Revenge On Ice

Chapter 4

Silas

Present day.

The healer's room smelled like herbs and blood.

I stood in the corner with my arms crossed, watching the girl who had just collapsed in the hallway like a dying animal. She'd been crying and shaking, so weak that she couldn't even stand.

Now she was sitting upright on the bed, looking nothing like before.

I didn't say anything at first. I just watched her adjust the blanket over her lap like she was settling in for tea.

"You're fine," I said finally.

It wasn't a question.

Lyra looked up at me. "I am. I've survived worse."

Annoyance flared almost instantly and I would never acknowledge the curiosity underneath that came up with it.

I stepped closer. "So you faked it?"

"I didn't fake anything." She smoothed her hair back. "The rejection hurt. I just..." She shrugged. "I know how to deal with the pain."

"Interesting." I circled the bed slowly. "Because five minutes ago, you were on the floor with blood coming out of your mouth. And now you're sitting here like nothing happened."

"I'm resilient."

I stared at her for a long moment. The girl everyone talked about was a joke. A weak omega with no wolf. A desperate fool who chased Darian like a lost puppy.

This girl was not that. This girl who had predicted that my team would get back into the Annual wolfpuck games correctly. I had been stunned when Coach called me to his office to tell me. I had immediately set out to find the girl who had looked at me with no fear behind her eyes, only to find her bleeding in front that arrogant bastard, Darian.

She was my ticket in seeing Sophie again so there was no way I was going let her go. Which was why I had stepped in.

"Tell me about the Black Rose," I said.

Lyra's expression didn't change. "No."

"Excuse me?"

"I said no." She met my eyes. "I'm not going to sit here and let you interrogate me. If you want information, you're going to have to give me something first."

I felt my shadows stir beneath my skin. I could force her. I'd done worse to people who'd crossed me. But something told me this girl wouldn't break that easily.

"You don't know what you're talking about," I said slowly. "The Black Rose isn't something you play with."

"I know exactly what it is." Lyra tilted her head. "I know you go there to meet the woman who helps you send letters to Sophie. I know your father banned Sophie's entire family from the kingdom. I know if anyone finds out you're still in contact with her..."

I moved before I could stop myself.

My hand shot out and grabbed her throat.

"Finish that sentence," I whispered. "I dare you."

Lyra's pulse hammered against my palm. I could feel it. But her eyes stayed steady.

"If you kill me," she said softly, "everyone will know. I've already written everything down. Set up letters and people who will send them if I don't check in."

I could tell she was lying. But I couldn't prove it so I slowly released her.

"You're blackmailing me," I said flatly.

Lyra rubbed her throat. "I'm making a deal. There's a difference."

"Not really."

"Let me explain." She leaned forward. "I don't want to destroy you. I don't want to hurt your precious Sophie. I don't care about your secrets. I only need one thing from you."

"And what's that?"

"Your name." She held my gaze. "I need to be engaged to you."

I scoffed. "You're insane."

"Probably." She didn't smile. "But I'm also your only option. Without me, the Black Rose stays a secret. With me..." She spread her hands. "You get exactly what you want. I disappear from your life. You go back to Sophie. We end the engagement when I'm done."

"And what exactly are you done with?"

Lyra looked away. For just a second, something flickered across her face and I couldn't recognize it.

"That's my business," she said quietly.

I studied her. I noticed the way her fingers gripped the blanket, her jaw tightened and her voice had gone flat, like she was hiding something beneath the surface.

"What happened to you?" I asked suddenly.

Lyra looked up. "What do you mean?"

"Everyone thinks you're weak. Everyone thinks you're desperate and foolish. But you're not." I walked closer. "So what happened to the real Lyra?"

She stared at me for a long moment. Then she smiled, and it didn't reach her eyes.

"I grew up," she said.

---

I left the school's clinic in a dark mood.

I needed space to think. This girl had walked into my life with a secret she shouldn't know and an offer I couldn't refuse. Every instinct told me to walk away.

But I knew my father.

The King didn't forgive or forget. He punished. And if he ever found out that I had been keeping in touch with Sophie....I don't even want to think about it.

I turned down a side corridor and froze.

Sapphire was resting on a wall with her arms folded. She looked like she had been waiting for me. Remembering our fight last night, I clenched my fist and tried to walk past my twin.

"I heard a rumor this morning?"

I ignored her and kept walking.

"I can't believe you would stoop so low to be engaged with an omega brat."

I stopped, "It's none of your buisness."

Sapphire raised an eyebrow, "It's not? Last I remembered you are my twin."

I turned to face her, letting my shadows curl at my feet. "Careful, sister. People might think you actually care about my love life."

Sapphire pushed off the wall, her movements fluid and predatory. She had the same silver eyes and the same dark hair like our father and me.

We could have been reflections of each other, if we weren't so determined to be opposites.

"I don't care," she said, stepping closer and I could see the pet shadow owl on her shoulder. "I care about the fact that you're making a fool of our family. An omega with no wolf? Father will have your head."

"He already wants my head." I shrugged, forcing nonchalance. "What's one more reason?"

Sapphire's lip curled. "You're pathetic, you know that? Chasing after that girl like a lovesick puppy. And now this...this nobody. You'll take anyone who looks at you twice."

"At least I'm not desperate enough to seduce every prince in the neighboring kingdoms." I tilted my head, letting my voice drop to something cold and cutting. "How many are you up to now? Three? Four? Or did you lose count?"

Her eyes flashed. I saw her hand twitch at her side, the familiar tell that she was about to strike. She'd always been quicker to anger than me. More impulsive. It was the crack in her armor that I'd learned to exploit since we were children.

"I'm securing alliances," she hissed. "Something you wouldn't understand because you're too busy playing at love like some..."

"Like some what?" I interrupted. "Like a normal person? Gods forbid, Sapphire. The horror."

She laughed, but there was no humor in it. "Normal people don't survive in this family. And you know what Father's going to do when he realizes you're still writing to Sophie? He'll destroy her. He'll destroy her entire bloodline. And he'll make you watch."

I felt my shadows surge before I could control them. They whipped around my ankles like living things, hungry and dark and her shadow panther materialized in instinct to protect its master.

"Don't," I said quietly. "Don't talk about her."

"Hit a nerve, did I?" Sapphire smiled, sharp and satisfied.

I stared at her for a moment before forcing my shadows back beneath my skin.

“You're enjoying this too much.”

“Maybe I am.”

I turned away from her.

“Where are you going?”

“To find Lyra.”

Sapphire's smile disappeared.

“You're actually taking this engagement seriously?”

I stopped. "Yes.”

The lie came easily.

Lyra had predicted the Wolfpuck Games, she knew about Sophie and somehow she had known about the Black Rose.

She was no ordinary girl, she could be my weapon in bringing my father down. I made my way back toward the healer's room, only to find the bed empty.

My eyes narrowed.

“Where is she?”

The healer looked up from her desk. “She left a few minutes ago.”

“Did she say where she was going?”

The healer shook her head.

I clenched my jaw.

Then my phone buzzed and I opened it to see a text from the said girl.

Don't worry, Prince Silas.

I'll see you at my birthday party.

My eyes narrowed.

Then I read the final line.

We have a lot to discuss.

I stared at the text. When did she get my phone number?

Had I made a mistake by agreeing to play her gam

Because suddenly, I wasn't sure who was playing whom. I had agreed to this facade because she could be useful.

But now, I had a feeling Lyra Hale knew exactly how this game would end.