Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 109903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109903 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 366(@300wpm)
Riko moved like lightning, smacking the cup from Neil's hand and catching hold of his wrist. He gave a brutal twist that sent knives up Neil's arm. Neil choked on a pained curse and grabbed Riko's arm to stop him. He couldn't pry Riko's hand off but if Riko turned his wrist another half-inch he'd break something. Every time Neil blinked he saw the white scars on Kevin's hands. It was all he could do to breathe around the panic beating at his lungs. He fought to keep his face calm and forced himself to meet Riko's eyes again.
"You wouldn't," Neil said. "Not in front of all these people."
"I do not care if they see," Riko said. "A dog who bites his master's hand deserves to be slaughtered. The location and audience are inconsequential."
"I am not a dog. I'm a Fox."
"You are nothing but what I tell you to be."
"We talked about your delusions."
"I warned you to learn your place."
"Let go of me, King."
"I am King," Riko agreed, "and you are going to spend Christmas at my castle. You're coming to Evermore for winter break. Don't," Riko said when Neil opened his mouth to argue, "push me again. I am the only thing keeping you alive."
"No, you're not," Neil said.
Riko stared at him for an endless minute, then smiled. Neil's stomach dropped at the sight of it; he knew what was coming before Riko opened his mouth but he refused to believe it. "You must be referring to that goalkeeper. You know which one I mean, I'm sure? The miniature one with the disgusting attitude who thinks he can take my things. That reminds me, I haven't seen him lately."
Riko looked over his shoulder as if expecting Andrew to materialize from thin air. He let go of Neil but Neil couldn't breathe, much less move to put space between them. Two teammates, Riko had said. Neil's insolence had cost him two teammates, but Seth was only one.
Riko turned back on Neil and wagged a finger as if just remembering. "Ah, but that's right. I heard they carted him away. Something about his brother fucking him brainless, yes? How scandalous. How traumatizing."
"Don't," Neil said.
Riko ignored him. "Drake was an interesting man, wasn't he? I should thank the police for leading me straight to him. I might not have discovered him otherwise. Did you know, Nathaniel? Oakland lawyers are some of the cheapest to buy off. It only took three phone calls to arrange the whole thing."
"You set Andrew up."
"That isn't even the best part." Riko smiled when Neil shook his head and continued. "Did you know I've bought one of the doctors at Easthaven, too? Unless you want these little therapy sessions of his to turn into therapeutic reenactments, you will be on a plane to West Virginia tomorrow morning. Jean will give your ticket to Kevin. Do you understand me?"
Neil didn't have words, so he answered with his fist. He didn't have a lot of room to swing but he made do and caught Riko right in his vulgar mouth. It knocked Riko back a step, giving Neil a little more space, and Neil caught him in the eye next. He lunged away from the table and slammed into Riko, but Riko was already moving to meet him. Neil crashed into the table so hard he sent it skidding out from behind him, and he and Riko both hit the floor. Neil jabbed and struck at any part of Riko he could find, only distantly aware of Riko's own vicious blows. Someone was yelling about a fight, or maybe that was his blood roaring in his ears.
Suddenly there were hands on him that weren't Riko's, and the two were being yanked apart. Neil held on as fiercely as he could; so did Riko. Riko pulled Neil close one last time before the crowd ripped them away from one another, long enough for him to say, "You just cost him something he didn't want to lose."
Then there were too many bodies between them. Neil recognized some of them: Matt first, then Jean, then a couple athletes whose faces he'd only seen through helmet visors. Neil's brain put names to faces where it could and summarily dismissed all of them as unimportant. None of them were Riko. He fought the crowd as best he could, trying to break through and get his hands on Riko again.
Somehow he made it close enough again to grab Riko's sleeve. "You even fucking think about touching him—"
Wymack came out of nowhere and hauled Neil off Riko like he weighed nothing at all. The space between them filled with coaches, and the excited hubbub died out almost instantaneously. For a moment the only sound was Neil's ragged breathing as he stared around Wymack's body at Riko. The entire room was shaking, or maybe that was Neil trembling hard enough to bring the whole court down on top of them.
"What the hell is going on here?" Breckenridge's coach demanded. "This is a Christmas banquet. If you missed the memo, that's Christmas, as in make merry and goodwill to man. I want a goddamned explanation for this."
Neither Neil or Riko answered; they were too busy staring each other down. Jean had found his place behind Riko again and the tense look on his face was wary disapproval. Neil wanted a gun. He'd settle for Andrew's knives, but those were hidden under his pillow at Palmetto State. He dug his fingers into Wymack's arm hard enough he'd leave bruises for sure and smiled so hard it hurt.
"Yes," he said, because what else could he say? "I understand."
"Apology accepted," Riko said.
The coaches waited. When nothing else was forthcoming, one of them swept the crowd with a mean look. "The next person to start a fight here is getting written up and will sit out of the next five scheduled games, spring or fall. Do I make myself clear?" There was a chorused assent, and the coach flicked an annoyed look between Neil and Riko. "You two stay away from each other the rest of the night. Wymack, get him off the court until he's feeling civil."