“Impossible.”
Cillian and Kay had admirers; I didn’t. It had probably started during my youth, growing up in a town that treated my mother and me like stray dogs. Then she came along. The one with her eyes full of pity, unflinching as she gazed at me. The only girl I’d ever allowed to kiss me.
That led me to a no-kissing rule. Only a few women dared to approach me and my sadistic ways anyway unless I made aneffort to hide who I was underneath for personal gain, which was too exhausting with little rewards. I didn’t get hard easily like a normal guy because fucking wasn’t enough to make me feel something.
“If Kay discovers the cake, you’ll never hear the end of—”
“Levi, man! You have to come see this shit!” Kay screamed probably from the Tactician’s common room.
We made a sharp turn and entered our lair. One might anticipate that my fellow Tacticians, all chosen for their cunning brains and pragmatic thinking, would try to do better by attempting to beat my chess algorithm on the dark leather sofas or at least play some tactical video games. But no, their chosen activity was to huddle around an utterly dreadful cake perched on the table.
It had sparkles on it, like an eight-year-old would have on her birthday cake, and my name with a little heart on the “i.” It smelled of what I’d imagine a unicorn world would smell like: pathetic, with so many colors it burnt my eyes.
“It’s not your birthday, right?” Kay said, knowing full well that it wasn’t as he cut himself a slice. “It’s exactly what I need after all the calories I burned from running.” He meant fucking, not running. “Who wants one?”
He smirked at me as if I should feel jealous about him eating my cake. He took a bite from it, and then his face changed, twitching with disgust. He struggled to swallow, and we all took a step back, afraid he’d puke that thing out. Seconds later, he sprinted out of the room.
I frowned and snapped my fingers at Michel, who had just finished washing the third years’ laundry as his first assignment as our mascot. “Take a bite.”
He grimaced. “It sounds disgusting.”
“Precisely the point. Eat.”
He reluctantly took a bite. “It’s the worst thing I’ve ever tasted. It tastes like vomit and snails.”
They all stared at me as if I had anything to do with it.
“I take back what I said earlier,” Cillian said. “Someone wants you dead.”
“I’m flattered.”
Truth be told, I, too, didn’t attach much importance to my own life. That was why I didn’t waste my time trying to gather a fucking conscience. All I cared about was to do this last thing. The ultimate revenge. Then? It’d be absolute black.
Kay came back with fast-paced footsteps, his toothbrush hanging from his mouth. “What’s that thing? That’s not funny! Who would do that to a cake? I swear to god, I’ll kick his shit out!”
“It’s a she,” I said, my lips curling into a thin line.
It was so sneaky and vicious of her that it almost surprised me. That was Dalia’s little payback gift for what I did to her violin. I would have expected her to cry or insult me, but she did not. She was more resourceful than I thought, even if this little cake was almostcute.
Unfortunately, she would never match my level of cruelty.
“Tell me her name, and I’ll ruin her life. That taste is still in my mouth, fuck!” Kay’s scream echoed in the common room as he rushed out of it.
Laughter erupted among the Tacticians, but as soon as their eyes met mine, a hush fell over them as if the prospect of facing consequences had stifled their mirth. Interesting. Were they afraid of me, or did the prospect of eating Dalia’s cake frighten them?
I cut myself a slice of that charming cake. “Don’t worry, I’ll handle this.”
“What are you doing?” Cillian frowned.
“Boss, you shouldn’t. This risk of food poisoning is—” Michel tried to stop me.
“It’s my cake, isn’t it?” I bit out.
None of them protested. Silence fell over the room, punctuated only by the intermittent flickering of the overhead light bulb.
I savored a bite. It was truly horrendous. She had put a lot of effort into this. It was so perfectly crafted, yet the aftermath was pure torture. I sneered.
It was all for me.
