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She says, “I wonder who did it,” in a voice that sounds furious. “That jerk cheated in the fight. He wasn’t supposed to use a weapon.” She talks like she can’t stand the notion of someone injuring me.
I stay quiet for a while before I eventually say something. “Arthur. That’s his name.”
She gasps, which confirms what I thought: she knows him. I can feel my anger rising, but I’m doing my best to stay calm.
She murmurs, “What?” in amazement. She shakes her hand when it touches my shoulder and jerks away.
I can feel her falling to the floor of the restroom. She rests her head on the side of the tub, and I softly run my fingers through her hair.
I murmur, “What happened?” since I don’t want to make her any more unhappy. “Talk to me.”
Emily’s breathing is unsteady. I can’t stand it when she gets injured. I can tell she’s straightened up and is paying attention to me again.
“I don’t know.” “It’s just—” She chokes, her voice full of perplexity. “I never thought he would act that way.” I should have helped him comprehend better. I may have made my point better if I had spoken up. I should have talked to him again after I said no.
“What do you mean?” “Urgency is clear in my voice. I get anxious because I’m afraid he did something terrible to her. “Did he make you do something you didn’t want to do? Did he injure you? “I hiss with anger.
“No, it’s not like that,” Emily responds hastily. “It’s just…” She takes a long breath, and the seconds that follow are so painful for me. “He really cares about me.” Liam, he’s a decent person. Unlike the other members, he didn’t bother or bully me. He was pushed into Eagle Wings when he was only seeking for his brother. I think he’s one of the few individuals here who really gets how I feel. But recently, especially after his last assignment, he become quite brave about achieving what he desired. I just—
She takes another shaky breath, and it sounds like she’s going to weep. “I don’t know why he attacked you like that.” He shouldn’t have acted that way. I feel awful for him because I know what sort of guy he used to be, and I would be lying if I claimed I didn’t care about him. But I’m also really angry that he hurt you. “Oh, God.” Her voice is shaking, and it sounds like she’s covering her mouth with her hands. “If something even worse happened to you, I don’t think,” she stutters. “I don’t think I’ll forgive–” She can’t even finish her sentence.
I make a tight fist.
It would be an understatement to say that I’m jealous. She was right; she can’t hide how much she cares about him. But I understand where she’s coming from; at that time, he was the only man who could make her feel better. I might have protected her in my own way, but I have to admit that my mouth sometimes ruined everything I did for her.
I was a coward when it came to saying I cared about her, but this guy didn’t have that problem.
I pull Emily into my chest, and she arches her back and wraps her arm around my neck. I close my eyes because I’m still not over the fact that Emily could be happy with a guy like that. A normal guy who didn’t lose his eyesight, didn’t have attachment issues, and didn’t worry about failing to protect her.
But I have to keep my impatience in check since her sentiments are what matters right now. I know for sure that she would be upset if Arthur is punished.
“You don’t have to tell him anything else,” I say.
She turns her head, and I can picture her staring up at me in awe.
“I’ll talk to him, and you don’t have to worry about anything,” I offer. “He’ll be fine.”
******
I walk down to Eagle Wings jail with Emily still on my mind. The jail is in the basement, which is lower than the boxing ring.
The guards at the entrances of the prisoner cells are already waiting for me. One of them shows me the way.
I’m glad Emily isn’t here with me to go to the cell. It’s not just because I’m scared that Arthur isn’t in the right frame of mind to talk to her; it’s also because this jail isn’t a good place for her. There aren’t many prisoners down here—most of our traitors were killed as soon as possible—but even though there are only a few of them here, their states aren’t good for Emily to see.
As I walk down the hall between the cells, I can hear one prisoner scream in pain from the t*****e and the other beg for forgiveness over and over. The prisoners who are still in our jail are the ones who die slowly and painfully. The way they die depends on how bad their sins were and how much they betrayed us.
Victor told us to take those two captives. Ethan, Zane, Dante, and I didn’t place anybody in our jail. The three of them were occupied with far more important assignments, and I didn’t care about our members until Emily came and changed everything.
Now I’m headed inside our jail to talk to the prisoner I placed there yesterday. I told everyone not to touch him until I talked to him, so Arthur should be good.
When I eventually halt in front of Arthur’s cell, the response should welcome me.
The guard says, “He’s doing fine.” I know I can’t see if it’s dark or not. “His ankle is chained, but I can see that he’s doing fine even in this darkness.”
I nod, but then the guard abruptly moves towards the cage, and my brain goes off like an alarm.
“Wait.” His voice is full with anxiety. “He can’t be… Oh my God.
My heart is racing as he rapidly opens the cage and runs towards Arthur.
“F**k,” he says. “F**k.”
“What the hell is going on? “I ask impatiently.”
“I thought he was okay until I saw the drool coming out of his mouth.”
I get closer to the cell, and I feel terrible inside.
The guard moves and sounds like he’s attempting to discover Arthur’s pulse. “Shit.” He’s not here anymore.
For a second, I think the world has stopped moving.
“What the hell happened?” ” I blast so loudly that I’m sure the whole prison can hear me.
“I don’t know,” he says, breathing heavily and sounding as scared as I am. “Maybe he thought he would be punished for betraying us.” I promise that the last time I checked on him, he was still alive. “Oh, shit,” he swears again, sounding like he just recalled something crucial. “He must have gotten the poison from his friends when they came to see him.”
My heart is very low.
Arthur must have felt that ingesting poison would be a better way to die than being tormented slowly and brutally. He didn’t realise that I wasn’t going to do that to him.
My rage is so strong that I feel like I’m about to burst.
The guard stutters, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know he was going to kill himself.” I should have informed him that you didn’t intend any harm, but I didn’t even know what you were going to do to him when you saw him again. He stabbed you. You are our king—
“Enough.” I gritted my teeth.
“I should definitely call the doctor,” he stutters again. “I mean, I examined him, but I’m not sure. I’m going to fetch the doctor now.
I hear him racing back towards the exit while I’m trying to figure out what to do. I don’t want Arthur to die, but I know that he will. I can’t even think how Emily would feel if she knew this.
“F**k.” I hit the ground of the cell with my fist, without caring that my knuckles are bleeding.
I get up and leave the jail. I trip a few times since I’m not used to the hallway. When I get close to the end, I hear a lot of noise.
“What do you mean when you say he’s dead? “Someone snaps, their voice full with terror. “My brother is still alive.”
I remember hearing this voice before, in the boxing ring, when Arthur stabbed me with a knife. Apparently, it’s his brother. He seems much more scared now than he did then.
“That’s suicide,” the guard replies, seeming guilty. “He poisoned himself.”
“What?” “His voice cracks, and I can almost feel his agony.
“What’s he doing?” “Another voice echoes, and I can’t breathe.
I know whose voice this is.
“Emily,” I say in shock.
I warned her not to come with me, but she must have since she was worried.
Arthur’s brother hisses, “You filthy bitch,” before I can let everyone know I’m there. You are the reason he died.