Page 20 of Sick Bargain

But he does something that surprises me so much I stumble back a step. Remiel spins, pressing that blade to the fabric covering my neck. “You fucking run,” he snarls at me.

Oh, fuck me.Yes.For the first time in my entire life, arousal so strong and so violent consumes me, filling me until I’m shaking and hard. It damn near renders me useless, but when Remiel steps forward to press the dagger to my throat even harder, I almost come in my pants. I wrap my fingers around his trembling wrist.

“Fight me all you want, hero. Maybe I’ll bury you with Ophelia Hargrove after I’ve had my fun with you.”

Remiel is about to reply when someone in a Krampus costume rushes at us. I snatch the dagger Remiel has against my neck and fling it, hitting the Krampus’ head dead centre. He falls to his back, dead on impact, bleeding out at my hero’s unsteady feet.

“Oh my god,” he whispers, shocked.

“It’s Krypt, actually,” I give him my name and grab his hands, tying them behind his back. “And I’ll be your devil. Not your god.”

“Kryp… Keegan?” he asks.

I knock him the fuck out.

Because it’s Initiation Night,I have a job to do. I leave Remiel bound and gagged at my feet and stand with the other nine Vile Boys in the clearing behind Vile House. Random people litter the ground at their feet or lean against their legs with rags shoved into their mouths.

The lower-ranking members are out cleaning up the town and removing anyevidencethey find, protecting our secrets from Moros citizens who will wake up in the morning to blood staining the streets.

Director wears his mask, black with a gold face, and greets all the initiates who made it back.

“Congratulations on surviving Initiation Night!” His modulated voice echoes through the clearing despite the mist hanging in the air. “And welcome to Vile!”

A small army of black-masked initiates stare back at him, their offerings on the ground beneath them. Murder is not required to join Vile House—it’s not even encouraged—but asacrifice is. Not that we’re going to murder their sacrifices, but they need to prove their hunting abilities. Vile House keeps Moros going by being feared. We’re here to keep the town in check, to build onto the history of it, and keep outside forces from infiltrating our ranks. And while they’re hunting for a sacrifice, we’re breathing down their necks and scaring them until they either succeed or quit, not cut out for it. So many quit, running home to give up.

This year, the hunt wasn’t just for sacrifices. It was for a man named Benton Wentworth. A billionaire trying to buy Moros from the county—the county doesn’t want our crime stats on their reports, so they’re trying to sell us off. We’ve had Wentworth in the cellar for a bit now, and earlier tonight, just as the sun was setting, he was set free to try to earn his way out of Moros for good.

Unfortunately, he didn’t make it. He sits at Monster’s feet, bloodied and broken. He’s whimpering, trying to beg for freedom because he learned a few valuable lessons tonight. One, Moros can’t be bought. Two, his money won’t save his life. And three, Monster is the last person he’ll ever want to see again.

“For generations, Moros has remained ours!” Director goes on, his voice warped. “And this man tried to take it from us. But like all others before him, he failed, didn’t he?”

The initiates cheer. Selena Sauder cheers loudest. Her blond-ish hair trails down her back from beneath her black mask. She looks at me, noticing her brother at my feet, but it doesn’t stop her cheering. Atta girl.

“And you’re here to initiate because you want to become a protector of Moros. Like them.” Director motions to the ten of us, and every head in the clearing swivels to take us in. Our identities aren’t known, but our masks are, and we’re like royalty around here. Everyone who makes it through Initiation Nightwants to be one of us. One of the ten. We’ve all stood where they are, thirsting for where we are now.

I remember my Initiation Night. The ten at the time were so feared that my knees were weak and my heart beat so hard it made my teeth chatter. But the adrenaline had been everything. The hope, the desire to be something more than a person with a dead family and a sick mind. I wanted to be put to use, gain a purpose, and revel in the town that morphed me into who I am. I know that’s what every one of the black masks is feeling tonight. That spark of hope that they’ll get to become a part of Moros history that so few do.

“Tonight, we celebrate! And we show this man what Moros really has to offer.” After tonight, if he survives the party, he’ll be set free to warn others away from here. His claims will draw attention to crimes that can’t be proved, and like always, we’ll survive it. “Monster, bring him here,” Director demands.

But Monster doesn’t give up his prey easily. He’s possessive of the billionaire, snapping at anyone who dares take him away. Director can’t control Monster, but Ransom can. In his red mask, Ransom steps in front of Monster, tilting his chin with two fingers. The tiny maniac is wound tight, but whatever Ransom says to him has his body stiffening but his chin dipping. Director takes the man at his feet, and Ransom stays at Monster’s back, arms tight around his chest to keep him in check.

“Masks stay on, and no one is permitted inside the house, but everything else is a free-for-all. Let’s show this man a good time and give him plenty of stories to take home!”

It’s nearly three in the morning, but the party will go until the sun rises and a new day falls on Moros. Menace is ready to leave to get back to the tattooed one he has tied up in his room, so I give him a nod as he pushes by me. Remiel groans as I pull him from the ground, but before I get far, his younger sister isin front of me. Her blond hair bothers me, but her audacity to approach me bothers me more.

“What will you do with him?” she asks.

“Whatever the fuck I want.” I pull a calling card from my pocket, Remiel’s name written on the back. “He gave his life to me.”

If she recognizes my voice, she doesn’t show it. With a nod, she crouches down, face in front of her brother’s. “What have you done, Remi?”

He groans but says nothing, not coherent enough to form real words.

“Keep him alive,” Selena says to me. “He’s already battling a curse.”

With a nod, I throw Remiel over my shoulder and carry him inside Vile House. On my way to my room, I bump into my brother, wearing his black mask with a white face. We’re the second set of blood brothers to ever be a part of the ten at the same time. The first was our great-grandfather and his brother.

“You know what you’re doing with this one, Krypt?” Riot asks.

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