Page 49
Story: Princes of Chaos
“You bringing your new Princess?” Turner asks, looking excited. These fuckers, all salivating for a chance to earn her favor like a nice dress and a tiara makes hernotWest End trash.
A week ago, they all would have been dogging her.
Wicker looks in the square mirror on this locker door and fusses with his hair. “Not fucking likely. She’ll be tucked into bed and out of our hair by nine.”
The locker room empties until it’s me waiting on Wicker to finally get dressed. “I’m not going,” I tell him, still twitchy about hanging back. I never would have dreamed of doing that back in the Pen. That’s a recipe for an ambush, and my veins rush with the instinct to keep moving.
Wick’s head snaps up. “Why the fuck not? I know you’ve got to bang the Princess, but it’s been two years, Pace. How long do you really think that’s going to last?”
My fists curl, but I shove the anger down–deep. “I’ve got business to handle, feeds to watch, and deposits to make.”
He grimaces at the word ‘deposit.’ “Jesus, that term. Only Father could manage to strip every ounce of feeling from sex. And seriously, checking feeds? Is that a euphemism now?”
We both know it’s not, but I do spend a lot of time looking through security, keeping track of people, and being aware of who’s where. Father probably assumes I’m trying to be a good soldier, always having an eye on his assets, but the reality is, I can’t stop. It’s the only thing that makes this jagged torsion in my chest ease the fuck up.
Mostly, though, I have big plans for Rosilocks. Plans that are going to take a lot longer than whatever he’s got in store for her tomorrow. I wasn’t lying when I told her she was the only benefit for me. Knowing–not fantasizing or wishing–that my dick is going to be buried into her rosy cunt in a few hours is the only thing worth savoring.
Finally.
My turn.
Pushing my hair back, I approach my next question with quiet caution. “Are you really going? Because—”
He rolls his eyes. “I know. Keep my dick to myself. I do havesomeself-control, you know.”
No, he doesn’t. The Nu Zoo is East End’s party house. No one lives there. The frat pools together the funds to pay for rent and repairs, and in return, it’s exactly what the name describes. A zoo. Wicker’s been a regular since senior year of high school.
He shrugs on his jacket, the Forsyth U hockey logo on the chest. “I can get through a party without getting off. I mean,” he winks, “there’s no covenant against watching.”
I stare at him, wondering if he really believes that, because I don’t for a minute. “It’s not you who’ll pay if you fuck up, Wick. Remember that.”
The line of his shoulders goes tense, and he turns, fixing me with a flinty stare. “You’reremindingme?” he asks, eyes narrowing. “Who do you think was piecing Lex back together after you left? I’m the one who stayed up with him every night for three fucking weeks, making sure he didn’t tear his stitches or walk out into traffic. I’m the one who was going out to North Side at three in the morning to score him Scratch. I’m the one who tied him down when Father made him go cold turkey.”
The guilt is the most familiar thing of all–like a knife in the stomach–and I feel the blood draining from my face. That’s the only way to beat it. To be numb. To be nothing. To be gone.
Wicker goes on, “Maybe it was really fucked up for you in there. I wouldn’t know–you refuse to talk about it. But when it comes to Lex, you never have to remind me what’s at stake.”
Averting my eyes, I try to find my voice. “I know. I only meant…”
In my periphery, I see him flinch. “Fuck.” He pushes forefinger and thumb into his forehead, eyes closing. “Goddamn it. I shouldn’t have said that. It’s what he wants–for you to think we blame you.” When our gazes meet again, his eyes are full of the same bitter regret I feel. “We don’t.”
“You both keep saying that,” I point out, offering a tense grin.
Weakly, he shrugs. “Maybe you’ll start believing it.”
“Maybe.” Probably not.
There’s a long, heavy pause, but neither of us says we’re sorry. We don’t need to. That’s the thing about the three of us. We were molded to hurt, cut, and deceive, but no matter how much Father hoped it’d be against each other, it never has been. We made that pact years ago. In blood. In darkness. In agony.
We’re a Cerberus–three heads, one heart.
That’s why I can’t be mad. It’s why I have to watch my brother fuck Verity–hold her open for him, if I must–and keep my mouth shut. It’s why I have to help Lex find the best way of getting his seed into her. It’s why I have to look them both in the eye and pretend it doesn’t make me want to fucking explode.
Because that’s what Father would want.
Wicker’s the one to break the silence, propping his shoulder against a locker. “Hey.” He bobs his chin up, eyes hopeful. “You horny?”
I snort, all the futile guilt and useless anger melting away. “Not for you.”
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