Page 50 of Cruel Games

I picked up my pace and readied my fist.

As soon as he grabbed my arm, I whirled around and hit him in the face.

“Ouch!” His head snapped back, and he cupped his nose with both hands. Hopefully, I had made it bleed.

“Why?”

I shoved him hard in his chest, but he didn’t flinch. “Thanks for walking me into an ambush. Now that you’ve got what you want, you can bugger off back to Elizabeth!”

Chapter 18

I left Kendrick cupping his hopefully broken nose, watching me with disbelief shimmering in his gray eyes. My feet pounded the gravel with each step. I stormed through the archway in the hedges, too furious to cringe at the distant sound of barking.

A juniper-scented breeze swirled through my hair, cooling my temper a few degrees. It had been stupid of me to have believed Kendrick was different from his brother and best friend. Dumb of me to have thought his offer of friendship wasn’t another way to ingratiate himself with Elizabeth.

“What’s so special about her?” I snarled.

The moment those words slipped my mouth, I regretted them. I never compared myself to other girls. Ever.

But since joining Templar Academy, I got the vibe that Elizabeth saw me as competition, even though we were completely different people. Sure, we were both petite and blonde, but that was it.

She was the princess in the tower, and I was more like the bawdy tavern wench. She was honey-blonde, a shade lighter than my natural dirty blonde, and I’d dyed mine platinum.

“Lilah,” said a voice from behind. “Please, wait.”

“Fuck off.”

“I’m sorry.”

The word was like a struck match, reigniting my fury. What kind of twit did he take me for? A forgiving one?

I turned around with my fists balled, ready to lay into him again. Kendrick’s nose was swollen, and he’d stuffed balled-up tissue in his left nostril. The irritating part of it was that instead of looking ridiculous, it just made him look rugged and fresh from a fight.

“What are you sorry for?” I placed my hands on my hips.

“For not predicting that Father Neapolitan’s sermon would skim recent revelations.”

I reared back, not quite believing my ears. “Like Neo from the Matrix?”

His face broke into the most heartbreaking smile of dazzling white teeth. What a pity he was such a dick underneath all that masculine beauty. “He’s rather taken the character to heart, don’t you think?”

“Don’t change the subject,” I snapped, feeling a little hypocritical for bringing up the Matrix first.

Kendrick’s face dropped. “Right.” He gave his swollen nose a tentative pat with his fingers. “You have to believe me. I didn’t bring you to church to be embarrassed—”

“Humiliated.”

“Yes.” He dipped his head. “It wasn’t my intention to bring you there to be humiliated. Father Neapolitan clings onto old testament beliefs and can be very judgmental. When I invited you, I hadn’t predicted he would base his sermon on your mother’s fall from grace.”

I rolled my eyes. Talk about putting women on pedestals. If every unmarried mother fell from grace, Richley High Street would be littered with corpses.

“Why do you even go there?” I asked.

He shrugged. “It’s the nearest church to the academy, and everyone attends. I’m apologizing because I might have guessed he would use Elizabeth’s announcement as a topic. It was hurtful and insensitive and something you didn’t need to hear.”

“How do I know you and Elizabeth didn’t plan this together?”

The sound of barking became louder as though the dogs had broken free. Cringing, I shot a nervous glance at the kennel building on the left. It was time to leave this patch of land. Without waiting for Kendrick’s reply, I continued toward the next wall of hedges.