely be standing at Cal’s right hand.”

“Does it mean anything? I mean, the location—what does it tell us?”

“Yes, it means something. The terrain isn’t made for any sort of obstacle course. It’s more suited as an arena, the battlements serving as seating for the open center area.”

“You think they’ll have us fight each other?” She lay back down and snuggled in closer to my side.

“Maybe. Or it could be some series of tests or feats the audience could watch. I don’t have enough information.” And wasn’t that always the fucking problem? Cal had obscured this year’s trials more so than any in the past.

“And why would Red tell you any of this?”

“He thinks I’m the frontrunner.” I shook my head. “He thinks if he helps me, I’ll save his sister when I become Sovereign.”

“Will you?” Her voice quieted even more.

“No. Not if it means I put my family in danger. The rules are quite clear on the penalty for losing, and I won’t risk any challengers to my reign. I’ll take her life to spare mine, Teddy’s, or yours.”

“How old is she?”

Eighteen years, six months, and seventeen days. I knew the length of her life as well as that of Eagleton’s younger brother, Carl. Counting down the days to their deaths was the only way I knew to accept the inevitable—I would see them dead by their siblings’ hands or my own. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Please, how old?” She rested her hand on my chest, her delicate fingers pulling the information from me bit by bit.

“Eighteen.”

“Jesus.” She buried her face in my neck, and I pulled her to me. “You can’t kill her. She’ so young—”

“I will. For Teddy. For you. I will. I’d kill her ten times over.”

She pressed her fingers to my lips and looked at me with troubled eyes. “Don’t say that. Please don’t say that. You can’t. We’ll think of something, some way out.”

Her fingers stilled my lips but not my thoughts.
There is no way out.

She lay back against me and dropped her hand to my chest. “Now the rules. I need them all.”

She already knew the worst. The rest just completed the depraved puzzle. “First rule.” I swallowed hard. “Is Teddy. Second rule, you know as well—the Acquisition can choose between first and second born. Third, an Acquirer may not harm an opposing Acquisition except during trials.”

She nodded. “That’s why Renee told me I would be safe the night we went to the party at Cal’s.”

“Yes. Fourth is that maiming an Acquisition or permanent loss of limb is not allowed.”

“That’s comforting.”

“Fifth, we can’t kill you.”

“Even better.”

“Sixth, the current Sovereign is the sole vote on who becomes the next Sovereign.”

“Renee mentioned that. Cal wields all the power.”

“And now that he’s brought in your stepmother’s family, he’s solidified his stranglehold on the power structure. He’ll only choose someone he trusts to keep him at the top.”

“Makes sense.” A shadow fell across her eyes. “He’s our target, the one we’re trying to convince.”

“Yes, but a large part of that is putting on a show for the rest of them. We have to make it look good. Keep them entertained.”

She sighed. “So what’s the seventh?”

I glanced to the ceiling, as if I could see through it to my mother’s suite. I hadn’t known the seventh rule until after I’d been chosen. That particular cut of the knife was a master stroke by my mother. As chaotic as her mind was, there were still plenty of sharp edges.

“Sin?” Stella asked again.

“The seventh is that the previous Sovereign, not the current Sovereign, chooses the competitors.”

She jolted, as if she’d touched a live wire. “You mean your
mother
chose you to compete?”

The weight of my mother’s legacy crushed both of us, leaving nothing but destruction in its wake. “She did.”

CHAPTER FIVE

S
TELLA

“
W
HO IS WOMAN?”
D
MITRI
sank onto my bed, the antique wood groaning under his weight.

“Sophia.”

“Why so rude? I go to party. She say I don’t belong.”

I reached over and patted him on the back. “Same here.”

“
Pizda
.” He shook his head. “And why she with Sinclair?”

I tried to brush away my feelings, like crumbs off the bedspread. “I assume they are together. Like a couple.” The crumbs were still there, grinding into my skin no matter which way I turned.

“Foolish man.” He glanced at me, his scowl deep. “Now I all dressed up. No party. No nothing.” He lay back on my bed and laced his fingers together over his chest. “We should train, eh?”

I lay next to him, and we both stared at the ceiling fan’s lazy circle. “Yeah.”

Neither of us moved. My body was tired, sore, and losing an afternoon of training was beginning to look like not such a bad thing. My thoughts strayed back to Sophia. She’d taken such pleasure in hurting me at the last trial, and now seemed to delight even more in rubbing it in my face. She and her father topped my list of people I would seek vengeance on once Teddy was safe.

After a few quiet minutes, Dmitri began to snore, softly at first, and then growing louder over the span of half an hour until I began to fantasize about smothering him with a pillow. A bump at the door had him awake and on his feet in a second.

“Who?”

“Just me.” Teddy’s voice. “Can you get the door? My hands are full.”

Dmitri opened it for him, and Teddy entered carrying a large plate full of cake, another large plate full of sandwiches and some silverware, and a bottle of wine with red cups under his arm.

“This pleases me.” Dmitri grinned and closed the door as Teddy laid the food out on the bed.

“This is a feast.” I hugged Teddy as soon as his hands were empty and kissed him on the cheek. “Happy birthday.”

“Thanks.” He squeezed me tightly and then shook Dmitri’s hand.

“Happy birthday.” Dmitri pulled him in for a bear hug.

