Page 77 of Devil May Lie

“I know that. That’s why I’m not currently outside the Butcher’s apartment with a blaster.”

Madden bristled, but before he could say anything, another man on the side of the line with Kelevra grunted loudly enough he could hear.

“That sounds like you’re threatening Berga, Kel,” Rin Varun’s teasing voice trickled through. “You better reassure him before he makes a follow-up by threatening me, and you inadvertently burn a two decades-long friendship.”

“Does it?” Kelevra clicked his tongue. “To clarify, I was threatening to shoot you, Madden. I wouldn’t risk an all-out war with the Brumal. You shouldn’t either.”

“I won’t.” He relaxed on the bed, staring up at the blank white ceiling.

“Then what are you doing? Because I’ve never known you to get serious over a person before. If this is a game—”

“It isn’t.”

There was a pause and then, “What if it’s a game to the Butcher?”

Madden’s eyes narrowed. “Then I’ll figure out a way to change the rules in my favor.”

“I’m hungry,” Rin stated.

“I have to go. Next time you see my sister, make sure you grovel.” Kelevra hung up without another word.

“You look worn out.” Berga appeared in the room and Madden sat up quickly, watching as the Butcher approached, the box he’d gotten in the mail with him. “Did you do something to piss off the prince?”

“Yeah,” Madden chuckled.

“Was it me?”

“Unfortunately, you’ve been unconscious, so no.”

Berga rolled his eyes and set the box down on the bed next to him before peeling back the tape. “If I recall correctly, that didn’t stop you the last time.”

“Sleeping and being unconscious due to an illness are two separate things,” Madden defended himself.

“Is that what you think then? That I’m some poor, helpless, sick man who needs your protection?”

He sensed the trap and was careful with his response, keeping his tone light and his expression open. “Not at all. Who would think that of the Butcher? Only a moron. Like that guy you murdered the other night.”

“Canham?”

“Ah, so you do remember.”

“Bits and pieces.” Berga pulled something black from the box and then tore it out of its plastic packaging with less care, holding it up for inspection after the fact.

Madden blinked at it and stared. “Is that…?”

“A butt plug,” he confirmed, tilting it this way and that as though he’d never seen one before. “I don’t usually play with toys in the bedroom. Unless drugs count?”

“Probably not.”

“Oh.”

“Why did you buy that thing?” Madden almost didn’t dare hope, but then… “Why were you at the Docks? Did you come to see me race?”

He snorted. “I certainly wasn’t there to watch you allow those people to throw themselves all over you.”

“Sorry, sorry. It was a test of sorts,” Madden admitted.

“Test?” Berga’s interest in the toy came to abrupt end and he turned that unsettling gaze on Madden instead. “Like an experiment?”

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