chapter 5
“Sienna.”
A warm hand covered mine.
The tension slid out of my shoulders like it had been waiting for permission to leave. I looked up to see Roman watching me with that obsessive, terrified devotion he reserved only for me—scanning my face, checking for any sign that Sadie’s existence had upset me.
“I’m fine,” I whispered, turning my hand to lace our fingers together. “You didn’t have to throw the book.”
“It was dirty,” he muttered, already wiping his hand with a sanitizer wipe from his pocket. “Everything she says is dirty. It pollutes the air around you.”
“Ignore her,” I said softly. “She’s just confused.”
“She’s a pest,” Roman said, voice dropping into that dangerous register. “Pests get removed.”
I squeezed his hand again. “Not yet.”
His eyes flicked to mine.
“Let’s see what she does next,” I added.
The prep school’s annual winter retreat was held at Falcon Ski Lodge—a massive timber-and-glass structure tucked into the Colorado mountains, all warm lights and snowy silence. It was supposed to be a week of skiing and hot cocoa.
For Sadie, it was the next level of her “game.”
On the bus ride up, she stared at the back of Roman’s head like she could will him to turn around. A translucent screen hovered in front of her—something only she, and apparently I, could see.
Mission: Snowed-In Trope.
Objective: Isolate the target in a remote location.
Reward: five hundred conquest points.
I leaned my head on Roman’s shoulder, pretending to sleep.
But my mind stayed sharp.
If she wanted to isolate him, she’d have to separate us.
And with Roman… that wasn’t a game.
The first two days were quiet. Roman refused to ski because he hated rental equipment and “other people’s germs,” so we stayed in the VIP lounge watching snow drift past the windows like a slow-motion movie.
On the third day, a blizzard hit. Teachers ordered everyone indoors. The power flickered once, twice, like the lodge was struggling to stay awake.
“I’m going to get some water,” I told Roman.
He stood up instantly to follow.
I pressed a hand to his chest. “Stay. I’ll be right back. It’s just down the hall.”
He hesitated, eyes dark.
“Two minutes,” he said finally, sitting back down like it hurt him. “If you’re not back, I’m tearing this place apart.”