Page 44 of King of Lies (Mayhem Manuscripts Season One: 1nf3ction #6)

August

William wasn’t so na?ve after all was my first thought as Bruce stepped inside the room.

Fuck followed close behind. He must have sent Bruce ahead with instructions to wait at the cliff’s bottom and follow when we knew our destination.

Bruce had probably used the same hiding place Keaton and I had, which meant I should have known to check it.

At the very least, I should have made sure I knew where he was before leaving the castle.

The gun he carried was ancient—obviously, but I didn’t doubt it would fire.

A man didn’t stand as confidently as Bruce did unless he knew he held all the cards.

And he did, no matter how much that rankled.

I’d almost pulled off the perfect scam. Almost. I just hadn’t accounted for the final piece of the puzzle.

As the only other armed man in the room, Bruce swung the gun toward Keaton. “Drop the knife,” he said in a cold and commanding voice. “And then kick it over to me.”

It was a shame Keaton’s insistence on taking William down at close quarters meant his crossbow was on the other side of the room. A gun and a crossbow were more of an equal match than a gun and a knife.

“Do it,” I said when Keaton hesitated. “He will pull the trigger.”

Keaton obeyed, sending the knife spinning across the floor with one swift kick. Bruce stepped on the handle without taking his eyes off us.

“You,” he said, flicking the barrel in my direction. “Over there with the other one.”

I crossed the room to stand shoulder to shoulder with Keaton. There were plenty of things I’d argue about—but not with a gun pointed at me. We were close enough to touch, my nerve endings lighting up at being back in proximity with him. “Sorry,” I said. “I think I’ve lost my touch.”

Keaton nudged me with his shoulder. “You don’t have to be sorry. You did everything you promised and more. I’m the one who should be sorry. It’s my blinkered vision that’s brought us to this point.”

Now that Bruce had us both in his line of sight, he stepped forward. “How about somebody telling me what’s going on here?”

“Shoot them,” William ordered. He pointed at me. “Him first, then the other one.”

“Keaton,” Keaton said, eyes fixed on William, even though he wasn’t the one holding the gun. “My name is Keaton. Remember it, for when I haunt you from beyond the grave. When you wake up drenched in sweat, I want that to be the name on your lips.”

It was a fantastic speech, one laced with bravado. The kind I could imagine myself saying, if he hadn’t beaten me to it.

I smiled. “What he said. Only make it both of us haunting you.”

Bruce didn’t pull the trigger. Instead, he swung the barrel toward me. “What’s your name?” he asked.

William made a sound of distaste in his throat. “Does it matter? We’re not giving him a gravestone, so we don’t need to know what to carve on it.”

I studied Bruce. Something in his demeanor was off. “August,” I said, looking him square in the eye.

“And why did you infiltrate the Seekers, August? What were you hoping to gain?”

William reached for the gun, but Bruce shoved his hand aside. “I want to hear it.”

“Do you want the long or the short version?” I asked.

“Short. Very short. Less than thirty seconds.”

I glanced at Keaton. The look in his eyes said the floor was mine. There was no point in lying, not now. We’d already told William the truth, thinking he wouldn’t live long enough to use it.

“You took Keaton’s sister.”

“Serena,” Keaton added.

“I know her,” Bruce said.

“You knew her,” I corrected. “She turned. I gave her a mercy killing before showing up at the castle.”

“So you came for William?” Bruce jerked his head toward the man beside him, William growing twitchier the longer we froze him out of the conversation.

“Since when do you call me William?” William snapped. “I’m Beloved Father to you.”

A fleeting quirk touched Bruce’s lips, gone in less than a second. Someone not used to searching for micro-expressions wouldn’t have noticed it. I was, and I did. “I came for William,” I confirmed. “The plan was to lure him here so Keaton could kill him.” I spread my hands wide. “And here we are.”

“’Here we are,’” Bruce echoed.

“Now will you shoot them?” William demanded. “Please.” Acid dripped from the word, and I wondered how long it had been since he’d said it to anyone. “I have things to do. A flock to tend.”

