Page 17 of Villainous Rise

I’d managed three whole months without really seeing him.

Oh, I’d glimpsed him in passing. A blur on a news headline I quickly scrolled past, a shadow in my peripheral vision when Havoc reviewed fight footage. But I’d perfected the art of not truly looking, of letting my eyes slide over his image without registering the details.

Now, there was nowhere to hide. His presence consumed the arena, larger than life on every screen. The crowd’s roar faded to a distant hum as my focus narrowed to the curve of his lips, pulled into that confident smirk I knew so well.

My chest tightened painfully and memories flooded back. His voice in my ear, his hands on my skin.

Then the betrayal, the lies, the moment I realized he’d used me as a pawn in his game.

“Annie?” Dawn’s voice seemed to come from miles away. “Do you know him?”

I couldn’t answer. The cameras lingered on Cipher as he made his way toward the private boxes.

Toward our section.

The part of me that had been painstakingly rebuilding my life these past months, screamed to look away, to excuse myself to the restroom, to do anything but sit here and wait for him to enter the box next to ours. That part reminded me of sleepless nights and tear-stained pillows.

But another part, the traitor living in my chest, leaned forward imperceptibly, hungry for the sight of him. That part wanted him to look up, to see me, to cross the distance between us. That part remembered his laughter, his touch, the safety I’d felt in his arms before everything shattered.

I hated that part of myself almost as much as I tried to hate him.

My hands trembled slightly in my lap and I curled them into fists, nails digging into my palms, using the small pain to try to focus. I hadn’t prepared for this. All my careful avoidance, all my indifference, was useless in the face of his actual presence.

“Why is everyone so excited about him?” Dawn asked. “Isn’t he just watching like us?”

Hunter cleared his throat. “When someone of his rank shows up, it’s a big deal. Elevates the whole event.”

“Wait!” Dawn’s eyes widened. “I do know him! He’s Havoc’s new Nemesis, right? The one all over the news?” She laughed, the sound light and carefree. “Look at me, actually knowing something about Supers for once.”

I forced my mouth into what I hoped resembled a smile.

“So you do know him!” Dawn nudged me with her elbow, oblivious to my internal meltdown.

“Not really,” I managed. “We don’t interact much.”

Don’t interact much. Right. Just shared his bed, his secrets, fell for his lies, had my heart shattered by his betrayal. But sure, we barely interacted.

I wanted to sink through the floor. Seemed like a reasonable alternative to sitting here, waiting for him to walk through that door and notice me pretending I didn’t care that he existed.

And then there he was, walking into the box. In person. My heart stuttered painfully as he stepped inside.

“Oh my god, he’s right there!” Dawn whispered, gripping my arm. “Annie, you should go say hi!”

“Absolutely not.” The words shot out of me with such vehemence that both Dawn and Hunter stared. I cleared my throat. “I mean, that’s not how it works. I’m a Keeper, Dawn. No one notices Keepers. That’s kind of the point. We’re background noise.”

Dawn’s eyebrows knitted together. “But you work with Havoc. Surely he’d know who you are.”

“He wouldn’t even recognize me.” I forced a dismissive shrug. “I’m just another face in a suit to someone like him.”

Please drop it. Please drop it.

Please.

Drop.

It.

I kept my eyes fixed on the arena below, watching the technical crew make final adjustments. Every cell in my body screamed to look over, to see if he’d noticed me.