And the wolves aren’t the monsters.
The lambs are.
His reply comes fast.
Matteo
What are you doing, little lamb?
My breath shudders out.My fingers hover over the screen.
Then I type.
Aoife
You told me to let you know when I’ll jump.
I hit send.
The wind screams across the cliffs. The sea waits below.
And for a moment, it feels like the whole world is holding its breath.
Chapter 27
Matteo
The air in my room feels wrong—thick, waiting. Pressure hums against the walls like the world’s holding its breath. Maybe it’s the fourth trial. Maybe it’s something I can’t name. Either way, it tastes like warning.
My knuckles still ache from the last session, but my head is elsewhere, finally not only on her, but on the next: Trial Four.
Leo said he’d come after meeting the others so we could hear the news together.
“Do you think I could make my own blade?” Milo asks, twirling a knife. “A snake-tongue tip split, wicked. Tell me that wouldn’t be insane.” He glances at Marco and me.
“I’m sure Grandfather knows someone to make it,” I reply. I mean that would be a pretty cool knife.
I check my watch. Where the hell is Leo? They already know the trial details so why the delay?
“Make me one too?” Marco asks. Milo opens his mouth to respond, but the door suddenly opens and Leo steps in.
“About fucking time,” I mutter, he flips me of and hands me an envelope.
“Trial of Strategy,” he says, stepping back like the words sting.
Marco leans in as I unfold the parchment and read: “A simulation of decisions, alliances, moves, and countermoves. You may have to work with someone you’d rather gut.” I look up at Leo. “Someone like O’Brien.”
He doesn’t blink. Just a tight nod.
Fuck.
Milo is the first to talk. “So it’s chess. We’re the pawns?”
“No,” I mutter. “We don’t get to be pawns.”
“We’ve always been kings,” Marco adds with a smirk. “So, what’s the plan?”
Leo folds his arms. “It’s not physical. You’ll be paired with him. We all know the history.” His gaze lingers on mine a beat too long.
