Page 74 of Elex

“The bow,” he answered immediately.

I listened to the sound of his heart quicken.

“Lie.” I responded.

He flushed. Round one to me.

“Question two. Who is your hero?” I asked.

Vlakas looked thoughtful, his forehead wrinkling slightly as he leaned forward, one hand on his lips as he thought. I listened to his heart beating, the blood pounding in his veins. “My hero…” He paused and glanced quickly at his brother, then back to me. I thought I could guess who he was going to say, but I would have been wrong.

“My hero is Elex.” He said.

The name shot through me like lightning. Elex… Blue eyes flashed in my head… eyes that looked like Kat, but the name didn’t fit. Why did I know that name? In my confusion I almost missed the look of shock on Kat’s face as well. Apparently he’d thought that someone else would be his brother’s hero.

“Elex?” I asked, looking up at him. “Who the hell is Elex?”

“Does it matter?” he snapped back, still a little testy at being caught so easily in a lie.

“For the purpose of the test? No, it doesn’t really matter,” a half-smile pulling at the corner of my mouth. “Especially since it was true.”

I could almost hear Kat grinding his teeth. Interesting. He must not think much of this Elex.

I paused for a moment, deciding to give the kid a break.

“Question three. When did you first find out you were Mageian?” I asked.

“I was fifteen,” he responded automatically. I had expected him to provide another truth, since that was how the game rules went, but I heard the same telltale catch in his breathing and increase in his heart rate.

“Lie.” I responded, raising an eyebrow at him curiously. I saw his brother glance at him sharply. Whoa ho… looks like I wasn’t the only one he was lying to.

“Fuck,” V whispered, running his fingers through his unruly hair as he avoided his brother’s gaze.

“What’s he talking about, V?” Kat demanded, looking from his brother to me, then back again. V just shook his head, refusing to answer.

“Three down, three to go,” I said, grinning as I turned my attention back to Kat. “You ready, Kitty Kat?”

He tore his gaze away from his brother, ignoring my endearment, his expression thoughtful as he nodded at me.

“Okay. Question one,” I watched his stony gaze and decided I wanted to needle the little Mageia a bit. “How tall are you?”

“What the fuck kind of question is that?” he snapped.

I shrugged. “It’s just a question,” I said, keeping my gaze even and my face calm.

“Five five,” he grumbled.

I smiled. “Lie.”

He narrowed his eyes at me. This was going to be interesting.

“Fine. Five foot four and three quarters.” His eyes bored into me, but I couldn’t help but grin. Point to me.

“Question two. Which do you prefer, men or women?”

He blinked slowly at me, just like a cat.

“Which do I prefer for what?” he drawled, his blue eyes glinting like ice. “Lunch? Target practice?” he asked idly as I heard him try to control his breathing.