“Wives to bed,” I added, earning a sharp look from him.

“What?” I asked, feigning innocence. “I’ve seen your dedication to that task.

It’s far greater than anything else. You even wanted me to have visions of another woman for you.

Someone new to add to your collection. Because that’s what it is—a collection. ”

“They are servants of the Lord.”

I snorted. “It’s a harem. And the only reason they put up with it is for the perks it affords them.”

“Like what?” Keaton asked, his voice flat.

“More food. Better sleeping quarters. Less chance of being tied to the stake. Notice, I said less, not none. If Willy Boy tires of one, she gets sent out there. And if she doesn’t turn the first time, there’s always the next. They’ll turn eventually.”

“Enough!” William spat. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

My speech hadn’t been for him, though. It had been for Bruce. All so I could watch his reaction to it. And his slightly pained expression said that every word had hit home. “Is that what you expected when you joined the Seekers, Bruce?” I asked. “To end up as a glorified pimp?”

William rolled his eyes. “Ridiculous!”

“Did you think your job would be to search for vulnerable women to keep William’s bed warm?”

Keaton stirred beside me, voice sharp? “Did you touch my sister?”

“He didn’t,” Bruce said. “She wouldn’t let him. It pissed him off.”

William’s silence was all the confirmation needed of that being true. I pressed on. “Remind me… how many wives does William have? And how many wives do the other men there have? That’s right. None. They’re all for William. Is that what you wanted out of life?”

“No,” Bruce said quietly, the word having no less impact for it.

“It was good at first. There was a sense of community, a shared purpose for something bigger than merely surviving. Then, over time, it changed.” He flicked a glance in William’s direction.

“You changed. You twisted it into something else. I tried to ignore it, tried to tell myself that nothing ever stays the same forever. But what could I do? I’m only one man.

” His lips curled slightly, his gaze returning to me.

“And then you came along, and I knew there was some sort of game being played. I just didn’t know what it was. ”

He exhaled, shifted his stance, and turned the gun—not on us—but on William.

William laughed. “What are you doing?”

“Handing in my resignation as your lapdog, Father. Disowning you. Freeing everyone in that castle.”

“They don’t want to be free,” William said, his face paling. “I didn’t drag any of them there kicking and screaming.”

“We’ll see,” Bruce replied. “Without you there, they can choose. It will be a different place.”

“Without me, it will be nothing,” William sneered. “A draughty castle with no purpose.”

“That already sounds better,” I said.

“Do you want to do it?” Bruce asked Keaton.

Keaton stayed silent, staring at William. “I’ve done nothing but hate this man ever since I found out about Serena.” He gave a humorless laugh. “But now he’s here in front of me, my rage has just… gone.” He glanced my way, apologetic. “I’m sorry if that sounds ungrateful.”

“It doesn’t,” I said. “I understand.” Keaton might have been in the army, but he wasn’t a violent man. Biters, yes, but humans were different. “You don’t have to do it. You never had to do it.”

Keaton frowned. “But if he lives…?”

“Not an option,” Bruce cut in, gripping William’s shoulder and shoving him toward the door.

William resisted, but Bruce was stronger and more determined.

This wasn’t a sudden conversion. The doubt had always been there.

He’d just needed a push. Part of me suspected he’d been waiting for me to be that catalyst, and now that the chance had come, he was seizing it.

Keaton and I exchanged glances, shrugged and followed, pausing only to retrieve our various weapons.

Outside, Bruce’s grip on William was so tight his knuckles had gone white.

William spoke urgently, the wind carrying his words away.

I assumed he was trying to strike some sort of deal.

From the bored expression on Bruce’s face, he was having none of it.

“Where do you find biters around here?” Bruce asked as we approached.

William struggled anew at that question, but Bruce held fast. “Don’t force me to knock you out,” he warned.

“There’s a shopping center full of them,” Keaton said. “They got in but couldn’t get out. I stayed away because there were too many.”

Bruce nodded. “How far?”

“Not far.”

“If you want to kill me, shoot me,” William pleaded. “Don’t be cruel.”

