Kai Villalvazo’s Nemesis (The Kalon Tetralogy #1)

Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

FOREIGN ESCAPE — NIC DEAN (SLOWED)

? YASMINA ?

I huffed, a saturated puff of vapour escaping my lips as I did so. It was freezing cold today and I could sense a blizzard, but the show had to go on.

I wiped my snowboard gently, removing all moisture, polishing and waxing the sintered base it until it was shiny. It had some step-in bindings of my exact boot size and a stomp pad. It also had Triple Base Technology and a hard flex like the rest, but it rested at an eight out of ten in terms of the flex.

I remember the consequences of my overconfidence. The winning had gotten to me. I took the flex up a notch despite everyone’s disapproval and suffered a massive fall that had me in hospital for weeks. Hence why I was resting at eight. For now, at least.

Most of the boys’ boards rested at nine, but Kai was the only one who was a ten. No wonder he was so swift and smooth in his movements. But what scared me the most was the fact that he was a pro. He would definitely win the Championship if he ever applied.

He was so effortless and alert in his movements, it made me so fucking mad. I've spent my entire life snowboarding and working ten times harder than everyone, but he still managed to be better than me.

It pissed me the fuck off.

And the fact that he hasn’t been to practice this whole week makes me grit my teeth in irritation. Ethan and I have been working our asses off and freezing out here while he went about his life, only to come and win races during compulsory practice like we never did anything.

I hated how he took this casually. Snowboarding was such a big deal to me and he treated it like a side hustle. And still managed to excel with little to no practice.

“I don’t know, Yas. I might not be the captain this semester.” Ethan hung his head low in defeat.

We've been at the slopes since 4:00 a.m. and now it was 7:00 a.m. We were both exhausted, but satisfied with our progress. So far, we've been perfecting our rotations on the spine of the halfpipe and it was going better than expected.

I was trying not to compare myself to Kai, who rotated rapidly like an eagle on crack. His moves were extremely dangerous, but I'd get there one day. My ego would never ask him to help me, so all in due time.

“Have faith, Eth. You're still such a pro, you're still the best at the inverted seven twenty,” I tried to convince him, but he simply sighed.

“Kai can do that, too. And his rotations are so quick, I almost fear he’ll sketch from dizziness one day.” We both laugh at this. The chair lift was taking us back to the base so we could go for breakfast and lessons.

“Well, I hope he does. That would be fun to watch.” I took a sip of my water.

“I want to marry you someday, Yasmina,” he murmured, his expression so serious that I recoiled.

“Me? That’s crazy, you deserve better than me.” I shrugged with a chuckle, tracking his facial expressions.

“You are the girl of my dreams. Maybe one day, you’ll change your mind.” He gave me a sad smile before getting up from the chairlift that had descended. I shook my head, putting the thought away for a moment then headed back to my dorm.

My body ached from all the falls, spins, and turns I made during practice, but it was all part of the process.

I got back to my room and took a long, hot shower to warm my body, then dressed up in layers for the day. I had spent most of the past week studying for my econometrics test and I was hoping I had done well. I always came first or second in that class, rivalling with Austin. But now, I was rivalling with two people.

I skipped breakfast and went straight to collect my test. My shoulders slumped a little when I saw the ninety-three percent in the corner of my paper. A lot of things had gone wrong, and with the way my teacher took her glasses off, it was clear she thought as much.

“You confused your graphs, Yasmina. Such silly mistakes can cost you.” Mrs. Allen stared at me, her gaze saying that I could do way better than this.

“I just mixed them up, but they're correct. It's just that the demand graph accidentally fell under supply?—”

“They're correct, but unfortunately, they're not relevant considering you mixed them up. You're such a sharp student, but you need to focus on the little details. Take your time, Yasmina. It's your paper and it's not going anywhere.” Her voice was gentle and pacifying, disarming my anger by a smidge.

I remained silent, stressing over the one hundred percent I could have had if I hadn’t mixed my fucking graphs up.

“You can be study partners with Kai, if that helps. I think you're very compatible, you have similar critical thinking skills.”

Of course. It had to be Kai fucking Vazalo. As if my day couldn’t get any shittier.

I inhaled and exhaled slowly, attempting to keep my resentment under the radar.

I had to give credit where it was due.

It was frustrating. He didn’t do much to get to the top and I hated it.

“But look on the bright side, you passed. That’s a good indication of consistency,” she spoke when I barely reacted to her suggestion.

