“Five.”
She opens her lips to say something but promptly seals them shut and glares at me with her arms crossed over her chest.
Seems that I found the perfect method to make her keep her mouth shut.
I finish my meal in silence while she stabs her salad over and over yet barely eats anything. I suppress a smile.
Only Annika would try to make noise, even if solely through her actions.
She opens her mouth a few times, then upon remembering that she’ll add to her punishments, she seals it shut and groans softly.
I watch her struggle for a few minutes, loving the sight a bit too much, before I finally speak, “You have something to say?”
“I hate you right now.”
My jaw clenches. “Six. Next time, think before you speak.”
“I still hate you. I can’t believe I sacrificed my freedom for you last week.”
“Seven.” I tilt my head. “And what do you mean, you sacrificed your freedom?”
“Did you really think Kill, Niko, and Gaz let you leave out of the goodness of their hearts?”
I narrow my eyes. “Don’t use nicknames. They have names.”
“Oh, please. Besides, that’s not the point. It’s that they thought you burned the mansion, and you were the most likely candidate, too, considering your closeness with the Elites, so to deflect the blame, I told them you were with me all night long. Naturally, Jeremy found out and put me on house and campus arrest.”
I place the utensils and the container on the ground. When I woke up back at the Elites’ mansion, Remi was being hyper, calling me his favorite spawn and asking me not to worry him anymore.
He also said that they got a call from the Heathens to come fetch me, so I thought Nikolai realized he’d made a mistake by knocking me out and they decided to let me go. Never would I have believed that Annika had something to do with it. The good girl Annika. The ‘conflict is evil’ Annika.
No shit, I actually heard her tell Ava that exact sentence once. Conflict is evil and should be avoided at all costs.
I thought Jeremy tightened the security around her and stopped her from coming to REU’s dorm due to worrying about her safety.
Turns out, he was specifically keeping her away from me.
“Why are you only telling me this now?”
She throws a hand in the air. “I didn’t think it was important.”
“It is. Didn’t I warn you against putting yourself in danger? I could’ve dealt with your brother.”
“And when would you have done that? Before or after the Heathens beat you to a pulp?”
“Doesn’t matter. I mean it, Annika. Stop sacrificing yourself for others. No one is worth it, me included.”
“I get to decide that, not you.”
“Annika,” I warn.
“Eight? Whatever.”
“Make it a nine.”
She releases a frustrated breath, but she eyes me with that innocence again. “Did you do it?”
“Do what?”