Teddy laughed and escaped. Then his face grew somber. “I’m sorry about downstairs.”

“Don’t worry about it. I know it’s not you.”

“No.” He ran a hand through his unruly blond locks. “It’s not, and I really didn’t appreciate them showing up here like that. They’re not the ones I want to spend time with.”

“Have they gone?” I eyed the croissant sandwiches, and Dmitri’s stomach rumbled.

“Yes. Well, Sin’s still here. He’s staying for the weekend.” Teddy pulled the loosened cork from the wine bottle and poured us each a cup of red. “Dig in. I’m hungry, too. Cal and Sophia turn my stomach, so I didn’t eat much.”

We settled around the platters, Dmitri eating two sandwiches in one go.

“Anything important discussed while we were hiding up here?” I tried to make it sound as nonchalant as possible.

Teddy wasn’t fooled. “No. I didn’t get any information. You’re the one who knows things. I’m in the dark.” He put his sandwich down. “I wish you’d tell me.”

I shot a look to Dmitri and back to Teddy. “You already know I’m training for the triathlon in the spring. I don’t know what it will entail, exactly. So, we’re on the same page.”

“What else?”

“Like what?”

“How many more—” He glanced to Dmitri, who seemed to remain oblivious while munching away. “—
competitions
are there?”

“After this triathlon, only one more in late summer.” I took a bite of sandwich despite the tightness in my throat. I wouldn’t tell him everything, just enough to keep him even-keeled for the time being.

“That’s it? Then you’re done? Win or lose?”

I nodded and forced myself to chew. “Right. Win or lose, I’m done.”

“That’s more than anyone else tells me.” He nodded and sat back. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

I changed the subject to his time at college, and Teddy lapsed into how excited he was start med school.

“When you doctor, you prescribe medications?” Dmitri asked and forked a chunk of cake into his mouth.

“Yes, that’s part of it.”

“Hard stuff?”

Teddy cocked his head. “Narcotics, you mean? Yes.”

“I have friends. You make good money. All you have to do is—”

I stood and clapped my hands. “Well, I think I’m stuffed. Since they’re gone, want to go downstairs? Maybe go outside and let me show you my skills?” I brought my fists up.

“You’re kidding, right?” Teddy laughed.

“She no kidding.” Dmitri puffed his chest out. “She taught by best fighter in all Russia.”

“Well, hell.” Teddy downed his wine. “On that note, let’s do it.”

Dmitri laughed as we walked into the hall and down to the front door.

“Your ass is going to be on the grass, pretty boy.” I punched him in the shoulder.

“Ow.” He grabbed his arm as we strolled out into the sunny yard, then dropped his hand and rolled his shoulders. “Just kidding. I didn’t feel a thing.” He grinned and pulled his hands up, palms open. “Come at me, bro.”

I rounded up my hair up into a ponytail and tied it with an elastic from my pocket. “I didn’t realize you wanted an ass-whipping for your birthday.”

He smiled bigger, getting into tough-guy character. “I hate to hit a girl, even one with a mouth like yours.”

“Don’t worry. You won’t.” I easily moved away from his first swiping grab.

“Can’t catch me that way.” I circled him, my knees bent and my hands up.

He darted toward me. I ducked and shot my foot out, tripping him. He hit the grass and rolled from his momentum.

“Damn.” He laughed and got to his feet, slivers of grass hanging from his otherwise neat button-down shirt and jeans. “Slippery. You come get me instead.”

“Okay.” I advanced.

He backed away a step and barreled into me, tackling me to the ground. I landed on my back, him on top. He sat on my hips and put a hand on each side of my head, smiling and proud of himself. I held my arms out and he fell into them for a friendly embrace.

“A hug for the victor.”

“Don’t feel bad. I’m pretty strong.” He returned my squeeze.

I slung my right arm over his shoulder, linked my hands, and shoved up from the ground with my left leg. He cried out in surprise as I flipped him and wrapped both hands around his throat.

“Yes! Krasivaya, yes!” Dmitri walked to us and towered overhead. “Now, Teddy. You must get free. Knock her off.”

“Well.” Teddy grabbed my wrists. “I wouldn’t want to hurt her.”

“Pussy.” I grinned down at him.

He wrenched my hands from his throat and wrapped an arm around my neck, pulling me down into a submission move so my head was trapped between his torso, his arm, and the ground.

“Oh. No, Teddy.” Dmitri laughed.

“What? I got her.”

“Look down, comrade.”

My hand was snugged in his crotch ready to squeeze as hard as I could to get out of the hold.

Teddy let me go. “Oh, fuck no.”

“That’s why you got a warning.” I kissed the tip of his nose and got up, offering him my hand.

Teddy pulled himself to his feet. “You weren’t kidding about the training.”

“No. She fighter now.”

“Let’s test that theory, shall we?” Sin’s voice whipped around my heart like a lasso, constricting and pulling at the same time. No longer dressed in a suit, he wore jeans and a dark t-shirt.

He studied me as if he were ticking off a list against his memory of how I looked the last time he’d seen me.

I balled my fists. He thought he could parade Sophia Oakman in front of me and treat me like the dirt under his shoe. And now he was taunting me?

“You game?” His eyes challenged me as much as his tone.

I was more than ready to hurt him any way I could. I met his dark gaze.

“Let’s do this.”