Page 94 of Royal

The killer sighed and paced in front of the table, popping his fingers before lifting them back to his neck to scratch.

“You call yourself Ameinias, right?” I asked, surprised by the steadiness of my voice.

If I was going to survive, I had to take note of what he said. Jeffrey Holland had been scared and cried, and the guy killed him because of it. I needed to show confidence, maybe even suck up to him a little.

I’d watched enough thrillers to know sometimes it worked. Other times, the killer caught on, got pissed, and hacked the person up anyway.

Worth a shot.

“Yes!” The killer stopped pacing and faced me, smiling from ear to ear. “It warms my heart that you know my name. Ameinias. He fell in love, you see. Fell for the most beautiful man in the world. Narcissus cast him aside, but before he sent him away, he gave Ameinias a sword and told him to kill himself. And he did, but he cursed Narcissus before he drew his final breath. He wanted the gods to punish Narcissus for breaking his heart. Vanity should be punished. Using your beauty to hurt others is wrong.”

I forced myself to breathe evenly, in and out through my nose.

Don’t let him know you’re afraid.

“Is that why you kill the people who break your heart?” I asked, keeping him talking.

“Yes,” he answered, sighing. “I’m tired of falling in love with Narcissus. For once, I just want someone to love me back.” His dark eyes moved to me. “You’d never hurt me, would you, Royal? You’d never call me a freak or break my heart?”

“Of course not,” I said before swallowing the tightness in my throat.

Ameinias gave me a relieved smile. “I knew you were the one.”