“How many women did you let turn?” I asked when Bruce seemed conflicted. “Wasn’t that cruel? Maybe we’ll bump into one. You can have a touching reunion before she eats you.”

We tied William’s hands behind his back before setting off to make him easier to handle.

Although most of the fight seemed to have gone out of him.

He had to know he had no chance against three men.

Especially when those three men comprised one whose sister’s death he’d been responsible for, one who was basically sick of his shit, and one—me—who’d spent weeks kowtowing to him.

I’d even gone down on my knees for him. The memory made my skin crawl.

The faded sign above the entrance of the shopping center read The St James Retail and Leisure Park.

“Oh, look,” I said, “we found you a saint. How apt.”

There had to be at least twenty biters milling around inside.

The glass must have been hard-wearing to have kept them inside.

Although they couldn’t have been in there that long, or they would have starved to death.

A biter could go a long time without food, far longer than a human, but they eventually starved without any source of meat.

“You don’t need to do this,” William insisted, sweat beading on his brow and his voice cracking. “I’ll go away. You’ll never see me again.” Emotion made his accent more pronounced.

“You’d start again,” Bruce said. “You wouldn’t be able to help yourself. Another town. Another castle, if you can find one.” He shook his head. “No, it wouldn’t work. A leopard as narcissistic as you doesn’t change its spots.”

“We should have gagged him,” I muttered, Bruce offering a nod of agreement.

Keaton was quiet. Too quiet. I laced my fingers through his and gave his hand a squeeze.

I’d never held hands with anyone before, unless you counted my grandma, so I was unprepared for the rush of emotion that assaulted me when he squeezed back.

I had a feeling there would be lots of firsts for Keaton and me, and I was ready for every single one of them.

William’s expression twisted into a sneer as he took in our joined hands. “Well, look what we have here. You should know that it’s a sin to lie with another man. The Lord will see—”

“I’ve had weeks of your bullshit,” I cut in. “How about you give it a rest before I use one of my socks to gag you?”

After that, it was quick. The three of us forced him inside, and the biters swarmed him instantly, not interested in us when there was easier prey to be had.

Bruce handed the gun to Keaton, Keaton instinctively knowing it was his choice whether William suffered. After only a slight hesitation, the shot rang out.

Silence followed. A heavy silence that made the groans of the biters and the ringing in my ears feel almost sacred. William’s body slumped to the floor, nothing left of the arrogance or the sermons. Just another corpse in a world already full of them.

Keaton’s breathing was ragged, and when I looked at him, his eyes were wet. I didn’t point it out, reaching for his hand again instead. “She’d be happy that you came so far for her,” I whispered.

He nodded, not trusting himself to speak. For the first time since Serena’s name had come up, he looked lighter. Not happy. Not healed. But less burdened.

Bruce’s machinations impressed me. In effect, he’d been the one to kill William by bringing him here and deciding on the nature of his demise. But should Keaton ever look back and regret his decision, he’d have that shot to look back on, without the responsibility.

“What now?” I asked Bruce.

A twitch of a smile touched his lips. “You go back where you came from. And I don’t want to know where that is.”

“I wasn’t going to tell you.”

“And if he had,” Keaton said with a hint of fondness, “it would have been a lie.”

Bruce laughed. “Yeah,. You almost had me fooled. Almost.”

“And you?” I asked.

“I go back to the castle and make up a story about what happened to him.”

“Will his wives grieve?” Keaton asked.

Bruce shrugged. “One or two of them, perhaps. I expect most will be relieved.”

“And in the long term?” I asked.

That question required more thought. “I work out what we are and what we could be. Maybe one day you’ll hear about us for good reasons.”

“Maybe,” I said. “Or maybe you’ll have enough sense to change your name, and I’ll never know who it is they’re talking about.”

Keaton handed the gun back to Bruce. He turned to leave, then stopped and looked at me. “Speaking of names, is your name really August?”

“It is,” I said.

He looked to Keaton. “Truth or lie?”

“Truth,” Keaton said.

Bruce nodded and walked away. He didn’t look back.