Page 88 of Liar

Malcolm roars, beads of sweat bursting along his tense biceps and veins popping out of his temples and forehead. He bears the pain with pulled-back lips, saliva dripping from the corners as Thorne takes an unnecessary length of time.

“That’s enough!” I scream at him. “Enough!”

Thorne catches me through his lashes, a lightning flash of apology racing across his features before he presses down harder.

“You’re going to fucking brand the bones underneath his skin!” I shriek, then leap toward Thorne to stop this. Screw the plan.

Thaddeus catches me, wrapping strong arms around my chest and pulling me back.

“Now, his forehead,” Damion orders.

I fight. I fight the way I wish Malcolm would, screaming and kicking and lashing out with my nails. I fight so hard, more viscounts have to come in to restrain me. My voice is so raw I taste blood, but nobody listens.

Thorne rounds to Malcolm’s front. Damion happily grabs Malcolm by the hair and yanks until his forehead is exposed to Thorne.

I can’t believe this. How can they do this to a powerful man? How have they gotten Malcolm to submit to every single fucking atrocity they’ve given to him?

“Malcolm,” I cry. My cheeks feel stiff with salt. Wet. “There has to be something—stop. Stop, Damion. Or else I’ll tell everyone how Savannah had your ba—”

Damion holds out a hand to Thorne, pausing him. Like a good soldier, Thorne listens. I sneer at him.

“I was grappling with the type of punishment you’d receive, Ember,” Damion says, his hand remaining high and imperious in the air. “You’ve given me the perfect inspiration. Would you like to know how you arrived in this world?”

Malcolm bolts.

That’s the only way I can describe it—he rears, seizes, and bucks like a horse bound at the wrists and ankles. “No, Damion! We struck a deal. You could have me—you could do anything you wanted to me. Brand my forehead with the X’d out crest of a raven. Take my company. Make me your mule. All of that in return for leaving Ember alone and saving her from the truth.”

“Old friend.” Damion tsks. “Since when have you known me to keep to a deal when it no longer suits my purposes?”

“DAMION.”

Malcolm’s roar is the loudest I’ve ever heard it. Even the arms of my restraining viscounts go slack. I use this space in time to lurch out of their grip and fall to my knees in front of Malcolm. Thorne’s forced to retreat, giving me room to shield Malcolm.

I’m close enough to see the tears escaping Malcolm’s bloodshot eyes, streaming down his cheeks. Once I’m in his horizon, he lets out a shuddering breath.

“Oh, Malcolm.” I cup his cheeks, unable to stop tears from filling my vision, too.

He moves his chapped lips for one simple word. “Run.”

“Now, now, no need for haste,” Damion says. “I’m positive Ember would like to stick around for this story, no matter how much pain it causes you or her. Am I right, Ember?”

I drag my gaze from Malcolm to Damion, forming my eyes into glass shards. “Everything you say is a lie. You’re a liar. Your leadership is a joke.”

“Ember,” Thorne warns under his breath.

I whip to look at him. “Why won’t you fight him? Now is your moment. You have the information that could…”

I trail off as Savannah drifts to Thorne’s side, wrapping her arm through his. Thorne allows it, his posture stoic and stiff as he stares down at me with no emotion. Nothing.

“I don’t feel anything for you,” he says in a flat tone. “I never have.”

“The only liar here is you, Ember,” Savannah says. “You’ve shown us exactly how much disdain you have for the Societies. Any words you utter in a desperate attempt to save your father will have zero credibility. You disgust us. Mocking our traditions, disrespecting our rulers, and besmirching my name after all I’ve been through. You should be ashamed of yourself. If it were up to me, you’d carry the same humiliating brand as your father.”

Her words drag at me like an anchor pulling me to the bottom of a raging sea. All my mistakes. Every should’ve in my past. The kind of person I am. It’s sandpaper against my soul, but I rally what little determination I have left. “Tell them the truth, Savannah. If it comes from you, the Virtues will take your side. Dupris will stand by you.” At the mention of her name, Dupris peers closer at me. “What Damion’s done is atrocious.”

“You are the product of a whore, my child.”

I hear Damion talk. Understand the words. However, they take a moment to assemble in my head.