BLUE BLOOD

11 | he's using you

I was starting to wish I wasn't wearing his hoodie. "You wouldn't ever find out."

"I would if I wanted to," he paused, thoughtful. "If you wanted me to."

I lifted an eyebrow at him, wondering if he was flirting with me. "What do you really want from me, Avery?"

"I'm afraid I don't understand," he replied smoothly, as if I wouldn't be able to tell it was a lie.

If there was anything Avery Dragomir was good at, it was solving a riddle. And if he was the sort of person who would do anything to solve one. I knew that if Avery was sparing any attention to me, it was either because I was the riddle, or I could help him solve it.

That was why he was here. He wanted something from me.

Damn him too.

Instead of calling him out, I closed my eyes. A moment later, I asked, "Is it a betrayal if you expect it?"

What I was really asking was when would he turn on me? When will he dig a secret of mine and use it? When will he decide I was no longer useful?

We both liked to play the long game, that was clear, but the question remained.

Between the both of us, who could play longer?

A sharp laugh drew out of him. "You could care less about a betrayal. I have only ever been a means to an end for you."

I shrugged lightly. "It isn't a betrayal if it goes both ways."

Avery's knuckles were white. "And a betrayal would imply there was ever any trust."

That made me stare at him before a slow smile spread on my face. "I'm afraid, Avery, I don't understand."

But I did.

It didn't matter that we had a deal. It didn't matter how many stories of my life I told him, ones I never told anyone.

The reality was, he didn't trust me. I didn't trust him either. He knew I had too many secrets and I knew he did too.

"I have a riddle," Avery said. I had expected him to leave me, as they all do, but for some inexplicit reason, he stayed here with me.

"Don't you always?" I responded, just as I had before.

"Why is hate stronger than love?" Avery asked, a lilt in his voice but his eyes were stormy.

The question took me by surprised because it wasn't really a riddle. Still, I thought about that for a long moment before giving him the answer. Avery clearly wanted it. Needed it. "Because years of love can be forgotten in a minute of hatred."

A genuine smile played at his lips, one I caught myself staring at longer than I should. "Sometimes, Vesper, two seemingly very different people are the exact same."

He left after that, most likely to get a drink.

Gloria trailed after him.

"You couldn't stay away, could you?" It was Kalina, who took his seat after a while. She broke me away from my thoughts and I couldn't help but flinch at her presence. "None of them do, not when it's Avery Dragomir."

She died.

I wanted to scoff but then remembered I had a game to play. "What do you mean?"

Kalina smiled like she knew something I didn't. I was struck by how beautiful she really was, with her almond eyes and long glossy hair. This was a girl every guy wanted. Yet under all of that, there was the girl who warned me of them.