Death Game: Supernatural Battle (Vampire Towers #3) - Kelly St. Clare Page 0,65

strength and speed. They absorbed all of it.

I watched as their expression turned from confusion to shock to horror and disgust.

My grandmother’s six friends focused on me.

I deserved everything they were thinking and feeling. As surely as I’d played Kyros, I’d played these people too. King Julius was right when he titled me arrogant human. Even if my intentions were sound, I’d handled everything like a fool.

No wonder they questioned my loyalty.

I had no idea who I was loyal to anymore. Because how could I want to help both sides at the same time?

The risk for this group to trust me was too high. They were businesspeople well and truly, and I’d become the bad investment.

I’m so sorry, Grandmother.

What a train wreck. Twenty-seven years of sacrifice down the drain in a matter of weeks. All because I’d taken over.

Crack.

Dame Burke gasped, and I dropped my gaze to the edge of the table. Chips of wood came away as I removed my hands.

“You’re one of them,” Mr Dithis whispered.

But I wasn’t.

And I wasn’t human either. Not anymore.

I swallowed hard and dropped my eyes.

Leaving the files, I retrieved the book that had toppled from Dame Burke’s hands.

And left.

17

Tommy plonked down in the seat opposite me.

I stared across the desk at her.

“Snap out of it,” she said.

Returning my attention to my computer screen, I resumed typing the email. The great thing about owning international companies is emails came through at all hours of the day, so there was always work to do.

I had no idea what the time was. I didn’t want to know.

“It’s been five days, Basi. You feel like shit, and I get that. But I feel like shit at the moment, so you can’t.”

I cocked a brow, signing off on the latest email before sending it. “You’re miserable, and so I can’t be?”

“Correct. I claimed it before whatever fight you clearly had with Kyros.”

Fight. “That doesn’t quite do it justice,” I said sarcastically.

“Talk.”

If I was going to talk to anyone, it would be Tommy. That I didn’t want to, told me just how much I needed to. “To save you, I made a deal.”

Her eyes darted. “A deal with Clan Fyrlia?”

Focusing on Tom Hanks’s autobiography, I inclined my head.

“To save me?”

I nodded again.

“Making a deal with Fyrlia when you’re sexing Sundulus is a big no-no, I’m assuming,” she said, tapping her lip. “Kyros found out about it.”

His entire family. “Big time.”

Tommy stood, pacing. “Was the deal you made win or lose Ingenium stuff?”

I levelled her with a steady look.

She sank back into the seat. “Fark, Basil.”

Fark, indeed.

Her mouth set. “They can’t end the game before you win though. How do we even things up again?”

I loved my best friend. “That’s what I’ve been trying to do for the last few weeks.”

“I see.” She tapped her mouth.

She did?

“Then I revert to my original statement,” she said, bounding up again. “Snap out of it.”

I was trying. I just felt so damn lonely. And angry. And full of regret.

Blood bond aside, Kyros had occupied a space inside of me. When he was butting his nose into my life each day, I hadn’t realised just how large that chunk was.

The void now was big.

Really big.

Tommy yanked on my hair.

“Ow!” I shot her a glare.

“Listen good, Basil,” she said, hunkering down. “You made that choice to save me, and I’ll never be able to repay that, so as a poor substitute, you’re about to receive the pep talk to end all pep talks.”

Oh, brother.

“How long until Sundulus loses?” she pressed.

Thirteen days if the forecast for the end cascade proved correct. Focusing on the pay schedule for my Churchill team—who I hadn’t contacted all week—I muttered, “Nearly two weeks.”

She brought both hands down on my knees, and I jumped.

“Then you still have time. There’s time to win him back even if you can’t win the game.”

I frowned. Win him back? “Do you even like Kyros?”

“No. But I hated him before, so total dislike is a leap in the right direction. I think I could barely tolerate him given ample time.”

Okay.

“The point is,” she said, sighing, “that you’re legit miserable without him, and he cares for you enough to get your best friend back. From what I’ve read in that mating rituals book, this is a permanent kind of deal.”

We could still be apart though—as torturous as that was. The pain in my chest from our separation surged each day. I’d considered standing outside the tower to see if the pain would dissipate, but Kyros would feel