Page 39 of Powerless

But I’m far too pissed to admire it. I draw up to my full height and whirl on my heel, eyes locking on the gray ones a few yards away.

He’s the perfect picture of innocence: hands already in his pockets, hair ruffling in the breeze, and a lazy smirk on his lips. “Good reflexes, Gray.”

That cocky son of a—

“What thehellis wrong with you?” I stomp towards Kai, closing the distance between us in a matter of seconds. “What if I didn’t duck, huh?”

He shrugs.Shrugs. “Then, I would’ve had less competition to worry about.”

“So, you’re admitting that I’m a threat to you?”

“I never said that.”

“But you implied it.”

“Don’t flatter yourself.”

My chest heaves as I hold his gaze. A single dimple makes an appearance when he looks down at me, the corner of his mouth tilted in amusement. And with that, the urge to hit him only grows.

“I knew you’d duck, Gray,” he murmurs, his lips twitching with the use of my last name. A shiver runs down my spine despite the sun beating on my back when he leans even closer to whisper something in my ear.

But I never find out what it was he wanted to say.

A prick of pain pierces my ear, and I jerk in shock. I hear the thud of a knife hitting the target behind us and look up over Kai’s shoulder to see Blair, hand outstretched. A smirk twists her red lips but her dark eyes flick between Kai and me.

I reach a hand to the shell of my ear where my fingers are quickly coated with sticky blood. She sent the knife flying into the target, but not before it left its mark on me.

She cut me. On purpose.

A muscle feathers in Kai’s jaw, the only indication of his temper. He remains hovering over me, refusing to turn towards Blair while half blocking me from her with his body.

“Territorial, are we, Blair?” I say, looking from Kai to her blazing gaze. She clearly didn’t like the fact that the prince was giving someone else attention, even if that attention was him throwing a knife at my head. Maybe she’s into that.

She ignores my question, voice smug. “Just thought I would mark my target before the Trials begin.”

And then she spins on her heel and struts away, leaving me staring after her. I swallow, feeling smaller and weaker than I ever have before. Blair’s display was a reminder of how easy it would be for any of these Elites to end my Ordinary life.

She marked me.

“You’re getting blood in your hair, darling.”

My eyes snap to Kai still looming over me, now assessing my wound with his piercing gaze. I reach up, intending to tuck the hair behind my bloody ear when his hand catches my wrist.

“Don’t,” he sighs, his calluses brushing my skin as he pulls my hand in front of my face and nods at my bloody fingers. “Unless you wish to add more blood to your hair?”

I try not to gape at him, and that only makes his grin grow. “Why are you...?”

“Being a gentleman?” he finishes for me, sighing as though he doesn’t quite know the answer himself. “Let’s just say I happen to know how difficult it is to wash blood out of hair, so I don’t envy your current situation.” His eyes wander over my stinging wound and the blood I can feel dripping from it. Then he drops my wrist before gingerly tucking hair behind my ear, muttering, “You’re making a mess, Gray.”

I blink at him, vaguely wondering if a wound this shallow made me lose enough blood to have me hallucinating. Something must be horribly wrong because the future Enforcer justgentlytucked hair behind my ear so it wouldn’t get any bloodier than it already is.

“Turn around.”

The command snaps me back to reality.

There’s that lovely future Enforcer.

His brows raise expectantly, waiting for me to obey the order. Instead, the words that fall out of my mouth are, “And why would I do that?”

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