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“Impressive,” I praised him with a smile.

Finn just rolled his eyes.

“Come on, that's nothing. You could do that when you were ten.”

I grinned. “Who told you that?”

“Alarik.”

The corners of my mouth turned up even more.

“Alarik exaggerates sometimes.”

Finn looked at me, annoyed, and handed me the next stick.

“No, Emy, you're a female Senseque. So don't be so modest.”

“He's right. You should be proud of your strength. It's a gift from nature.”

I turned around.

My breath caught when I found myself face-to-face with a massive, well-trained naked torso.

Mica.

The jagged tattoos on his toned arms distracted me. Maybe it was the arms themselves... or the countless hand- and arm-length scars that ran like furrows across his skin, framing the thorny rose tattoo every Rolanow had on their chest.

The Silver Rose. Their emblem.

At Winter Ball, they had all worn a white rose on their suits. Dimitrio’s had been the most prominent.

I looked up at Mica.

He smiled. A playful gleam flashed through his ice-blue eyes.

Two weeks ago, he had come to me and apologized for everything, even offering me a date and more red roses. This time, my brother hadn't suddenly shown up. It actually had been pleasant.

I had listened to him talk about how things were in Russia, what kind of business his father was in, and what the nature was like there.

I already knew a lot from Tania, and I wasn't particularly interested in financial matters, but it was the gesture that counted.

He seemed serious about our engagement. So, I had decided to give him a second chance.

What other choice did I have? If he won the games, I would have to go to Russia anyway, so it was better to get along with him and be on good terms.

I looked at his trained arms more closely. His jagged tattoos merged into angular patterns and shapes, unlike those of...

My teeth snapped down on the tip of my tongue, and I almost groaned.

But it was too late.

He was back in my head.

Tell Me How He Died

Dan Thiessen, Epic Music World

My heart began to beat faster, and I couldn't stop it.