Page 65 of King of Liars
Yes, yes. I still have power over them.
“Come back as my knights. Take my body tonight. Bind me and pledge your loyalty once again with a fuck, and the crime will be not forgotten, but forgiven.”
“And we start again?” Boss asked. “With the rules, I mean. And you wait for us to misstep all over again? Is that the plan?”
I worked to hide my motives, even from myself, as he assessed my expression.
“You set this game up to be lost, by each knight. You make rules we can’t possibly play by forever, and why? To set yourself up for disappointment? To keep telling yourself that you’ll always be able to find another fucking liar? After all, what use is an honest man to a King of Liars?”
My hands trembled as the blood in my face drained.
Damn him, if he could read me in that moment. Damn him!
“You haven’t lied to me,” I explained. “You and Hole and One have been loyal.”
“But it’s only a matter of time until we’re exiled, same as you did with Ryan and Corey and who knows how many others.”
“What’s the point of taking an oath to keep rules if you can’t keep them?” I asked, but I was upset with myself for the way I practically spit the words at Boss.
I was slipping, losing my cool. I had to stay in control. And I knew where I had the advantage. “Two, I know you care about me. You want this, to be a knight. I saw the expression on your face when I kicked you out. Don’t you want Boss to join us and for us to go back to the way things were?”
“I… King…” he stammered.
“Leave him alone,” Boss said. “We see this for what it is now. You’re fucked-up therapy for your past with this Katherine—”
“Stop,” I said so quietly it even surprised me, but really because I was screaming within.
I could feel her hands on my body, her lips around my shaft. Helping me, she’d said. Protecting me. The mystical forces of the universe had urged her to violate me…so many fucking times.
Boss rolled his eyes. “Fine. You keep playing your game. But you’re doing it without us.”
“Two?” I asked, making eye contact with him.
His gaze shifted between Boss and me before settling on me once again. Yes, he just needed to look at me, remember all I could give him, all I had already given him.
“King, you need help,” Two said.
“Then stay with me. Stay and help me.”
Two shook his head, his eyes watering. “This isn’t the way, and you know it.” He swallowed, clearly struggling. “We have to go.”
Boss turned and took his hand, heading toward the door.
As they neared it, I leaned forward in the sling and pushed to my feet. Now Boss was leaving me again, and Two had the chance to walk away as well.
No, no, no!
Rage surged through me. “Stop!” I demanded, which halted them in place.
Boss glanced over his shoulder as I started toward them. He turned around, surely intimidated by how quickly I approached.
“Stay and fuck me,” I went on. “One last time. That’s all I need. One more sick fuck for the road.”
Boss took in my expression, just as he’d done so many times before.
“You know it feels like fire when we touch,” I added. “You know no drug can give you what you get with me. Don’t you want to feel that pleasure? Don’t you want a moment to escape all your pain? Let me be your escape.”
“No one’s falling for it anymore, Sy,” Boss said, starting to turn.