Johanna was beside herself with glee when she finally made it to our room that night. “Did you see me? I knew I should have been an actress. I thought it would make it more dramatic to throw in the bit about how I couldn’t swim, and boy did it ever! Max was fabulous, by the way. I know you already know that, but girl, when his lips hit mine, I seriously considered playing dead just a little longer.”
I gave her a faint smile. “Are you sure you are okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said with a wave of her hand. “The physician they brought in gave me a complete bill of health. I wish you could have been there to see Isauros though. She was wringing her hands and looked really worried about the incident. I think she bought it.”
I sighed. “But what if she didn’t?” I couldn’t continue to go on and threaten another student’s life to ruin Isauros’.
Johanna looked at me, a hint of a smile on her face. “Don’t worry, Anna. This went through perfectly. As I was leaving, they were calling her to the phone. I bet it was my father. I made sure to send him a text letting him know what happened and knowing him, he probably threatened every inch of her life and that of the academy’s.”
“Which means she will be gunning for me then,” I said numbly. If what Johanna was saying was true, I had both succeeded in my plan and put my life in more danger than it already was at the same time.
Maybe it hadn’t been such a great idea after all.
***
I wasn’t the only one who was thinking about a new threat on my life either. The next morning, Royce cornered me in the hallway, forcing me into an alcove without so much of a word. “What the fuck were you thinking?” he asked harshly, blocking my exit.
“I was taking a chance,” I answered, straightening my shoulders so that I didn’t look as scared as I felt. Royce’s face was granite and I could tell that he was holding back his true anger at me. “And it worked, Royce.”
“But at what cost, Anna?” he asked, his eyes searching mine. “Dammit, I wish you would have told me!”
“So you could have stopped me?” I snapped. “All you have been doing is trying to protect me, Royce, but that’s not good enough. I have to make a stand with Isauros. I have to let her see that she isn’t going to get the upper hand in this.”
He pushed me against the alcove, not hard enough to hurt me but enough to ratchet my heartbeat up a bit. “Anna, I swear, you don’t know what this is doing to me.”
I thought about Max’s words, how he had made an observation about Royce’s feelings for me. They couldn’t be true, yet hearing the torture in his voice made me second-guess myself. “Royce, I can take care of myself.”
He laughed, the sound harsh to my ears. “Like you could in the bathroom, Anna? Or the time that you nearly slit your wrists because of that bitch? I can just about guarantee next time she will hold the razorblade herself.”
Despite my reservations, I reached up and cupped his cheek, feeling it jump under my palm. “Royce, please. I’m fine. I am going to get through this fine. I’ve studied all the angles and it is only a matter of time before she’s removed, okay?”
“Then what?” he asked. “What happens next? It doesn’t end with her, you know.”
I knew what he was referring to. “I have to get through this first.”
Royce closed his eyes briefly. “Please tell me you won’t do anything this fucking stupid again, Anna, or so help me I will chain you to a wall in my own fucking house.”
I knew he was exaggerating but my knees trembled at the thought of being helpless to Royce in that manner. “I didn’t know you were into the kinky shit, Royce.”
He let out a choked laugh, some of the anger draining from his face. “God, pauper, you know how to turn me on.”
I wanted to kiss him. I wanted to hold him close and never let him go.
I wanted to ask him if he loved me.
Yet I did none of those things, waiting until he pulled away and exited the alcove, leaving me alone. I wasn’t going to survive this onslaught with the kings.
It wasn’t just Isauros I had to be worried about.
It was the damn kings that were far more dangerous than she ever could be.
Chapter 11
Max
I twirled the pen in my hand as I studied the blank paper before me, knowing that I had to put some words down to get any credit for the assignment. It was on politics, one of my least favorite subjects, though if I put my mind to it, I could write a damn book on the subject.
Including how to get yourself removed from it.
The door opened and I placed the pen on the table, sitting back in the chair as Royce approached. I had been waiting for this meeting, knowing that he wasn’t going to be happy about the stunt that Anna and I had cooked up with Johanna.
He couldn’t see it, but I sure as hell did and I felt sorry for my fellow king. “What were you thinking?” he asked, pressing his palms to the table as he glared at me. “That’s her fucking life you are playing with.”
“I’m not playing with anything,” I answered, smirking. “It was her decision, Royce, not mine.”
“But you could have stopped her!” he exploded. “That bitch is going to kill her, Max, and you don’t fucking care.”
I leaned forward, anger radiating out of my body. “Don’t tell me that I don’t care. At least I helped her do something about it while you and Arthur did nothing. Did you really think that Isauros was just going to let you keep protecting her like that and never go after her? You both are fucking fools if you thought you could protect her.”
Royce swore and pushed away from the table. “Now you’ve put a bull’s-eye on her back, dude, and if something happens to her, I will hold you personally responsible.”
I wasn’t about to tell him that I would hold myself responsible, figuring he wasn’t in the right frame of mind to know that I cared for her too. “Do that,” I said instead.
Royce clenched his jaw, glaring at me. “What is the plan now?”
“Why don’t you ask Anna?”
Another clench. “She won’t tell me.”
Good girl. “We sit back and wait for the fallout.” The rumors were already swirling around the academy and I had paid every contact I could think of to keep an ear open on the outside about the incident. Hell, I had even fed a few newspapers the story, under a guise, of course. Soon, everyone in the world would know that a royal kid almost died under Isauros’ watch and then we could really sit back and watch the shitshow.