Page 21 of Liar
He’s cut. Fit. Tall. Medium-toned skin. Likely took two good syringes in the neck to knock him out long enough to be propped in that chair. I’m reluctant to admit … the heaving torso is vaguely familiar.
My molars grind together. Swim team?
Leaning back against a column, I resign myself to waiting with the rest of these lost souls for the big reveal. Though my head won’t stop screaming at me to do something.
“Now.” Father clasps his hands together and moves next to the struggling prisoner. Father ignores him entirely. “Such a unique challenge requires a rare touch. Decades have passed since we were last in this position.” Father centers his gaze on Ember. With the minutest movement, I straighten from my laid-back position, the clues falling into place in my head.
I know what Sav and Ember have to do.
The same thing Malcolm was required to prove in order to keep his place in the Societies.
He lost.
Malcolm refused to take it as far as my father was willing to, and for that, he gave up his independence and submitted to the worst punishment imaginable. A challenge so horrendous, even I don’t have the balls to describe it to Ember.
My attention moves to her, searching for any recognition flowing across Ember’s features. If she’s putting the puzzle together the same way I am.
“What’s going on?” Ember whispers, but I hear it as if it were a gong inside my head.
“My dears,” Father said. “Come.”
Reluctantly, Sav and Ember move forward into the circle, stopping on the other side of the occupied chair. He grunts, fights, bucks the legs until they slam back onto the marble floor. Father doesn’t pay him any mind. Sav is as white as the ground she stands on, and Ember can’t stop staring at the trapped, flailing man between them.
Father signals to the right. “Thaddeus, the weapons.”
Thaddeus breaks from his position in the circle, moving to the side and nearer to me. He doesn’t acknowledge my presence as he disappears on the other side of the column for whatever he’s looking for.
I find Jaxon standing on the opposite side of the circle, behind Father. The whites of his eyes are as bright as the flames encircling the room. In it, I see he’s as on guard as I am—and had no way of knowing our fathers’ plans.
Jaxon’s eyes dart to the side. I follow their path to Thaddeus, who reappears with his hands full. He strides to my father, face grim. The new recruits quickly make room for him to pass.
Without further prompting, Thaddeus flattens out a leather satchel at the sacrificial lamb’s feet. Metal shines. Wood sits a shade lighter against the leather.
Pliers. Knives. Paddles. Rolling pins. Screwdrivers.
A whimper draws my focus up. Sav shakes all over, her fingers pattering against her sides. Ember shakes her head, retreating a step and throwing her hands up. “No. I won’t do this.”
“Oh, but you have to.” Father smiles. “Don’t you agree, my queen?”
Headmistress Dupris breaks rank, coming to Father’s side. While she doesn’t appear pleased, she responds, “While it’s unorthodox, this type of challenge is not unheard of. I’m afraid the king has ordered it.”
“It is used in the most controversial of circumstances, and this is one such moment.” Father dips his chin as if in serious contemplation. I wonder if I’m the only one who notices the maddened greed in his eyes. “Two Virtues. One must prove herself over the other.” In a grand wave of his hand, ensuring he has each and every member’s attention, he lifts the black hood in a flourish, revealing the boy underneath.
“Oh my god—Zeke!” Ember cries.
Sav mewls, covering her mouth with her hands and shaking her head emphatically.
Zeke’s wide, terrified eyes take in the room. Sweat drips from his cropped hairline down his temples, dampening the silk tie wrenched between his lips. His grunts become an octave higher, his struggles against the bindings harder.
Fuck. I despise that asshole, but I don’t wish this on him.
Father spreads out his arms. “The first Virtue to force him unconscious—or worse—wins.” He takes Dupris’s elbow and merges into the circle, his expression benign, but his eyes alive with intent. “Ladies, you may begin.”
“I’m not doing this!” Ember’s panicked stare goes from Zeke, to Father, to Sav. “We’re not doing this!”
“Isn’t he the one responsible for almost killing you?” Father counters mildly. “If it weren’t for Zeke Aiden, I’d never know the lengths to which you’d go to besmirch your king’s name. I wouldn’t have needed to punish you to remind you of your insubordinance.”
Ember looks at him, fisting her hands at her sides. Then she searches the circle in a blatant attempt to find me as if I could come in and save the day.