Nova Pov-
"Don't tell me," he drawled, "our perfect little Damien Blackwood is actually jealous?"
Damien's jaw tightened, his silence louder than any denial.
Kieran's grin widened. "Didn't think you cared, Damien. You usually treat women like chess pieces, not…" He gestured lazily to me, eyes flicking over my body in a way that made my pulse spike. "…whatever this is."
I stepped forward before Damien could answer, planting myself between them.
"Enough. I'm not a toy for either of you to play with."
That only seemed to entertain Kieran more. He tilted his head, his voice dropping into something lower, more dangerous, even as he kept that damned smile.
"Feisty. as always"Kieran smirked.
Damien growled low in his chest, the sound rumbling through the air like thunder. "She's not your type, Kieran."
"Oh?" Kieran's golden eyes glittered, landing on me. "I'll decide that for myself." He extended his hand, smirk tugging wider. "Dance with me, Sinclair. Damien doesn't mind. He just said so."
My stomach twisted. I should've expected this. He wasn't asking — he was baiting. Not just me, but Damien too.
"No," I bit out, brushing past both of them toward the party doors.
Behind me, I heard Kieran's laugh, smooth and mocking. But for one heartbeat, before he covered it up with that smirk again, I swore his eyes flashed with something else. Something genuine. Something dangerous.
The noise of the party slammed into me as I stepped back inside. Students were laughing, drinking, showing off their powers in harmless little sparks of flame or flickers of light. Serena's eyes cut to me from across the room, smug and satisfied that she'd witnessed my humiliation.
And then — the microphone squealed. The principal's voice boomed out over the speakers.
"Attention, students. It's time to uphold tradition. As always, we welcome our new blood with the Trial Game."
A hush fell. My stomach dropped. Tessa squealed in excitement somewhere behind me.
The principal smiled. "This year's game: Hunt or Be Hunted. Pairs will be chosen at random. Survive thirty minutes in the enchanted forest against your peers. Hunters must tag their prey. Prey must outlast the hunt. Fail… and the punishment will be decided."
Gasps, cheers, nervous whispers. My name was called. And with it… Kieran's.
The crowd erupted.
I turned, my heart hammering, and found him already looking at me. That smirk on his lips — but his eyes? They burned with something deeper. Something that told me he wasn't going to let me go, not tonight.
And just beyond him, Damien stood in the shadows, watching. Silent. Fury in his gaze, thunder in his stance.
The crowd's cheer felt like it was aimed at me, sharp as knives.
Of course. Because the universe clearly hated me.
Kieran walked back into the room, coming to stand a few meters beside me.
Kieran smirked wider, clearly enjoying every second of this. He stepped closer, like the pairing had already been sealed in blood.
"Looks like fate has a sense of humor, Sinclair," he murmured, loud enough for only me to hear.
My chest tightened. Not from excitement — definitely not — but from sheer dread. Of all people… Kieran. The golden king. The smug bastard who never took anything seriously.
But at least it wasn't Damien.
My eyes flicked to the corner where he still stood, half-hidden in the shadows, watching. Cold. Silent. Unreadable. If looks could kill, Kieran would already be ash on the marble floor.
Not that it mattered. Damien Blackwood didn't watch me because he cared — he watched me because he wanted to remind me that I didn't belong here. He always had. From the very first day, he'd made it his mission to make my life at Noctis Dominium a nightmare. The perfect prince with the perfect glare, breathing down my neck, waiting for me to slip so he could tear me apart.
If he was glaring now, it wasn't jealousy. It was hate. That had to be it.
Kieran leaned in, his golden eyes dancing like molten fire. "You look pale, Sinclair. Don't tell me you're scared of a little game."
"I don't scare easy," I shot back, forcing my chin up even though my stomach was twisting itself in knots.
He laughed softly, the sound smooth, sliding under my skin like silk and poison all at once. "Good. I'd hate for you to bore me."
The crowd buzzed as more names were called. My pulse thundered in my ears. Kieran was still watching me, that damn smirk daring me to flinch. And Damien—damn him—was still there too, his eyes storming over me, burning with something I couldn't place.
But I told myself it was hate. Nothing else. It had to be.
The principal's voice carried over the buzz of students, crisp and commanding.
"This year's game will follow the Capture the Flag tradition. Each pair will consist of one senior and one junior. The rules are simple—" Her eyes gleamed as though nothing about this was simple. "—work together, or fail together. The team who claims the flag first will earn a reward. What that reward is… will remain a mystery for now."
Gasps, whispers, and nervous laughs rippled through the crowd. Students shifted on their feet, some excited, others pale with nerves.
My chest tightened. Capture the Flag meant strategy, meant trust. I had neither—not with Kieran. Not with his lazy smirk, not with the golden fire in his eyes that told me he thought this was a game he'd already won.
The principal began calling more names. One by one, pairs were formed. Excitement, complaints, laughter—it all blurred together until the next set of names dropped like a bomb in my stomach.
"Serena Sinclair."
My head snapped up. My stepsister rose gracefully from the crowd, her smile sharp, confident, smug. I knew that look. Serena loved attention, and she had just gotten it.
Her partner's name followed, and my pulse froze solid.
"Damien Blackwood."
The room erupted with gasps, cheers, a few jealous groans from the girls. Serena's face lit up like she'd just been handed her crown.
Mine… I couldn't breathe.
Of course it had to be him. The Alpha heir. The cold-eyed demon prince of Blackwood. My family's sworn enemy Blackwood. My personal nightmare.
And now—my stepsister's partner.
Serena's gaze flicked across the room, landing on me with cruel satisfaction before sliding back to Damien, who hadn't moved. He stood still, unreadable, but his presence alone seemed to darken the air.
I told myself it didn't matter. That Serena could handle herself. That I didn't care what Damien thought of me, or what games he wanted to play.
But deep down, I knew the truth.
This just got dangerous.