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 got up from his bed, and Neil looked at him. Riko was smiling, and the look made Neil sick to his stomach. His father had looked at him with loathing and fury. He'd never looked like this, like Neil's blood would be the highlight of his day. The Butcher was a vicious killer with a hair-trigger temper, but he thrived on death and fear, not pain and submission.
"Keep away from me," Neil said.
Riko pulled a switchblade from his pocket and flicked it open. "I thought you weren't afraid of my knives, Nathaniel. Was that a lie to make yourself feel better?"
Riko sat sideways on the mattress beside Neil. He looked at Neil like he was imagining skinning Neil alive and feeding Neil the bloody scraps. His expression said he was getting off on the fantasy. Neil didn't flinch when Riko put the tip of the blade to Neil's lips, but it was a near thing. Jean moved up alongside them, but Neil didn't dare take his eyes off Riko to look at him.
"I am going to love hurting you," Riko said, "like I loved hurting Kevin."
"You are one seriously fucked-up individual," Neil said.
Riko slipped the knife into Neil's mouth and pushed, hard enough to break the skin at the corner of Neil's mouth but not deep enough to do any real damage. "Shut up and lie down," Riko said. "We don't have a lot of time, and I promised the master to have you in line before night practice."
"I hate you," Neil said around the blade.
"Lie down," Riko said again, "and put your hands on the headboard."
Neil stretched out on his back and reached over his head. Jean caught his hands to guide them to the right place. Neil felt wood under his fingertips and grabbed hold. Jean let go of him only to snap cold metal over his wrists. Neil tried to look but the knife in his mouth wouldn't let him move. Riko felt him tense, though, and withdrew his blade. Neil looked up and regretted it immediately. Metal cuffs locked his hands to the headboard. He yanked his arms as hard as he could, nearly skinning his wrists in the effort, but the headboard didn't even creak.
"Who is your King, Nathaniel?" Riko asked.
Neil spat in his face.
Riko froze, then slowly reached up to touch the glob on his cheek. He eyed his slick fingers for a moment, needing to see the mess to believe it, and then seized Neil's face in an iron grip. He pried Neil's mouth open and spat in it. A hand over Neil's mouth kept him from coughing it back up. Jean climbed onto the bed and sat on his legs before Neil could knee Riko in the back. Riko pressed the knife to Neil's chest and slipped the edge under his skin.
"I'm going to make this as terrible as I know how," Riko promised him. "When it's too much for you, don't hesitate to cry."
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
"Passengers for flight 227 to Las Vegas, please report to Gate A19. Boarding will begin momentarily."
Neil didn't remember falling asleep, but he blinked blearily awake and stared at the florescent lights overhead. Cold glass rattled against his shoulders and hair where he sat propped against a window. He heard the muted roar of a jet engine as it hurtled down the runway. The glass stilled before the noise faded. He rubbed his eyes with gloved hands and regretted it immediately. The gloves hid his bandages but did nothing for the pain. He made his hands into fists, hissing through his teeth at how much it hurt. Satisfied his fingers were all accounted for, he dropped his gloved hands to his lap.
"Passengers for flight 1522 to Atlanta, please be advised: there has been a gate change. We will now board this flight from Gate A16. I repeat: flight 1522 to Atlanta, Georgia will now board from Gate A16. Please report to your new gate immediately for an expeditious departure."
The announcement came on again a couple seconds later, this time in Spanish. For a moment Neil was baffled that it wasn't in French. He'd spent so much time with Jean he'd forgotten any other language existed. Jean was technically forbidden to use French, since Riko couldn't understand it, but he'd whispered it to Neil when Riko wasn't close enough to hear. Jean would mock him for his current confusion, except Jean wasn't here. Neil looked at the seat beside his and saw only his duffel. Jean was nowhere in sight.
He was at an airport, so Jean must be on the other side of the security checkpoint. Neil would have to go back and tell him he'd slept through his flight. When he looked around for a sign to Departures, though, he recognized the tacky furnishings of Upstate Regional Airport.
Upstate was in South Carolina, but Neil didn't remember leaving West Virginia. He didn't even remember leaving Castle Evermore. Neil gripped the armrests of his chair to ease himself upright and looked over his shoulder. It was dark out; night had fallen and he hadn't even noticed. He pawed at his uncooperative memory, then let it slide. It didn't matter how he'd gotten here so long as he was here.
Getting here was only half the battle. The other half was getting to his feet. Neil held his breath as he painstakingly hoisted himself out of the chair. For a moment he was sure his legs would give out from under him. Somehow they held. It hurt to clench his hand around his duffel bag's strap but he held on anyway. He couldn't feel the weight of it against his hip. He needed to know it was there with him.
He trudged for Arrivals. It should have been a short walk, but he moved with the speed and grace of someone six times his age. Every inch of him felt like it'd gone through a meat grinder. He made it as far as baggage claim before he realized he had nowhere to go and no way of getting there. Neil stared stupidly at the conveyer belts, then limped to the wall. He followed it around until he found an outlet. His hands screamed in pain as he rummaged through his duffel, but he finally found his phone. It was dead, of course. It probably died two—three?—weeks ago. Neil plugged it in and waited.