Page 16 of Devil May Lie

“I don’t sleep with Flix,” Berga said. “And I’m not looking for any new friends. Back off, before I—”

Madden stopped but lifted his multi-slate, tapping away at the screen with a sullen look on his handsome face. “I wonder what they’ll do to you when they find out you broke the treaty.”

“What?”

“Drugging a member of the Retinue?” he reiterated. “Raping me? Those are serious offenses. We’re meant to get along, the Retinue and the Satellite, but you broke the rules and attacked me—”

“Attacked you? Don’t be absurd.”

Madden nodded solemnly. “I bled, remember?”

Gods damn it.

He raked his fingers through his hair. “You’re seriously insisting on taking it this far?”

“I am.”

“All because I—”

“You violated me,” Madden replied. “Don’t down play it. On most other planets, that’s a grave offense, as it should be.”

“Yet you’re willing to turn the other cheek?” Berga didn’t believe him. Admittedly, he hadn’t thought the situation through well enough the other night. Perhaps it would have been better to leave the boathouse after all, instead of pushing his luck and taking advantage of a man in Madden’s position.

He might have created the drug, but Berga had never personally used it on anyone before. He’d never had it used on himself either. But the two of them weren’t good people, so it hadn’t seemed like that big a deal at the time.

If Flix were here, he’d tell him he was being taught the lesson he deserved.

Maybe he was.

“What can I say?” Madden grinned, but there was something dark and promising in the expression that was abnormal. “I’m the forgiving sort.”

That was oddly enough true, at least if everything Berga had heard about the Royal was accurate. Madden didn’t hold grudges. Out of all of the Devils of Vitality, he was known for being the most carefree and laidback. The one that rolled with the punches.

That was why Berga was still so confused as to why he was here, pushing the issue like this.

“Persistency is not in your nature,” he said, but even he caught the thread of uncertainty in his tone.

“According to who?”

“Everyone.”

“Did you ask around about me, Butcher?”

“No.” He wasn’t so foolish as to do a thing like that.

Didn’t mean he hadn’t listened when Madden’s name was brought up, though.

The harsh overhead lightning glinted off of the Royal’s hair as he advanced another few steps, the red tones bright and almost crimson.

There was a sudden sinking feeling in his gut, a foreboding he was all too familiar with, and Berga found himself holding up a hand.

Madden paused once more, allowing him a moment to collect himself.

Berga inhaled through his nose and exhaled through his mouth, regulating his emotions to the best of his ability as he considered all of the possible angles. He could act on his threats and hurt the Royal, but that would only lead to further problems. The video was enough to get him reprimanded; if Baikal found out he’d also injured the right hand of the prince?

Would he cast him aside?

Hadn’t Berga made himself too important for that?