Page 116 of Fragile Facade

“She’s never wrong.” I smile wide. “Should I ask Menace?” I look over his shoulder. “Mason!” I shout since he’s unmasked.

Soren grabs my jaw. “Don’t.”

“Embarrassed, sweetheart? It’s okay if you had a best friend’s brother thing going on.”

He squeezes my jaw, making my newly healed teeth ache. “Killian.”

“Shit, you two are explosive,” Menace says as he walks up, draping his arms around both of our shoulders. “Can I get in on this?”

“No,” we both snarl.

“But you can tell me about that night you two fucked Richelle?—”

“Menace, shut your fucking mouth,” Soren warns him before I can get the full demand out.

I laugh, but Menace laughs harder. Soren pushes us both away, cheeks flaming. “Goddamn, that night was hot. You were the inspo,” Menace says to me with a sexy wink. “I got off to you, bud. Scouts honour.”

“Menace, fuck off.” Soren glares at him, seething quietly enough that no one overhears. “You might have, but I didn’t.”

“Like fuck, Sauder. You were so into it you couldn’t look away from him.” Menace snorts. “Guess you got what you dreamed about, yeah?”

I lick my lips and watch my man contend the urge to either fight Menace, fight me, or disappear into the crowd like the ghost he is. He squares off with me, making the right choice.

“So fucking what? It was a fantasy about ruining you. Guess dreams really do come true.”

If he thinks I’m ruined, he’s more delusional than I thought. But that’s okay because Soren is a narcissist, and narcissists love lying to themselves. “Guess so,” I agree with a chuckle. “You’re welcome.”

Soren scoffs and Menace laughs right as the crowd starts shouting their votes for Yates’ punishment.

Kill him!

Toss him in the asylum!

Make him your bitch, Lockan!

Ransom and Lock listen to the locals, letting them make this call. They wait for everyone to finish shouting, so we turn to pay attention. If Yates is gonna die right here and now, I’d like to watch. And jerk Soren off while he dies.

Yates is a mess. Half-eaten by crows, only partially alive, and barely recognizable. He’s tethered to the lamp post near one of the biggest mausoleums, but he doesn’t look scared. That pisses me off.

“What’s wrong with him?” Soren asks.

“Too dead to feel fear anymore,” Menace says.

“Or… up to something.” I study him. His eyes are open, and I recognize chaos when I see it. He’s about to do something, cause a riot, set the town on edge, but I don’t know how. I grab Soren’s wrist… just in case. Yates isn’t an intelligent man, but something smart is rolling inside his head right now.

As everyone shouts, his face breaks into a clandestine grin, and my skin prickles with unease. I pull Soren closer, latching onto his wrist to steady myself. Yates keeps laughing, louder and louder as the townsfolk quiet, startled by his sinister hysterics. He laughs so loudly that the cemetery grows hushed while the crows and ravens stop their flapping. The fog settles into something thick and ominous, filtering Yates’ laugh and warping it into an omen of something to come.

Lock smacks him across the face, blood flying to the stone platform. “Something to say, old man? Get on with it.” He pulls two short daggers from his belt.

“Moros!” Yates shouts.

Everyone boos, throwing shit at him and calling him a traitor. Menace closes in on my other side, and Monster and Kyd weave through the crowd to join us. Kyd’s unmasked, not typically allowed out in public without his mask, but he’s blending in enough as Monster’s friend. His smile is gone tonight, no joy emanating from him at all.

“You think I don’t know you, Moros!” Yates shouts, shushing the crowd. “Kill me if you want, but I know.”

“Know what?” Agatha of Death For Life shouts. “The fuck do you know about anything, you bastard?”

Yates' smile splits his bloody lips. “I know every traitor. Every Reaper Corp plant. Every person in this town who is your enemy. Every spy! You can’t trust anyone!”