God of Malice (Legacy of Gods #1) by Rina Kent

And yes, I totally lied earlier. The dark, unhinged side of Killian terrifies the fuck out of me.

Still, I manage to say, “We don’t have anything. We’re not in a relationship.”

He lifts a shoulder. “Whether it’s a relationship or not means jack shit to me. That label holds no importance.”

“Then what does?”

“The fact that you’re mine.”

“I’m n—” The word dies in my throat when he suddenly blocks my path, his eyes shining with venomous intent.

He slowly shakes his head. “Don’t finish that word unless you’re in the mood to anger me.”

I swallow the drool that gathered in my mouth, but my chin remains high. “You can’t force me to become yours.”

“Watch me.”

“I’ll fight every step of the way.”

“By all means. It’d make the end result sweeter.”

“I hate you.”

“Let me search for the fucks I have to give.” He pretends to study his surroundings. “See? None.”

I push past him and stomp for a while before I force myself to remain calm and walk normally.

Killian fucking Carson catches up to me—of course—and casually asks, “Why are you in a hurry? Shouldn’t you enjoy our second date?”

“Second what?”

“Date. It could be considered the third, but I have a feeling you don’t think of that first meeting on the cliff as a date.”

“No shit.”

“So that makes the firefly lake our first date and this one our second.”

“A date happens in a restaurant or a fun place where I wouldn’t feel on the edge every second.”

“Aren’t those the type of dates boring couples who have to fake orgasms for each other go to? Besides, you had fun both times. Don’t attempt denying it.”

“Oh yeah, being threatened all the time is so fun.”

“I wouldn’t have to if you weren’t acting difficult, so maybe you’re the one who’s blocking yourself from having fun.”

“I can’t believe this. So it’s my fault now?”

“I didn’t say that.” He grins. “You did.”

The audacity of this bastard is seriously out of this world. Just when I’m thinking about the best insult to come up with, we reach a clearing. A vast piece of land covered by grass comes into view and in the distance sits a small building.

The security building that if we reach, we win.

Killian doesn’t seem focused on that, and I suppress the feeling of desperation as we continue walking at a steady pace.

I’m pretty sure he can smell any change of emotions like some human dog. Just because he doesn’t feel emotions like the rest of us doesn’t mean he can’t recognize them or even understand them.

If there’s anything I’ve learned about Killian, it’s the fact that he’s a well-adjusted psychopath. He has immense impulse control, and is calculative to a fault.

There may have been a time in his past where he lost that control like Lan sometimes does, but they can both adapt so well to the circumstances and fuse themselves within society as if they belong.

And the more they live, the harder it is to reach inside their sturdy bubble. It’s more impossible to make them lose control once they’ve mastered it.

Since they’re constantly in control, they observe everything. Killian might seem detached, but he has hawk-like observational skills. Nothing escapes him.

So I try my best to remain nonchalant and tune out the sound of eliminated numbers being announced all around us.

“Who owns this place?” I ask, and do one heck of a job of sounding normal.

“We all do. It’s a gift from campus because our parents donate a shitload of money to the institution.”

“I assume the ‘we’ are you, Jeremy, Nikolai, and Gareth?”

“Correct.”

“Who’s the one behind the fifth mask?”

“No one you should concern yourself with.”

“Do you always dance around the subject when you don’t want to answer the question?”

“Maybe.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Life isn’t fair, why should I be?”

I steal a peek at the building in front of us. Two meters. No, probably one and a half.

Killian stops, but I pretend not to noticed and continue ahead. Yes, the members of the group are monstrous, judging by what I witnessed today, but I’m done being scared and hiding.

If I’m in their inner circle, I’ll be able to figure out what happened to Devlin and—

Something touches my shoulder and I freeze as the speaker echoes around us, “Number sixty-nine eliminated.”

I swing back to stare at Killian, who just tapped me with his bat.

“You think I haven’t figured out what you’re up to, little rabbit?”

“Why…you…you…”

“Deep breaths.” The amusement in his voice pisses me the hell off. “That’s it. We don’t want you to somehow have a stroke when you’re this young.”

“Why have you waited until now to eliminate me?”

He lifts a shoulder. “It was fun watching you trying to distract me and acting like an amateur in a B-class spy movie. You should look at your adorable face.” He retrieves his phone from his pocket and snaps a picture. “Now, I’ll keep this expression with me forever.”