Page 192
Story: Princes of Chaos
“Creating,” I clarify, feeling my cheeks heat. ”Intimately. And even that’s tenuous, at best.“ Shaking my head, I say the words that I’ve been avoiding for months now. “I can’t do it. I’ll humiliate our family. I’ll make a fucking joke out of us.”
Father stares at me unblinkingly, putting down his phone. “I’m glad to hear you finally say that, Lex.” He reaches down to slide open his desk drawer, pinning me with his gaze. “Sometimes, our greatest strength is the ability to acknowledge our weaknesses.”
With a smooth, measured motion, he places a clear baggy on the desktop.
It has a serpent printed on it.
I swallow around the sudden constriction in my throat. “What’s that for?”
Father raises his chin. “You know what it’s for.”
“No.” I can feel Pace’s gaze on the back of my head like a branding iron. “Lex,no.”
“It’s not your choice to make,” Father snaps, effectively shutting that down. A look passes between them, but I don’t see it. My eyes are glued to the white powder beneath the plastic. “You’re strong enough to face up to your weaknesses, Lagan. Now we need you to be strong enough to overcome them.”
The only thing big enough to tear my stare away is the feeling of Wicker turning to look at me. I meet his gaze, stomach twisting at the numbness in his stare.
He already looks disappointed in me. “Lex.”
“I’ll need it to do this,” I insist, palms feeling damp.
“Bullshit,” he says, blinking that bloody eye. “You don’t even know if it’ll work.”
“Yes, I do.” I know it like I know the earth orbits the sun. I know it like I knew Wicker and Pace belonged to me, and like I know Verity does too. I just can’t face up to it.
But I can face up to this.
“I can beat it,” I tell him, holding his gaze. “I beat it once, I can do it again.”
“Father,” Wicker says, turning his stare to the drugs on the desk. Pain and regret ooze off of him. “I’m the one she betrayed. Let me be the one to inflict the punishment.”
Coldly, Father holds his eye as he opens the baggy, emptying a fine white line onto the polished wooden surface. “The criteria of a Royal Cleansing are clear. It requires all three Princes.” The look he sends me brooks no argument.
Required.
A part of me suddenly realizes that this was never a choice. The pretense of me having a decision was a humiliation in and of itself. A show for my brothers. It’s proof that Pace can endure days down in that cell, that Wicker can endure being treated like a piece of meat, that I can withstand lash after lash, and it doesn’t matter if those punishments are ineffective.
There’s infinite power over meright here.
A cold sweat breaks out on my forehead. Not because I don't want it, but because I do. God, the anticipation is as painful as a lash from Father’s whip. Stepping forward, I ignore the way Wicker lurches toward me–sharp, like an instinct.
I bend, taking the first snort, letting the delicious, addictive feeling wash over me. I taste the salty chemical of it in the back of my throat before I’ve even pushed upright. “Fuck,” I mutter as I swallow it down, fingers tweaking my nostril. I’d almost forgotten that flavor, acrid and sour, and how it’d be followed by a sudden rush of heat. “Fuck.”
Father re-seals the baggy. “You have one hour to prepare. I expect you to be thorough and exact. I expect you to beruthlessandprecise.” He looks between us. “I expect you to be Princes–to beAshbys–but above all, I expect you to show no mercy.”
The three of us look at each other, and I realize that no matter what just went down here, that’s the one thing we all agree on. I see it now, the Viper Scratch flowing wildly through my veins. It makes everything clearer, sharper, intellectual high definition.
Everything I’ve come to like about Verity Sinclaire was a lie.
“Wait,” he says as we move to leave. Holding out the baggy, Father says, “Take the rest with you. Use it.”
I look between the Scratch and him, still rubbing the powder from my nose, swallowing down the bitterness. A better man would tell him to shove it and turn his back.
I reach out and grab it.
Father hasn’t just given me an excuse–givenusan excuse–he’s given us permission.
And that’s so much more dangerous.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185
- Page 186
- Page 187
- Page 188
- Page 189
- Page 190
- Page 191
- Page 192
- Page 193
- Page 194
- Page 195
- Page 196
- Page 197
- Page 198
- Page 199
- Page 200
- Page 201
- Page 202
- Page 203
- Page 204
- Page 205
- Page 206
- Page 207
- Page 208
- Page 209
- Page 210
- Page 211
- Page 212
- Page 213