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Chapter 43
~Storm’s POV~
My power surged again, heat rolling off like a wildfire I refused to cage.
Kael cleared his throat and asked carefully, "So... what are we going to do?"
Tyrion folded his arms. "We need to handle Lilith. If left uncheck, she will beco another tickling ti bomb.."
"She’ll cheat," Kael added. "She always does."
I nodded. "Then I’ll make sure she doesn’t."
Jace turned sharply. "No."
We all stared at him like we were seeing a monster of so sort. "No?" I echoed.
"You can’t interfere," Jace said. "Not directly. If Spring finds out, she’ll pull away."
"She’ll lose!" Kael growled.
Jace raised a brow. "Or she’ll win. But it has to be her victory. You know that."
I dragged a hand through my hair. The room felt like it was caving in. Like the walls were too close and everything inside wanted to explode.
Then I saw it on the screen as Spring extending her hand and Lilith’ took her hand.
"Deal," she said, sealing her own fate.
That was it.
I stepped forward, voice low and deadly. "There’s nothing to wait for."
Kael tensed. "Storm—"
"We’re entering the Gas."
Tyrion’s eyes widened. "You an..."
"All of us," I confird. "You heard Lililth before. Only as players can we get close enough to expose Lilith and keep her from cheating."
"And what if she twists the system again?" Jace asked. "She is the system, rember?."
I turned slowly, eting his eyes. "Then we break it."
The four of us stared at the monitor—at her, Spring Kaine gambling everything away stupidly and smiling like she was born to tear empires apart.
"I don’t care what rules we have to break," I said coldly. "She’s not walking away from us. Not now. Not ever."
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~Spring’s POV~
The cafeteria buzzed with the usual lunchti noise only that this ti its sound was worse, more trays clattering, chatter bouncing off every surface.
It all felt different in a not so weird way.
The glances thrown my way were no longer laced with suspicion or ridicule.
Today, they were laced with awe, fear or maybe both.
I stood in line with Nari, Chloe, and Eva, waiting for our turn at the snack station. The scent of cheesy breadsticks and spiced dumplings filled the air, almost enough to ease the tightness in my chest.
Almost.
Nari nudged with her elbow. "You know you’re basically a legend now, right?"
I gave her a side glance.
"I an it," she grinned, grabbing a paper plate. "You didn’t just beat Madelyn. You exposed her, humiliated her, and then challenged the freakin’ Vice President in the sa breath. Who does that?"
"Apparently I do," I muttered, though I wasn’t even trying to be smug. I still felt that pinch of weight behind my eyes. The kind that ca after too much adrenaline.
Chloe joined in, placing a soft muffin on her tray. "The way you flipped the stakes on Lilith? I swear the whole room forgot how to breathe."
Eva, still holding onto her juice like it was a lifeline, whispered, "And when you said I could be her master... I thought I was dreaming."
I looked at her then. Really looked. And she didn’t seem like the timid girl from before. She stood straighter. Smiled more easily. Her hands weren’t trembling anymore.
"Good," I said simply, taking a chicken puff from the tray. "It was ant for you."
Eva flushed, blinking fast. "Thank you, Spring. Really."
The girls bead. It should’ve felt like a victory lap. But in truth, I was just trying to get through the day without collapsing from the weight of what ca next.
Gas. Bets. Lilith. Mates.
Oh, my mates.
I had just taken a bite from my snack when a sudden hush fell across the aisle behind us.
And then I felt it. Storm’s aura.
Before I could turn, a large, warm hand wrapped gently but firmly around my wrist. I blinked as I was pulled backward, my body colliding against a firm chest.
"Spring."
Storm’s voice wasn’t loud, firm but not angry as though just seeing dissipated all of those pent up anger.
Startled, I turned around in his arms and looked up. As if on cue, Eva swooped in and took my snacks for .
Storm towered over , his hand still gripping mine, and his other hand slid to the curve of my jaw, tilting my face up softly.
I took a deep inhale and his scent invaded my nostrils—rain and cold wind, like the air before a storm.
It pulled a mory of standing alone in the rain as a kid, hoping it would wash everything away.
When his other hand cupped my jaw, his thumb brushed my cheek. My fingers curled into my palm—not from fear, but because I didn’t know what to do with how gentle he was being.
This wasn’t control or force, it was care which was harder to face.
For a mont the world narrowed leaving just him and I, and the sound of my racing pulse in my ears.
Storm leaned in, eyes as wildfire, and stopped just shy of my lips. His breath grazed mine—close enough to feel but far enough to ache.
"I didn’t know you were that eager to get rid of us," he murmured, "...of , mate."
My breath caught in my throat as my mory tried to make sense of what he was talking about when the thought crossed my mind.
Oh. That’s what he ant—the stakes with Lilith.
Reject your mates. Walk away. Alone.
I stared at Storm, blinking innocently like a cute kid, that always worked in my dad in my past life and apparently, it worked on Spring’s dad, years ago.
Storm’s brows drew together. I could see he was struggling, trying to maintain his angry face but he was failing.
I an, I was cute, even though Spring wasn’t all that fleshy, her statue also helped her cause right now.
"You bet us away," Storm voiced.
And then suddenly from nowhere, I laughed softly. Though it wasn’t mocking it was sad, amused and tired all at once.
"Is that how little your faith is in , Storm?"
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