“Thank you.” I swallowed my anger and rushed out of the class.

Don’t cry. Don’t cry. You're still number one, still number ? —

“Is everything okay, kücük tavsan ?” A familiar, deep drawl stopped me and I could feel my body vibrating with anger.

He didn’t do anything wrong. Let it go, let it fucking go ? —

“What do you think?” I finally looked up, feeling angrier at the fact that he was so damn good-looking. I'm supposed to be mad at him, but his lifeless, heterochromatic eyes were piercing right through my soul.

“You seem to be on the verge of crying.” He tilted his head slowly, some of his dark hair falling across his beautifully sculpted face. He took his time to survey my face, then casually dropped his gaze to my body. They lingered on my thighs before coming back up.

“Is it your job to meddle in people’s businesses?” I folded my arms in defiance.

“No, but if it brings about a point of interest, then it's worth it.” He shrugged and I nearly scoffed. He was just so…stoic.

“Point of interest, sure. And what could that be?”

“The test you're holding. It's not working out the way you want it to, now is it?” His dark tone was almost mocking, were it not for the soothing, velvety lilt in it.

“Who says it did for you?”

“I'd be happy with anything. At least I would have tried.” He seemed so nonchalant, it bothered me. He looked down at me with another disturbing stare, his eyes flaring with interest as his massive shoulders blocked out any light coming from behind him. “But it seems that’s not the case with you.”

“I would appreciate it if you left me alone.” I gave him the fakest smile I could muster.

“I could, but that doesn’t seem like a viable option. So, I’ll pass.” Kai didn’t look away as he spoke, his voice slow and lazy, as if talking to me was such a boring endeavour. But the curiosity behind his intimidating gaze wiped any signs of boredom.

I'd say he revelled in my irritation and frustration more than he should have.

“If I had a choice, I'd literally kick you off the campus,” I gritted out, and a tiny smirk tugged at his lips.

“Well, good thing you don’t have any choices, kücük tavsan .” He stepped a bit closer and I flinched, his fresh Himalaya fragrance with a touch of frankincense, citrus, and icy aqua engulfing me immediately.

He smelt like pure Heaven. That’s another thing I hated about him. He managed to be so physically perfect without trying too hard.

“If you keep up with this behaviour, people will hate you.” I looked away briefly to gain my bearing, because not only was he painfully attractive, but so determined in maintaining brutal eye contact.

“Won't make much of a difference. That would be a good thing, actually. That way, people stay out of my way.” His eyes glimmered again, but only for a split second before all that emotion was sucked into a vacuum.

I'd never seen eyes that managed to be so beautiful and fascinating, yet blank and void at the same time until Kai. It seemed he could do the impossible at any given chance.

I was surprised he was even letting light through his retina.

“We can have a rewrite then I’ll mix my diagrams up to make you feel better.” I was going to ask how he knew, but leave it to Kai to know everything about your econometrics test paper before you do.

“Now why would you do that? You don’t care about anyone.” I frowned, my brows furrowing deeply.

“See, I knew you were so smart to pick up on that. You have a point, but human feelings are bound to change.” He bit his lip. For fuck’s sake?—

“I know mine do.” He lifted a shoulder as a half-shrug, indicating that he was seconds away from leaving this conversation.

“I'm not rewriting.”

“I wasn’t asking, kücük tavsan .” There was a darker edge to his voice and I resisted a shiver. I would not let that silver of fear show; he would sense it instantly like a great white shark and I didn’t want to give him that satisfaction.

“And I'm not going to repeat myself,” I spoke again, holding in a gasp when a raw, predatory expression flashed through his features for a few seconds. It was like he was giving me a glimpse of what I'd deal with if I didn’t conform, a glimpse of just how messy it can get if I swallow the wrong way.

That tiny glimpse made him look thoroughly…unhinged. So vicious, it made me very uneasy.

I sighed shakily, the chills creeping up my spine and forcing me to let it go and says yes, but the other part of me wouldn’t boost his ego like that.

“I'm doing you a favour. You want a hundred percent.” Kai said it as though my life depended on the mark.

Well, it kinda did, but that wasn’t the point.

“Wow, you're awfully generous Vazalo.” I faked another smile.

“Hmm, don’t get used to it.” If he took note of my sarcasm, he chose not to react. “Thursday, 2:00 p.m. Don’t be late, or else you’ll really see how far I take it when I don’t care about people.”