Page 54 of Devil May Lie

“Didn’t take you coming to the Docks,” Madden found himself saying. “You visited your brother at the Academy before. I’ve seen you together.”

Sila made a humming sound of approval. “I could tell you were smarter than you let on.” He considered something privately a moment and then rested a hand on Bay’s shoulder. “If you don’t leave now, you’ll be late for class, Professor. I’ll take it from here.”

Bay hesitated, glancing between the two of them.

“My professor is too close to this,” Sila told Madden. “He wants to help, but he cares too much about Berga to tell you what you really need to do next. I don’t have the same problem.”

“Because you’re an actual psychopath?” Madden challenged.

Sila’s grin returned tenfold, the glint in his eyes similar to the one Berga got whenever he talked about one of his experiments. “I am what I am. The need for control can’t always stem from being a spoiled Royal.”

“Don’t insult him.” Bay pinched the bridge of his nose and then nodded to himself. “All right. I’ll get going now, Madden. Sila,” he turned toward the student and held up a finger, “if you’re more than five minutes late to class, I’m locking the door and failing you for the day.”

“Sure thing, Kitten.” Sila winked.

“Not on campus,” Bay hissed and then left the two of them without wasting another second.

Sila waited until he was sure the professor was out of earshot before beginning with, “Make him.”

Madden frowned. “What?”

“You want him to trust you? Make him,” he shrugged a single shoulder. “Make him depend on you for one thing or another. Better if it’s for everything. If he can’t function without you, he can’t push you away. It’s not that difficult, especially not for someone like you. Don’t lie and tell me they didn’t teach you any manipulation tactics at the Academy. I know better. And don’t say something stupid like, ‘You shouldn’t manipulate the ones you love.’. Neither of us are good people, and neither of us have ever cared to be.”

Madden made a mental note to pay more attention to Sila Varun. The man hadn’t really been on his radar until he’d started dating Bay, but he was getting the distinct impression that wasn’t the case in reverse. Sila knew more about him than he was comfortable with someone with his mentality knowing.

Still, he was on to something. Hadn’t that been Madden’s exact thought last night? If he wanted Berga, he had to get the guy to think about him.

“Berga has a possessive personality,” Sila said. “No doubt bolstered by that pesky fear of loss that’s constantly dragging him down. If you want him, you have to trick him into thinking it’s his idea to want you back. Turn yourself into one of his possessions. Or,” he cocked his head, “is that going to bruise your pride?”

“Do I look like Kazimir Ambrose to you?”

Sila chuckled. “Not in the slightest. He opted for physical force to get his man. You and I both know that’s not going to be enough to catch someone like Berga. But, I’m just saying what you’ve already figured out on your own. You set the beginnings of the trap this morning, didn’t you?”

Madden lifted a brow. “Bay tell you about his talk with Berga or something?”

“Over lunch,” he shamelessly confirmed. “We tell each other everything.”

“So that means you know what happened to Berga to make him like this.”

“I tell everything to my boyfriend, Madden,” Sila stated. “The only thing connecting the two of us,” he motioned between them, “is the fact Bay likes you. The second that changes…”

“Are you threatening me right now?” Bold of him. Madden was actually impressed.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Do psychopaths dream?”

Sila laughed. “Go ask Berga.”

“I can’t,” Madden smirked. “That would ruin the trap.”

He’d left early this morning, careful not to wake the Butcher. It’d been before he’d known about the abandonment issues, of course, but knowing only made him more confident in his plan. The fact that the first thing Berga had done was run to Bay to complain also pointed in that direction.

As if reading his mind, Madden’s multi-slate chimed, and when he checked the caller ID, his smile broadened.

Then he hit ignore.

“Berga is going to hate that you did that,” Sila said, but he was smiling as well.

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